Forty-five students from all over Europe recently visited Malta to attend a four-day basic training seminar in youth work and exchange opinions at the first ever network meeting hosted by AEGEE-Valletta, the local antenna (branch) of the Association des États Généraux des Étudiants de l'Europe, the European Students' Forum.

AEGEE is the largest pan- European network of students, boasting 17,000 members and spanning more than 270 antennae in different universities in Europe.

The event, entitled 'Meet me where the rainbow ends', comprised a series of interactive training workshops run by experienced multinational trainers that examined topics such as project management, public relations, human resources and fundraising.

Dragan Stojanovski and Laure Onidi, president and ex-president of AEGEE-Europe respectively, and other Maltese and European AEGEE leaders also shared their knowledge and experiences in training others on issues of general youth interest.

The inaugural ceremony, held on March 5 at the Alexandra Hotel, St Julian's, was attended among others by Francis Borg, permanent secretary for the Ministry of Social Policy, Manos Valasis, speaker for the AEGEE-Europe network commission and Alistair Zarb, co-ordinator of the network meeting, and Pierre Vassallo La Rosa, AEGEE-Valletta president, and Alexia Maggi, a representative from the Malta Tourism Authority, who presented a short film on Malta and the Maltese people.

The event's social programme included a Maltese Night to enable the participants to taste local cuisine and enjoy Maltese entertainment, a tour around Malta to savour our beautiful archipelago.

The event was sponsored by the European Union Programmes Agency (EUPA) through the EU Youth in Action programme.

Details on the network meeting may be found at www.nwm09.aegee-valletta.org and For more information on AEGEE-Valletta log on to www.aegee-valletta.org or visit its office at Student House at the University of Malta campus.