MARCH 2004 NEWSLETTER 

Edited and Produced by DeVerne Jacobsen and Carolyn Rice
If you would like to receive copies of our quarterly newsletters, please contact a board member (below)

Please Help: Sister City is building a VIDEO LIBRARY. Russian films have received worldwide critical acclaim, and viewing these films could be a good way to learn about Russia. So Sister City Committee has decided to build a library of videos from which its members could borrow. For the project, Vera Quimby purchased and donated several videos of recent films, including "The Soloist" and "A Small Favor" The Board would like to locate other videos purchased several years ago when Sister City sponsored a community Russian film festival. The recollection is that they were given to someone in Sister City. Readers of this newsletter who know the whereabouts of those or other Russian videos to add to our collection are asked to contact the Sister City Committee, through Carolyn Rice: (541) 862-2652 or twopond@budget.net

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Nancy Hitchcock

Thanks to the fifty people who have recently paid dues for 2004. The Grants Pass Sister City Committee depends on member dues for about half of its approximately $2500 annual operating budget. Renewal notices for 2004 have been in the past two newsletters, and I thank all of you who have renewed memberships or recently joined. Our membership has hovered around fifty; I would like to see a 10% increase in membership for 2004. Board members are currently contacting individuals who may have forgotten to renew this year. If you’re not sure you sent your membership in this winter, please call me at 479-9436.

Mollie Means, busy community volunteer, was recently appointed to an open seat on the board of directors. In the early nineties, Mollie served briefly on the board just after the formation of the Grants Pass Sister City Committee. She hosted two members of a visiting delegation, and has been a long-time supporter and member of sister city. Mollie’s involvement in a variety of community organizations such as the Josephine County Historical Society, Caveman Kiwanis, Soroptimists, the Chamber of Commerce, and Rogue Music Theater will be so helpful as we work to strengthen connections with community groups.

The twelve-member board meets monthly to conduct business, and committees are appointed as needed for special projects. Our next major project will be hosting a visiting delegation of healthcare providers. If you are interested in helping with this project, please call one of the board members listed in this newsletter.

MEDICAL DELEGATION TO RUBTSOVSK

Five medical professional are preparing for a May 30 departure for Rubtsovsk. Ron Brown, KDRV anchor/reporter and long-time sister city member, will accompany them and report on medical facilities and practices in Rubtsovsk, with a special focus on the equipment donated by Three Rivers Community Hospital to Rubtsovsk Hospital #1.

Members of the delegation are meeting every few weeks to prepare   for their visit. A recent Russian Federation rule requires delegates to submit information and copies of the front page of the passport to a Russian regional center for approval before the “invitation” can be prepared. An invitation is required for the visa application through the Russian consulate in San Francisco. Dealing with the changes in rules has taken more time than expected.

 TJ Fleeger, Clinical Manager at Three Rivers Hospital, has been instrumental in recruiting the delegation members.  Other nurses from the hospital in the delegation include Kathleen (Kitty) Waud, Nursing Supervisor; Nancy Miller, Critical Care RN; and Rita Turek, Intensive Care on-call RN. Rita’s husband, Dr. Tom Turek, a retired family physician, serves as Medical Director of the State of Oregon Medical Assistance Program.

 The delegation will spend eight full days in Rubtsovsk, three in Moscow, and three in transit. We are lucky to have such an enthusiastic group to establish person-to-person friendships among medical providers. It’s a wonderful follow-up to the equipment donation through the Heart to Heart project.

SISTER CITY BOARD MEETINGS: SUMMARY OF RECENT MEETINGS

The Sister City Committee board meets the second Thursday of each month. The meetings, held at the Grants Pass Chamber of Commerce Meeting Room, at 5:15 pm., are open to the public and guests are encouraged to attend and participate.

In January the board reviewed the long term goals previously set and worked out the final details for this year’s Winterfest. It also planned for the display of Russian art and artifacts for the Grants Pass Museum of Art for February.

The February meeting, which followed Winterfest, gave the board the chance to review the event while it was still fresh in everyone’s mind. It was declared an unqualified success.  The board approved the proposed budget for 2004 presented by treasurer Mark Kellenbeck.  Fund-raising will be necessary to achieve this year’s goals.

At the same meeting the board was presented with a check for $2,000 from Three Rivers Community Hospital  toward the expenses of the medical delegation. Plans for the delegation are well underway and orientation meetings have begun.

The board explored possible ways of reaching more young people and encouraging participation in Sister City.  The topic was considered worth revisiting at the April or May meeting because it is through the experiences of young people that Sister City can best impact the future.

A weekend workday to pack more medical supplies for Russia was planned. at the February meeting. These items, received too late to be included in the main Heart to Heart shipment will be sent by Gateway America, a humanitarian organization.

At the March meeting Mollie Mean’s application to serve on the board was  considered, and by an email tally she was approved. Her suggestion that Sister City participate in the Boatnik parade was well received.

AAUW PROJECT: HOW RUSSIAN WOMEN’S LIVES HAVE CHANGED

The local branch of the American Association of University Women  has featured sister city presentations at its meetings in the past few years. Nancy Hitchcock was invited to submit a proposal for a presentation at the state AAUW convention. in April in Grants Pass.  She felt that a program about how women’s lives changed after Perestroika and the collapse of communism in Russia would be worthwhile. The state organizers agreed. She asked women in the Sister City organization in Rubtsovsk  about how their lives have changed with the changes in the economy. Dozens of women wrote letters. about their experiences.  With the help of translators Valentina Cirina and Galena Gritsuk  and Valentina Garey,  Hitchcock, and her committee: Ruth Pepple, Gwen Jacobsen and Carolyn Rice, have put together a slide show and narrative. The letters and the slides give a vivid picture of the changes women have since 1991.  The program will be presented for the first time on April 30 at the Riverside Convention Center.  Groups and schools may contact Sister City Committee if they would like to schedule a presentation of the program.

NEWS ABOUT JASON SPEARS: A PROJECT TO EDUCATE YOUNG WOMEN IN MOLDOVA

In September, 2003, the Sister City newsletter reported that Jason Spears is in Moldavia with the Peace Corps, working in public health service by assisting a local teacher in schools several days a week and a doctor at a public clinic in the village. He is now working on a special project for women. Moldova is desperately poor, and unemployment is very high.  25% of the population works outside the borders of Moldova and sends money home to their families.  Many young women become involved in female trafficking by responding to misleading advertisements for foreign employment.  His project aims to prevent those at risk from becoming victims of sexual exploitation. A seminar to help young women acquire self-esteem, and employment and social skills is the heart of the project.  Fifteen volunteers, both Peace Corps and Moldovan, will provide four days of instruction for 15 women between the ages of 19 and 21.  The seminar will focus on empowerment and building positive self images, finding reputable employment, taking care of themselves and their children, and preventing HIV/AIDS. Five participants will be selected to present seminars for other women in their community. Moldova is without the resources to fund social projects, no matter how desperately needed.  The project is seeking financial support through the Peace Corps Partnership Program, which relies on gifts from donors. Donations may be sent to Peace Corps Partnership Program in Washington D.C.  For more information or anyone who would like to support the project can contact Alvin Spears at 479-6889

WINTERFEST 2004, BEST ATTENDANCE EVER!  BIG NEWS: MEDICAL DELEGATION

February was a high profile month for Sister City.  Not only was it the month of the annual  Winterfest celebration, but the Grants Pass Museum of Art featured a gallery display of art and artifacts from Russia, and the Daily Courier published a feature story about Russian foods.

Perhaps because of the publicity, the annual Sister City Winterfest, held in the Grants Pass Museum of Art, was packed with attendees.   More than eighty visitors  were there to sample from platters of Russian style hors d’oeuvres, listen to Russian music by members of the Grants Pass High School orchestra, under the direction of Laura Boldon, view the display of objects from Russia, and participate in the evening’s program, which was organized and emceed by Mark Kellenbeck.  

The program began with slides of the medical equipment in Hospital # 1 in Rubtsovsk.  Carl Rhodes gave an account of his recent tour  of the hospital where he and his wife, Marina attached Heart to Heart decals to each piece of equipment.  Because the decals clearly visible, he assured everyone,  medical staff and patients in Rubtsovsk will know where each piece of equipment came from.  

Nancy Hitchcock presented Heart to Heart awards to special individuals and groups for  their outstanding contributions: Ted Pepple for his effort in storing and packing equipment and for getting assistance from local businesses to store the equipment; Lee and Rozella Beck, Lee’s Mini-Storage, for provided storage facilities for the equipment until it after was inventoried and packaged; Carol Loros, Southern Oregon Transfer and Storage for storing the shipping containers, and gave other valuable assistance; Jeff Hunter and USF Reddaway Transportation, for the use of a loading dock, forklift  and operator; Mayor Len Holzinger, for the city’s partnership in the Heart to Heart fund raising campaign; Grants Pass Rotary and Dave Trump for securing a  humanitarian grant for port to port shipping costs. Three Rivers Community Hospital, donated the equipment and participated in Heart to Heart fund raising efforts.

The announcement that a medical delegation will go to Rubtsovsk in early summer of this year was the big news of the evening.  Team leader, T J Fleeger introduced the members of her newly formed group:  Kitty Waud, Nancy Miller, Rita Turek, Tom Turek, and Ron Brown, television newscaster for Station KDRTV.   Later this year the plan is for Rubtsovsk to send a return medical delegation.

The evening ended with a skit that brought on a great deal of laughter from the audience. Director Lorraine Sherman, and actors Ruth Pepple, Mark Kellenbeck, Gwen Jacobsen and Nancy Hitchcock called upon their past experiences to give authenticity to their roles as American guests in Russian being overwhelmed by the generosity and the food offered them by their hosts.

  
    Above: Carl Rhodes, right, with a doctor in Hospital #1 in
    Rubtsovsk, where the medical equipment from
    Heart-to-Heart was installed. The hospital is one of the
    sites the medical delegation will visit this summer.