Semi-annual report of 2008

Perhaps many of you are traveling or will soon be starting your vacation. Others are spending your summer at home and making one short trip or another or relaxing in your own yard.
We would therefore like to update you about news of our work, projects and outreaches, and about the situation in Transcarpathia.

Relief transports

In the first half of the year we were able to send 4 relief transports of different dimensions to Transcarpathia. Among items sent were computers and monitors, 4 street lamps, baby carriages and bicycles, spare parts for cars and adult diapers.

Conditions at Site

Many people in Transcarpathia are currently uneasy about the recent restrictive treatment of minorities by the Ukrainian government.

For example, an order passed by the Ministry of Education on 26 May 2008 about the “improvement of the usage of the Ukrainian languge in schools of national minority groups“ has established that, effective immediately, every high school student must take all of the final exams in Ukrainian, although he or she has been able to take all courses thus far in one's mother tongue. That means that many students who have been among the highest achievers so far now have very little or no possibility to continue their studies.

An additional ruling from this year has decreed that a minority language may be used for official purposes only when over 51% of the population speaks it. Previously that figure was 20%.
Even recent discussions in early July in Kiev between the presidents of Hungary and Ukraine produced no positive results on this matter.

An event in the Verecke Pass in the Carpathian Mountains addresses the strengthening of nationalistic tendencies in Ukraine. The Hungarians once came via this pass under their leader Attila over 1000 years ago into the Pannonian basin and settled there. A monument recalls this event. However in accordance with a ruling by the Ukrainian state it is permitted to display only a cross but no other symbols or inscriptions. A few weeks ago some unknown persons placed a Ukrainian trident on this monument along with a plaque on which the Hungarian people allegedly took the blame for atrocities committed in Ukraine during World War II. At the urging of the Hungarian Embassy the trident and inscription were removed and the monument is now under 24-hour police surveillance.

Group of children from Vári with their escorts at the Verecke Pass in the Carpathians

It remains to be seen what will develop concerning Ukraine's official policy toward minority groups and how this will be played out in daily life for the people.

Notes about our Staff

Péter Szeghljánik will in September tentatively end his term as youth pastor of the Reformed Church of Transcarpathia and begin a position as parish pastor.

Projects and Support Activities

József in Truskavec

We are very delighted about the success of initial treatments for 6-year-old József in the renowned specialty clinic in Truskavec, Ukraine, this past spring. The doctors directed special rehab sessions at home and recommended ongoing treatments at 4-month intervals. At this moment József is once again headed back to Truskavec. Happily he has received financial coverage by a Ukrainian charitable organization a year-and-a-half into his treatment. His current stay is being covered by our Benefit Society.
We are eager to extend further assistance to József and stay with him as he recovers and will continue to finance his treatment as far as this is possible. Therefore we are especially thrilled that a certain lady, on the occasion of her 60th birthday requested donations for József instead of gifts for herself.

In addition to small or larger individual donations the work of the Society continues and with it the possibility of supporting various projects thanks to similar activities.
A little girl together with her nephews, ages 5, 6 and 7, painted pictures to sell to relatives and friends to raise money for poor children in Transcarpathia.

The students about to graduate from the Weinhold School in Reichenbach allowed their teachers entry into the building on the last day of school only when they paid an admission fee which was then donated toward construction of the playground in Vári.
The kindergarten children in the Schönbrunn district of Lengenfeld parted with their favorite toys to give them to poverty-stricken boys and girls in Ukraine.
The kids in the church group in Klingenthal had a completely different idea. In conjunction with a community celebration they sold homemade waffles and donated the proceeds to our Christmas Parcel Drive, which is of course a remarkable thing to do in the middle of summer.

Food for a good cause - it tastes all the better!

The Reformed Church will erect a gulag monument on the premises of the bishop's office in Beregszász/Berehovo. It is to commemorate especially the Stalinist/Communist persecution and the suffering in the Soviet penal camps, and will be dedicated in November on Deportation Memorial day. The Reformed Church of Neu-Isenburg, Germany, is responsible for the financing of this monument, Our Society likewise has a supply of brochures at its disposal and may be requested from the chairman. Donations for this important project are possible by using the key word “Monument“.

At this time preparations are underway for our 10th Christmas Parcel Drive for children in Transcarpathia. There will be a special surprise this year. You can remain in suspense for now, and we will inform you in September as usual.
Moreover this past May (see photo above), 53 older children from the village of Vári were treated to a nice excursion to the wonderful mountains of Transcarpathia instead of a package last Christmas.

For today we send our warmest regards from Lengenfeld and wish you a nice summer vacation and relaxation time. May God's blessings go with you!