International
Organisation of Youth with Rheumatism
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International
Organisation of Youth with Rheumatism
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Impressions
about IYC 98
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| by Vilma Bandzeviciute, Lithuania It all happened in spring of 1998. I returned home from the University being very nervous, because I didn't pass the biochemistry exam. Everything went bad for me and I felt unhappy. But in the evening the telephone rang and it was Dalia, the president of our club "Artritas". She asked me if I would like to participate in the IYC in July in Berlin. Of course, I agreed and every day and night I was thinking only about the congress, because I had never been in such a congress. During this congress I felt very good in the company of all these young people from different countries. I even forgot my sick back and knees. All the week was fantastic. I liked everything: lectures about rheumatic diseases, about employment, especially I was impressed by parties, a fashion show and creative exercises, the trip around Berlin and other things. This congress was important for me because I became a board member in IOYR. Everything was new to me and it was the first time in my life that I didn’t think: "I'm the patient." The place where we stayed had all the conveniences necesary for people with arthritis and we didn't feel any discomfort. And when I came back home with lots of good experience and impressions, it was such a pity that these problems are not very urgent for the Lithuanian government. Published in Newsletter no. 3, July/August 1999 |