Dear friends,
Today I'd like to forward an important letter, which was sent to all
members of RI. Anyway, I would be glad if somebody of you would be
interested in this subject. Please feel free to contact your domestic RP
society. For furhter questions Dave Waldron and me are available.
We need your activity. Go ahead and get things started.
Regards,
Markus

To: All members of Retina International
From: Christina Fasser, President
Dave Waldron, Management Committee
Markus Georg, Chairperson Retina Europe Youth

Dear Friends,

The life of any young person is filled with the challenges of education,
career, relationships and other issues, which create a certain amount of
stress. Add to this the diagnosis of a progressive visual impairment,
and the situation becomes even more difficult. Young visually impaired
people can become overtaxed with uncertain expectations for the future,
and they find that their choice of careers and ability to participate in
social and sporting events changes dramatically, often leading to
diminished self-confidence.

Retina Europe Youth was initiated in Berlin, 1999, to provide the
opportunity for visually impaired young people to meet others in a
similar situation and to share their experiences, develop friendships
and visit other countries.

The Retina Europe Youth group meets annually in a chosen member country
and communicates regularly between meetings via e-mail, website, printed
youth magazine and camps/holidays. It is hoped that it will expand into
a Retinal International Youth group in preparation for the 2004 Retinal
International Congress in the Netherlands.

At a recent meeting between members of the youth group and Christina
Fasser (President) in Chiba, Japan (host of the 14th World Congress,
2002), it was agreed to better represent the interests of our younger
members in the activities of Retina International. In order to do this,
it is important for each member country to put forward a delegate to act
on behalf of young members in their organisation.

The main roles of the delegate will be to:
· Act as a contact person between this youth group and their own young
members
· Keep their young members informed of the activities of the youth group
and how they can get involved

Each delegate needs to be committed to this role and must have the full
backing and support of their own organisation. This may involve some
financial support to fund attendance at meetings in other countries,
however to date this funding has been sought from EU sources where
possible.

We are asking your organisation to please put forward a named delegate
as soon as possible. It is hoped that a full list will be completed
before the end of this year to allow delegates to interact before the
next Retina Europe Youth meeting, which will take place in Paris,
April/May 2003.

Yours faithfully,

Dave Waldron

Management Committee, Retina International.
d.waldron@...
Youth Delegate Contact Information
Name of Organisation:
Surname:
First Name:
Address:
Town:
Zip Code:
Country:
Phone Number:
E-mail Address:



Please e-mail to Dave Waldron: d.waldron@...
Or post to: Dave Waldron
Fighting Blindness Ireland
1, Birchgrove,
Monahan Road,
Ballintemple,
Cork,
Ireland.