Alumni Newsletter Autumn 2004

Did you make it to the Reunion?We certainly hope so!

For four event-filled days, over 500 Alum-ni from across the globe, ranging fromrecent graduates to those having graduat-ed as far back as in the 30’s, flocked toGeneva and Vaud for the 5th Alumni WorldReunion. The event kicked off to a sunnystart early Thursday afternoon whenAlumni started arriving for registration.The Château at LGB was quickly filled

with the exclamations of joy andemotion and the excited chatter ofAlumni who suddenly recognizeda classmate, friend or teacherwhom they had not seen for manyyears. Before the official openingceremony in the Greek Theatreduring which many Alumni firstbecame acquainted with theschool’s new Director General,Nicholas Tate, they gathered at theVin d’honneur, held in the RoseGarden, which was kindly offered by“Earth Focus”. Sam Jarrell officiallydeclared the Reunion open, Nicholas Tateand Hélène Durand Ballivet welcomed theAlumni and our guest speakers: Monsieurle Conseiller d’Etat Charles Beer, EricMargolis and Rock Brynner.

A l'instar des réunions mondiales précé-dentes, la soirée à LGB s'est poursuiviedehors devant le Grand Bâtiment avec undîner-buffet arrangé par Mme Kastoryanoet le Service technique. Les différents plats

tout à fait savoureux ont été préparés avecle plus grand soin par Mme Chapuis et sonéquipe de la cafétéria de l'école. Un com-plément des plus appréciés a été l'accom-pagnement musical généreusement offertpar les groupes Bob Ackerman et JohnIntrator respectivement. A La Chât,anciens, professeurs et le Directeur ducampus, Michel Chinal, se sont égalementréunis pour savourer un délicieux dîner-buffet à la cafétéria de l'école aux sons dela musique de "Mad Violet".

On Friday morning present LGBMiddle School students led cam-pus tours for those wishing to seehow their school had evolvedsince they were last here, whilstothers preferred to visit theirfavourite haunts in town or havea leisurely morning getting overtheir jetlag.

In the early afternoon an interesting Edu-cational Forum was organized by DavidRimer and Othman Hamayed with partic-ipants including George Walker, HélèneDurand Ballivet, Antoine Zelenka andHugo Lamb. This was followed by MrsQuin’s lovely tea party in the Rose Gardenattended by Mr Quin’s former students,colleagues and friends. The elegant Eng-lish finger sandwiches and homemade gin-ger cake disappeared in no time….

Précédant les traditionnels et mémorables

NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTERWinter 2004

Reunion – special La Chât 2-3Message – Présidentedu Conseil 4Escalade 2004 4Message – Directeur général5Message – Directrice du développement 6Départs en retraite 2004 6Assemblée du 17 septembre 2004 7Message – Présidentdes Anciens 8Réunions dans le monde 9Photos – Réunionmondiale 10-11La Chât – Nouvelles 12LGB – Nouvelles 13Profil 14Humanitarian Projects 15Winter Music Concert 16In Memoriam 16-17Alumni News 18-20Naissances – Mariages 20

Sommaire

International School Alumni AssociationAssociation des Anciens de l’Ecole Internationale62, Route de Chêne • CH - 1208 Genève • Tel: +41 22 787 25 55 • Fax: +41 22 787 26 35E-mail: [email protected] • Website: www.ecolint-alumni.ch • Portable: +41 79 449 50 43

dîners de classes tenus dans des restau-rants locaux et même sur un bateau,quelque 70 anciens ont rejoint Peter Bea-re et Roger Murray pour un joyeux tour àbord d'un tram des temps jadis à traversune Genève au trafic quelque peu conges-tionné.

On Saturday morning there were twochoices – the Alumni Association’s Annu-al General Assembly (please see Sam Jar-rell’s article on page 8) or a wine tour of avineyard in Dardagny. Some 40 partici-pants enjoyed visiting the vineyard and thewine cellars, hearing the interesting expla-nations by the wine growers. But the high-light for many was tasting several local

5e Réunion mondiale des Anciens

Le grand portail glacé

Guests arriving for the LGB Buffet

2NEWSLETTER

*Thanks to the organizers of the Reunion Class Dinners:

La Chât : Ian Cogswell/81, LGB : Loïs Meyhoffer/33, Johannes Ernst/54, Anees Ahmad/54,Georgia Ehrgott Achard/60, Vito Cavaliero/60, Donate Dobber-nack/63, Vivian Hakkak/66, Isabelle Gilliéron/82, Matilde Bag-noli-Maranzana/82, Hagit Moustaki Snir/88, MugheesHusain/89, Kaarina Rodriguez Lorenzini/90, Wilfred de Guz-man/94 and Tulika Tripathi/95. Staff: Eric Anthony/97.

rentino, Jackie Woolman-Ste-bler, Manzo Nitta, ChristineKjellberg, Pennie Aldrich,Patricia Aldrich-Hillis, JudyAckerman and Laura Kinahan-Meredith, and to those whoorganized the class dinners*.

La prochaine réunion mondia-le se tiendra en 2009 – prenezen note afin de ne pas la rater!

�Vivian HakkakPresidentAlumni World Reunion Committee

longtemps encore.

Thank you to all those whoparticipated in one way oranother in allowing thisreunion to take place and formaking this such an exception-al event. A special thanks to theReunion Committee members,Jill Wolf, Sue Anthony, SamJarrell, Michel Pelletier andDean Soldatos for LGB andIan Cogswell, Leona Godfreyand Phil Hill for La Chât, to theLGB Campus Principal - Mr.Jean-Guy Carpentier, to thosevolunteers who helped at reg-istration including Mary Sor-

lakeside view was even morespectacular than usual!

On Sunday morning, despite alate night and intermittent rain,over 300 Alumni made it to thedelicious BBQ, held in theLGB grounds and cafeteria,prepared by master chefs AlanSharpe, Isabel Wise and FrankLunt, with Carole Lunt incharge of the bar. Unfortunate-ly, Les Wise was unable to usehis culinary skills due to ill-ness. At the same time the LaChât BBQ was also goingstrong and La Chât Alumniwere entertained by the musicof DJ Leona.

La réunion est terminée et cha-cun est retourné dans son paysrespectif et à sa vie quotidien-ne, mais pour quelques brèvesjournées nous avons pu repren-dre contact avec d'anciensamis et nouer de nouvellesamitiés; l'esprit Ecolint a étéravivé et le souvenir de cesmoments uniques perdurerasans aucun doute pendant

wines and cheeses while hav-ing a light lunch overlookingthe, by then rather wet, vine-yard.

Saturday evening began with abeautiful cocktail hosted bythe International School in theNoga Hilton Hotel’s ballroom.Alumni then made their wayup to the hotel’s terrace over-looking the lake for the galadinner. The evening was high-lighted by two special treats: aspecially recomposed one-offalumni band “the Internats”,made up of Manny Araoz, Cen-giz Yaltkaya, Chikara Hattori,Jim Frank, and his son, Sam.The music was great and, afterhaving indulged in a deliciousinternational buffet, everyonedanced the night away. Afterthe band stopped, dancing con-tinued to the beat of special LaChât alumna DJ, Leona God-frey. The second surprise wasthat the jet d’eau was excep-tionally lit up in “Ecolint blue”for the Alumni Reunion. For afew short hours, Geneva’s

Reunion – special La ChâtTwenty years on since gradua-tion year seems to have passedwith a blink!

How could I already be 38 andstill be so very young at heart.

Made me wonder how my oth-er schoolmates were doing.Couldn’t think of a better wayto discover the truth than byjoining the Châtaigneraie-alumni-committee. And so Idid!

La Chât had been a real experi-

ence even if LGB had alwaysbeen let’s just say the ‘BIG-GER’ school. One mid-Springlunchtime, I found myself faceto face with the committee –Phil, Ian, Nigel and Lydia. How

could I not be traumatized : theywere all older than me! Not aworry, I was only in for themusic and the old faces after all,and Joey was there to help hav-ing added his sagacity andexperience shortly after thealumni luncheon.

We kicked off the officialreunion on Thursday, June17th. Greeted by Michel Chi-nal, the Number 1 on the LaChât campus, with a cool glassof white wine from one of thelocal vineyards (remember thedays we used to HAVE to runthrough them, aches and pains- yet now we could enjoy thefruits of our toil and trouble!).After briefing us on the newextensions of the School, i.e.the new Primary campus inMies, and a few more glasses ofwine, we settled down to ourdelectable buffet, amiably pre-

pared by Laurent Guessard, thehead of the snazzy new, veryneon-lit cafeteria. A fine repastwas laid on with all the trim-mings and we caught up onyears well spent. For dessert,we invited “Mad Violet”, a tal-ented duo from Canada, touringSwitzerland at the time, but freeand willing to comply with mywhims to come and play for myold schoolmates. Yes, it was agreat démarrage that finishedshort of dawn!

Friday, June 18th, class dinnerconvened by Ian at the Relais de

Phil Hill/83, Sarah Lambert/84, Leona Godfrey/84 and IsabelleAlbrow/84

Joey Radi/81 and Mr. John Schumann

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Full English version on: / version française complète sur: www.ecolint-alumni.ch

3 NEWSLETTER

Prix des Anciens - Juin 2004Le Comité central a décerné le “Prix des Anciens” aux élèvessuivants:

La Châtaigneraie:Nikhil Ray, classe 13BILa Grande Boissière:

Abtin Pourgive, classe 13BISophia Smith-Savedoff, classe 13BI

Chavannes, a favourite haunt ofour former and apparently stillcurrent, members of staff. Afeast was laid on by the portlypatronne, pitchers of H2O onthe go and another belly-fullgranted us yet another pleasantevening, few as we may havebeen. Cheers Roger for keepingus perky on our end, and Suhaon the other.

I dreaded Saturday 19th, thefancy gala at the notorious lake-

front Hilton Hotel. I had to DJfor the event, being the sort ofmusic person. Sameer broughthis wife, and Iz brought Natal-ie, so it wasn’t too bad consid-ering that we all had a fewfriends somewhere within theLGB 400+ strong crowd and wewere all of 8! It went fine withthe LGB alumni band playingrock classics and me trying tofollow. Yup, some people didnot want to stop shaking!!! Offthe record, it was raining on our

Nathalie/90 and Isabelle/84 Albrow.

New website: la-chat.chActing on discussions at the Alumni Reunion in June, IanCogswell has created www.la-chat.ch, a user-editable "wiki"website for La Châtaigneraie alumni.

The website currently has sections on Forums, Albums, ClassPages and Alumni Resources.

The "Class Pages" are currently being edited by the followingvolunteers:

1974-1977 Sameer Sant1978-1980 Joey Radi1981 Ian Cogswell1982 Shelagh Macleod1983 Phil Hill1984 Sarah Houston-Lambert1985 Robin Ramcharan and Vicky Godfrey

If you too would like to be a contributing editor please, [email protected].

Please visit www.la-chat.ch for further information. �

Alan Sharpe, Isabel Wise and Frank Lunt - master chefs of the LGBReunion.

The Quin familyNita and her family very much appreciated the presence of somany of Michael’s former students, friends and colleagues, andof having the opportunity to reminisce and to feel the spirit ofEcolint. �

Reunion Master Chefs LGB

terrace facing the jet d’eau!

