Lion, Å¡tevilka 13, maj 2007 - Lions Distrikt 129

MEDNARODNE DEJAVNOSTI10 YEARS OF MACEDONIAN LIONISMThis 2007 the Lionstic Movement in theRepublic of Macedonia marks its 10thanniversary since the establishmentof the first club, the Lions club ofSkopje. On the initiative of lionNebojsa Davidovski and several otherprospective society members, andwith the sponsorship and guidanceof the Lions club Ljubljana TIVOLI onJune 17th 1997 the Charter Night ofthe club took place in the Daut-PashaBath (National Artistic Gallery). Almostimmediately after this happy event ofaccepting another country in the LionsFamily, came the chartering of theclubs Skopje GAZI BABA, and SkopjeST. PANTELEJMON with Turkish andItalian sponsorship. But it was only afterthe establishment and chartering ofthe fourth Lions club, Skopje VARDARand the Leo club of Skopje that theprovisional Lions Zone Macedoniawas established and coordination andguidance was awarded to PDG JanezBohoric of Slovenia.This organized approach to lionism, and theexcellent guidance and coordination that theclubs received by PDG Bohoric, added to theperfect cooperation between him and ZoneChairman Davidovski brought the second tidalwave to positive development. New clubs werechartered two of them with Slovenian sponsorship,and a lot of the clubs entered into internationalcooperation with other clubs fromother countries, like club twinning, joint projectimplementation, and also due to the unfortunatelocation of Macedonia in the longtimecrisis and unstable region of the Balkansimplementation of Funds and Aid through theLions Clubs International Foundation Crisis ResponseProgramme. There are now 10 CharteredLions clubs, all in Skopje, and 2 applicationsfor chartering of new clubs are being processedand will bring an addition to the developmentof the movement outside of Skopje,with the Lions club of Ohrid. There are also 3Leo clubs sponsored and chartered in Skopje.Out of these 12 clubs three have the sponsorshipof Slovenian lions: LC Skopje (LC LjubljanaTIVOLI); LC Skopje MACEDONIA New Century(LC Bled); LC Skopje SVETLINA (LC CeljeMOZAIK); two the sponsorship of Italian lions:LC Skopje St. Pantelejmon (LC Milan CAR-LO CATTANEO); LC Skopje Centar (LC Pompei);one the sponsorship of Turkish lions: LC SkopjeGAZI BABA (LC Istanbul SISLI); and one thesponsorship of Israeli lions: LC Skopje DENA-RIUS (LC Haifa CARMEL). One Lions club, LCSkopje MACEDONIA New Century, has enteredinto club twinning with LC Málaga EL LI-MONAR from Spain, and LC Ljubljana OMNIAfrom Slovenia, and the first, Leo club of Skopjeis twinned to the Leo club of Ljubljana fromSlovenia.Although they’ve been in search of theirtarget group and specific mission statementall of the clubs in Macedonia have proudly acceptedthe title “Knights of the Blind ConqueringDarkness” and mostly work with people,and especially children with sight disabilities.A special computer center was establishedand equipped for the Union of the Blindof Macedonia, additional and various smallerdonations were made at several instances tothe Union of the Blind of Skopje, and bookswere published where blind people appear asauthors. Further to this Fight against MalignantDiseases and particularly Children Canceris one of the topics addressed by the MacedonianLions clubs and also the Trust Fundof the Friends of the Children Clinic in Skopjewas assisted on several occasions. Scholarshipswere awarded where particularly talentedchildren were spotted. Concerts for fundraisingwere organized. Sporting events weresupported and organized, and a lot of othervarious activities that really promoted thename LIONS and the mission statement of theOrganization.Janez Bohoričon Charter Night10 years agoThe last few years also mark the boomof the Youth Programmes, for two new Leoclubs were established Skopje OMNIA in2005, and Skopje AXIOS in 2006, and manyof our youth have participated in Youth Exchangeand in camps throughout Europe. Slovenia,being our sponsor and guide to LIO-NISM, holds the top place in YE for the Macedonianyouth, just as well as the Netherlandsand Germany. Italy, France and Denmark alsohosted Macedonian students in the last twoyears. Wishing to support this rather positivedevelopment of Youth Exchange and theestablishment of the spirit of understandingfor international cooperation, the Lions RegionMacedonia this year welcomes youth fromother Lions countries to the country capitalSkopje on a home stay with the MacedonianLions and Leos.In the year in which we mark our 10 th Anniversaryfrom the Chartering of the first the Lionsclub of Skopje, hoping to receive, as we alwayshave received the full support of our CL,PDG Bohoric, the Macedonian Lions and ourLions Leadership are looking forward to the finalizationof the process of initiating 5 newclubs and their chartering and the achievementof the status Provisional LIONS DistrictMacedonia.WE SERVE!Andreja Stojkovski,tajnik NCLC Skopje – Makedonija28 LION