Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 23,2008 - THREE
Local teens spend Christmas vacation working in Rwanda
by Autumn Morgan
7
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Kristen Van Cleave with some of the people in the v illage
Nathan Van Cleave with children w ho are all members of
the same family
It was a very differ
ent Christm as for Nathan
and K risten Van C leave
o f Heppner as they spent
their vacation working with
their grandparents, who are
short-term missionaries, in
Rwanda.
The Van Cleaves no
ticed many drastic differ
ences in the way people live
in Rwanda as compared to
the United States. People in
Rwanda live in mud homes.
They walk for long distances
to draw water from commu
nity wells. But despite their
sparse conditions, in front of
most o f these mud homes,
passersby will see flowers
and plants decorating the
front o f the homes.
R w a n d a , th o u g h
a sm all country, is very
crowded with activity, espe
cially in the cities. Drivers
swerve in and out o f traffic.
The rules are very relaxed.
Police have checkpoints and
random ly pick who they
want to pull over.
Rwanda is a country
that is still recovering from
a civil war and genocide
in which at least 800,000
people were killed. Between
this, the AIDS epidem ic,
and Malaria, Rwanda has
hundreds o f thousands of
orphans. It’s orphanages like
the Home of Hope Rwanda
that provide a safe haven for
these children.
Upon arrival, one
o f the first things that Na
than and K risten noticed
was how happy the people
were, despite their condi
tions. “They have so much
less (than we do) but they
are happy. They don’t real
ize what they don’t have,”
said the Van Cleaves. A lot
o f people farm in Rwanda
but there is a desperation
for work. Most people have
to walk everywhere as mo
torized transportation is a
rarity. Some women, most
with babies on their backs,
earn extra money for their
families by sweeping the
streets. They are paid $1-2
U.S. dollars per day.
Children at the or
phanage were thrilled to
have new people visit them.
One child was very intrigued
by one o f K riste n ’s hair
ties. A nother'girl enjoyed
playing with Kristen’s hair.
Kristen said the girl was cu
rious about what she would
look like with blond hair so
Kristen bent over draped
her hair around the young
girl’s head.
N athan and K ris
ten found that one o f the
most popular event with the
people in the small commu
nities was making balloon
animals. They said that the
adults were almost as bad as
the children when it came to
pushing and shoving to get
one o f the animals. Later,
while visiting a family in
one o f their mud hom es,
they saw one o f the balloon
animals proudly displayed.
On Christmas day, Nathan
and Kristen visited the chil
dren’s ward at a local hos
pital where they handed out
stuffed animals.
The church in the
com m unity, w hich th e ir
g ran d fath er is in charge
o f building , is all ready
boom ing. A pproxim ately
300 people meet in the un
finished church. Currently
there are four choirs that
perform two to three songs
each at the services. For
each song there is also a
dance to go with it.
“ P eo p le are very
friendly there. They look
you in the eye, they wave
and smile. Everyone is very
happy to meet you,” said
Nathan. He said the people
were so happy to receive
their gifts and were thrilled
to see new faces. “When you
drive down the road, they
will chase after you.”
Kristen said she most
enjoyed visiting with the
orphans. “They are always
hanging onto you. They
always want to touch you,”
she said. “ I just enjoyed be
ing with the people there.”
Kristen also noted that there
is an ever growing need for
education for the children in
Rwanda. During her trip she
met a girl who was a week
older than her but had only
finished the fourth grade.
Kristen is a 10th grader and
Nathan is a senior.
While in Africa, the
Jones, Young married
Nathan and Kristen Van Cleave spent Christmas away
from home this year
Van Cleaves were able to
travel to the Congo border
and met with people who
worked with approximate
ly 120 orphans in Congo.
Workers are having a hard
time getting food to the or
phanage in Congo because
of all o f the rebell.
Both N athan and
Kristen said they would like
to go back to visit Rwanda
someday.
Currently there are
many children at the Home
o f Hope Rwanda that are in
need o f sponsors. For more
information or to sponsor a
child, visit www.homeof-
hope.ca. Nathan and Kris
te n ’s grandm other is cur
rently in charge of gathering
the information and pictures
o f the children living in the
orphanage.
Fundraiser held for
reading program
Brandon and Rebecca Young
On Thursday, January 17, students began reading after school
and continued reading all night.
For the 19th year in a
row. Time Out for Reading
is underway in grades five
and six at Heppner Elemen
tary School. The students
spend the month o f January
reading as many minutes as
they possibly can, and are
rewarded with prizes and
activities along the way.
T h e p ro g ra m is
self-su fficien t, receiving
no money from HES or the
District. In an effort to raise
funds for this y ear's pro
gram, a whole pan o f Mrs.
Allen’s famous Babe Ruth
Bars will be raffled off to
a lucky winner. Tickets for
the drawing are $1 each or
six for $5, and are available
at HES, Heppner High, and
Heppner TV. The fortunate
Keith and Deborah Jones o f Pilot Rock and Bruce
and Debbie Young of Heppner announce the marriage of
their children, Rebecca Kate Jones and Brandon Young.
The couple was married July 7, 2007 at the Epis
copal Church o f the Redeemer in Pendleton by the Rev.
Frank Moss. A reception was held in the hospitality room
at the Pendleton Round-Up grounds. A wedding trip was
taken to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
The bride is a 2000 graduate of Pilot Rock High
School and holds a B.S. from the University o f Oregon
and MAT from Willamette University. She is currently
employed as a kindergarten teacher with the McKenzie
School District in Blue River.
The groom is a 2001 graduate o f Heppner High
School and holds a CEM from Oregon State University. He
is currently employed as a project engineer with Hamilton
Construction Co. in Eugene.
The maid/matron of honor was Jill Sorey (best
friend) o f Hermiston. Bridesmaids were Rachael Jones
(sister) o f Portland, Kelly Manning (friend) o f New burg,
and Danielle Alexander (friend) of Washington, D.C. Rae-
gan McElligott (cousin of the groom) from Salem was the
flower girl. Best man was Scott VanWinkle (best friend)
o f Kamiah, ID. Groomsmen were Corey Miller (friend)
o f Heppner, Luke Young (brother) of Heppner, and Matt
Young (brother) of Corvallis. Ring bearer was Tegan McEl
ligott (cousin of the groom) of Salem. Ushers were Brian
Ehler (cousin o f the bride) o f Susanville, CA and Shane
Lazinka (cousin of the bride) o f Pilot Rock.
The bride wore a strapless ivory gown with a
chapel length train. The bodice and bottom were embroi
dered with beads. The ivory veil was shoulder length with
swarehosky crystals. The bouquet w as made o f bright and
light pink roses.
recipient will be announced
on Thursday, January 24, at
5 p.m.
“Mrs. Allen’s Babe
Ruth bars are the b e st,”
com m ented one hopeful
ticket buyer.
Mrs. Allen's reply to
that compliment was, “I'm
afraid my tombstone will
read... HERE LIES MRS.
More than 550 stu
A L L E N ... SHE M ADE
dents
enrolled
at Eastern
A MEAN BABY RUTH
Oregon University for fall
BAR.”
term 2007 have been named
to the dean's list. To qualify
for the dean's list, students
must achieve and maintain a
grade point average of 3.5 or
Cards
higher on a 4.0 scale while
completing a minimum o f
12 hours o f graded course-
work for the duration o f the
EOU announces 2007
fall term dean's list
term.
The follow ing EOU
students from the Heppner
area qualified for the fall
2007 dean's list:
H e p p n e r - Bl ai r
Keithley
Lexington - Eliza
beth Orwick and Theresa
Rushing
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