2005 Annual Report

Although a year ago it was not yet clear who would win the presidential election in Ukraine, since then President Yushchenko has already dissolved the first government under prime minister Mme Timoshenko. In many respects they are still a long way from any comparison to western European standards. On a positive note, the visa requirement formerly in place for EU citizens traveling to Ukraine has been lifted without any time restrictions. Moreover there were many changes in everyday life for residents of Transcarpathia, which mainly had negative consequences for their wallets. A lot of prices skyrocketed, particularly in construction material. Wage hikes and pension increases hardly kept pace to a similar extent.

So let me report a few things about the work of the Benefit Society in 2005, and about the smaller and larger relief efforts which are often extremely important and valuable for those who impacted by them. After all, it can be difficult to spot the realities of everyday life behind many acts of support.

Péter Szeghljánik assisted with the loading of relief supplies

Relief shipments

Similar to last year, the Society dispatched a total of 12 relief shipments. The range of commodities transported included office technology (computers, printers, scanners, fax machines, copiers), heating elements, hot water heaters, floor coverings, tires and spare parts for cars. Among medical supplies sent were mainly adult diapers, eyeglasses, and a wheelchair, among other things. In addition there were 10 bicycles, candles, a baby carriage, 6 car seats for children, sporting articles, toy cars for children, and a children’s swing-set. The latter is supposed to find its “new home” on the projected playground of the village of Vári near the church.

News about our staff

Both of Pastor Sándor Zán’s sons enjoy creating distractions from their parents’ activities. That occasionally makes it difficult for their father to keep track of all his official deadlines and duties.
Pastor Péter Szeghljánik was recently consecrated to the task of youth pastor in the Reformed Church. This concludes his probationary period as assistant pastor. He and his wife Kata expect their second child in the spring of 2006.

Working with Youth and Contact with Youth

The partner relationship between the Saxon youth organization CEU (Christian Endeavor Union) and the Transcarpathian Reformed youth organization KRISZ have continued on a good footing.

In late June and early July 2005 another CEU outing for youth and young adults took place in Transcarpathia, in which a number of young people from KRISZ could participate. Information about the planned outing for 2006 is available from the Saxon CEU or from the Benefit Society.

Christmas parcel drive

We are always extremely happy and grateful to see the extent to which many people both here in our Vogtland region and lately from other regions far and wide are supporting our Christmas Joy program, and have made it “their” cause. We wish to express our sincerest thanks!

However at first glance it looks for now as if we won’t quite reach the level of donations from last year. We still hope that, as in our past experience, more donations will arrive by year’s end, and so we have decided to respond to Pastor Zsukovszky’s appeal and include the children of the village of Dercin in the Christmas parcel drive. Thus 3000 children in various villages of Transcarpathia as well as in the Keresztúr orphanage will be surprised with a little package at Christmas.

Gunther Emmerlich (center) and members of the governing board Ronny Schwabe (right) and Christian Ehrler (left)

We are delighted that the Dresden singer and entertainer Gunther Emmerlich and the repeat junior world champion and vice-world master of 2005 in Nordic combination skiing Björn Kircheisen of Johanngeorgenstadt in the Ore Mountains of Germany continue to support our “Christmas Joy” program.

This year for the first time Robert Hochbaum, a local member of the German parliament, personally distributed several of our brochures.

Another first in 2005 was the launching of our campaign “Christmas Joy” at the celebration “Christmas at Proschwitz”, a Christmas marketplace at the castle of the same name near Meissen. This was made possible with the help of Alexandra Gerlach, a news writer and well-known as a moderator of several programs on the Central German Radio network and with DeutschlandRadio.

Alexandra Gerlach is married to Dr. Georg Prinz of Lippe, a wine-grower of Meissen, who in the early 1990’s bought back the winery which had been owned by his family, but which was confiscated by authorities in 1945, as well as the family estate at Proschwitz Castle.

Proschwitz Castle is the largest privately owned winery in eastern Germany and the oldest one still existing in the German state of Saxony.