Then suddenly, it was Sunday20th, the last day. On the pro-gramme, an outdoor barbecueon the La Chât campus; lamband chicken off the spit. Wordhad got round, and not only didthe sun come out, but there weresuddenly lots of former stu-dents, staff and loads of chil-dren, Sarah Lambert, Kai Ing-wersen, to name a few whobrought their kids. It was bril-liant and worth the persever-ance and fatigue accumulatedover the past four days and 20years. My only regret? Not to

have seen more of you. Hope-fully better luck next round?Keep well wherever you are inthe world and do try andremember that around every LaChât Kermesse, there will besome form of reunion.

Thanks for the memories, theblast of yesterday that createdtoday and paves tomorrow. �

Leona Godfrey/84

P.S. Since the reunion I havemanaged to touch base withTanya Najera, Rasha Hammad,Samantha Parker and evenFahima Adballah!

4NEWSLETTER

Chers amis anciens,

La célébration du 80e anniver-saire de la Fondation de notreécole, le 17 septembre 1924,prit la forme d’une cérémonie“familiale” à l’occasion delaquelle les élèves ont pu enten-dre parler des valeurs et de l’é-thique sur lesquelles est fondéce que nous appelons “l’espritEcolint”. Loïs Meyhoffer avaitaccepté de parler aux enfants de5 ans de sa première expérien-ce de l’école alors qu’elle avaitleur âge; puis, s’adressant auxélèves des classes moyennes et

secondaires réunies,pour l’occasion, auThéâtre grec, Alejan-dro Rodriguez leur a,à son tour, racontéson expérience de l’é-cole. C’est ainsi que,par tradition orale,naissent les légendes,en l’occurrence lalégende de l’Ecolint!Car, ne dit-on pas queles peuples heureuxn’ont pas d’histoire?

Mais revenons à laréalité d’aujourd’hui.Au cours de l’annéescolaire écoulée, leConseil de Fondationet le Directeur géné-ral, en étroite colla-

boration avec de nombreuxdélégués des différents groupe-ments représentés à l’école onttravaillé ensemble pour élabo-rer un Plan stratégique, “pland’action clair et cohérent quiprécise les procédures et lespolitiques régissant les rela-tions et le travail au sein de laFondation, les objectifs àatteindre, les manières de pro-céder, le moment d’agir, lespersonnes responsables de cesactions ainsi que leur coût”. Cetravail de synthèse et de conso-lidation s’appuie sur une“Déclaration sur la vision” des

buts de l’école, réaffirmant l’at-tachement de la Fondation auxhuit principes pour une éduca-tion internationale; il fournitune interprétation définitived’un certain nombre de dispo-sitions et, en particulier, del’article 4 de la Charte relatifaux objectifs de la Fondation.Vous trouverez un résumé dece Plan stratégique sur le siteInternet de la Fondation(www.ecolint.ch ).

Nous souhaitions que cetteannée anniversaire soit l’occa-sion d’une véritable “Re-fonda-tion” des objectifs et de laphilosophie de l’Ecole interna-tionale de Genève. Nous yavons travaillé avec opiniâtreté.En effet, après la crise desannées 2000-2002, une grandepartie de la communauté éprou-vait le besoin d’unir ses effortspour que soit garantie, dans ladurée, la qualité de l’éducationet qu’elle bénéficie de manièrevisible aux élèves. Améliorer latransparence des procédures etdes politiques ainsi que la com-munication tant à l’intérieur dela communauté que vers l’exté-rieur, engager un processus d’é-valuation de toutes les compo-santes de la Fondation,identifier et développer desapports financiers externes,valoriser les réussites et l’ex-pertise de l’école en matièreéducative, développer lesinitiatives et innovations dans ledomaine de la pédagogie touten maintenant au niveau d’ex-cellence les enseignements

dispensés actuellement: telssont nos objectifs pour la pério-de 2004 à 2009.

Le “Livre Rouge” du Cinquan-tième Anniversaire raconte:“Au moment où l’Institutionatteint son cinquantenaire, prèsde deux mille jeunes… conti-nuent à suivre la voie tracée surterre genevoise, carrefour dumonde, par de nombreusesgénérations de prédécesseurs.Cette voie est pavée de l’élangénéreux qui est celui de la jeu-nesse sous tous les cieux dumonde. Et, à l’Ecole internatio-nale, elle est, en plus, impré-gnée de la fraternité universel-le des communautés où semêlent races et peuples dans uncoude à coude où ne comptentni la couleur de la peau, ni lescroyances particulières, mais lachaleur bienfaisante des cœursqui, dans l’acceptation bien-veillante des différences et desdivergences, ne finissent jamaisde s’unir.” Les membres actuelsdu Conseil de Fondation se sen-tent responsables de la sauve-garde de cet équilibre et de cette harmonie, facteurs déter-minants des progrès d’uneinstitution aussi complexe etdélicate que celle de l’Ecoleinternationale de Genève, notreécole. �

Hélène Durand Ballivet/60,Présidente du Conseil

de Fondation

Message de la Présidente duConseil de Fondation

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Escalade 2004 - celebrationsaround the world !!

Denver:Rocky Mountain Alumni Asso-ciation Escalade/Fondue din-ner to be held on Saturday, 4December in Denver, Col-orado. Please email PennieAldrich/65 [email protected] for details. �

Geneva:Escalade dinner, Wednesday, 8December in the La GrandeBoissière cafeteria. Please con-tact the alumni office at [email protected] or phone079.449.50.43. �

London:Escalade dinner to be heldon Wednesday, 8 Dec. at the St.Moritz restaurant, Soho. Pleasecontact Agnes de Guzman/90 [email protected] [email protected].�

New York:The annual Escalade dinnerwill be held on Saturday, 11December. Please contacteither Charles Potter/[email protected] orPeggy Troupin/60 [email protected] to let usknow if you are interested injoining us. �

Toronto:Escalade dinner will be held onSaturday, 27 November. Formore details, please contactJock Galloway/56 at [email protected] orphone (416) 767.92.97. �

Washington DC:This is an announcement forthis year's Ecolint alumnireunion celebrating theEscalade in the Washington DC/ Maryland / Virginia / Pennsyl-vania /West Virginia / NorthCarolina area.

Location: THE MELTINGPOT, 1220 19th Street NWWashington DC 20036(Tel:202 857-0777)Cost: approx. $40 per head(drinks, tax, service chargeexcluded).

The date will be set accordingto a popular vote for one of thefollowing:(a) Wednesday, December 8 (b) Thursday, December 9(c) Friday, December 10(d) Saturday, December 11(e) Sunday, December 12

PLEASE RESPOND BY THEFOLLOWING DEADLINE -6:00pm November 25, 2004:Please send your 1st, 2nd & 3rddate preferences by e-mail toAlexander Smouha at:[email protected]

The results will then be pub-lished by November 28 to all,confirming the date of theevent, as decided by popularvote. �

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Dans l’école où j’exerçais mesfonctions précédemment, ainsiqu’à l’Ecole Internationale deGenève, l’une des premièresactions que j’ai entreprises aété de persuader le Conseil deFondation de concevoir un Planstratégique à long terme pourl’école, de manière à connaîtrela nature de nos objectifs et lesmoyens pour les réaliser. Pourma part, cela faisait tout sim-plement partie des bonnes pra-tiques. Imaginez ma surpriselorsque le journal de monancienne école, dans un espritd’ouverture et de dialogue, pastrès éloigné de celui de l’Eco-lint, a publié une lettre d’An-cien dénonçant l’idée mêmed’un plan stratégique, tout endéplorant que la communautéscolaire de 600 ans à laquelle ilappartenait avait finalementsuccombé, à l’arrivée du nou-veau directeur, aux pressionsdu XXIe siècle, celui du mondedes affaires.

Having got over my initialshock at the esprit libre ofalumni communities, I came tofeel that this passionate corre-spondent had a point. His fun-damental argument was this:schools are organic communi-ties, what happens in them isinfinitely subtle and to someextent unpredictable; mostimportant is their spirit, whichit is difficult to legislate for;and so therefore one shouldtread carefully, avoiding the

imposition of anykind of rationalistschema for fear ofmaking things worse.

What I found partic-ularly helpful was thereminder that manyof the best things thathappen in schoolshave little to do withmanagers’ long-termplans. This term atEcolint we have had,or will shortly havehad, all of the follow-ing: a Benjamin Brit-ten opera, performedat La Grande Bois-sière Middle School;an Africa Week at La

Châtaigneraie; the Students’League of Nations at the Palaisdes Nations; a new edition ofthe magazine “Earth Focus”,with many articles and illustra-tions by Ecolint students;evening theatre visits; meet-ings to plan next summer’s vis-it to Tanzania; sports trips toother countries; an exhibitionHommage à Bagdad by one ofour art teachers; and muchmore besides. None of this ispart of any plan. It has hap-pened because of spontaneousenthusiasms on the part of staffand students. But it is this sortof thing that above all helps todefine the character of a school.Strategic Plans must provide acontext that supports activitiesof this kind. They are unlikelyto be able to prescribe them.

No argument, however, willpersuade me that strategicplans are not essential, at thevery least as a framework forall the other things that go oninside a school. This is why wespent so much time last yearconsulting upon the Plan thatthe Board has now adopted andthat will guide our activitiesover the next three years. Webegan with a consultation onthe school’s fundamental aimsand objectives and have nowplaced at the front of the Strate-gic Plan what we are calling our“vision statement”, a credostating what we think we standfor and, more importantly,

what we hope to become.

Ecolint’s Strategic Plan, thesummary version of which isavailable on the school web-site, covers all aspects ofschool life. It sets objectives,gives an outline plan for theiraccomplishment and identifiescriteria by which success inachieving the objective can beestablished. It is enormouslywide-ranging and includesobjectives as diverse as tryingto make best use of theresources we have available inour parent and alumni commu-nities, exploring in depth theextent to which we might bet-ter improve our support for stu-dents with special educationalneeds, defining more preciselyhow we plan to promote ‘inter-national values’ through thecurriculum and the daily life ofthe school, and developing stillfurther our arrangements forstaff and Board evaluation.

Many of these objectives canbe achieved without additionalexpenditure. What mattersmost in a school is the qualityof the daily interactionsbetween students and teachers,in the classroom and in extra-curricular activities. Weimprove this by changing whatwe teach, how we teach, howwe communicate, and the kindof relationships that existbetween students, parents andstaff. Our greatest resource ispeople and the main purpose ofa Strategic Plan is to help ourstaff to do an even better job.

There are, however, needs thatcan only be met through addi-tional expenditure. I haverecently returned from theannual International Baccalau-reate Heads conference inIstanbul and am still reelingfrom the gulf between thephysical facilities at the Turk-

ish school that hosted that con-ference and those we have onour various campuses at Ecol-int. There is an urgent need forimproved sports facilities onboth our major campuses; LaGrande Boissière still lacks anall-weather auditorium inwhich to hold large schoolassemblies; there is a desperateneed to improve our art anddrama facilities; there are manybuildings requiring eitherextensive renovation or expan-sion. The Strategic Plan spellsout these needs. It is clear, how-ever, that, only a proportion canbe met from the Foundation’sown resources, however hardwe try to make efficiency sav-ings to allow this to happen.That is why our new Directorof Development is working onplans for a fund-raising cam-paign that will be targeted,among others, at those alumniwho would like to help their oldschool improve the quality ofthe educational facilities weare able to offer to today’s stu-dents. We would be enormous-ly grateful for your support.

