LCI Day

11 February marks Ladies Circle International Day. This year 2005/2006 it was decided to put the Ladies’ Circle motto of ‘Friendship and Service’ into action. We started off by visiting Dar Merhba Bik in Balzan – a home for battered wives and their children – and donated foodstuffs collected by all members during the previous Club Meeting. Following this we went to Melita Restaurant for a meal together with our partners.

LCM has been a full member of Ladies’ Circle International (LCI) since 1999. Annually two main conferences are organized by LCI. The annual AGM held during August/September whilst a Mid Term Meeting is held in January and split into core groups according to the four regions, Nordic, Middle European, Southern and African. Bi annually two regions meet.

LCI Conference
46th Annual Conference was held in Reykjavik, Iceland between 24 – 28 August 2005 under the motto ‘Hearts on Fire’. Seven members from LCM attended this conference two of whom also attended a pretour.

It was very strange for us Mediterranean people to be packing woolies and coats for the weekend in the height of our summer but we are sure glad we did. We had lovely sunny days but very cold. 600 ladies from all over the world met and the Icelandic ladies prepared a fun weekend for us. Councillors started off with a dinner on Wednesday night and a meeting throughout Thursday. Whilst the official opening for all attendees was held in a church were all present, as is the tradition in these conferences, wear a National Costume or an outfit to represent one’s country. Following this a welcome party is held. The AGM was held on Friday morning in a Theatre and was a great moment for the Maltese group since we won a prize for being the largest contingent, per capita, who travelled the most miles. We were all so proud.

Bi annually a main International Charity Project is voted upon. This year there were seven countries putting forward such a project including Malta with ‘Beyond the Moon’. The largest number of votes however, went to the charity project proposed by LC Denmark ‘Nepal Highlander Orphan Children Care Association’. For more information you may visit the relative website www.nhocca.org/uk/house.html. During the AGM the Incoming President also launches her motto for the year following her speech. Sylvia Mwansa a lady from Zambia is the LCI President for 2005/2006 and her motto is ‘Nkani Yawama’ which means ‘Life can be Good’. This launch was accompanied by a lovely dance from Sylvia’s fellow Zambian Circlers.

In the afternoon we all chose to go to the ‘Blue Lagoon’. Swimming in the hot lagoon is an experience none of us will ever forget. It was absolutely amazing. Friday evening was scheduled to get a taste of Icelandic life when LC Iceland members opened their homes to host parties. 600 ladies were split into a number of marvellous homes for this event. Saturday morning, more meetings were scheduled, whilst non delegates had a choice of tours to attend. The climax of the weekend ended in the evening during the Gala Dinner. The outgoing Council handed over the Jewels to the new Council. Touching moments were experienced as appropriate songs were sung for each part of the evening. Once all the formalities were over a fantastic live band played till the early hours of the morning leaving us just about enough time to freshen up and catch our planes back home!

The forthcoming LCI Conference will be held in Alkmaar, The Netherlands between 6 – 10 September 2006 under the theme ‘Say Cheese’. For more details visit website

Four representatives from our club attended this meeting and were thrilled to arrive in the hotel, a beautiful place overlooking the Grand Canal. The first dinner was held in a restaurant called ‘Bacaro’ just off Piazza San Marco and there we met most of the 120 participants. New friendships were made whilst old friendships rekindled. The meeting was officially declared open.

The following day was an entire day of meetings for Councillors whilst the non delegates visited Burano and Murano. The evening event was held at Terrazza Orseolo Restaurant which is where LC Venice hold their meetings. We had a good meal and a little competition with the rice dish. Each Table was a team and given a piece of paper to jot down the ingredients of the dish. The team which guessed the most ingredients would be the winner. The Vice Presidents including our Yvette were the winning team. The entertainment provided was a live pianist and we had a ball dancing all over the restaurant and on the piano!

Saturday was a free day were most of us roamed the quaint little surroundings of Venice sightseeing and shopping for all sorts of bric-a-brac whilst others tried to catch up on their beauty sleep. We then met again as a group and visited the Arsenale which is a military base and not usually open to the public. However they kindly honoured us with a private viewing and showed us how this historic place used to function and is still in operation. After than we were treated to Hot Chocolate in an old historic Caffé ‘Quadri’ overlooking Piazza San Marco. A luxuriously decorated Caffé in true Italian style.

The Gala Dinner would sadly draw this weekend to a close but again it was another memorable and wonderful evening. The Belgian ladies went Venetian and turned up with their newly bought masks. Each Table was given the name of important sites in Venice with the top table being nothing more appropriate than ‘Piazza San Marco’. The food started being served whilst all present were busy buzzing and chatting. The atmosphere was great one could feel that most were in very high spirits. We had a fantastic looking DJ playing brilliant music for the night. Between courses we danced around our Tables until Giovanna Rizzo, the Convenor for the meeting, called all Presidents from the eleven countries represented. She had sweet words for each and everyone and then presented a Banner. The Song ‘We are the World’ then started blurring and the party began and went on till the earlier hours of the morning. Good byes for those who had early starts and millions of invitations to attend each other’s respective AGMs – and why not!

As Giovanna says ‘United in a Circle of Friendship’ Sylvia would answer ‘Nkani Yawama’ (Life can be Good).

The forthcoming MTM will be solely for the Southern Region and will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland.