Sister Cities News
Vol. 24 Issue 1 Newsletter of the Uzhhorod-Corvallis Sister Cities Association Winter 2013
BOARD OF Presidents Message DIRECTORS 2011 Hello Members,
Ken Trueba - President This past year was busy and productive and as an [email protected] organization we have lots to be proud of. Last summer we received the Sister Cities International Jack Peterson Award for Cities between 50,000 and 100,000! Els Lofgren Peggy Giles A TOUCH delegation of 19 people went to Uzhhorod and continued their good work there. Over the years and under Lynne Hindman the leadership of Alice Rampton and Sabra Killen, TOUCH has greatly Gary Meddaugh increased the quality of life for not just the orphans at Chaslivtsi, but for many other children in need in the community of Uzhhorod. Martin Vartanov
Sue Trautwein This last fall OSU veterinary students put together a walk to increase the Marc Vomocil awareness of animals, in particular dogs, in Uzhhorod. They are planning both a human project focusing on tuberculosis and an animal welfare Robert Kokenyesi project this fall in Uzhhorod. Carla Francis Victoria Rosoha We hosted a Mayoral visit last spring and met with the Open World delegation from Ukraine, hosted by Umpqua College faculty and longtime Shelly Hunt CUSCA member Pete Bober. There is a new addition to the newsletter, Nandan Rao News From Uzhhorod, given to us by Maya Tarasova, to provide you with Peggy Peirson a bit more personal information about what your efforts mean to some of the children in Uzhhorod. Beverly Smith Finally, I would like to thank all of you who have renewed your membership. The number renewing is up quite a bit over past years. There LIAISONS was some confusion that a TOUCH membership was the same as CUSCA membership, but these are separate memberships and go to support each Julie Manning, Mayor organization, again thank you for renewing.
Joel Hirsch, City Council Ken Trueba
ADVISORS Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association wins Sister Cities International’s Sabra Killen Best Overall Program Award
Alice Rampton Mark Rampton Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association won the Sister Cities International’s 2011 Best Overall Program Award for a city with a population between 50,001 and 100,000. The award recognizes sister city HONORED MEMBERS programs that demonstrate outstanding accomplishments in advancing the goals and mission of the sister cities movement.
Carol Paulson Bob Stebbins
CALENDAR
Sister Cities Week - May 4th-11th Saturday Market Booth - May 4th Flower Sale, Central Park - May 5th Bogrash Dinner, Old World Deli - May 5th Annual Meeting, Library
- June 20th
The Corvallis-Uzhhorod, Ukraine sister city relationship includes multi- faceted projects. In 2011, the program delivered projects in the following areas: SISTER CITY NEWS Increasing Breast Cancer awareness in Uzhhorod Published by C-USCA Maintaining support for children with unique needs in Uzhhorod PO Box 176 Sending humanitarian aid to Uzhhorod through Counterpart Corvallis, OR. 97339 International Promoting the prevention of child abuse in Uzhhorod through an www.sistercities.corvallis.or.us exchange of social service professionals
The program brought together physicians, social service professionals, OUR SPONSORS donors, community volunteers, an international aid organization, and the local city government as well as the U.S. Department of State to Altrusa International, Inc. of Corvallis successfully implement the projects.
Benton Co. Schools Credit Union In 2011, the Association also increased its membership, added diversity to
Brooklane Specialty Apples the Board of Directors and improved their outreach efforts. Through the
Citigroup – Smith Barney efforts of its members, the program has positively impacted citizens of Uzhhorod and Corvallis and strengthened the relationship between the two Core Communications cities. Corvallis Clinic
Corvallis Country Club The Sister Cities International Annual Awards are awarded in several
Corvallis Family Medicine, PC categories. Award winners were honored at a special luncheon ceremony
Corvallis Sports Park on July 14 during the Sister Cities International 56th Annual Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. Edward Jones (Kay Dee Cole)
First Alternative Co-op
Gracewinds Music About Sister Cities International Sister Cities International facilitates nearly 2,000 partnerships in 136 countries on six Jack Scoville Ltd. continents between 600 communities in the United States with similar municipalities abroad.
Jazzy Looks (Sue Tetzker) Sister Cities International represents citizen diplomats who work tirelessly to promote the organizations’ mission of creating world peace and cultural understanding through economic La Mancha Ranch & Orchard and sustainable development programs, youth and education projects, arts and culture, and humanitarian assistance. Michael's Jewelers
New Morning Bakery
Papa's Pizza
Pathfinder Travel TOUCH Project Update
ProPrint A nineteen member delegation returned from Uzhhorod, Ukraine after R-3 Engraving Signs participating in The TOUCH Project (Take One Ukrainian Child’s Hand) Rice's Pharmacy, Gifts & Wine in late September 2012.
