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Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, January 30,2013 - FIVE Local ministry digs clean water Heppner to host chess tournament Thanks to a local min istry, a community in India now has access to safe water. The Shared M inistry o f Hope Lutheran Church and All Saints Episcopal Church raised money over several m onths last year to dig a well in one o f the thousands o f communities around the globe that lacks access to safe water. The project in Jan Vikas Samiti, India was complet ed in November o f 2012. Jan Vikas Samiti is not a town, but a social welfare organization in the northern state o f Uttar Pradesh, bor dering Nepal, that operates various programs to assist and support wom en and children living in extreme poverty. The project grew out o f Pastor Katy Anderson’s challenge to the congrega tions on World Water Day in 2011, and again in 2012, to set aside the dollar a day that might be spent on bot tled water or other luxuries and save it to help provide clean d rin k in g w ater to people who have none. “Water is so basic for life. Farmers and ranchers know how important it is to have access to water, but most o f us take clean water for granted.. .just turn on a faucet,” says Anderson. “Access to clean water is considered the founda tion for all other forms o f econom ic developm ent,” she continues. “Children w ho d o n ’t spend hours every day hauling water, and w ho d o n ’t get sick from drinking contaminated water, have more time for school and the possibility o f a better life than they were bom into. Eradicat ing extreme poverty was on the top of the list o f UN Millennium Development Goals, but without access to clean water, little else can change.” A focused effort to raise $5,000 to dig a well began in March of 2012. Children who attended First Friday Friends of Jesus during the year also were encouraged to participate by filling a water jug with coins during their Oct. 5 session. “There was an outpour ing of interest, and many Community members gathering to collect water from the new well. -Contributedphoto generous donations. What we thought m ight take a couple o f years to fund was fully funded in six months,” Anderson says. The Shared M inistry w orked with Living Wa ter International (LWI) to dig the well in rural India. LWI is a faith-based orga nization that provides the equipm ent, expertise and education to give thirsty people clean water, as well as sharing the gospel. Since its founding in 1990, LWI has completed 10,000 water projects in 26 countries. O f those, 920 projects have been com pleted in India in collaboration with lo cal churches, schools and hospitals. According to statistics pro v id ed by the U nited Nations and its related or ganizations, in many com munities around the world, women and children spend a large portion o f every day carrying water (in jugs weighing up to 40 pounds each) from the nearest wa ter source, which in some places can be as much as five miles away. Even w hen w ater is nearby, it can be dirty and unsafe to drink because o f poor sanitation p rac tices. Access to clean water and adequate sanitation is considered to be the first essential step in raising a community out o f poverty. In fact, according to LWI, health is one o f the most serio u s issues affe c tin g development in India. Ac cording to a report released by the organization: -diarrhea causes more than 1,600 deaths each day, making it the leading cause o f death among Indian chil dren; -An estimated 21 per cent o f communicable dis eases in India are related to unsafe water; and -only 14 percent o f the rural population has access to a latrine. W hen the LWI team arrived in Jan Vikas Sami ti, the approxim ately 80 community members were The previous water source in using a water source un Jan Vikas Samiti. -Contrib able to sustain their water uted photo needs. Because of that, lo cal families were suffering from cholera, dysentery and malaria. "S om e tim e there is no light/power supply for a m onth and we are not able to get water for drink ing. When water scarcity is there, we had to fetch water from another hand- pum p w hich is far from our dwelling and we had to cart water with the help of a trolley,” said 40-year-old community member and so cial worker Santosh Kumar. “ When we heard that LWI India is providing hand- pumps, we approached the organization for help. A team was rushed and after the survey a hand-pump has been installed and now we are able to meet our needs easily.” rhe new well yields 30 liters (nearly eight gallons) o f water per minute. LWI also provided hygiene edu cation, including instruc tion on hand washing, how to properly transport and store water, disease trans m ission and prevention, and signs and symptoms of dehydration. Members o f the Shared M inistry have expressed hope that this will be just the first o f many wells the ministry is able to fund. “We are already raising money for a second well to be built in Central or South America,” says Anderson. “LWI offers opportunities for a well-building mission trip, and w e’re hoping to send some of our members to actually participate in our next project.” The Shared M inistry w ill be c e le b ra tin g the completion o f the first well on Sunday, Feb. 24, with a potluck after church featur ing the food o f India and a fair trade m ini-bazaar offering products crafted by the w om en o f north India, with proceeds— o f course— going toward their next well project. More information about LWI and the global need for clean water can be found at their website, www.water, cc. More information on the Shared Ministry is available by calling 541-676-9970. Get A Healthy Start on The N ew Year! At Pioneer Memorial Clinic Our professional staff is here for all your Family Medical needs Some of our services include: Well Baby/Chlld Exams ♦ Women’s & Men’s Health Exams ♦ Cardiac Stress Testing ♦ Acute and Chronic Disease Management ♦ Smoklng/Tobacco Cessation Colonoscopy & Endoscopy Testing Diabetes Management ♦ Vasectomy ♦ CDL Physicals Allergy Shots ♦ Sports Physicals We accept most major insurance plans including Tri-Care 130 Thompson Ave., Heppner, OR 97836 Call 541-676-5504 for Appointments 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. Pioneer Memorial Clinic is part of Morrow County Health District Heppner will have the honor o f hosting a regional chess tournament this Sat urday, Feb. 2, at Heppner Elementary School. The tournam ent, part o f the Chess for Success program , is the regional tournament covering Mor row, U m a tilla , G illiam , Union and Wallowa coun ties. Check-in will begin at 7:30 a.m. with tournament play to begin at 8 a.m. L o c a l k in d e rg a rte n through fifth-grade students who qualified for the re gional tournament are Jack- son Lehman, Tyson Vawser, Cedie Dayandante, Gavin H anna, M ason Lehm an, Kendall Dowdy, Hannah Palmer, Gracey DeLoach, Felix Mathew and Jonathan Waddell. T he s ix th - th ro u g h eighth-grade team is made up o f Joe Jones, Alex Lind say, Jimmy Adams, Xavier G lo v er and Zach Bred- field. Local students concentrate over their chess boards in prepa ration for the Chess for Success regional tournam ent this Saturday at HES. -Contributedphoto Chess for Success or ganizes annual regional and state c h a m p io n sh ip tournam ents for elem en tary, middle and high school students. The tournaments started as the OMSI Tour nam ent in 1967. F orty- six players in grades four through eight participated in the first tournament. Now, the organization reports that thousands o f students in kind erg arten through 12th grade particip ate in 24 regional tournam ents throughout Oregon. The 2013 State Tourna ments will be held March 15 and 16 at the Oregon Convention Center in Port land. ISD TO BUY IPADS -Continuedfrom PAGE ONE to take college courses and board meeting and at the Dec. 4 work session that state school funding for the next biennium was estimat ed to be at the $5.7 billion level. He said that, while the budgeted number for kin dergarten through grade-12 funding was low er, the total purchasing power was $6.4 billion, which includes $256 million in PERS re form. M ulvihill said that the $5.7 billion proposal amount is a starting point for the legislature, noting the Democrat majority in the house and senate. He said that he thought the K-12 budget would end up to be more than $6.15 bil lion, which is the current budgeted amount. According to Mulvihill, “By including PERS reform cost savings in the budgeted am ount, the governor is telling the legislature they have to deal with PERS.” He also said, “This is the first budget in 10 years above the current service level and the first budget in five years that doesn’t rely on one-tim e governm ent stimulus dollars.” M ulvihill warned the board that adm inistrators in larger urban districts have voiced com plaints about “carrying” smaller, rural districts and said that he anticipates the issue to em erge som etim e dow n the road. He also said that state funding for ESDs is also under scrutiny, with a state proposal to move $ 120 million out o f ESD budgets. He said he anticipates less funding for ESDs as state monies become tight. Mulvihill said that Or egon G overnor John Kit- zhaber’s state budget plan, which prioritizes preschool to age-20 education, d e values law enforcem ent, and that attempts to tackle PERS reform , at least in theory, has been “brilliant.” He also com m ented that Kitzhaber has done a “tre mendous” job. M u lv ih ill’s E a s te rn Promise plan, which coor dinates education am ong some Eastern Oregon high schools, com m unity co l leges and universities, and allows high school students receive college credits, has received recognition and praise from Kitzhaber. In other business, the board: -heard a presentation from the district’s accoun tant Chris Cockburn who reported that ISD had a clean audit with “no mate rial weaknesses,” but sug gested the district be on the lookout for fraud and recommended that someone in a supervisory position look over checks. -learned that the O r egon E d u c a tio n In v e s t ment Board has approved a tem plate for the 2013 A c h ie v em e n t C o m p act. Under existing law, all dis tricts and ESDs must sub mit completed achievement compacts to the OEIB prior to July 1. -declared a 8,000 gal- lon vaulted fuel storage tank a surplus item, with a minimum bid o f $9 thou sand and bids to be opened on Feb. 25. -received a financial update w ith the general fund collecting $126,970 in basic school support, $917 in property taxes and $1,856 in county school funds; revenues for other funds including $1,997.75 in food service operations, $38,400 from the Morrow County United Recreation District, $71,613.17 from the lone Education Founda tion; and an lone Education Foundation Tier II grant for an OMSI trip for $3,360. -voted to increase the d istric t’s support budget to $72,000 to allow for the purchase o f the iPads. -announced the next meeting will be held Feb. 26. Parish celebrates Condon retirement Member« of the community joined member« of St. Patrick's and St. William's Catholic parishes last Sunday in a cofTee hour celebrating the retirement of long-time parish priest Father Gerry Condon. Top: Father Condon (right) joins the rest of the attendees in listening to Joe Lindsay perform a song in honor of the occasion. Bottom: Area resident and rancher Pam Wunderlich takes a moment to wish Father Condon well. -Photos by April Sykes Justice Court Report Morrow County Justice o f the Peace Ann Spicer has released the following Justice Court Report. -Deborah Lavonne Ev- ans, 49, o f H eppner was found guilty o f D riving While Suspended - Viola- tion and fined $435. -M ic h e lle Al l d r i t t - Holtz, 37, o f Heppner was found guilty o f Maintaining a Dog as a Public nuisance and fined $200. -K a s sa n d ra G a in e s, 25, o f Heppner was found guilty o f Initiating a False Report and fine $750. 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