La nouvelle école a commencésur une note très positive. Nousavons resserré nos liens avecnos origines grâce aux diversescélébrations à l’école qui ontmarqué notre quatre-vingtièmeanniversaire. Nous nous tour-nons aussi vers l’avenir et nousréjouissons de l’ouverture dunouveau campus au Grand-Saconnex en septembre 2005.J’espère vivement vous tenir aucourant de nouveaux dévelop-pements au cours de l’année. Etquiconque voudrait s’exprimerà propos de plans stratégiquesou d’autre chose est invité àm’écrire: nihil humanum alie-num puto (comme l’histoireque je vous ai racontée au débuttend à le montrer). �

Nicholas Tate

Dr. Nicholas TateDirector-General’s message

Governing BoardFor the latest Governing Board news please visit the school web-site: www.ecolint.ch �

Conseil de FondationPour les dernières nouvelles du Conseil de Fondation, veuillezconsulter le site web de l’école: www.ecolint.ch �

Full English version on: / version française complète sur: www.ecolint-alumni.ch

6NEWSLETTER

I am acutely aware that I jointhe Foundation in a momentousyear. For, in the words of myfirst press release for the Foun-dation, “It is not every day youcelebrate your 80th birthday”. Ialso join it at a time of renewaland reinvigoration after, it mustbe acknowledged, what hasbeen a very hard period for allwho hold the fundamentalinterests of the school at heart.Indeed, as we look beyond our80th year, the Foundation andits many communities (yes, Ido mean communities) face

A new Director of Develop-ment, Michaelene Stack

continual chal-lenges.

The Founda-tion’s StrategicPlan 2004 –2007, adopted bythe FoundationBoard as thec o m m u n i t y ’sbenchmark andtouchstone, setsclear objectivesfor our commu-nities to worktoward. (You canfind the StrategicPlan on our website atwww.ecolint.chin the governingboard section orwe can provideyou with a copy

from the Development Office).To avert the risk of running intoopaque ramblings about strate-gy, I turn to the fact that mak-ing this plan a reality, whilstsimultaneously meeting manyof our associated aspirations,will require the effort of morethan the paid staff of the Foun-dation. Indeed there will bemuch that the likes of me willjust not be able to deliver with-out the knowledge, networksand guidance of individualAlumni.

At a practical level we need toequip ourselves with the toolswhich will enable us to worktogether. If I dare cite one spe-cific tool at the heart of muchdebate, I would name the data-base of alumni information.Current, accurate and accessi-ble information about alumni;what you did when you were atthe International School ofGeneva, whether at La Chât, LaGrande Boissière, Pregny-Rig-ot or for the many who are yetto graduate from our Campusdes Nations, and where you arenow is at the heart of anyendeavour to communicate andcollaborate. With this in mindwork has begun to allow ourexisting information to beupdated. We can do a certainamount with desk based datacleaning, but only a certainamount. We will need all thegood intelligence we can find totrack down the unaccounted forand to fill in the blanks for thoserecords we do have. This intel-ligence is found in one place,the quite remarkable networkof Ecolint alumni which haswound itself around the world.From late spring 2005, withsupport of the Alumni Associa-tion (I hope Sue Anthony willnot be handing in her notice inhorror!) and individual Alumni,we will be in a position to bringthis information into a readilyinterpretable format, compati-ble with our web site (anothertool not infrequently giving riseto frustration!). I am pleased tofind myself in a position wherethe Foundation has the fore-

sight to wish to invest time andmoney in addressing with theAlumni Association what haslong been recognized as majorhurdles to communicatingmore effectively with more ofour alumni.

I am beginning to grasp thevision(s) that our communitieshave for their Foundation –though I suspect this is going tobe an ongoing process –whether formalized in theStrategic Plan or in the mindsof individual alumni. However,being a practical person I havealso enjoyed getting stuck inwith Sue and others to tackle thechallenges of making sure wehave the tools with which towork together. I am also a real-ist. Checking the validity of12,000 records, sorting out thetechnical aspects of running anon-line directory whilst jug-gling all our other strategicobjectives for which the Foun-dation holds me responsiblewill take time. My commitmentwould be to continue address-ing our shared frustrationswhilst developing tools and therelationships we need to worktogether. All this whilst tryingnot to forget to just get on doingthings. There are Chapterreunions planned, there arebuildings to be built, money tobe raised and a whole new cam-pus to be opened. Somehow, Ido not think I shall want fordiversity in this internationalcommunity of ours. �

Michaelene Stack

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RetirementsWe wish long and happy retire-ments to the members of stafflisted below who retired at theend of August, 2004, after manyyears of service to the School.Tributes to these members ofstaff will be given in the Spring2005 Newsletter.

Pregny-Rigot:M. Edward Weldon

La Châtaigneraie:Mme Piera BonadaMme Arlette D’AmicoMme Monique FlorimondMme Hélène FornerisM. Roman Tomzack

La Grande Boissière:Mme Gabriela GuerreroMme Marie-Françoise PolliandM. David RyanM. Alan SharpeM. John Barry Smith Mme Anne-Marie TremeaudM. Leslie Wise

RetraitesNous souhaitons une longue etheureuse retraite aux membresdu personnel mentionnés ci-des-sus, qui ont pris leur retraite à lafin du mois d’août 2004, aprèsavoir été au service de l’Ecolependant de nombreuses années.Hommage leur sera rendu dansle numéro de printemps 2005 dela “Newsletter”. �

Journée d’orientation professionnelleLGB – 23 juin 2005 Vous êtes scientifique, artiste, politicien, médecin, linguiste,professeur, architecte, urbaniste, banquier, dans les affaires ....? Aidez nos enfants à comprendre le monde du travail et à attein-dre leurs objectifs! Le service de guidance de la Grande Boissière est à la recherchede professionnels qui seraient prêts à consacrer quelques heuresaux élèves des degrés 11 et 12 et a parler de leur carrière, leurchemin, leurs récompenses / déceptions ou toutes autres infor-mations liées à leur métier. Vous pourriez soit les rencontrer à l’école et discuter avec eux,soit les recevoir sur votre lieu de travail en groupe et ainsi leurexpliquer comment se passe une de vos journées. Si vous êtes intéressé, n’hésitez pas à contacter : Beth Ballin/73au service de guidance. E-mail: [email protected] outel: 022 787 2543 �

7 NEWSLETTER

C’est une joie pour moi de fêterle 80e anniversaire de l’Ecoleavec vous.

Le 17 septembre 1924 a été biensûr mon premier jour d’école.Est-ce que je me le rappelle?Pas si sûr. Mais je me rappellebien le chalet à la route de Flo-rissant où j’ai commencé àapprendre à lire et à écrire. Il mesemble que c’était tout de suiteen français et en anglais. Je mesouviens aussi de n’avoir trou-vé que du plaisir dans cette peti-te classe où chacun travaillait àson rythme.

Dr Tate asked me whether Iremember the colour of the rab-bit for which we built a hutch.Alas, I was not able to give himthat information*. But I doremember when the Schoolmoved 5 years later, in Septem-ber 1929, into this beautifulproperty, which for two yearsbecame my home, as myparents were in charge of theBoarding School for girls, overthere in “La Vieille Maison”.

I also remember playing a small

Mme Loïs Meyhoffer’s speechto the Assembly -Middle and SecondarySchools La Grande Boissière

part in Shakespeare’s “Mid-summer Night’s Dream” per-formed right here. The GreekTheatre had not yet been built,but to have the trees and natureas a scenery gave the play awonderful dreamlike atmo-sphere.

L’année où nous avons étudié laroute de la Soie et où nous avonsélevé, entre autres, des vers àsoie est restée gravée dans mamémoire. Tant et si bien quel’année où j’ai pris ma retraite,j’ai enfin pu réaliser mon rêvede visiter la Chine.

Mais, assez parlé de moi, je suisvenue surtout pour vous appor-ter un message de la part desAnciens de cette école qui for-ment une très grande familledispersée à travers le monde.

I want to tell you about two for-mer students who have beenhonoured this year for actionsin line with our School’s ideals:

Tracy Strong, a student atEcolint in the early days likemyself, was honoured last June

at a commemorative reunion atLe Chambon sur Lignon inFrance for his participation ina vast action to save Jews andother internees from deporta-tion to concentration camps atthe time of the Nazi occupationof France. The inhabitants ofLe Chambon sur Lignon andthe surrounding region gaverefuge – hiding them – to some3000 Jews, children andadults. A number of them cameback to Le Chambon this sum-mer to celebrate and expresstheir gratitude to those whooften had risked their lives forthem.

Rami Khouri, who was a stu-dent here in the 1960s, is theeditor of the “Daily Star” inBeirut. At a ceremony held inBrussels on 9th September –just a week ago – he receivedthe “Common Ground Award”given to journalists, selectedfrom Arab, Israeli and WesternPress, whose articles promotedialogue and peaceful coexis-tence in the region.

In his prize winning article,Rami puts in parallel the effortsof a group of Palestinians whoare working on a draft constitu-tion for Palestine, with what theexiled Jews did in Babylon twoand a half millennia ago.

In both cases exiled communi-ties endured hardships, remem-bered their roots, fortified theirnational integrity and codifiedtheir sentiments into laws andpolitical doctrines guided bydivinely inspired moral values.Parts of the biblical books ofIsaiah and Deuteronomy, saysKhouri, were probably writtenduring the Jewish exile in Baby-lon.

Likewise, elements of thePalestinian Constitution arebeing written now under simi-lar circumstances. In conclud-ing the article, Rami writes :“God or something equallypowerful and benevolent mustguide both these peoples”.

Impressed by these two exam-ples I wanted to share them withyou, because you are the newgenerations, who will carry intothe world the ideals of peaceand understanding betweenpeoples and nations which areat the basis of the Foundation ofour School. �

* Part of Dr. Tate’s speech tothe students was centred aroundthe photograph taken one of thefirst days of school where threeteachers and eight pupils areshown gathered around a rabbithutch in the garden of theChalet. �

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Loïs Meyhoffer at LGB - 17 September 2004.

Alumni DirectoryImportant request!

Please don’t forget to register in the Alumni Directory at: www.ecolint-alumni.ch �

Annuaire des AnciensDemande importante!

N’oubliez pas de vous enregistrer à l’Annuaire des Anciens sur:www.ecolint-alumni.ch �

8NEWSLETTER

Two weeks ago as I packed mybags for a trip to Los Angeles onbusiness I remembered that SueAnthony had asked me for myregular contribution to this“Newsletter”. No problem Ithought! I’ll take my agingportable and write it in my hotelroom, since I was going to havea bit of spare time while I wasthere. Of course, I forgot to takeinto account a bad case of jetlagwhich left my brain only justfunctioning enough to getthrough the day. When I finallyfelt up to sitting down with myportable, it spluttered, coughedand steadfastly refused to start.I know I should be able to revertto pen and paper but somehow Ihave become so accustomed tobeing able to reedit as I go thatthe prospect seemed daunting.However, while I was in LA I didmanage one very pleasant bit ofAlumni business. I met up withRoger Cherniss and his wifeDiane, along with Roxie Loner-gan for a very mini Ecolintreunion over Tapas and somefine wine from New Zealand.Then it was time to go back toGeneva and I only had a coupleof days to find the time to sitdown and write this article soyou’ll have to forgive me if itisn’t as polished as it should be.

