SAIWAI, Koala Wanderers sign pact

The Saipan Walking Association entered into a partnership agreement with Australia’s Koala Wanderers Tweed Valley, through Koala Wanderers International.

The agreement was signed last May 16 at the Aqua Resort Club and in essence calls on both walking associations to keep each informed about the other’s activities and help other walking association around the world promote walking, all in the spirit of international friendship.

Koala Wanderers International club manager Manfred Trettin signed the agreement on behalf of Koala Wanderers Tweed Valley, while SAIWAI president Jesus Guerrero initiated the document in behalf of the local walking association.

“We have partners in Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria, Brazil, and now on Saipan, I’m very happy about this agreement,” he said.

For his part, Guerrero thanked Trettin and Koala Wanderers for visiting Saipan, participating in their World Walking Day Walk, and signing the partnership agreement with SAIWAI.

“It’s always nice to have this kind of partnership especially with an organization like the Koala Wanderers. We also thank them for coming over here to Saipan, all the way from Germany. It’s always a pleasure to see all of you. We always welcome you on Saipan and we hope you could promote Saipan as one of your destinations here,” he said.

Trettin said he, his wife Eva, and the three other members of Koala Wanderers who came with them—Adam Hiel, Rita Krtamer-Albrecht, and Christine Voss—totally enjoyed their experience on Saipan.

“Thank you very much for your warm welcome. We are very happy about our stay on Saipan, especially me and my wife since it was the second time we visited and we hope we could come here many more times,” he said.

The Trettins, Hiel, and Voss also joined SAIWAI members and other walking enthusiasts in the World Walking Day Walk held last May 14 along the Beach Road Pathway.

“In Europe, we don’t have this kind of ideal weather during our walks. We have too much snow and rain, and we’re very happy when we come here to this sun[ny] island.”

Aside from the beautiful sunset walk, Trettin and company also admired the T-shirts SAIWAI gave away during the World Walking Day Walk.

“The shirt SAIWAI gave us Saturday was the best I’ve seen so far. I will bring one of this T-shirts to the IVV president and present it to him as a gift from SAIWAI,” he said.

Trettin said the Koala Wanderers Tweed Valley was founded in 1999 in Australia, while Koala Wanderers International has members in more than 20 countries around the world.

SAIWAI and Koala Wanderers are both members of IVV, which has member walking clubs in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Turkey, Nepal, Australia, New Zealand, the CNMI, and 29 other European countries, including Germany.

For more information on SAIWAI and its other walks, contact Bea Quitugua at 322-2725 or Mario Espeleta at 322-8876. For more information on the Koala Wanderers, click on www.koala-wanderers.de.

SAIWAI was incorporated as a non-profit corporation on July 27, 2001 and was established to promote public health through non-competitive walking.