The Proschwitz castle opened its doors to the public for the sixth time this year for the celebration “Christmas at Proschwitz”. Visitors to the castle, which was decorated for Christmas, numbered well over 3000. They were greeted by dealers of charming gift ideas, and peered over the shoulders of Saxon handicraft artisans, while sampling wine made on the premises and high-grade spirits from the Meissen distillery of the Prince of Lippe before an open hearth.

The visitors and exhibitors of “Christmas at Proschwitz” felt at home thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Princess Alexandra of Lippe and those of her co-workers at the castle.

We look forward to any ideas you may have for making our 2006 Christmas parcel drive for the children in Transcarpathia better known and supporting it.

Projects and Support Programs

Along with the projects listed in our report from July 2005, we were able to facilitate the following in the second half of the year:

As youth pastor of the Reformed Church, Pastor Péter Szeghljánik is in charge of the whole area of Transcarpathia’s districts. The Benefit Society has furnished him with a laptop computer to support this “mobile” form of ministry.

Knowledge about Transcarpathia is overwhelmingly deficient among the people there, and the teaching in schools is very lacking in this area. At the request of pastor Sándor Zán we financed the costs of two textbooks covering local history at the Reformed high school in Nagybereg.

In 2006 there are to be experimental plantings of pumpkins with hull-less seeds. The oil produced from them is intended for use by the soup kitchen in Vári. The Benefit Society provided assistance in procuring the necessary seeds for planting.

Specific requests arrive time and time again concerning support in the area of medical needs. In-kind donations of test-strips were made for the glucometers provided by the Society in the past.

A three-year old girl from the village of Fancsika suffers from severe hearing loss. After a diagnosis by Hungarian doctors there is the possibility of help for only one of her ears. She can only hear sounds of over 110 decibels with this ear. We are delighted that we could donate a hearing device of the necessary strength.

We were able to assist in eliminating a few small “inequities” with regard to the establishment of a German company in the auto supply industry in Transcarpathia.

This year we also helped to pay the schooling costs of a young girl from Transcarpathia who is studying at a German-Hungarian high school in Bavaria with very good results.

Musical instruments for the music school in Vári

Thanks to some generous donations it was possible for the music school in Vári to buy a large number of instruments. The school director could hardly find words to express his gratitude. He said this was worth more than gold, since the school had not been able to buy so many instruments for the past 20 years.

Many other activities could be included here. A great deal happens with little fanfare and in small doses. For example, the procurement of the coat-of-arms of the Count of Schönborn. The family of the count of Schönborn had several landholdings and territorial possessions in Transcarpathia, including an estate with several buildings in Berehovo (Beregszász), which today belongs to the Reformed Church. Plans are being made to establish a church home for the elderly, among other things. At the main building on the grounds, there used to be a coat-of-arms mounted above the entrance. The church would like to restore this symbol but was unable to find a replica of it. At the request of Pastor Sándor Zán we were able to obtain the coat-of-arms from the current countess of Schönborn in Austria.

But none of this would be possible for us at the Benefit Society without the loyal and dependable help of our members, friends and supporters. We experience this in one program after another, time and again from one year to the next.

Thank you very much! - for being so devoted to the people in Transcarpathia and to our Benefit Society. As the year 2005 draws to a close, we are grateful that you have contributed your efforts in many ways, by your interest and your prayers, and not least through your donations. I wish to express my personal thanks to you – also in the name of the auxiliary bishop of the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia, Pastor Sándor Zán, and of all the people you have helped. “May God reward you!”

Our special thanks go also to Mrs. Alexandra Gerlach as well as to Dr. Claus Hipp, Gunther Emmerlich and Björn Kircheisen for their support of our work.

Whenever the numbers in the annual balance sheet are set down on paper, we are amazed time and again to see that many small efforts finally result in a large endeavor.

We are delighted and grateful that we have experienced only minor cutbacks in donations despite the economic situation in Germany, which this year took a slight turn for the worse. We do not take our donations for granted, and we interpret this as a tangible miracle of God. We are also very grateful for any donations still en route to us.

In the coming year of 2006 we will continue to need you and your help, and we sincerely ask for your support. It would be wonderful if you would continue to be loyal to us. We can contribute a small effort to relieve people of their worries and problems. By doing so we can even perhaps give them a little reason to hope. It is worth your while!