Wednesday, September 30, 2009

September 30, 2009.

One never knows how planned meetings with mayors will turn out. It is interesting that mayors of the smallest villages either forget the meetings or simply just do not turn up. The mayors of the larger cities are always there. Is this a matter of efficiency or a matter of feelings of importance (how smaller you are, the more you have to show your importance).
In any case, the first meetings were quite disappointing, but fully made up later in the day by the very pleasant and constructive meetings with the mayors of Mezőlak, Margyargencs, Kemenesszentpéter, Vinár and Marcalgergelyi. Especially, the discussion with Mr Tamás Boros, mayor of Magyargencs, was a high point of the day; and this not only because he assessed the number of members from his village to be five in spite of the small population of only of 600. If the mayors are right in their evaluation of future members, the day will bring us 22 members.

It was an other beautiful day driving in the countryside, West of Pápa. I am writing this note from Hotel Hasik in Döbrönte, which has very kindly offered accomodation as a "sponsorship in kind". A Swiss-owned small hotel, which has all the necessary and unnecessary amenities of a small luxurious hotel. No wonder that so many staff-members of Nato (base near Pápa) stay in this hotel before their residence is found or made ready.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

9. szeptember 29.




















Latest photos from the road: with the deputy-mayor of Pápa

September 29, 2009.

Ten municipalities today again. And so happy to be now in Hotel Villa Classica in Pápa to find some rest.
A day of small villages only. Some of the mayors or public notaries were very forthcoming and helpful (Vanyola, Vaszar, Takácsi, Várkesző and Egyházaskesző); others did not show much interest. If actions will realise the intentions, then we will have 14 more members in due course.
We have to see the results by the end of this year.
What a beautiful country-side it was. A pleasure to drive around near Pápa in this wonderful autumn weather. A compensation for the sometimes diasppointing meetings.
An other very positive note is the highly professional manner our office has arranged the program. I am very proud of the staff in our Budapest-office and of course tremendously grateful towards Dr András Béres for the translations of my daily experiences in Hungarian.

Monday, September 28, 2009

September 28, 2009.

An interesting day in nine small villages. Some mayors quite engaged and clearly planning to support us as much as they can by finding the number of memberships we agreed to be possible (Csót, Pápateszér, Gic, Nagydém and certainly also in Lovaspatona (where some Dutchmen and Germans have a summer-house). But also I visited the mayor's offices of very small villages, where the mayors were not around and clerks looked at me with eyes telling me "what are you doing here".
Those are the days that I wonder whether this very much time-consuming project is worth it. Tonight I am the grateful guest of the Griff Hotel in Pápa. A good night's rest will tell me tomorrow whether we have to change course or keep going the same road.

Friday, September 25, 2009

September 25, 2009. Highlight in Pápa.

The deputy-mayor of Pápa, Dr Áldozó Tamás, warmly welcomed me in the company of Rita Benecz and Bea Varga. Also a journalist from the county newspaper, Veszprémi Napló, joined us in the meeting and took pictures afterwards. I heard an interesting lecture about church history in Pápa (the building of the municipality one time belonged to the Benedictine Order like still in present times Tihany and Pannonhalma). Then we had our good discussion about the membership in an other order, namely the "Order of the Smiling Knights". When I mentioned the wish to see 30 members in Papa, Mr Áldozó increased the number to 33 (based on 33.000 inhabitants); this I regarded as a much encouraging sign for our membership in Pápa.
Also the meetings in the small villages of Bakonyjákó, Adásztevel, Nagytevel, Homokbödöge and Ugod were pleasant and gave hope for more members.
This week I saw mayors and other representatives of about 50 cities and villages. It was a well-organised schedule. My sincere thanks to our Project Manager, Anikó Kada, who arranged it all in a very professional and structured manner.

September 24, 2009.

The mayors of Herend, Szentgál, Úrkút, Kislőd, Városlőd and Farkasgyepű were very understanding and certainly will try hard to support us by finding members. Also the deputy-mayor of Márkó, the mayor's assistant in Csehbánya and a staff-member in Bánd will do their very best. Hopefully the total target of the day of 25 will be reached.
And what a success for these municipalities it will be if indeed they are able to get these members! The life in villages is so very difficult with high unemployment, hardly any support from the state and not much hope for a better future. Hearing the stories in the villages gives me a sad picture of the economic circumstances for a great deal of the Hungarian population For many, the time of communism was far better than the present time. Analysing the causes may not be difficult (many decades of communism and - since the change - failing governments), but finding ways to improve the situation is far more challenging.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

September 23, 2009. A good day it was!

