We are pleased to announce this new service whose mission is to enhance mutual understanding between the peoples of Romania and North America. The concept is to provide a common, non commercial, and non proselytizing 'meeting place' where people can find and communicate with each other on matters of mutual interest. We also hope that this service will also provide a useful framework within which to integrate much of the explosive growth in Internet content pertaining to Romania.

We hope to work with and build upon the good efforts of so many initiatives on the Internet today in introducing the culture and people of Romania to the world - as well as the many organizations who have been working towards the same goal of cooperation and friendship for the past several years.

Creating "Friends and Partners Romania" is itself an act of friendship - developed over the past year by friends in Romania, Russia, and the U.S. - individuals separated by thousands of miles but united by common concern of promoting better understanding and exchange across cultures - and by common interest in exploring how new technologies might be used for that purpose. It is the latest member of a family of projects created by the original "Friends and Partners" effort - active since 1994 bringing together friends from around the world with an interest in countries of the former Soviet Union.

The original Friends and Partners effort has helped support a community of several thousand participants, handling many million information inquiries and email exchanges. It has received a number of awards and honors (including designation by one Internet publisher as one of the top 30 "must see" sites on the Internet) and the helpful support of such organizations as Sun Microsystems, NATO, the US State Department, the Soros Foundation (ISF), and, most recently, the Ford Foundation. Friends and Partners illustrates how the Internet can be an amazingly simple and effective tool at promoting better understanding across the previously difficult barriers of geography, language, and culture.

One of the motivations for this server is the large number of misconceptions about each others' lives and countries. For example, while most US. citizens know relatively little about Romania (beyond a few images gleaned from myth and its recent revolution), Romanians are virtually deluged with misleading images of real life in the United States. Thus, this server seeks to foster real understanding through direct people-to-people interaction. This service is mutual, reciprocal and seeks to preserve cultural differences.

At the moment, FP Romania is a 'framework' of an information system to which we invite others to contribute. The primary services offered now include a growing catalog of Romania-related resources all over the Internet, and various databases and communications services. During the coming summer months, we will be adding local content about cities and regions of Romania and US -- creating and linking together information on our nation's histories; our art, music, literature, and religion; our educational and scientific resources; our geography and natural resources, our languages; and our opportunities for communicating, travelling, and working together. The 'end product' -- an evolving and dynamic information and communications resource -- will hopefully help introduce new relationships and, in the process, create new opportunities for better understanding, cooperation, and exchange. We feel it demonstrates good use of this wonderfully chaotic, rapidly growing global network we call the Internet.

Please join us! FP Romania will successfully accomplish its goals as it develops a community of individuals who share in and help develop its work and vision. There are many ways to contribute -- these include:

1. for a start, sign the FP Romania guestbook

2. join the email listserver "fpromania" . This will become the real "heart" of F&P Romania.

   Just send a one-line email message to message to [email protected] with the following text:

   SUBSCRIBE FPROMANIA Your name

   This is a moderated list from which a 'digest' of all postings will be sent to subscribers every 2-3 days.

3. contribute information about yourself in the new "friends" database

4. visit the WWW site and suggest new links, new areas of content, and help us better organize the existing information. Every page has a special link at the bottom with which you can make suggestions.

5. volunteer to manage and further develop an existing section or service (we'll help you get started)

6. contribute your own information - we'll give you an account and help you get started with your own Internet publishing - you can publish material about your travel experiences, your ideas, your organization's activities, etc.

7. start up your own communications service - bulletin board, chat room, email listserver, etc.

8. for more ideas, just visit the "Help Us!" page at:

We will soon be providing a 'mirror' of all services in Alba Iulia and Baia Mare, Romania - home of the two FP Romania co-founders Manuella Kadar and Alex Borza.

We will also soon begin work providing the content of the server in both English and Romanian languages. One step at a time . .

Please enjoy your exploration and let us know how we can improve this effort.

Thanks for visiting, and please check back often for new information and services !

The F&P Romania Team

Manuella Kadar, Alba Iulia, Romania
Alex Borza, Baia Mare, Romania
Jerry Fryxell, Knoxville, TN USA
Natasha Bulashova, Pushchino, Russia
Greg Cole, Knoxville, TN USA

You see things and you say 'Why?' But I dream thing that never were; and I say, 'Why not?'. - Geroge Bernard Shaw