Law Offices of Ringo, Stuber, Ensor & Hadlock, P.C. The TOUCH Project is a program of the Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities
Samaritan Health Services Association and was started in 2000 by co-founders Sabra Killen and
Starker Forests, Inc. Alice Rampton. It links sponsors with over 300 children who have special needs in Corvallis’ sister city, Uzhhorod. The institutions supported by Teel's Travel Planners The TOUCH Project include a Roma school, an orphanage, a center for Timberhill Athletic Club children with disabilities, and two youth facilities. This was the twelfth TriAxis Engineering, Inc. delegation to travel to Ukraine with The TOUCH Project and all
Valley Eye Care delegation members covered their own air fare, hotel expenses, food, and
Wells Fargo Business Banking ground transportation. This year the delegation included a dental hygienist, a professional harpist from Denver, retired teachers and White's Electronics, Inc. professors, a Seattle fire fighter, librarians, a Philomath high school Woodstocks Pizza Parlor student, and a law enforcement counselor from Salem. Zonta Club of Corvallis
Besides meeting with the children in The TOUCH Project during their visit, the delegation was able to ride in the newly purchased bus for the Rehabilitation Center for Children with Disabilities in Ukraine. The purchase of the $57,000 bus was a cooperative effort between TOUCH sponsors and donors, the Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association, Cropper Medical, Corvallis Morning Rotary Club and the Rotary Foundation spearheaded by Carla Francis. The bright yellow 24- passenger bus is wheelchair accessible and replaces a dilapidated bus that was being rented by the Rehabilitation Center.
Five delegation members also were asked to address the subject of volunteerism in presentations to an International Social Work Conference and at classes at Uzhhorod National University. Delegation members provided lectures for both medical and dental students. The delegation also met with Uzhhorod’s Mayor Viktor Pohorelov. Nearly 200 children were taken to an outdoor bazaar to shop for new clothing with delegation members.
Lynne Abbey-Lee, a professional harpist from Denver, brought a small harp with her and performed for the children whenever possible. They enjoyed her music a great deal and the delegation was able to attend several musical performances by children in The TOUCH Project as well.
Zita Bathori-Tartsi, professor of Social Work at Uzhhorod National University and the Ukrainian Coordinator of The TOUCH Project, commented, “The TOUCH delegation always give us energy, motivation, ideas, hope, trust, and optimism to carry on the work in behalf of these children in need.”
The renewal process for 2012-2013 to sponsor a child in Uzhhorod is wrapping up. There are several new children that need sponsors. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please contact the TOUCH co-chairs, Sabra Killen at [email protected] or Alice Rampton at [email protected]. You may also renew or sponsor a child online at: http://www.sistercities.corvallis.or.us/uzhhorod-current/touch- sponsorship-donation-form. We are happy to send you their photo, if you would like more info.
One Health, One World 2013
OSU Students from the Corvallis Division of International Veterinary Student’s Association held a fundraiser for the One Health One World cause, which was dedicated this year to benefit Ukraine. A 5K Fun Run/Walk and a “K9- 9K” were held on Sunday, October 14th on the OSU campus. Half the money raised benefited human health and half went to animal well-being. CUSCA Board members Alice Rampton and Peggy Giles spoke about Uzhhorod at one of the fundraising events.
With a population of over 111,000 people, Uzhhorod has no animal shelter, poor animal control and periodically resorts to mass poisoning or bludgeoning of dogs.
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There is also currently a multi-drug resistant tuberculosis epidemic in Uzhhorod and a lack of sufficient TB medications and hospital care. Hopefully, the money raised by this fund-raiser will help alleviate some of these issues.
Mayor’s Delegation from Uzhhorod
The newly re-elected mayor of Uzhhorod brought a delegation to Corvallis last June. The delegation included mayor Viktor Pohorelov, his spouse (Lyubov Pohorelova), a city councilor (Anatoliy Synyshyn), and the interpreter, Kateryna Bizilya.
The delegation visited with Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning and CARDV and attended a reception at the Corvallis Art’s Center.
They were also hosted at a dinner party by C-USCA board member Bev Smith.
News from Uzhhorod
Our own Maya Tarasova, who is the Director of the Window on America Center at the Transcarpathian Regional Scientific Library and works with a lot of our children in Uzhhorod, sent in some current news on the children that we care so much about. She was recently here on a visit and upon returning was asked to share her perspective of America and Corvallis and her comments were featured in an article on the 16th of February. She also set up an interview for Alice Rampton and Sabra Killen to talk about the TOUCH project. The last picture in the left column on this page is a snapshot of part of the article that appeared in the local newspaper, which has over 100,000 readers. (Not that most of us can read it, but that is a picture of our two TOUCH leaders smiling back at us!)
