Friday, June 18, 2010

More UNICEF

Tuesday June 16th.

Today Mme Granier, the Cannes representative of the UNICEF, was kind enough to come to Cannes La Bocca to give me an interview.

We mainly talked about collecting funds in Cannes. She said young people are the most supportive because they usually come up with fundraising ideas for the organization. For example, a group of high school students decided to organize a fundraising concert some months ago to help Haitian kids. In this particular case, UNICEF Cannes provided the theater and some publicity in the local newspaper, the Nice-Matin.

Mme Granier said the Cannois aren’t particularly known for being benevolent, but she did acknowledge the attitude of solidarity that the youth demonstrate nowadays.

She said she is very grateful for this new phenomenon.

A night with the Rotarians

Monday June 14.

Today I had the best experience of the whole Richter project. It was unexpected and exciting at the same time. Let me explain...

One of my French professors, Mme Agré, suggested me to look into the Rotary Club and the Lions Club for my investigation since they are both "high-class" groups dedicated to charitable giving. So I went to their websites and sent emails, and emails, and emails... but I never got any response from any of the 5 Rotary Clubs in Cannes.

I decided, then, to go to one of their meetings to try to get some questions answered. I went to the hotel where they meet (Hôtel Gray d'Albion in downtown Cannes) 40 minutes prior to the meeting. I really needed to talk to them!

In comparison to my other interviews, this was going to take place at a fancy place. The smell of mimosas filled the air and a meeting room was being prepared for the Rotary Club. The 15 minutes that passed before the first member arrived seemed like an eternity. I was nervous of what would happen. Would someone agree to give me an interview? Or would they feel like I had invaded their personal space?

The first member arrived early (she was a very well-dressed older lady), so I decided to attack. And she proudly talked to me about the Rotary Club! As the other members began to arrive, she quickly introduced me to them and they would sit with me to tell me a little bit about the group. I can't even describe their kindness and spirit of helpfulness.

I was even more surprised when they invited my to their meeting! I sat at the big table and got to hear the presentation of another charitable association: Un Enfant Par la Main. The Cannes representative of this organization was looking for financial support from the Rotarians, so I got to listen to lots of information about them. Perhaps individual members would "adopt/sponsor" a child in a 3rd world country, or perhaps the Club would give a determined amount of money to the association each year. But that would be decided at next week's meeting.

Then they invited me to stay for dinner.

Long story made short: I stayed there for a total of 3 hours, met some really nice people, had an incredible evening, and got a lot of good info for my investigation. It was the greatest night of all!


Sunday, June 13, 2010

UNICEF at the stadium

Today the UNICEF was invited to have a stand at a local soccer tourney. They had a little table and a big box for donations that would go to children in Africa. Children (and adults) would come to drop money into the bin and get blue bracelets in return.

Although the donations weren't considerable, it was nice seeing all the little kids (7, 8 years old) interested in what the UNICEF stands for: children's rights. Letting children know about their rights is one of the purposes of the UNICEF.

I met with a nice lady, Madame Elisabeth Perrier. Although she is responsible for the UNICEF's office in Avignon, she was able to tell me a little bit about the UNICEF in Cannes. They organize many fundraising events throughout the year, and they usually receive fair amounts of money because of the well-known name of their organization. For example, a few months ago they had a national event called "La Nuit de l'Eau," in which they partnered with the French Swimming Association (FFN) to raise money to provide clean water to children who do not have access to it. The local swim team, Cercle des Nageurs de Cannes, was able to raise the high amount of 2 344 €.

In general, I had a nice afternoon talking to Mme. Perrier and learning more about the UNICEF in France. I will meet with the lady responsible for the Cannes area on Tuesday, so I'll have more local information then!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Amnesty - Part Deux

This evening, my friends Cristina Sanders and Sanaz Talaifar came with me to the monthly Amnesty International meeting in Cannes. It was a very enjoyable experience.

The meeting took place in a little room on the 1st floor of a building 20 minutes away from downtown. There were 5 members present: the president (M. Barré), 2 ladies (Gabby and Christelle), and 2 men (Pascal and Samuel). Two of them were elders, one was middle-aged, and two were young. It was a balanced group.

First, M. Barré gave the information he had just received from the central office in Paris. He talked about the successful liberation of prisoners in Libya, the update on the campaign “Exigeons la dignité, the update on Hakim Ajimi’s case (a great scandal in France), etc… Then we signed some petitions.

After that, the group discussed matters more pertinent to Cannes. They talked about organizing a big fundraising concert that will take place in October, and they made plans to spread the word about Amnesty in local schools. They discussed strategies and made plans for the future.

To me, it was very exciting to learn all the things Amnesty stands for, and how the Cannes group plans to fight for them. Plus, all the 5 members were very nice with us and treated us as part of their family.

I know the group is short on money and labor because the government doesn’t provide any type of financial support, but it seems that they have figured out how to manage that inconvenience.

Again, it was nice meeting them all and being able to attend their meeting. Hearing them talk was very motivating because they all had good ideas to be developed. I just hope they can find more followers because they need a bigger group here in this important city!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A little reflexion...

The more I walk around Cannes, the more I notice the high number of old people. They are everywhere: in the streets, at the restaurants, in the shops & boutiques, even laying topless at the beach! (Don't ask...)
I would go with the hypothesis that the younger people are at school/work and have more important things to do with their time, but I've already heard many times that Cannes is a city for the elders.

For example, the bus schedule starts slowing down at 8pm. The difficulty of traveling by bus after 8:30pm is related to the slow beat of the city at night. And the taxis, they are even harder to find! It isn't like Dallas where you can find a cab any time at night. Here it seems like everyone goes to sleep because taxi drivers are nowhere to be found and contacting them is a hassle.

So, Cannes is a city for the rich, retired population of France and the rest of the word.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

La Croix Rouge

I interviewed this afternoon Monsieur Couderc, the President of the French Red Cross office in Cannes, and guess what? His opinion wasn't very different from what I've heard before.

What I found interesting about this organization was the huge variety of activities it offers to the community: free medical care to those who don't have access to it (mainly the unemployed and immigrants), food & clothes for the needy, free lessons for those who want to learn CPR, free medical assistance in sporting and cultural events, among many other things. And the only way they keep the organization running healthy (in financial terms) is through little government and community support. That, to me, is incredible.

Actually, M. Couberc also mentioned an annual collection of money, in which workers (a.k.a. volunteers) of the Red Cross go out to the streets with little cans. My French professor told me that this should occur in the next couple of weekend, so I hope I get to witness it!

In general, the Red Cross workers were retired people who are there to help others. See a pattern here?

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Urgent

Recherchons
URGENT
Bénévoles pour la
prochaine campagne.
Merci

We look URGENTLY for volunteers for the next campaign. Thank you.

Restos du Coeur