The Guardian: Going local in Suriname - by Vicky Barker

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Going local in Suriname - by Vicky Barker

When Diana comes to my hostel's door, she is wearing a name badge: "Diana, Servas Suriname." I wouldn't have thought this was entirely necessary, given that there's only the two of us heading out for a drink, however it seems my travel-networking experiment has taken a more formal turn. I'm now in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname, next to Guyana on the northern shores of South America, and stylishly dressed Diana is here in her official capacity: president of the local chapter of Servas, the world's oldest travel networking site. The internet may have driven the new wave of travel networking, but the original global hospitality project started back in 1949. With members in over 100 countries and a motto of promoting "peace through understanding", Servas (joomla.servas.org) was founded by an American pacifist, Bob Luitweiler, who died last month, aged 90. Most intriguingly, unlike the new websites, where anyone can sign up and log on, potential Servas members can only join after having a face-to-face interview.

Servas is an international, non-governmental, multicultural peace association run by volunteers in over 100 countries. Founded in 1949 by Bob Luitweiler as a peace movement, Servas International is a non-profit organization working to build understanding, tolerance and world peace. For more information and background on Bob Luitweiler’s vision, read his description in Seeds of Servas. They operate through a network of Servas hosts around the world who are interested in opening their doors to travellers , and of Servas travellers who want to get to know the heart of the countries they visit.
Servas helpers are members who support the goals of the organization in other ways, through leadership and communication or perhaps as a representative at the United Nations. Servas International has consultative status as a non-governmental organisation with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, with representation at many of the UN's hubs of activity.