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In memory of Teresa GUMIENNA. 

On December 24, 2024, Teresa Gumienna died at the age of 84.

Initiator and founder of the Polish Federation of Jumelages of Telekomunikacja Polska.
First Chairwoman of the Polish Federation of Jumelages of Telekomunikacja Polska in 1995-2006.
A person thanks to whom - for over 33 years we have had the opportunity to be part of the Jumelage community; meet so many wonderful people and visit so many places of Europe.
In order to actively and consciously promote the movement of Jumelage she participated in the Jumelages congresses in Ofir- Portugal, Menton - France, Como - Italy.
As a long-time employee of the Polish Telecom Management Board in Warsaw - with her knowledge and competence, she actively supported and promoted the activities of the Jumelage movement among Telecommunications employees and their families.
She was the initiator of cooperation agreements between Telekomunikacja Polska and France Telecom at the ministerial level in Poland and France.
In 1995, at the 4th Jumelages Congress in Menton-Roquebrune Cap Martin in France, she officially introduced Poland as a full member among the member countries associated with the International Jumelages Union.
As a Council of Administration member, she organized in 1997 the CA Members visit in Warsaw and the CA meeting in Borków near Kielce in Poland; as well as the Polish language course for Jumelage members in Warsaw.

Teresa Gumienna will remain in our memory as a pioneer of the jumelage movement- something new and unknown to many of us in Poland, but above all - as a communicative, friendly and kind person..

          May rest in peace . . .

Prepared by Teresa Lachor
Secretary
Polish Eurojumelages Federation of Telekomunikacja Polska

Christmas greetings 2024

Dear members and friends of Eurojumelages,

The year is drawing to a close. The end of the year is always an exciting time : to review the past and look forward with curiosity to the new year will bring..
We can look back with pride on what we have created and experienced together within Eurojumelages in 2024.
In addition to the various language courses and sporting events (skiing, hiking and cycling), other well-attended events took place, a few of which I would like to mention here: the interesting tour of Sicily in May, the Paul Pantzer Memorial Petanque tournament in Mulhouse in August and the international choir singing at Engers Castle in Neuwied-Engers in September.

Thanks to your commitment and support, we were once again able to organise numerous events this year and thus strengthen the Eurojumelages community. A big thank you to all of you.
It is only in this way that Eurojumelages will be able to remain active and attractive in the future!

Even in this time of festivities and celebration, I think it is fitting to take a moment and remember the dear persons who have supported Eurojumelages for many years with great commitment and who have unfortunately passed away this year.

Looking ahead to the coming year, it pleases me to note that we have once again been able to prepare a colourful bouquet of interesting activities. I invite you to take some time to view this information on our homepage (www.eurojumelages.eu).

We would like to further enrich the community within Eurojumelages with new projects. Your ideas and suggestions are very important to me. I cordially invite you to get actively involved.

Let's start the new year together with optimism and vigour.

With this in mind, and together with the Board of Directors, I would like to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and an excellent start to 2025!

With European Christmas greetings

Yours,

Peter Backes

Dear friends of Eurojumelages,

With over 250 million native Portuguese speakers worldwide, the Portuguese language is becoming increasingly popular - also within Eurojumelages.
A Portuguese language course took place in Coimbra,between 5th and 12th October 2024. Coimbra is a beautiful city steeped in history and known above all as the home of Portugal's oldest university.
Marilia and her team from the Coimbra section of the CDCR dos CTT organised this language course perfectly. Not only that, there was also a very interesting cultural programme: we explored the city of Coimbra, tasted local specialities, went on excursions in the surrounding area ... I highly recommend reading the following travel report!
We were able to get to know the Portuguese language and culture together in a wonderful way.

‘ Muito obrigado, querida Marília e toda a sua equipa’

Portuguese language course in Coimbra

from 05 to 12 October 2024

Saturday

The arrival of the Portuguese course participants was scheduled for 5 October, with some delays caused by the weather in Porto.

Read more ...

Dear friends of Eurojumelages,

The first-ever international choir singing event was organised between 8th and 14th September 2024 within the beautiful ambience of Engers Castle in Neuwied-Engers,

It was the intention of the two organisers, Rita Caumettes and Michaela Alber, to experience the language of music together, with choristers from several European countries who also enjoy singing together, during the international singing week.

Within the context of the choir project, the participants also rehearsed and sang the Eurojumelages anthem (which is based on the melody of Beethoven's 9th Symphony) in high musical quality with the aim of producing a music video which will be available on the Eurojumelages website.

At the choir's final performance, together with numerous other guests from the Koblenz and Bonn sections I was able to witness how successful the one-week Eurojumelages choir project was.

I was so impressed by the concert that I am happy to include the international choral singing event as a permanent fixture in the Eurojumelages' list of activities. In consonance with the dictum that ‘Music connects people across all borders’, international choral singing should certainly be an avenue to enrich the Eurojumelages programme in the future.

International choir singing in Neuwied-Engers

from 8th to 14th September 2024

“We came as individual voices and left as a choir!”

In the State Music Academy of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the picturesque Engers Castle, located directly on the Rhine, 19 jumeleurs from 4 countries (Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland) met with a choirmaster to sing together for a week and experience the Rhineland culture.

It was a premiere within Eurojumelages, a meeting just for singing. Everyone was willing to take part in the experiment: The jumeleurs with their different voices and the choirmaster who was to mould them into a melodious choir. The historic castle with its rehearsal rooms, guest rooms and Rhine terrace was the ideal location for this ambitious project.

Read more ...