Walk: 3km
After breakfasting with the crew, I did some more MEPS and pers admin for the rest of the morning before Ann and I had lunch in the hotel dining room. We ordered toasted sandwiches and they took almost an hour to make. When they came out, we knew why - they were Club toasties, with heaps of filling, so much in fact we could each only eat half of our respective meals. Lucky we have fridges in our apartments.
Back to the rooms to get changed into our glad rags to attend the Opening Ceremony which was one of the better ones we have attended in the last few years. Entertainment was from Isebane se Afrika Choir and they did a number of traditional South African numbers. Isibane se Afrika is a choir for change and gets local youth off the streets and away from drug and gang culture to give them the chance to belong to something positive and up-lifting. With only drums as accompaniment, their voices are the words and other backing music. There were many awards, and this year, the thank you speeches were pre-recorded to avoid people rambling on and going over-time; this is probably the best change FIP have made to the Opening Ceremony, that is two-hours long. This year, we started on time and ended on time. One of our Section members, Eiko Kobayashi from Japan was made a Fellow of FIP for her work in development of a suite of logistics courses for humanitarian/emergency response pharmacists. She works for the Japanese International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Choir sang us out of the auditorium to the Exhibition Hall for the Welcome Reception. We all had a chance to meet the new members and re-acquaint with the oldies. Jane, Sylvain, Ulf, Peter and I are the longest attending members, with Peter far exceeding all of us. At 95, he is till able to walk short distances with the aid of a stick, climb stairs, slowly, and participate in conversations, if he is within earshot. An inspiration to all. Asked what his secret to longevity is, he replied, "I eat well, I drink well, I sleep well, and the rest is none of your business!" Sadly, this will most likely be his last Congress.
After the Welcome Reception, it was back to the hotel and a relatively early night was had by all.
The bikies are in town
Isibane se Afrika
Eiko receiving her Fellowship
No comments:
Post a Comment