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!
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Some of our services include:
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Diabetes Management ♦ Vasectomy ♦ CDL Physicals
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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.
PIO NEER M E M O R IA L C LIN IC
Morrow County Health District
' Excellence in H e « l t h c « r e
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