One of the children we have supported over the years, Rudi Kosoru, has now transferred from Chaslivtsi to a “regular” school, where he will graduate in a couple of months. There is a large stigma attached to kids that attend Chaslivtsi in Ukraine and graduating from a normal school gives him a much greater opportunity to attend college or get a job. Rudi is actually a very bright child that was initially misdiagnosed as retarded and simply needed some extra attention to flourish. He was given that opportunity with the help of funds that you all donated to our programs and some extra support from local volunteers in Uzhhorod.
Note from TOUCH Co-Chairs: Thanks to scholarship donations in memory of Joshua Nelson, Rudi's living and schooling expenses are being covered for this year. The scholarship program is in its third year with The TOUCH Project in Uzhhorod. This year, Nancy Waterfall of Ogden, Utah learned of the program, solicited sponsors for her lap swimming and was able to raise over $3700 for scholarships which will be distributed next fall.
Unfortunately, we can’t help everyone and sometimes fate simply works against us, but at least we try. A couple of other kids we have helped support, Zoli Lakatosh and Edhar Kondi, are now out on the street and beyond some money to buy food at the local grocery, there is little else we can do for them.
The library project that Maya works on is moving to a new format. Recent computer classes that were attended by 25 children are now over and the next group will include 15 kids in a “leadership group”. The intent is to teach these children about behavioral patterns, communication skills, computer literacy, and leadership roles so they can then pass some of these skills on to kids in the orphanage. Maya is working with Anna, a music teacher that donates a lot of her time helping children and hopes to have the opportunity to someday visit Corvallis on one of our exchanges.
Open World Delegates from Uzhhorod
Long-time CUSCA member and current faculty member at Umpqua Community College Pete Bober hosted a Ukrainian delegation via the Open World Program and brought them to Corvallis for a lunch and meeting on November 8th. Two of the delegates: Yana Baryska, Associate Professor at Uzhhorod National University Law School, and Nataliya Kushnir, instructor at Uzhhorod National University department of International Economic Relations, were from Uzhhorod and were thrilled to see their sister city for the first time.
The Board met Pete and the delegation at Francesco's for lunch and gelatos and had a nice visit with them before they headed down to Eugene for a meeting at the U of O.
Annual Flower Basket Fundraiser
During the weeks leading to Mother's Day each spring, Peoria Gardens provides an array of beautiful 20-inch hanging flower baskets to CUSCA at cost, which we then sell throughout the community as a fundraiser. Our flower basket sales program is a major fund raising activity for the programs of the Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association. Flowers can be pre-ordered or purchased at the Spring Garden Sale in Central Park on Sunday, May 5th.
To pre-order, please go to the CUSCA website: http://sistercities.corvallis.or.us/uzhhorod-news/flower-basket-fund-raiser, complete the form, and mail it (along with your check made out to CUSCA Flower Baskets) to:
Bob Stebbins 1525 SW Brooklane Drive Corvallis, OR 97330
This year pre-ordered baskets, labeled with customers names and addresses, will be held at the Stebbins residence, or can picked up at the Spring Garden Sale in Central Park on Sunday, May 5th.
Thank you for your continued support of CUSCA programs.
Bob Stebbins, Chair Flower Basket Sales Committee
Bogrash Dinner
Another fundraiser we have held the past several years is an annual bogrash dinner. Bogrash is a hearty stew that has special seasonings we get from Uzhhorod. We will be hosting the dinner this year on Sunday, May 5th at 5pm in the Old World Deli. Watch for an email detailing all our May Sister Cities activities sometime in April.
Membership Reminder
Please note that membership contributions to the Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association are separate from donations to TOUCH. The TOUCH project is under the umbrella of CUSCA. Membership donations to CUSCA support other activities and projects with our Ukrainian Sister City.
Online membership form: http://sistercities.corvallis.or.us/uzhhorod/uzhhorod-member
Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association P.O. Box 176, Corvallis, Oregon 97339
2013 Membership Registration and Renewal --- Please respond by March 1
Memberships are available at a variety of levels. Annual dues for each level is outlined below:
Youth $10 Individual $15 Family $30 Friend $50 Sustaining $75 Patron $100 or more
Yes, I’m interested in membership:
Name: ______Address: ______Phone: ______E-mail: ______Please check type of newsletter delivery: email ______U.S. mail ______Sponsor a child in Ukraine _____ $75 Other donation $______Please make checks payable to C-USCA
I'm interested in volunteering in the following areas: (please check all that apply)
Host visitor events Provide home stays for visitors Provide transportation for visitors Write grants Translate Ukrainian or Russian Help with annual flower basket sale Serve as a board member Serve on a project or committee