BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2013

Carla Francis - President

carlafrancis@peak.org Ken Trueba

Jack Peterson

Peggy Giles

Lynne Hindman

Gary Meddaugh

Martin Vartanov

Sue Trautwein

Marc Vomocil

Robert Kokenyesi

Shelly Hunt

Nandan Rao

Peggy Peirson

Beverly Smith

Pete Bober

Bardon Maginnis

Hannah Bittner

LIAISONS

Julie Manning, Mayor

Joel Hirsch, City Council

Presidents Message Hello members, Welcome to year 2014! But let's not put 2013 away so fast. This past year has been fabulously successful for Sister Cities. Allow me to share a few of the activities and projects that we have been busy with in 2013. This past September, our City of Corvallis Mayor, Julie Manning, joined The TOUCH (take one Ukrainian child's hand) Project delegation trip to Uzhhorod, Ukraine. This added an extra element of excitement. The delegation had the pleasure of witnessing firsthand The TOUCH Scholarship interviews of 18 applicants. Read more about the good works that this program has been able to provide to children of the orphanage, public schools and university students of Uzhhorod. You will be amazed and your heart will be warmed. This year, The TOUCH Project worked with two OSU intern students, Sydney MacNaughton and Hannah Bittner. Sydney and Hannah taught English to children in The TOUCH Project. They have shared many of their experiences with friends and family back home through their blogs. They returned home in December and have promised to tell us all more about their adventures at a public meeting. In November CUSCA and Mayor Julie Manning met with representatives of the Open World delegation from Ukraine. This delegation was hosted by Umpqua College faculty and longtime CUSCA member, Pete Bober. The representatives included two universities and an Open World facilitator from Kiev. Their 9 day trip was made for the purposes of learning more about education and democracy in the United States.

Sister Cities News

Vol. 25 Issue 1 Newsletter of the Uzhhorod-Corvallis Sister Cities Association Winter 2014

ADVISORS

Sabra Killen

Alice Rampton

Mark Rampton

Els Lofgren

HONORED MEMBERS

Carol Paulson

Bob Stebbins

SISTER CITY NEWS

Published by C-USCA

PO Box 176

Corvallis, OR. 97339 www.sistercities.corvallis.or.us

This past summer, Yurii Babkov, former Deputy Head of the Trade and Economic Mission to the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA asked for the assistance of CUSCA to help arrange a visit between a farmer from Ukraine and one of our local blueberry farms, Blueberry Meadows. As the climate conditions in Ukraine are very similar to those in Oregon it seems that blueberries would be a good fit. Finally, I would like to thank each and every one of you who have renewed your membership to Sister Cities and for sponsoring children with The TOUCH Project. You can be assured that the success of this organization is due to your dedication and devotion to the mission and good works of CUSCA. If you have not yet registered and renewed your membership you can still do so by filling out and mailing in the attached membership form. However, you can also complete the membership form online at http://sistercities.corvallis.or.usuzhhoroduzhhorod-member. Thank you again for helping to transform the lives of children and families in our sister city, Uzhhorod. May you have a blessed and wondrous New Year, Carla Francis President, CUSCA Corvallis Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association The Corvallis-Uzhhorod, Ukraine sister city relationship includes multi-faceted projects. In the last few years, the program has delivered projects in the following areas:

Increasing Breast Cancer awareness in Uzhhorod Maintaining support for children with unique needs in Uzhhorod

(The TOUCH project) Sending humanitarian aid to Uzhhorod through Counterpart

International Promoting the prevention of child abuse in Uzhhorod through an

exchange of social service professionals The program has brought together physicians, social service professionals, donors, community volunteers, an international aid organization, and the local city government as well as the U.S. Department of State to successfully implement the projects. Through the efforts of its members, the program has positively impacted citizens of Uzhhorod and Corvallis and strengthened the relationship between the two cities.