Not every day includes major cities. But if mayors of small villages take the time to kindly welcome me and to seriously listen to my explanations in broken Hungarian (that often is already a reason for being so attentive:-)), then we are half way. The second half is totally on the part of the mayors when they in all earnest proclaim to support the Foundation for the sake of sick children in the county of Veszprém. Such a day it was today!
Mayors of Csesznek, Bakonyoszlop, Bakonyszentkirály (the three mayor-musketeers during one most pleasant meeting), Borzavár, Bakonybél (here the mayor acted like a Dutchman by stressing that promises to act will be kept - even on the following day!), Pénzesgyőr (four members for a village with only 366 people), the notary public of Porva and the representative of the municipality in Hárskut, made my day! The total target of the day is 23 members and the tone and contents of my discussions today give me full confidence that this target will be reached thanks to the kind support from the municipalities.
Herend Szálló kindly awaited me for a good night's rest. Many thanks for this much appreciated sponsorship.

Letter of Dr. Royaards for the Smiling Knights on September 22

For some reason my internet is so slow that the website
and blog does not appear ( I am in the middle of the
country-side now). Would you please put the following
"post" on my blog?

September 22, a most difficult day.

"You can't win them all on each day". After the glorious
feelings of yesterday, it was now the most difficult day
sofar. This is typically a region where unemployment is
high, money scarce and morale very low. And of course for
all the good (or better: bad) reasons. In spite of the
prevailing problems in the villages, the mayors of Tés,
Szápár, Csetény, Bakonynána, the deputy-mayor of
Nagyesztergár, the notary of Jásd and the deputy Notary
of Zirc will still try to do their best finding the
members on the basis of "one member for one thousand of
inhabitants".

The day has given me plenty of time to reflect about the
differences between Hungary now and Holland after the
second world war. Two important elements are crucial. In
Holland we had the Marshall help from abroad to give a
boost to investment, work and optimism. In Hungary, there
is no such great financial support from outside; the
European Union should be the motor, but the financial
impact may not be sufficient and in any case hardly
reaches the smaller towns and villages. Secondly, the
Dutch had a great confidence in the capabilities and
character of the Dutch government at the time; when
I hear mayors in general on this topic, very few
- if any - has any good opinion about the Hungarian
governments after the change in 1989. A sad story,
which must be changed to give new hope for a better life
in this otherwise beautiful country with intelligent
and kind people.

Albert Royaards

Monday, September 21, 2009

September 21, the best day sofar!

Today I visited ten municipalities and in most cases met with the mayor. Four of the mayors were ladies and so clearly one feels an additional empathy for the cause of sick children when women are the interlocutors - without diminishing in any way the wonderful support received today from the male-mayors.
The mayors of Papkeszi, Balatonkenese, Balatonvilágos, Csajág, Küngös and Ősi all predicted three to four times more than our target of "one member for each 1.000 inhabitants". The mayor of Berhida was very certain to reach ten members in her municipality of 6.133 population. The mayor and the referenc of Várpalota, the largest city today with nearly 22.000 inhabitants, was shooting for thirty members. But the mayor of Pétfürdő (5.000 inhabitants), Mrs Horváth Éva, was confident to reach even 50 members; I believed this to be over-optimistic and we settled for twenty members first. If the targets today would be reached, it would mean 87 additional members. I have to see it before I could believe it. Are the mayors over-confident in their projections? We soon will find out!
But in any case, it is wonderful to see so much enthusiasm and spirit demonstrated by the mayors. And for this I am already very grateful!
With all these good thoughts I entered the hotel, named "Két Bagoly Fogadó" ("Two Owles Inn"). They so kindly sponsor my accomodation tonight. A great gesture in this period of economic crisis.

Friday, September 18, 2009

September 18, 2009

A really great day, mainly because two kind and very supportive persons:
a) Mrs Viktória Francz from the mayor's office in Balatonfűzfő. Clearly from the heart, she promised all possible help to get us ten members (of which hopefully being the municipality). I have great hopes that her actions are commensurate with her good intentions.
b) The mayor of Vezprém, Mr János Debreczenyi, has in the past already given so much of his support to our Foundation. For this we are indeed very grateful. Now comes a most difficult "task" to find 60 members as Veszprém is by far the biggest town in the Veszprém County with 58.000 inhabitants. If there is anyone I regard highly because of abilities and determination to get results, it is the mayor of Veszprém! Thank you Mr mayor for our most pleasant and constructive meeting today!
The mayors of Sóly and Litér also demonstrated a keen interest to help us finding members.
But after 12.00 noon, most municipalities were closed. Nearly everyone from the government has a long, very long weekend. I have always been wondering how Hungary could lift itself up out of the prevailing dreadful economic circumstances if the state and local authorities give such example. After the second worldwar the countries in Western Europe worked even on Saturdays for many decades. After a degree of prosperity was reached, the Saturdays were given as a free day. But in Hungary, for most government offices the weekend start on Friday at noon. This is a luxury, the government has not deserved. It may also be partially a reason why so many people work as government-employees. Too many people doing too little.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

