Foundation for International Cooperation
Regional Contacts - Niagara Frontier, NY.
The Niagara Frontier Chapter has 20 active members. We live in the Metropolitan Buffalo area, about 25 miles from Niagara Falls, New York.
Niagara Frontier
Happy Anniversary!
By Ethel Fopeano
Twenty-five years ago a new chapter of FIC, the Niagara Frontier Chapter, was formed in the Buffalo area.
Dan and Maryanne Piotrowski, Bob and Darlene Harris and John and Ethel Fopeano met with Dave and Irene Horst to begin the new group. Since then, others have joined but the nucleus has remained the same. Sixteen present members will gather in July for a festive dinner to celebrate this anniversary.
The group has had many interesting activities over the years. Some are international; we visited Toronto in Canada, the Shakespeare Festival and the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We hosted visitors from France, Finland and Russia, and entertained guests from Ecuador, China, Japan, Korea, Ukraine and Australia. Members of our group have participated in FIC trips to China, Israel, Russia, Egypt, Malta, Iceland, India, South America, London, the British Isles, Mexico, Spain, Nova Scotia, Australia and New Zealand, Ecuador and the Galapagos. Danube and Russian cruises, and also many domestic tours.
We have hosted two national FIC Annual Meetings. Other activities include trips to Falling Waters near Pittsburgh, Seneca Falls and the Women's Rights National Historical Park, the Wine Trail, a canoe trip, and cultural activities at the University of Buffalo such as India Night. We held Great Decisions discussions for a number of years. International projects include a school in Afghanistan, Cows for Kenya and a women's incentive program in Nicaragua. We have supported local projects such as food pantries, the Ladies of Charity, and the annual Hospice Flower Bouquet Sale.
We are a comparatively small group. We have gained some new members and lost some. (And we miss them!) Thanks to our loyal members, we hope to keep going for a while longer!
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We were hosts for the 1998 national meeting of FIC which was attended by 49 out-of-town members. We found home stays for all of them.
We have been visited by individuals or groups from France, Russia, Finland, New Zealand and India. A number of us were hosts for Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Ecuadorian graduate students studying at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
Olena Kuznyetsova and Olha Chuyeva visit with members of the Niagara Frontier Chapter. Olena and Olha are education administrators in the Ukraine, selected by the Library of Congress "Open World" program which is coordinated locally by the International Institute of Buffalo.(April 19, 2010)
We meet again in Dave and Wilma Shanley's back yard for our annual summer picnic. (August 09)
April 29, 2009, Bob Poczik spoke to the local group on his experiences in Japan. A fitting topic for those going to Japan this fall.
August 20, 2008 picnic in Wilma and Dave Shanley's garden. Plans made to host Board Meeing in October.
Recently, Darlene Harris, chairman of our chapter steering committee, hosted a summer picnic at her home for members of our group and guests to honor Father Nicholas Obiero from Kenya. He is pictured in the back row of this group photo. Fr. Nicholas. a Passionist priest, was studying at Loyola University in Chicago. He told us about his work with young people. He spoke of the devastation of AIDS on his family, his country and Africa. In June he return to to Kenya and is in charge of the program for students in the last year of their preparation for the priesthood.