Rotary Exchange students visit

Olga Matveeva of Novgorod, Russia, is currently a guest at the home of Pat and Bob Havrilla. The 17-year-old tennis player will be on the Newark Lady Reds JV roster this season. (Olga is pictured here with Pat.)

She is the daughter of Zinaida, who owns a cafe, and Vladimir, who works in an office in Novgorod. She has two sisters, Milana and Helen, ages 12 and 9.

Olga is looking forward to learning about America's traditions. Her concerns are the economy, unemployment, crime and the ecology. At university she plans to major in foreign languages or economics.

Olga is concerned about war and nuclear weapons. In her words: "War and peace: the words are well-known to everyone. They sound different in different languages, but their meaning is the same for all. War means death and misery; peace means life and happiness. People have not always preferred peace and have paid dearly for their choice. The lessons of history did some people good and taught others nothing. Nuclear weapons have become dangerous toys in the hands of bad students of history. Mishandling them my become a mistake impossible to correct."

Her interests include reading (she especially enjoys Dale Carnegie's books), music, knitting and sewing. As for sports, she has done well in volleyball, basketball, swimming and tennis.

Martine Derks, 18, is from The Netherlands. She will be a student at Newark High School and is now staying with the All family, on the Zurich Road. (Pictured are . . .

Katie, Sharon and Sarah All; Martine; and Frank All.)

Her father is a dentist, mom is a homemaker, and she has a 14-year-old brother, Geert-Jan. Her hobbies include horses, sailing, playing tennis, hockey and skiing. In the future she plans to attend medical school.

Her travels have taken her to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, France, Austria, Germany and England.

She is, by her admission, a social butterfly, happy most of the time. She does not care for people who are interested in only themselves. Martine admits that her life is chaotic, she is not very tidy, and is frequently late for appointments.

Martine is a strong supporter of human rights, saying, "It's really a shame that people are imprisoned or killed because they have other ideas."

She is worried about people who are hungry, and countries plagued with famine. Drugs are a problem worldwide, but Martine says everybody can easily get drugs in Holland (the Netherlands).

Her hometown of Leusden has a population of 30,000 and is located in a forest. From Martine's home to school is a 15-minute bike ride.

We welcome both to the U.S. and hope they have a wonderful stay.

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