At the February meeting Neville Jennings, the Secretary, took the chair, as the Chairman was  away.  He announced the death of Cyril Gordon, who had been an active member in the U3A for many years, and read out a letter fom Cyril's widow thanking the many U3A members who had sent messages of condolence.

The third year of computer courses at South Wilts Grammar School starts soon. Anyone interested in a course on Statistics and Finance at the school should phone Neville for details.

The AGM is on 7th March, and everyone will need to show a membership card on entry.

John Ewington gave details of forthcoming outings, details of which can be found under Outings News.

Larry Hollingsworth, who is a well-known member of the United Nations Humanitarian Relief Organisation,  gave a disturbing account of the current humanitarian crises in the world today.

Since 1990 there has been a 40% drop in army conflicts. However, as weapons are much lighter and more sophisticated, there is a corresponding rise in violent attacks against civilians. In January alone 1583 civilians were killed in Iraq. People try to escape, either inside the state or over the border into another country.

There are 8.1 million refugees in the world and 10.3 million Internally Displaced Persons. The civil war in Colombia has run on for decades, and in the Congo for 6 years. 25,000 rape cases were reported in Darfur. The government there denies that there is any rape, and the men are free to rape again. In the Middle East, the Israelis fired 15,000 shells into Gaza while the Palestinians fired 1900 rockets into Israel, killing innocent people. In 13 countries, children as young as 7 are conscripted into the army.

Who pays for the refugees? We all do. The US contributes 323 million dollars and Japan 94 million. The EEC is the third largest donor, then Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, and 7th is the UK. A horrified silence greeted these facts, and we were all left with a feeling of incredulity that anyone could volunteer for such work, and gratitude that there are so many who do.