It’s hard to believe that itsalready nearly five months ago Istood before over five hundredold Ecolint students to declarethe Fifth Alumni World Reunionopen. The reunion was a greatsuccess, and I would like to takethis opportunity to thank every-

Sam JarrellPresident’s message

one who helped inany way whatever.In particular Iwould like to say abig thank you to,Vivian Hakkak,Sue & Eric Antho-ny, Jill Wolf, andDean Soldatoswho were themainstays of theorganising com-mittee.

I won’t wax lyricalabout the wonder-ful time we allhad. Others havedone that far betterthan I can else-

where in this “Newsletter”, andanyway if you were there youalready know all about it. If youweren’t then I can only urge youto try and attend the next worldreunion which all being well willbe held in 2009. If you can’t waitthat long the various ad hocchapters that exist all around theworld are planning a number ofevents. There will be Escaladedinners in Denver, Geneva, Lon-don, New York, Toronto, andWashington DC. Most notablythe Denver chapter is proposinga world reunion in July 2006, wewill keep you posted with detailsas they become available.

If reunions aren’t your thing youcan stay in touch by logging into our website at www.ecolint-alumni.ch. If you do visit pleasedo take the time to register in theDirectory it only takes a coupleof minutes and it helps us to keepin touch and provide a betterservice. You’ll also find instruc-tions for signing up for the threediscussion groups or listserves,ECOLINT, ALUMNI &FREESPEECH organised byalumni.

There is one aspect of this sum-mer’s reunion that I do want tocome back to though and that isthe Annual General Meeting. AsI wrote in the last “Newsletter”I have felt for some time we inGeneva need to do a better jobof staying in touch with theAlumni community around theworld than we do at the moment.An improved website, more fre-quent updates and a better online

database are just some of thingswe could use. Unfortunatelyfinancing this is becoming aproblem, The Association doesnot raise enough from its mem-bership fees to support its cur-rent activities. The largest butmost essential cost is the wageof our one part time employeewithout whom the associationwould probably cease to exist.Distributing the “Newsletter” isanother major cost; again onecould ask the question whether,in these days of electronic com-munication, a paper version ofthe “Newsletter” is really neces-sary. Personally I think for manyof our members it is but I wouldwelcome your opinions on this.

In the past the school, or moreexactly the Foundation, haskindly contributed to the costs ofrunning the Association but thishas been on an ad hoc basiswhich neither the school nor theAssociation was really happywith. For some time now theFoundation like many other pri-vate schools around the worldhas felt it could make better useof its Alumni network to raisefunds for some of the specialprojects that cannot be met by itsday to day operating budget. Onthe other hand the Association,which has maintained anddeveloped our database ofAlumni members, has been con-tinually struggling with itsfinancial difficulties. It is clearto me that to provide a betterservice for the alumni commu-nity we will have to find a betterway of collaborating with theschool. At the AGM this June Ipresented a draft memorandumof understanding between theFoundation and the AlumniAssociation which I had dis-cussed with Scott Lane thedevelopment director at thetime. For personal reasons Scottdecided to return to the USAwhere we wish him the verybest. This has meant that finalis-ing this memorandum has taken

a little longer than expected.Scott’s replacement MichaeleneStack, naturally has needed a bitof time to settle in. Nonetheless,I am happy to report that we havehad very constructive discus-sions on all the issues involvedand that a final version of thememorandum of understandingwill be available shortly. (Youcan download a copy of theMOU from the website; just fol-low the Newsletters & docs link)In essence, it will mean that, inexchange for our collaborationin their future fund-raisingefforts the Foundation will takeon some of the infrastructurecosts involved in servicing thealumni community, whichshould mean a better service foralumni everywhere.

As well as an alumnus of theschool, I am also a parent of acurrent student. My daughterhas just started her last year ofthe IB at La Grande Boissière.Because of this, my contactswith the school are probablymore immediate than manyalumni. It gives me great pleas-ure to report that the Internation-al School is in safe hands. Thenew Director-General, DrNicholas Tate, has been workinghard sorting out many of theadministrative problems thathave plagued the Foundation inrecent years. The confirmationof the schools re-accreditationwith the Council of IndependentSchool’s is all but complete.Construction of the new Cam-pus des Nations on a site inGrand Saconnex is well underway and plans to improve theexisting campuses are in theprocess of being finalised. It hasbeen quite a few years since theoutlook for the InternationalSchool has been this healthy, soI feel quite confident that thetime has come for a closer col-laboration between the AlumniAssociation and the school. �

Sam Jarrell

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Alumni T-shirtsWe have Alumni T-shirts and pens for sale. If anyone is interested in purchasing these souvenirs please contact theAlumni Office: [email protected] or telephone:+41 (0) 79.449.5043 �

Nous vendons des T-shirts et des stylos bille “Alumni”. Si vousêtes intéressés à acheter ce souvenir, merci de contacter le Bureaudes Anciens: [email protected] ou de téléphoner: +41 (0) 79.449.5043 �

9 NEWSLETTERP

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Swiss National Day 2004Sydney, AustraliaSydney Alumni held theirannual celebration of the SwissNational Day on 1 August 2004at the Eiger Restaurant, Sydney.

A good time was had by all!Below are two photos of ourreunion. �

Alex Buzo/62

l. to r.: Christine Sherwood Asani/80, Marcus Sherwood, Marcus’wife, Barbara, and Matt Balogh/79

Ann Tothill/79 and Marcus Sherwood/79

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Penelope Ford-Bezdikian/62, her husband Leon, Pierre-AlainHirschy/64 and Andrew/03.

Réunion à ParisSamedi 8 janvier 2005Je souhaiterais essayer de retrouver quelques camaradespour une petite fête à Paris sipossible. Afin d'organiser unesoirée retrouvailles des anciensde l'Ecolint à Paris, je proposela date du samedi 8 janvier 2005en soirée et un budget de 45Euros par personne. Tous lesintéressés sont priés de bienvouloir me faire parvenir leurs

réservations avant le 31 décem-bre 2004. Merci donc de pren-dre contact avec moi et à trèsbientôt. �

Jean-Marc Thomas/77

Tél. le soir: +33-(0)143060339Fax: +33-(0)147834085E-mail: [email protected]

Mini Reunion in MarylandPierre-Alain and his wife, Kim,had come to Baltimore to helpAndrew get settled in at theMaryland Institute of Fine Arts.It was during that trip in August

that they came to our home andwe had dinner together andgreat fun reminiscing about ourdays at Ecolint. �

Penelope

On the 25 May 2004, three“anciens” met in my home inDenmark. All three of us hadnot been together since we leftGeneva 64 years ago in June

1940, or soon thereafter.We were sorry that we were notable to attend the 17-20 June2004 Alumni Reunion. �

Hans von Bülow/40

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A rare Ecolint Reunion64 years later

From the left : Gudrun Friis (35-40), now Williams living in Mary-land, USA; Hans von Bülow (36-40) living in Charlottenlund, Den-mark, and Cécilia Walters (36-40), living in London, UK.

B.E.E.R. Year 2004Biggest Ever Ecolint Reunion

will take place in the calm, relaxing environment of thePickwick Pub

The date has been chosen especially for Alumni returning toGeneva from university and those based in Geneva – just an

enjoyable evening reminiscing over a pint.Thursday, 23 December 2004

all evening from approx. 9:00 p.m.See you there !

10NEWSLETTER

11 NEWSLETTER

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La Chât Campus News

Pour cette rentrée scolaire,nous accueillons à Mies 240élèves (9 classes primaires et 2classes secondaires.) Mies estdirigé par Mme Diana Smith.Sur le campus de la Châtaigne-raie, nous accueillons 340élèves dans les 15 classesprimaires dirigées par MmeWanda Matuszkiewicz. L'éco-le secondaire dirigée parM.Chris Binge scolarise 820élèves répartis en 41classes.Des travaux importants ont étéentrepris pendant l'été sur lecampus: rénovation d'une ailede l'ancien bâtiment sur deuxétages. Un nouveau laboratoi-

re de langues sera installé pro-chainement dans l'une des sal-les nouvellement refaites pen-dant les vacances d’automne.Le chantier du nouveau terrainde football sera terminé entemps voulu. Nous nousréjouissons de la séance inau-gurale en novembre. Une passerelle a été construiteà Mies pour permettre un accèsplus rapide et sécurisé sur l'ai-re de jeux en face de l'école. Denouveaux jeux ont été installéségalement sur ce terrain.Des travaux concernant lasécurité ont également étéréalisés. A La Ferme (départe-

ment de musique et école demusique), de nouveaux détec-teurs de fumée ont été installésainsi que dans le bâtiment pri-maire.Le concours d'architectes pourla construction d'une nouvellesalle de sport a été organisé. Unjury s’est réuni pour un sélec-tionner un projet. La procédu-re pourra prochainement com-mencer auprès du Conseil deFondation pour son accepta-tion puis des autorités cantona-les pour les autorisations.Sur le plan pédagogique, nosdeux écoles primaires à Mieset la Châtaigneraie ont obtenul'accréditation pour le pro-gramme primaire du Baccalau-réat International. Nous félici-tons les deux équipesprofessorales qui ont durementtravaillé pour obtenir cette

qualification. Nous félicitonségalement les professeurs etles élèves des excellents résul-tats au Baccalauréat Interna-tional (95%) et à la maturitésuisse (100%.) Il s’agissait dela première volée à préparer lanouvelle maturité. Pour préparer les futurs déve-loppements de l'école, le CDG(groupe de développement ducampus) se réunit chaque moissous la présidence de M. JohnTarpey. Je vous invite à consul-ter le site web pour suivre lestravaux de ce comité.Je vous invite à consulter éga-lement le site web de l’écoleainsi que la page du Directeurdu Campus qui sera régulière-ment mise à jour. �

Michel ChinalDirecteur du Campus

La Châtaigneraie Kermesse 2004 band.P

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Career Night – La Chât14 June 2005brings together representatives of many of the professions ourstudents are interested in for a “fair” like the College Fair. Stu-dents can circulate from “booth” to “booth” and talk (Frenchand English) in small groups or individually with our volunteerdoctors, lawyers, bankers, mechanics, nurses, graphic designers,and many more.We invite our Ecolint Alumni to volunteer for CareerNight/Soirée des Professions, 14 June, 2005, 7 – 9 p.m., in theSalle Polyvalente at La Châtaigneraie. This is a quick and reward-ing opportunity to inform and interest young people by talkingabout career paths, the pleasures and pains of careers, and howto prepare for fruitful work in the future. We ask our volunteersto provide a brief biography ahead of time so that we can createa directory for the fair, and we ask for a CV and/or a descriptionof your career path – university preparation, first job, and laterdirections. Some also like to provide a list of pluses and minus-es for their own careers. We do not plan any formal presenta-tions but leave lots of flexibility for the way you think your workis best presented.Contact: Anne Spencer, La Chataignerie Guidance on022.960.9118 and [email protected] �

AfricascopeOne of the challenges in inter-national education is to con-front some of the stereotypesthat are presented in the media.Actually this is a challenge inall educational systems but weseem to feel it more acutely inthe international sector. As weall know the stereotypes can bepresented in overt ways ormore subtly and perhaps moreaccidentally. The news mediafocus on the newsworthy andthe sensational and the sin ofomission makes it hard for oneto gather a broader picture.Africa suffers from this distor-tion of image, and it is possi-ble, indeed common, for stu-dents to gain a picture of Africawhich comprises only poverty,disease, war and starvation.