OUR SPONSORS

Altrusa International, Inc. of Corvallis

Benton Co. Schools Credit Union Brooklane Specialty Apples Citigroup – Smith Barney Core Communications Corvallis Clinic Corvallis Country Club Corvallis Family Medicine, PC Corvallis Sports Park Edward Jones (Kay Dee Cole) First Alternative Co-op Gracewinds Music Jack Scoville Ltd. Jazzy Looks (Sue Tetzker) La Mancha Ranch & Orchard Michael's Jewelers New Morning Bakery Old World Deli Papa's Pizza Pathfinder Travel ProPrint R-3 Engraving Signs Rice's Pharmacy, Gifts & Wine Law Offices of Ringo, Stuber, Ensor & Hadlock, P.C. Samaritan Health Services Starker Forests, Inc. Teel's Travel Planners Timberhill Athletic Club TriAxis Engineering, Inc. Valley Eye Care Wells Fargo Business Banking White's Electronics, Inc. Woodstocks Pizza Parlor Zonta Club of Corvallis

TOUCH Project Update Our 13th delegation returned from Uzhhorod, Ukraine after participating in The TOUCH Project (Take One Ukrainian Child’s Hand) in late September 2013. The TOUCH Project is a program of the Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association and was started in 2000 by co-founders Sabra Killen and Alice Rampton. It links sponsors with over 300 children who have special needs in Corvallis’ sister city, Uzhhorod. The institutions supported by The TOUCH Project include a Roma school, an orphanage, a center for children with disabilities, and two youth facilities. This was the thirteenth delegation to travel to Ukraine with The TOUCH Project and all delegation members covered their own air fare, hotel expenses, food, and ground transportation.

TOUCH Scholarship Program There were so many highlights of the TOUCH 13 delegation trip in September. One of them was observing the scholarship process first hand. This is our third year of offering scholarships to youth in Uzhhorod affiliated with The TOUCH Project.

Delegation members were able to observe the interviews of the 18 applicants. They included: 5 from the New Family Program 7 from the Center for Children with Disabilities (“Path of Life”) 2 from Public School #14 (recent graduates) 2 from Pavlovo Farm Home 2 from the Chaslivtsi Orphanage (recent graduates) This was literally the first time that most of the applicants had gone through an interview process for a scholarship. Some of the applicants are attending Uzhhorod National University and some are receiving vocational training in house painting or sewing. Others are still attending public school. Each applicant is unique. One seventeen year old applicant named Valera was a recent graduate of Public School #14 and his educational goal in life was to become a musician. His parents were not involved in his life and he lived with a grandfather in a small house next to the school. He was attending a technical college with an emphasis on the arts, including music, but without resources, it was difficult for him to stay in school. When he arrived at the interview, he told the committee that he needed piano books for his classes. He also said that he would love to have a piano. He did not have a piano in his home and so he had to practice whenever he was able to find a piano on which to play. One of the committee members noted that there was a piano in the small library room where the interviews were being held. It was suggested that he play us a song on the piano. He confidently got up and went straight to the piano, sat down, and started to play. We were amazed! Without any piano music, he played a difficult classical piece with professionalism, ability, and feeling. He oozed with talent! It was a jaw-dropping moment. The TOUCH 13 delegation members were told about Valera and many of them volunteered to contribute funds on the spot toward a piano for this young man. Between the funds raised by the delegation and those donated by TOUCH supporters and donors, we were able to provide all 18 scholarship recipients with their requests and to also, purchase a piano for Valera! Five youth with cerebral palsy from the Rehabilitation Center received lap tops to help them with their school work. The remaining 13 students received funds for books, supplies, tuition, food, clothing, and other needs related to their educational opportunities.

