| Back | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 Annual ReportYanukovich or Yushchenko – which one will end up as the new president of Ukraine? – that’s what I wrote you two years ago. That question no longer applies today. Both of them are in politically decisive positions, one as president, the other as head of the cabinet. Both are pulling the country forward, though not always in the same direction. In a way, it’s a reflection of the fragmentation of the huge country. For most of the people the tug-of-war in Kiev is of little interest; they have quite different concerns in their often difficult everyday life. As this year draws to a close, the Benefit Society recalls its efforts to counteract this with small signs of hope and to kindle cheerful lights in the often dark existence of the population. Allow me to report briefly about this. Relief TransportsNine relief shipments with various contents were dispatched from the Vogtland region toward Transcarpathia. The freight included a copying machine, an overhead projector, tents, sleeping bags, good-as-new clothing, adult diapers, candles, eyeglasses, and even a snowplow, among many other things. Among unpleasant recent developments—since Hungary’s entry into the European Union—is the long wait at the Hungarian border when exiting Ukraine. It seems Hungary wants to be a star pupil for the EU, scrutinizing each vehicle with special intensity. It makes no difference whether the driver is an EU citizen or not. A two-to-four hour wait must be planned for, even if only 20 cars are in the queue. News of our StaffChurch elections took place in November in the Reformed Church in Transcarpathia. Pastor Sándor Zán was elected bishop of his church for the next four years. We wish him God’s blessings, strength and wisdom for this new task and its responsibilities. Pastor Péter Szeghljánik continues to work as the pastor in charge of youth for the Reformed Church, and is also doing important translation work into German. Since September Johannes Müller, a young man from Hartmannsdorf near Zwickau, has been privately conducting a sort of diaconal internship in Transcarpathia and is being prepared by pastor Sándor Zán for various assignments. Working with Youth / ContactsAt the end of September the KRISZ-PONT (=KRISZ-Point) was opened in the house of the Youth Organization in Beregszász (Berehovo). KRISZ-PONT is a coffee shop for young people with various activities available. On Mondays, for example, a specific theme is chosen, on Tuesdays they have game day, such as for playing Uno, on Wednesdays they have youth Bible study, and on Thursdays they deal with current happenings. During the week KRISZ-PONT is open from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., and for now is staffed by volunteers. Visitors can get drinks and snacks for reasonable prices. Activities will be expanded little by little, and plans are in the works for a small “soup kitchen”. KRISZ-PONT enforces a policy that is alcohol-free and nicotine-free. In a little side-room there are computers available for use, although these are not yet connected to the Internet. The students at the local Hungarian secondary school get a lot of use of the facility. Other visitors frequent KRISZ-PONT, and it can be crowded depending on the time of day. We have been giving support to the setup and maintenance of KRISZ-PONT. At the end of August 2006 another countryside excursion by the youth organization in Saxony took place in Transcarpathia for youths and young adults. A number of young people from KRISZ participated. You can find a series of photos from it on our website. Christmas Package DriveIt is always extremely gratifying and rewarding to see the enormous extent to which many people in our region and elsewhere are supporting our “Christmas Joy“ drive and have made it one of their favorite activities to contribute to. We thank you sincerely! We are presently on the verge of equaling the donations received last year. This is thoroughly amazing, considering the VAT increase and the generally uncertain times economically. We see this as a measure of confidence by those who contribute to our work. At the request of Pastor Zán we will include two additional villages, Bakta und Muzsaly, in the Christmas package drive. We are counting on being able to surprise upwards of 3000 children in various villages in Transcarpathia with a Christmas gift, as well as children in the orphanages in Keresztúr and Bene. We are delighted that once again standing behind our “Christmas Joy“ drive are the Dresden singer and entertainer Gunther Emmerlich and the silver medallist at the Turin Winter Olympics and two-time German champion in Nordic Combination skiing in 2006, Björn Kircheisen of Johanngeorgenstadt in the Ore Mountains.. This year as well Princess Alexandra of Lippe enabled us to take part in the “Proschwitz Christmas“, a Christmas market at the castle of the same name near Meissen. We distributed numerous brochures to the many visitors and informed them about our Christmas Joy drive. At this time we would like to report about two other initiatives. Eleven ninth-graders at a school in Reichenbach, located in our region, worked together with their teacher and collected a considerable amount one morning in the heart of town, and later at their school for our Christmas parcel drive. The young people who belong to the youth organization in Falkenstein in our region put themselves to work making handmade stars as Christmas ornaments to sell at their local Christmas market. The proceeds are benefiting our Christmas drive. These are two good examples that will hopefully be imitated! We look forward to hearing your ideas on promoting and supporting our Christmas package drive for children in Transcarpathia. Projects and activities we are supportingIn addition to the projects referred to in our semiannual report, we wish to mention the following projects we were able to help with:This year for the first time, one hectare of ground was planted with an experimental pumpkin to produce hull-less seeds for oil. The seeds for planting were made available by the Benefit Society. Unfortunately the pumpkins didn’t grow well in the hot weather of late July/early August, and ended up rather small in size. In spite of this they held plenty of seeds. But then it was estimated that more than half of the pumpkins were stolen. In the end however, two tons of pumpkins could be harvested from that field, which contained about 10 to 12 kilograms of seeds. Next year this may all be repeated, and we will hope for better weather. Thanks to one donation we were able to provide screws needed for a construction project in the KRISZ central office in Beregszász/Berehovo. This was valuable assistance for them because the price of screws is higher in Transcarpathia than in Germany. We do continue to support individual emergency cases in the areas of medicine and social services. These included the financing of the diagnosis and treatment of a two-year-old girl whose fingers are adult-sized and cause her a lot of pain. Since the doctors in Ukraine were unable to help her, we gave our assistance to enable a consultation with experts in nearby Hungary. A poor family in Vári with four children also received help from us following the mother’s suicide. In our semi-annual report we already reported on the construction of
a large new playground in Vári. You have already entrusted us with your
first donations for this. Plans for this large project are in progress.
A design for it was discussed in November with Pastor Zán, and all the changes
proposed are being incorporated. The revised blueprints should still be
submitted this year, so that during the winter months work can begin on
the individual playground pieces by local craftsmen in Transcarpathia. We
have already managed to acquire two rocking figures in Thuringia for a reasonable
price. These will surely be among the attractions on the playground. It
would be wonderful if you would support us in this project. We sincerely thank you for your support, which often comes in many different ways, for your interest, your prayers and for your donations, as the year 2006 comes to a close. There are many people who have faithfully stood by the side of the Benefit Society and of the people in Transcarpathia with larger and even small donations. This shows your gratitude and love, which we would like to return. Thank you very much, and may God reward you for it! A special thanks goes to Princess Alexandra of Lippe, Dr. Claus Hipp, Gunther Emmerlich and Björn Kircheisen for their support of our work. We are thrilled and grateful to know that so many helpful people stand behind us, since the economic situation in Germany affects the work of our Benefit Society no less than the rest of society. It can never be taken for granted that our shipments will get through. We understand everything as an incomprehensible miracle of God. In the coming year 2007 we still need you and your help and ask sincerely for your support. It would be nice if you would continue to be loyal to us. And please let your friends, acquaintances, co-workers and fellow students know about the work of the Transcarpathia Benefit Society. Also tell your townspeople, clubs and sporting groups. Do this for the love of the suffering people in Transcarpathia.
|
||||||||||||
| Back |