A group of teachers at La Châthave decided to devote a weekto the celebration and discus-sion of a wider concept ofAfrica. Afriscope, as we arecalling the project, takes placefrom Monday 15th Novemberto Friday 19th November andyou can see the draft pro-gramme from the “EarthFocus” website: www.earthfo-cus.org/ Africa%20week/africa_week.htm �

Chris BingeLa Châtaigneraie

Contacts:[email protected]@ecolint.ch

13 NEWSLETTER

LGB Campus NewsP

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Dear LGB Alumni,

The first term of school got offto a very positive start. New stu-dents and staff members are bynow well integrated in ourschool community.

Throughout the last school yearand during last summer, majorimprovements were carried outacross the campus to providesafer, more spacious and better-equipped facilities which aregreatly appreciated by theteachers, students and the par-ents.

Several committees were creat-ed last year to shape a numberof exciting major new projectsand also to address on-goingunresolved issues on campussuch as parking and circulation.The Committee dealing withthe Sports Field and Secondaryplay area projects, has hadnumerous meetings since thebeginning of the school year, to

define the project that will bestmeet the needs of the students.The Art Center working groupis also working very hard atfinding creative solutions thatwill allow the project to meetthe needs of the students at areasonable cost. Tangibleprogress has been made and wealready have draft plans to con-sider. The Parking and Circula-tion Committee has also met anumber of times to exploreways to improve the inevitabledifficulties related to parkingand circulation in and aroundthe Campus. All of the abovegroups report back to the LGBCampus Development Groupwhere the President of theAlumni Association, SamJarrell, is a co-opted member.The final specifications forthe aforementioned projectsshould be completed during thecourse of this year. The majorchallenge will then be deploy-ing an effective fundraisingstrategy so that we may realise

these projects for the benefit ofour students.

The Foundation Strategic Planis driving the Unit and CampusAction Plans for 2004/2005.For those of you who are notaware, each school and campusacross the Foundation, drew-upthese plans in order to pursuethe objectives set by the Foun-dation Strategic Plan. One ofthe focal objectives of the LGBaction plans is to address thecampus-wide need for betterarticulation, coherence andcontinuity between the units.The main areas being devel-oped this year are SpecialLearning Needs and ICT.

The first of three Pedagogicaldays for this year will be heldon Monday 1st November. Forthe Secondary School, the mainfocus for this day will be fol-lowing up the staff consultationexercise undertaken by the newPrincipal; analysing the currentstrengths and weaknesses andidentifying areas for develop-ment; setting priorities andestablishing, in collaboration

with the staff, a common direc-tion and vision for the future. Inthe Middle school, the staff willspend part of the day doingtraining in Atlas curriculummapping software and they willalso attend a half-day sessionon assessment and differentia-tion within the classroom. ThePrimary School PedagogicalDay will involve the continueddevelopment of Language andMath Curricula and the use ofnew Atlas curriculum mappingsoftware.

In closing, we would like tothank Madame Loïs Meyhof-fer, Alex Rodriguez-Giovo andother Alumni who participatedin making the 80th anniversarycelebration such a memorableoccasion. This celebration gaveus the opportunity to refer backto the origin of our school, itsever-living values and itsvision, helping us to betterunderstand why our school is sospecial. �

Jean-Guy CarpentierCampus Principal

October 2004

U. K. Stand LGB Kermesse Alan and Carole Sharpe havebeen helping with the U.K.stand – LGB Kermesse – forover 30 years; first of all withthe strawberries and cream andthen organising their own very

successful Pub. To celebrateAlan and Carole’s Kermesseretirement, Isabel Wise assem-bled present and former staff togive them a rousing “threecheers”. �

Career Day – LGB23 June, 2005Are you a scientist, an artist, a politician, a doctor, a linguist, a pro-fessor, an architect, a city planner, a banker, a businessman....?? We have held three very successful Career Days when many Alum-ni have helped our present students understand the professionalworld and achieve their goals! The LGB Guidance Department is again looking for profession-als in the Geneva area, or on visit to Geneva, who would be will-ing to come for a few hours to talk to our 11th and 12th grade stu-dents about their jobs, their career path, their rewards,disappointments and any other issue related to their profession.You could come to the school and discuss with the students, or youcould receive a group of supervised students at your workplace togive them a rundown on how things operate. If you are interested, please contact Beth Ballin/73 in the Guid-ance Department. E-mail: [email protected] or tel: 022787 2543 �

UNESCO’s Visual Arts Award 04It is with great pride that weannounce and congratulateMomar Seck, SecondarySchool Art Teacher, for thereceipt of UNESCO’s VISUALARTS AWARD 2004. Mr.Seck is one of four winners; hewill be receiving the award atthe end of December in Bama-ko, Mali. �

Ariela HakimPho

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What’s New With You?

Profile: Julie Bassam de laBarrera, née Bassam.Graduated from Ecolint in1990. Currently workingfor the InternationalCommittee of the RedCross in Khartoum, Sudan.

Fourteen years have passedsince I graduated from Ecolint.Coincidentally, this is exactlythe same number of years as Ispent at Ecolint. But how slow-ly those first fourteen yearswent, as I crawled up the rungsfrom kindergarten in 1976 to IBin 1990. Each year had its ownflavour, with different teachersand classmates and new skillsacquired. The learning curvewas vertiginous, especially inthe early years, as we pro-gressed from painting and past-ing to reading, writing and mul-tiplication, before soaring to thedizzy heights of higher mathand the history of the Enlight-enment. It is alarming to thinkhow much of all this I havespent the last fourteen years for-getting, years that have rushedby like as many months. I couldnot paint now to save my life,and as for determining x andy…

The first years after leavingschool were marked by a cer-tain natural chaos. Not knowingwhat I wanted to do, where, orwhy, I embarked on a path oftrying to do everything, at the

same time. Over the next sixyears I was to attend as manydifferent universities, in almostas many countries. It was fasci-nating and fun, even though atthe end I came out with just theone degree!

After a false start at the Univer-sity of Surrey in the UK, whereI tried to combine the pleasura-ble (languages) with the useful(law), I “went up” (as they say)to Oxford in October 1992 –following an unforgettable gap-year studying law at GöttingenUniversity in Germany – toindulge fully in the pleasurableand “read” (as they also say)Modern Languages for fouryears. While I had got in on thestrength of my French and Ger-man, I soon switched to Russ-ian and Spanish, for the chal-lenge. The four years flew like,well, four years of hard work,interspersed with long holidaysblissfully spent back homereading the set literature or trav-elling to some of the most far-flung places in Europe (and fewhave been flung as far as theUrals). Well versed in the theo-ry and able to discourse on therelative merits of Borges andBulgakov, the time had come tomaster the languages “as theyare spoke”. There ensued a hardwinter, enrolled at St Peters-burg State University in 1995,nicely rounded off by WhiteNights in that northern Venice.That summer I made my debutin the cut-throat world of busi-ness: selling freshly smokedsalmon to passing Trans-siber-ian passengers, somewhere onthe shores of Lake Baikal…

Later that year, keen to brush upmy Spanish before returning toOxford but anxious to avoid thetell-tale lisp, having successful-ly managed to shed my own, outcame the old rucksack againand off we set on a three-monthdiscovery of South America,taking in a few weeks of lec-tures at Montevideo universityon our way. In Chile, the further

south I travelled the more I real-ized I really was upside down,as the scenery began to look likeScotland, before slowly turninginto Iceland!

After surviving the ordeal offinal exams at Oxford, my firstthought was to go back to whatI felt had become my spiritualhome, Russia. However, loyal-ties were divided at this stage,as my boyfriend – now hus-band – was then working in acourt in a small town deep inrural Catalonia. To cut a longstory short(er), however, by theend of the year we were bothsettled in St Petersburg, Russia,doing a stint at a small yet vocif-erous NGO, defending therights of conscript soldiers inthe Russian Federation.

I remember an Ecolint Frenchteacher telling us one day thatwe would be surprised howmany of us would end up com-ing back to Geneva. And sureenough, in mid-1997 I returnedto the country where I was born,Switzerland, and where my par-ents were both still living. Bol-stered by my in-depth knowl-edge of 19th-century Spanishliterature and the history of theRussian language, I set aboutthe serious task of seeking whatthey call “a real job”. Some-thing international and not toocommercial sounded good. Aninternship in an NGO seemed apromising start, with freelancetranslating a reliable breadwin-ner on the side. So for a fewmonths I hopped around tryingto save the world from environ-mental catastrophe and doingmy bit to prevent torture, sup-plemented by the highly lucra-tive but mentally drainingtranslation of German inven-tion patents for an internation-al agency. Then, somewherealong the line, I heard fromsomeone I knew that they werelooking for English-languagewriters at the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross…

With my knowledge of EasternEurope and Latin America Iwas immediately put in theMiddle East and North Africadepartment, covering countriesthat, at that stage, I could hard-ly place on the map and withprotagonists whose names Icould not spell. Five years on,however, I had produced reamson the ICRC's work to promoterespect for humanitarian law

and protect and assist conflictvictims in each of the countriescovered, and visited a goodnumber of them. The high-points included: researching areport on the effect of sanctionson the Iraqi population in 1999;a spell in occupied southernLebanon in May 2000, fol-lowed by a claustrophobic vis-it to the Gaza Strip; the repatri-ation of a hundred Moroccanprisoners of war, detained incamps in the Western Saharasince 1977. On the other hand,I won't even try to calculate thenumber of hours spent behindthe computer in the office inGeneva, or the average numberof meetings attended per year!By 2004, I felt the time hadcome to see what working full-time for the Red Cross in thefield was really like.

So, in June this year we set offfor Khartoum, Sudan, on a one-year posting. This was a chanceto be part of the ICRC’s biggestoperation worldwide, to dis-cover a new culture and way oflife, and with luck to put intopractice the shaky and theoret-ical grounding in classical Ara-bic I had gained over four yearsof diligent, but seemingly vain,study back in Geneva. What alanguage! I suppose I havereached my original goal ofbeing able to read street signsand to explain that my surname,Arabic though it may sound, isactually of solid Anglo-Nor-man stock and stems from a dis-tant, mist-shrouded isle (in sim-pler vocabulary); but if only itdidn’t have so many differentwords, and such a wealth ofhomonyms! And as for certainconsonant sounds…

The work here is intense, asworld attention continues tobear down on Darfur, and ICRCactivities to alleviate the plightof the displaced and the war-wounded continue to grow.However, the pace of life in thecapital is as slow and as tranquilas the White and Blue Nilesthemselves, which majesticallyunite here in the tree-lined cen-tre of town. And now that therainy season is over and "win-ter" is not yet upon us, temper-atures are back to a dry anddusty 40°C, convincing youthat, indeed, there is no need tohurry, as bukra, tomorrow, isanother day, God willing. �

Just what have you been doing since you left the different campus-es? Have any novel and exciting things happened in your person-al and professional life? If so, please let us know and we will tryto include your contribution in a future edition of the Alumni‘Newsletter’.We start the ball rolling with news from Julie Bassam and as youwill see, Julie’s life has been rich and exciting!

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sam14NEWSLETTER

15 NEWSLETTER

Vichuquén

In the remote Chilean village ofVichuquén, as many as 450children from the Barrios ofSantiago, are given the remark-able opportunity to spend partof their summer in healthy sur-roundings, thanks to the leader-ship and support of Ecolint fac-ulty and students, past andpresent.