September 17

Some days will be quite hard and one such day happened to be today. If mayors let me wait for a long time (while they know that my schedule is tight), do not offer at least some water and in one case, do not even offer a seat, it is difficult to remain polite (which is required just for the sake of the good cause). At such moments, one wonders why to spend so much time, energy and heart without any remuneration if so little appreciation is being shown. Luckily this kind of meeting is seldom, but today three times!
Better to think about the good moments and there were quite a few as well today. The mayor of Hidegkút showed much understanding and will do his utmost in his small village of only 450 people.
Also the mayors of Lovas, Alsoörs and Felsőörs were most forthcoming. I am convinced that they could produce small miracles if ...............they take indeed the time to make a personal effort.
The meeting with the aljegyző from Balatonalmádi, Mrs Kovács Piroska Rózsa, was very pleasant and constructive. Wonderful to hear so many initiaves to be undertaken in Balatonalmádi for the nameawareness of the Smiling Hospital Foundation. But hopefully ten members will be found as well in this city, because that is the main objective of the present membership drive.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

16 September, 2009

A most wonderful start was made this morning in Balatonfüred. The deputy-mayor, Dr Kiszeli Pál, immediately felt the essence of our activities in the hospitals and promised his strong support by trying to get 20 members. After his return from a business trip to Turkey later in September, we will meet again to discuss what else could be done in Balatonfüred for the Smiling Hospital Foundation.
After this auspicious meeting in Balatonfüred, I met an other great supporter for our cause. The mayor of Balatonszőlős, Mr András Nagy, believes to be able to get us ten members while the population in his place is only 600. An other beautiful example of "what looks small creates big".
This great experience was actually similar in the village Vöröstó, where the kind mayor, Mrs Rákos Margit, will try hard to raise two memberships from a village with only 93 people!
And the last meeting today was equally inspiring, when I discussed with mayor Kertész Lajos his great efforts to help with five memberships from his village Pula, which has only only 228 inhabitants.
A wonderful day in beautiful country-side with a great result of 48 new memberships, if.............the mayors will match their supportive statements with same strong actions!!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

September 15, 2009

Nine meetings today again with kind mayors, deputy mayors and notaries public of small villages with the exception of Tihany, which has a population of 1.390. Mr Tósoki Imre, mayor of Tihany, promised to do his very best finding ten members; I am sure he will!
A wonderful encounter I had with Dr Papp Judit, notary public in Aszófő, because Dr Papp had given me accomodation in her lovely home for one night during my four months biking tour in 2005. She never gives up to support the Smiling Hospital Foundation.
An other most encouraging meeting was held with mayor Szönyeg József of a very small village called Vászoly. Mr Szönyeg was confident to find for us five members in his village of 235 people. I wish we could make a statue for him as an example for thousands of mayors, who govern small villages in Hungary:-).
In late afternoon, I also met with Mr Jenő Nagy, General Manager of the Annabella Hotel in Balatonfüred and Member of Parliament. He promised to help us whenever we would face a problem in County Veszprém.

Albert Royaards

Monday, September 14, 2009

First day in Veszprém County

Nine meetings with representatives of nine different municipalities. Kind mayors, deputy mayors, notaries public and in one case a kind librarian. Total population of these nine municipalities: 5.500. But target of members (officially one member for each 1.000 population), as given by the representives, are not 5 or 6, but 30! Big question is whether these good intentions could be realised. Are the representatives really willing and able to convert their clearly expressed support into actions?? My past experience with promises in Hungary makes me doubtful about such good result. But it is also fair to give them the benefit of the doubt and my sincere wish for their successful efforts. In the end, it is all for sick children in Hungary.

One special note for the mayor of Révfülöp, Mr Miklós Tamás. I left our most pleasant meeting with the feelings that his appraisal of 10 to 20 members (Révfülöp has 1.048 people) will be realised indeed through the active and convincing power of the mayor.

Albert Royaards

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Note of Thanks to Danubius Group

The last part of the phone calls to the mayors are made by our office. All seems ready to take off on September 14, 2009. Biggest news today was the kind support from the Danubius Hotels Group to support our "membership drive" with the first four nights accomodation in the beautiful Annabella Hotel in Balatonfüred. This will give me also the peaceful time to prepare for the next 19 days of an altogether hectic schedule, meeting 230 mayors in 23 days. A personal thanks to Csilla Erdélyi and her team from the Danubius Hotels Group.
Albert Royaards

Friday, September 4, 2009

Second Megye to start on September 14, 2009.

On September 14, 2009, the Fiat Bravo is ready to bring me to about 230 municipalities in the county of Veszprém. Every day I hope to see ten mayors or their respective representatives. The goal was and remains: for each 1.000 inhabitants at least one member in the Order of the Smiling Knights.

In the evenings I will write summaries for this blog and hopefully some pictures attached. Pannon has given us great support by donating a mobile internet modem and SIM Card for easy communication without cost to the Foundation. We are very grateful towards Pannon.