Initiated in 1990 by Chileannative Adair Stevenson, whotaught in Ecolint’s Early Child-hood Programme from 1974until retirement in 2001, theproject offers to city slum chil-dren a range of activitiesemphasizing recreation, sports,art, environmental awareness,healthy eating and hygienehabits, and personal growth.

The objectives of the Centre areto better the conditions ofunder-privileged children, byenhancing their social, psycho-logical development in a uniqueenvironment.

From the very beginning, theproject has relied on volunteersfrom Ecolint faculty and stu-dent body to supplement thework and contribution of localChilean volunteers who man-age the programme on site.

Selected students from the sec-ondary school and staff from alldepartments have visited thecentre and donated their labourand expertise.

Equally important,Ecolint has been theprimary source offinancial support forthe programme.

Some student’s im-pressions:Sophie V:”I deeplyadmire these childrenfor being able to be soopen and trusting tome. I have changed somuch it is unbelievable

…I am more patient, more tol-erant, more often in a goodmood”.Jacqueline P: “I came back veryattached to these children whohad so much to give and so lit-tle materially”.Philippe B: “It was an eye open-ing experience for me. Comingback I questioned my way oflife”.Lissie G: “The trip to Chile wasa great experience and one thatI would recommend to any-one”.Maike K: “This was defiantlyone of the most exciting, inter-esting and best experiences ofmy life”.Alice V: “This trip made me dis-cover things about me that Inever imagined”.Rafael J: “A world with a hid-den antiquity in its naturalsplendour. Some have called itVichuquén”.

How can you help?• You can participate in sup-

porting fundraising effortsthrough the Student Councilor other activities with thispurpose.

• Express your support forVichuquén to other Grantcommittees of Ecolint.

• Come spend some time at thecamp.

• Individual contributions toAssociation des Enfants deVichuquén, CCP: 87-427457-7�

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dair

Ste

vens

on

Aux Amis de KharikholaAndré Sauthier, Frédéric Schoe-nahl, Nicole Thouroude et leSherpa Sher vous remercient devotre présence lors du diapora-ma du mardi 7 septembre à l'E-cole Internationale de Genève.Un grand merci à l'école de nousavoir permis d'occuper une sal-le!Soirée chaleureuse avec peu departicipants....mais, ce soir-là 8enfants ont trouvé des parrains etmarraines.

Toute ma reconnaissance à voustous et avec l'espoir que vousallez m'aider à continuer à déve-lopper ce projet Santé et Educa-tion dans un village de montagneau Népal abritant 2.500 habitantset 400 enfants à éduquer. �

Nicole Thouroude/2003

Contact:[email protected]@kharikhola.orgTél.: +33/6.88.55.93.75

Earth FocusOne Planet - One Commu-nityProduced by Young PeopleFor Young People of AllAges

Published by the Bellerive Foun-dation in association with theInternational School of Genevaand the Old City PublishingGroup

www.earthfocus.orgEARTH FOCUS SEEKS

ALUMNI SUPPORTThe Earth Focus initiative beganin 1992, through a partnershipbetween students and teachers ofthe International School inGeneva and Bellerive Founda-tion, as a simple newspaper. Itwas conceived as a voice foryoung people, to empower themand stimulate positive action –encouraging young people tobecome involved in key local andglobal issues. It has evolvedsteadily and is now a polishedand respected magazine with asteadily growing circulation, andis published quarterly. It pro-vides young people throughoutthe world with a forum for dis-cussion and a catalyst for action,and has been described as “oneof the hardest hitting environ-mental publications in circula-tion at the moment”. *

A key and continuing feature of“Earth Focus” has been its prepa-ration by young people them-selves, the articles, artwork, lay-out are all worked on by studentsof the International School ofGeneva in conjunction with oth-er contributing schools, thus pro-viding students and teacherswith an international forum forthe exchange of ideas and aresource base.

Thanks to the kind support of thelate Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan,the Bellerive Foundation hasfinancially supported “EarthFocus” over the years. The mag-azine is circulated around theWorld to International Schoolsand to the UNESCO AffiliatedSchools.

EARTH FOCUS would like youto become an InternationalSchool of Geneva Alumni Sup-porter.

For CHF 250 per annum thisincludes:• A year’s subscription to the

magazine.• Mention of your name on the

alumni supporter page in eachissue of the magazine.

• A Class Pack of 25 copies, 4times per annum to be sent inyour name to the most needyschools in the worldwideUNESCO Associated SchoolProgramme.

Or you could make a one-yearindividual subscription of “EarthFocus” to be sent to:25 UNESCO Associatedschools: CHF 450.0050 UNESCO Associatedschools: CHF 750.00100 UNESCO Associatedschools: CHF 1,800.00 �

For further information pleasecontact: Earth Focus Magazine6, chemin Sous CherreCH-1245 Collonge-BelleriveTelephone +41 22 349 50 05Fax +41 22 349 50 77E.mai: [email protected]

* Earth Times

Soirée RacletteMercredi 6 avril 2005, soirée raclette aux Armures à Genève.Venez nombreux!Pour toute information, veuillez prendre contact avec le Bureaudes Anciens. �

16NEWSLETTER

Mrs Jean BlackbournHaving retired in June 2003, Jean unfortunately did not have longto enjoy life after La Châtaigneraie, as she died on 8 July 2004.Her many students, and all the teachers she worked with, will havefond memories of her and her delightful sense of humour.Her love of books and music started at a very early age, and shecertainly knew how to transmit this love to others. She startedteaching at La Chât in 1980 and whether working in the LearningSupport unit or in the Music Department, or as an EFL/ESL teacherfor the FLP, she managed to make learning fun. When thinking ofher, names like Mary Poppins and the Pied Piper spring to mind.Our heartfelt sympathy goes to her husband, Graham, her motherand all her many friends. �

Carole Sharpe, with thanks to Roman Tomczak/2004

� �Mrs Vivianne Edwards - InstoneFormer secretary of the school, who came to Geneva this summer toattend the Reunion – and especially Nita Quin’s tea party in memo-ry of Michael, died suddenly on 7 August 2004 in England. Our sin-cere condolences to her family and friends.

� �Camilla HewittChristine Kjellberg/56 informed us that her friend and classmateCamilla Hewitt/54 sadly died of cancer on 19 July 2004. She wasin school from 1953-54. �

� �Mrs Evelyn (Mac) JarrellThe Jarrells, Ecolint and the Sharpes go back a long way. Andywas in my first serious Physics class, then there was Sam and now

it is Sam's daughter, Sophie, who is doing the running. Jean hadalready left when we arrived and Michael was to take a differentpath.

As well as a parent, however, I remember Mac best in her role as asupport industry - particularly as Wardrobe Mistress for theschool's theatrical productions. One particular memory is theopening night of a staff production of "The Importance of BeingEarnest". The producer, Rod Price, had taken the huge risk ofgiving me a speaking part. As I waited nervously to go on stage, itwas noticed that a very important button was missing from mycostume. Embarrassment for all, including Oscar Wilde, wasavoided as Mac was there with her needle and thread and afterrummaging in a magic biscuit-tin, managed to find just the rightbutton. This was Mac - never in the spotlight, but always standingquietly in the wings, making sure everything ran smoothly.

Many will remember Mac for her time in the library, workingalongside Peter Gras and Charlotte Leighton, where she obviouslyenjoyed her contact with young people. To our family, however, itwas her time as "Bookroom Lady" that meant so much. From theseventies up until the nineties Mac was the Bookroom. Memory,organization and patience were required and she had all three. Thiswas the true digital age, before computers, but with Mac in charge,everything ran smoothly. Our younger son, Tim, was involved inthe hectic pre-school task of unloading, counting and distributingthe books and he remembers her fondly as one of the best bosseshe has ever had, but it was Carole who truly appreciated thesequalities of management, working alongside Mac when La Châ-taigneraie opened its own Bookroom. She admits quite freely thatshe could not have managed without Mac's advice, support andinvaluable help. A request for an unusual item posed no problem -if Mac did not have it in stock, she would know where to find itand the order would be delivered on time. Alongside all her otherduties in the Bookroom, Mac managed to continue her love of theArts, as she sold tickets and acted as Front-of-House Manager forthe school's many musical and theatrical performances.

In Memoriam

Winter Music ConcertAn open letter to all mem-bers of the InternationalSchool of Geneva Commu-nity.

Students, Parents, Staff, Alum-ni. As in past years the musicdepartment at La Chât is organis-ing a winter concert to take placein the Tempest Theatre at 17.00on Sunday 12th December. Thisyear we would like to include asmany students and adults fromthe entire International SchoolCommunity.We have invited a special guestScott Stroman who has workedwith some of our students, staffand parents in the past and is com-ing to prepare a performance ofhis composition “Songs of theSpirit” which will be accompa-nied by a professional orchestra.We are making a special effort this

year to include as many studentsin this performance as possible. Ifyour child would like to sing inthe choir we are making arrange-ments to have rehearsals at“YOUR” campus. We are alsoencouraging, Teachers, Parentsand Alumni to come and join usand very little time is demandedof you as we are well aware ofbusy schedules particularly at thistime of year. I will prepare a CDand sheet music that has yourvoice part on it (Soprano, Alto,Tenor or Bass) so that you can allpractice this in your own time athome, in the shower or in the car,the most important is that youhave fun with it.YOU CAN HELP ME. As anadult, parent, friend of the com-munity, teacher, administrator,NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCEIS NECESSARY. Please come

along and join us you will beamazed at how much you canenjoy this. You will be workingwith one of the world’s leadingmusicians, someone who regular-ly conducts the London Philhar-monic orchestra, Director of JazzStudies at the prestigious Guild-hall School of Music and Dramain London and who is such aninspirational leader and person. Iwill have a CD prepared for youby the end of the October, whichyou can purchase for a sum of 5francs for the CD and sheet music.You will have a version with yourown part (either soprano, alto,tenor or bass) and a copy of themusic.If you have never done thisDON'T BE SCARED !! You cando it. Ask any of the parents orteachers who have done it before

and they will tell you just what funit can be. Don't forget to encour-age your children as well. It real-ly can be a unique experiencewhere entire families can partici-pate. If you have any friend or col-leagues that you think might beinterested then please try toencourage them to come and joinus as well. They will then be ableto see how we work at “The Inter-national School of Geneva” andhow the community is so impor-tant to us.I really do hope to see as many ofyou as possible come and join us.Remember if you can't make itmake sure that your sons ordaughters can.I, on behalf of my colleagues inthe music department look for-ward to welcoming you all. �

John Aram

Information on rehearsals and registration form canbe found on the school web site:

www.ecolint.ch

17 NEWSLETTER

When histories are written, it is all too easy to overlook the contri-bution of people like Mac, who made that history possible. I knowother colleagues agree with me that she was a truly gentle ladywho was more interested in hearing about others than in talkingabout herself - more of a listener than a talker - but when youneeded her, she was there. Thank you, Mac. �

Alan Sharpe/2004

� �Mme Colette Rohrbach-WeltzA Colette Rohrbach, cette éducatrice atypique, qui déclencha desvocations et marqua fortement les esprits de ceux qui eurent lebonheur de la rencontrer.

Chère Colette,J’étais frais émoulu de l’E.N.I. de Bourg-en-Bresse, lorsque jedébarquai un matin d’octobre 1965 (t’en souviens-tu?) dans taclasse de première année, au temps où “Les Marronniers” étaientun paradis dans un écrin de verdure.Ce fut alors comme un rayon de soleil révélateur sur le chemin demes premiers pas professionnels. Ce fut comme une évidence quis’imposait à moi. Je sus à l’instant même que ma vocation d’édu-cateur venait de naître et qu’elle guiderait désormais ma vie.Où que tu sois, dans les limbes ou déjà dans ta vie nouvelle, reçoisce message d’affection et de gratitude.

Mon lointain souvenir de ta classe de premièreEst un havre serein, de calme et de lumière,D’enfants heureux, actifs, libres, émerveillés,D’âmes épanouies et d’esprits éveillés.Ici et là, au centre, aux quatre coins, partout,Tu étais si présente à chacun et pour tous!D’humeur égale, légère, en gestes économesTu donnais sans compter à tous ces petits d’hommeTon amour et ta grâce et ton souffle de vie,En échange de quoi, chacun selon l’envie,Exprimait de soi-même le produit, la liqueurD’une alchimie secrète de l’esprit et du cœur.Colette aux mains de fée cueillait la quintessence,L’infusant en retour en manière de semenceA tous ces affamés d’apprendre et de connaître.

L’auto-éducation était son dessein maître. �Georges Grandjean, ancien professeur d’Ecolint

� �Robert Judson LeachPersonal tribute to an IB founding fatherWith the death of Bob Leach 17 April 2004 the world of interna-tional education has lost one of its doughtiest champions, and theInternational Baccalaureate one of its founding fathers and mostconsistent advocates.When I met Bob in 1961 he was already well established as headof the history department at the International School of Geneva,Switzerland, teaching what he insisted on calling “internationalinternationalism”. By 1962 he was off on a one year leave ofabsence visiting schools and educational authorities throughout theworld, promoting the idea that teaching history should be based oninternational rather than national perspectives. In the 1960s thisidea, now so widely current, was not generally acceptable; but Bobalways relished being the prophet of unpopular ideas, and thisindeed was a role that he pursued throughout his long life.His initiative of 1962 was in many ways the genesis of the Interna-

tional Baccalaureate. At that time some of us considered it self-evident that as more international schools were being establishedin the context of the growth of political and economic globalization(not then the contentious issue it has since become), an educationalsystem based on Bob’s concept of international internationalismwas essential. Moreover, it was equally self evident, in Bob’sperspective, that the teaching of history in line with his conceptmust be at the core of any system that might be developed.In a remarkably short time a fledgling International BaccalaureateOrganization became operational, for which a history syllabus andexamination programme were trialled and then adopted at theInternational School of Geneva. Bob was deeply involved in theseearly developments in the late 1960s and early 1970s together withother founding fathers such as Alec Peterson, Robert Blackburnand Gérard Renaud, not to mention the distinguished historian, AsaBriggs.For the first 25 years of the IB, as it grew into the paramountinternational educational organization it is today, Bob remained atthe heart of developments in what was considered the “core”history programme. This period was enlivened by his naturaltendency to have eccentric as well as visionary ideas, and he wascapable of being rather single-minded should one of these ideas bechallenged. I recall an occasion when his cherished formulation“international internationalism” was criticized as “oxymoronic” byan unsuspecting delegate at an IB development conference. Theincandescence of his reply was of such a spectacular intensity thatI subsequently wondered whether perhaps Bob had missed theinitial “oxy-“. However, another of his endearing characteristicswas that the flames quickly died down, giving way to a moregently Quakerish sweetness and light. In this particular case thesweetness and light was accompanied by a self-deprecating giggleand the sotto voce aside: “that showed him”.Bob always seemed to me an archetypical American New Englan-der of the Martha’s Vineyard persuasion. After his retirement in1984 he spent much time on that island near Boston researchingand published on the Quaker-led New England whaling industry,in the process establishing himself as a local character. As aPresbyterian convert to the Society of Friends at an early age hewas always consistent to the Friends’ values. I hope not to bemisunderstood in mentioning that this very often made himuncomfortably uncompromising in his views. He would neverhave countenanced saying or doing any thing in which he did notstrongly believe. But the fact that on more than one occasion hewas deeply wrong in his assessment of a situation sometimes led tothe engendering of enmities: however, I do not believe that anyonecould remain his enemy for long, such was the essential charity ofhis nature.Throughout his life Bob kept a daily journal, which he assiduouslyre-wrote and perfected in his retirement years. I have no doubt thathe kept this going right to the end, and from what he has said to meabout it at various times it is a candid commentary of his own andothers’ faibles. It would be fascinating to read this self-observedlife story should a careful (and legally well-advised) editor evermanage to bring it into the public domain!Just a couple of weeks before he died Bob telephoned me from hisnursing home near his beloved Morgins in the Valais mountains, inSwitzerland. It was quite typical of him that he was positive andforward looking; in fact the main object of the call was to ask meto get some books for him to send to a friend. Equally characteris-tic was his blunt remark that since he knew he only had a fewweeks left he thought it would be nice to have a chat. That wide-ranging chat went on for nearly an hour. He was a dear anddistinguished man, and I shall miss him. �

Michael Knight/99Reproduced with permission from “IB World” - August 2004

In Memoriam (suite)

18ALUMNI NEWS

Samuel Ross/37 - Hender-son, Nevada <[email protected]>“I received the “Newsletter”and found it very interesting. Iam writing a book about mylife with particular emphasison living with children andanimals. I began at GreenChimneys the day after Igraduated from college in1948. I must have been astudent at La Chât around1937. I left abruptly becauseof the talk of the war and awarning to my parents to getme back to the USA. I was theyoungest child in the school at

the time. I can still remembera great deal about it. Now Ican add in the book that theschool exists today. As I readthe “Newsletter” I got theimpression that there wereclasses for children withspecial needs. As you nowprobably realize, GreenChimneys residential and dayschool is all special education.Thanks for the “Newsletter”and the other information youshared.”

Jean-Marc Thomas/77 –Paris, France<[email protected]>

“Pensionnaire à la Châtaign-eraie en 1976-77, je souhait-erais essayer de retrouverquelques camarades pour unepetite fête à Paris si possible.Afin d'organiser une soiréeretrouvailles des anciens del'Ecolint à Paris, je propose ladate du samedi 8 janvier 2005en soirée et un budget de 45Euros par personne. Tous lesintéressés sont priés de bienvouloir me faire parvenir leursréservations avant le 31décembre 2004. Merci doncde prendre contact avec moiet à très bientôt.”Jean-Marc Thomas Tél. le soir: ++33-(0)143060339Fax: ++33-(0)147834085

Agnès Fiamma/96 – Sowe-to, South Africa <[email protected]>“I am looking for an E-mailaddress of one of my formerclassmates - the one I have nolonger works and I thought hemight have updated it withyou. He was at La Chât in1990 and his name is JulianHunt.”

Frederic Aranda/98<[email protected]>“I graduated from La Châ-taigneraie in ’98. I am nowworking as a professionalfashion photographer and mywebsite is www.fredericaran-da.com”

La Châtaigneraie

La Grande Boissière 1950-59Álvaro Rey de Castro/56 –Lima, Peru<[email protected]>“I was in Ecolint in the Eng-lish section between 1952 and1956, with an interruption in1954, year that we spent inPeru. My classmates were:Walter Lammi (with whom Ihave contact), Robert Cheva-lier, Jody Robinson, AlexPokrowsky, Alexa Kaplan,Deborah Wise, and Peggy (?).I would like to establishcontact with them. Can you help me?I visited the web page and wasvery moved when I saw theGreek amphitheatre which wehelped to build and which weinaugurated.”

Christine Kjellberg/56 –Florida, USA <[email protected]>Brent Taylor , Mike Cavallonand I are looking for SigfriedDietrich, Robin Miller, SheilaCornell and Dennis Covel. Ifanyone knows of their where-abouts, please contact me.

Jacquie RichardsonBurt/59 – San Diego, USA< [email protected]>“Greetings from California!I'm presently working, withtwo colleagues, on puttingtogether a DVD on the fires ofOctober 2003 that ravaged alarge percentage of San DiegoCounty. We hope to have the

DVD out soon and to sell theproduct for about $10.00. Allthe proceeds from the sales,going directly to victims ofthe fires, many of whom, oneyear later are seeing their 'rent'money run out, (insurancerules), and many of whomhave not been able to rebuilddue to lack of funds, beingunderinsured, having noinsurance (hard to obtain insome rural areas) etc.So if anyone in the largeEcolint family would like toobtain one of the DVDs theycan contact me and I will tellthem how to go about it.Thanks.”

1960-69Muriel Norcross/61 – LaVarenne, FranceMuriel cherche à joindreMarie-Louise Norlin. Si vousconnaissez ses coordonnées,veuillez en informer le Bureaudes Anciens.“Marie-Louise était du côtéanglais et moi du côté fran-çais. Nous avons toutes deuxhabité chez une famille prèsde l’école, à savoir chez M. etMme Bucher. C’était en1959-60.”

Alex Buzo/62 – Sydney,Australia<[email protected]>We in the Alumni Office heardthat Currency Press wasputting on a special birthdaytribute evening for Alex at the

Stables Theatre, Sydney, on15 August 2004:“The 60th birthday tributeconsisted of a team of 8 actorsdoing extracts from my playsand books, and it was a greatday (although I would saythat, of course). One of theplays, Makassar Reef, has anEcolint alumna as one of themajor characters, and mydaughter Emma, did a greatjob portraying her (although Iwould...etc.). It was alsogratifying to see Sandy Gorereprising some of her rolesover the years. She's playedthe lead in many of my playsand may be familiar to somealumni through her films (herex-husband is George Miller,the one who made Babe andthe Mad Max series).”

“On December 3 Allen andUnwin are publishing mycricket book Legends of theBaggy Green, a social historyof the game. Chapter 19 iscalled Memories of Develop-ment, and it deals with mytime at Ecolint, playing for theschool and then Switzerland atthe athletic field near the Garedes Eaux-Vives.

One should be careful aboutmaking extravagant claims,but I think this is the firstcricket book to mention Cathyvon Sternberg/62!”

Shankar Kumar/62 – NewDelhi, India<[email protected]>“Having spent my childhood

in Geneva (1947-62) and mycollege days and initial careerin England (1962-72), Ireturned to India in 1973. Ihave worked for variousmultinational corporations asan electronic engineer/manag-er and am now looking afteran instrumentation factory justoutside New Delhi. I used tokeep in touch with the infa-mous Upper Sixth Form classof ‘62 but have regrettably lostcontact with most.”

Liz Frank/63 – New York,USA<[email protected]>From Riva Freifeld/61: “Justgot back from Liz Frank’sreading at "Three LivesBookstore" in GreenwichVillage of part of her newnovel "Cheat and Charmer"(Random House). A largecrowd was packed into thetiny space of this outstandingindependent bookstore. Lizread from the first chapter ofher novel in which the maincharacters are introduced.Just as in real life, the compli-cated characters are women!!…… but this is definitely awomen's book that men willenjoy!”

Rock Brynner/63 – NewYork, USA< [email protected]>“In the past year I've madethree trips to Russia, and nextyear my new book will bepublished in the U.S. "Empireand Odyssey: The Brynners inFar East Russia" is both thehistory of the Brynners and

19 ALUMNI NEWS

the history of Russia since1855. And, in the coming yearI hope to marry my sweet-heart, Olya, from Vladivostok,where my family lived inRussia. You can see moreabout this at www.rockbryn-ner.com”(Congratulations Rock -Editor)

Jim Miller/65 – Texas, USAJim would like to locate thefollowing alumni :Fielding Miller, Sandra Hoff-man, Allen Daley, JohnCarson, Joe Fuller andFrances Regis. Please contactJim via Glynda Hale [email protected]

Nicette Pinto-Bera/68 –Hong Kong“I am quite frequently intouch with Max Ma/72. WhenI first arrived in Hong Kong, Ibumped into two Ecolintstudents, Lina Tang and MarkNitta/67. What a small world! I have been living here nowfor the past 33 years and haveloved and enjoyed every bit ofit. It has been a most fulfill-ing and interesting life. I ammarried and have 3 grown upchildren. It's been so many years since Ileft Ecolint but the happymemories remain forever.They were wonderful yearsand I can say that the multi-international education that Ihave been so lucky to acquirethere has helped me all alongwith both my social andprofessional life. I assist myhusband in his company andmostly deal in the real estateand financial sectors . I often think, as I travelaround the world, of mygeography teacher Mr.Thomas. Such a wonderfulperson with an equally fabu-lous personality..... and thenthere was Mr. O'Donovan myFrench teacher, Mr. Knightour history teacher, the Ameri-can couple Mr. & Mrs. Piercewho taught us well before ourGCE exams and Mme Poirel.All this seems so far away yetstill so present. Again thanks for contactingme.”

Susan Cox/70 - Umbria,Italy<[email protected]>“After leaving Ecolint in 1970I studied at the University ofToronto (B.Sc. 1973) and then

Columbia University, NYC(M.Arch 1977). Followingthat a diploma from theCollège d’Europe in Bruges inarchitectural and urban con-servation (1978).I live in Umbria, Italy, in anold farmhouse in the country.Married in 1978, my husband,Massimo, is Italian. (A neu-rologist in family practice.)No children. After havingworked in civil engineering(commuting to Rome for 15years) I am now growing fruitand olives, working on botani-cal illustrations (watercolourand pastel) and learning thetechniques of abyanga. Theselast two interests have grownas my husband has increasing-ly relied on alternative medi-cine, phytotherapy andayurveda in particular.”

1970-79Bob Ackerman/72 – Dal-las, USA<[email protected]>You can request the Acker-mans singing Jimmy DaleGilmore's "Dallas From aDC9", currently in the top 10at Whole Wheat Radio.

Carol Schillios/71 – Seatt-le, USA<[email protected]>Carol lives in Seattle and herSchillios Consulting Groupcelebrates 20 years servingcredit unions worldwide.Through her foundation(Fabric of Life), Carol makesgrants to cooperative develop-ment projects around theglobe. On her property inBamako, Mali, West Africa,she's opened a training centerfor disabled women who learnskills to help themselvesbecome economically inde-pendent. You can check outother projects on her website:www.schillios.com(Carol was very sorry to havemissed the reunion, but herfather passed away in March.Our sincere condolences tothe Schillios family, who usedto be our wonderful neigh-bours in Geneva - Editor).

Jaime Bendeck/74 – UK<[email protected]> “I have written a manuscript‘Be a doctor in a war. Angolachronicle in extremis’.I should very much appreciateit if an alumnus/alumna wouldkindly read the manuscriptwith a view to publishing it, or

at least point me in the rightdirection by suggestingsomeone whom I couldcontact.I have notes from my world-wide work including ‘observa-tions on the dentist with onearm, and his assistant’. I hopethat we receive some positivereplies to either c/o the Alum-ni Office [email protected] to me at [email protected] Thank you.”(Jaime worked for many yearsfor ‘Médecins Sans Fron-tières’- Editor)

Nicholas Marshi/75 – LosAngeles, USA <[email protected]>“After moving to the USA in1975, and getting both a BAand an MA, I decided theacademic world was not in myfuture. I married Sally in ‘82and immediately started acareer with Citicorp in Inter-national Banking. We werefirst in Athens, then Dubai,too briefly in Puerto Rico (thatlovely island), and finallyLondon. I moved on to aBritish bank Kleinwort Ben-son in order to set some rootsdown in England. Of course,KB moved us to Los Angeles,in 1987, where we've beenever since. After 3 years ofbeing a merchant banker, Istruck out on my own to setup Kensington Capital, toundertake leveraged buy-outsof companies in SouthernCalifornia. We travel exten-sively and I play a lot oftennis and soccer once aweek, despite degeneratingknees (I have not improvedbut it's a highlight of theweek). We love SouthernCalifornia and expect to stayhere indefinitely. I keep upwith Andrew Malakoff/75,who lives in Seattle, but haveotherwise lost touch with allmy classmates.”

Amy Goodwin/78 – Chica-go, IL, USA <[email protected]>“I came back to Ecolint to seethe old campus. Everythingabout the school came flood-ing back with wonderfulmemories of my time spenthere. I continue to fly forAmerican Airlines and live inChicago, IL.”

1980-89Fati Azadgoo-Nellessen/80 – Irvine, CA,USA<[email protected]>“Hi Mrs.Anthony,This is Fati Azadgoo from 25years ago. I was thinkingabout you, Mr.Anthony, theboys and your mom. I couldnever thank you enough foryour support through all thosetough years. I am married to aAmerican named John and wehave 3 children. We live inIrvine, Southern California. Infact this is where I have beenliving since I left Switzerland. I graduated from Cal StateFullerton in microbiology anddid research for a while. I ama stay home mom now. Wouldlove to hear from Alumni.”

Lisa Cirieco-Ohlman/81 –GenevaLisa has written two booksand is self-published! Theyare :1) “Know-it-all parents”www.knowitall.chGuide to the area that ispublished every 2 years. Thecurrent edition is the 4th oneso far and has quite a reputa-tion in the Geneva/Vaud areas.It is over 500 pages of infor-mation and addresses forparents of children 0-18 years.It is sold at all the bookshopsin Geneva as well as a few inLausanne and Vevey.

2) “Spikie Mikie”www.knowitall.ch“I have just published a newbilingual children's book!Spikie Mikie is a cactus whovisits Geneva, Lausanne, andthe Mont-Blanc Mountain inan effort to rid himself of hisneedles. In English and inFrench, this delightful bookalso has some activities forchildren (and their parents!).”

Pascale Mompoint-Gaillard/81 – Montpellier,FranceAprès avoir vécu 7 ans auxUSA, Seattle, Washington,Pascale est de retour enFrance avec sa famille: sonmari Alain, frère de Domi-nique, ancienne de l’Ecolintcomme elle.

Mark Jennings/82<[email protected]>Mark and his wife, Vienna, havejust completed their first yearof a three-year posting in

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20ALUMNI NEWS

Yaounde, Cameroon. Theymanaged to visit Geneva forMartin’s 40th birthday in Sep-tember on their way to R and Rin Texas and Mexico and spentmore time here on their returnto Cameroon. Mark would loveto catch up with more oldfriends, especially alumni nearhis present location, and can becontacted at [email protected]

Martin Jennings/83<[email protected]> is following in Mum’s footstepsand is appearing in pantomimeas “the Dame”.

Father, Don, is still coachingbasketball with excellentresults. He and Jo continue bat-tling with their hectare of landin the Haute Savoie and will bevisiting Yaounde in Decem-ber/January<[email protected]>

Alexander Smouha/84 –Washington, DC, USA<[email protected]>who currently lives outsideWashington, DC, is organiz-ing the regional 2004 EcolintEscalade Reunion, which willtake place in Washington inDecember. He encourages allalumni living in Washington,Virginia, Maryland andPennsylvania to contact himfor further details.Also, he encourages alumni tocontact him if they are seekingwork, as the company forwhich he works in McLean,VA, has over 400 job open-ings!

1990-2004Jennifer McDermott/91 –Geneva<[email protected]>“Hello all,I graduated in 1991 from LGBand am now a member of staffin the Middle School at LGB.I was married in 2003 to

Kilian Schalk, whom I'veknown since university,making me one of a relativelysmall but growing group ofwomen who married VassarMEN (the cliché is the 'Vassargirl'; the College became co-ed in 1969 but its reputationas a top-notch women'scollege is so firmly estab-lished that many people stillhaven't absorbed that fact). Ialso earned a BA in Geogra-phy-Anthropology fromVassar, in 1995. My thesisexamined the phenomenon ofMcDonald's in Europe. Now I teach part-time in theMiddle School at LGB andwrite/edit on a freelance basis.Projects have included ananthology of writing fromGeneva, a Guide to GreekWine, radio spots, and theFodor's Guides to Switzerlandand Europe. I've also pub-lished a small number ofpoems and essays. My hus-band lives in New York, wherehe works for The New YorkerMagazine, so I now split mytime between Geneva and theBig Apple. Would love to re-establish contact with class-mates in either place.”

Dorette Garba/98 – Douala, Cameroon“When I left Ecolint, I wenton to Belgium where I attend-ed the International School ofBrussels for 8 years beforegoing back to my homecountry, Cameroon. I have aBSc in Law and I'm currentlyworking in a company calledDouala1 in the city of Doualawhich is the economic capitalof Cameroon. It is my greatestwish that through the Alumniwebsite I will be able to regaincontact with my old class-mates.”

Toutes nos felicitations à:

• Linsey and Wilfred de Guzman/94, a baby daughter, AnnaClaire, born in Geneva on 6 November 2004.

• Carrie Green-Eccleston/90 and Ian Eccleston, a daughter,Frances Josephine, born in Chicago, IL, on 27 October 2004.

• Hilary and Alex Aziz/89 (La Chât.) are very pleased toannounce the birth of our daughter, Megan Tarana, on 15 Sep-tember 2004 in Geneva.

• Susan Gill-Heyworth/82 and Peter Heyworth, a baby girl,Annabelle Grace, born in Bunbury, Western Australia, on 6September 2004.

• Sarah de Guzman-Furner/91 and Matthew Furner, a secondchild, Ella Paris, born on 8 July 2004.

• Mehra and David Rimer/86 are pleased to announce the birthof their second child, a son, Manouchehr, on 6 July 2004 inGeneva.

• Capucine Neuprez-Lyons/94 and Ian Lyons, a son, Elliot Emer-son, born in Los Angeles, CA, on 15 February 2004. �

Félicitations à:

• Laurie Bruton/72 and Nicolas Chauvet/73 married in Genevaon 6 October 2004.

• Edward Upstell/90 married Jo Fairey on 18 September 2004in West Hoathly, Sussex.

• Eric Fevre/93 (La Chât) married Katie Hamilton on 4 Septem-ber 2004, in Niton, Isle of Wight, UK. They are currently liv-ing in Edinburgh.

• Alma de Guzman/2000 married Tom Hiatt in Provo, Utah, on14 August 2004.

• Jonathan de Guzman/98 married Jasmin Garcia in Ithaca, NY,on 29 May 2004.

• Agnes de Guzman/90 married Antonio Borges in Alter doChao, Portugal, on 22 May 2004. �

Naissances

Mariages

Your Newsletter Team:Layout:

Stéphane & Kaarina/90 Lorenzini(-Rodríguez Campoamor)

Translations: Editing:Donate Dobbernack/63 Sue Anthony@

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Alumni Newsletter Autumn 2004

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