We are grateful to Anna Stynych, the music teacher at Chaslivtsi and a member of the interview committee for securing a great piano for Valera. Here is a link that will connect you to Valera playing his new piano after it was purchased and transported to his home. (Be sure you have your speakers on.) Valera on Piano Valera also received piano books, a piano bench, funds to cover the transportation costs to his college for the next year, food for his family, and clothing. It was wonderful to have the resources to distribute these generous scholarship funds. Special thanks to all of our donors including Nancy Waterfall who raised nearly ½ of the $8200 scholarship funds securing pledges by swimming laps. Gratitude is expressed to the three-member scholarship committee in Uzhhorod:

· Arpad Kron- Biologist, Ecologist, employed at the Zoological Museum, Uzhhorod National University

· Anna Stynych- Music Teacher at Chaslivtsi Orphanage and Boarding School

· Andriana Bilavych-Katsora- Economist and Accountant at “Aura” a private enterprise in Uzhhorod

We will continue to raise scholarship funds this year for new applicants and will hand carry those donations with us to Ukraine next September in 2014.

TOUCH Renewals To date, nearly 200 renewals and donations have been received for the children and programs of The TOUCH Project. Thank you to all sponsors and donors for these great gifts. Renewal forms are available at: http://www.sistercities.corvallis.or.us/uzhhorod-current/touch-sponsor-information-and-delegation-reports. Online renewal is possible at this site, also. There are always a few new children that need sponsors. We are happy to send you their photo, if you would like more info. TOUCH Interns - Public Presentation on January 26, 4:00 pm, Corvallis Library Sydney MacNaughton and Hannah Bittner, two college interns with the Global IE3 program of the Oregon University System, will be returning to the U.S. after teaching English to children in The TOUCH Project. They have been living with Ukrainian families and teaching since early September and have done an outstanding job reaching out to the children.

They will be sharing their experiences with the public at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library’s meeting room in at 4 pm on Sunday, January 26th. All are invited to come hear first hand about what they did and learned in Ukraine.

Family Practice Health Care Model Progresses in Transcarpathia, Ukraine By Mark Rampton, M.D. More than ten years of medical exchanges, shipments, and faculty training between Uzhhorod and Corvallis has culminated in the opening of two training clinics in Uzhhorod, Ukraine for doctors in primary care. Uzhhorod National University is recognized as a national leader in Ukraine for its development of family medicine training program for physicians. These include a family practice residency program and the re-training of physicians practicing in rural areas.

The effort began with a grant from the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) and AIHA (American International Health Alliance) between 1999-2004. Health care professionals from both cities, including nurses, doctors, dentists, therapists, office managers, and public health educators participated in exchanges during that time. In addition, three major shipments of supplies were sent from Corvallis to equip a rural primary care clinic in the Transcarpathian mountain region, as well as the women’s health center and a primary care training facility in Uzhhorod.

In the past two years, an additional shipment was sent to supplement the new mammography center and the primary care training center. The 40-foot container included a mammography unit, a dental chair and operatory, exam tables, x-ray units, ultrasound machines, file cabinets, desks, and other equipment. Corvallis-based Samaritan Health Services, The Corvallis Clinic, Oregon Health & Sciences University (OHSU), Hologic Inc., A-dec, Inc., Corvallis Family Medicine, and other health care providers and suppliers donated equipment for the shipment. Over 500 volunteers participated in the gathering, sorting, packing, inventorying, and loading of the supplies. The Family Practice Department at OHSU, under the leadership of John Saultz, department chair, took an active role in faculty training of doctors from Uzhhorod. In 2002, Dr. Paul Kolesnyk came to Oregon as a young primary care physician from Ukraine on a month-long exchange. He immediately grasped the concept of primary care and has continued to be a leader and national advocate; creating curricula, textbooks, and lecturing in other countries. He is now the clinical director for the new training clinic in Uzhhorod. With support from the Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association, he returned to OHSU this past summer for additional experience in residential training development. In September 2013, two training clinics were opened. One is an academic clinic where residents are taught techniques for patient assessments and diagnoses. The other facility is a practical training clinic in the community, serving thousands of patients from the Uzhhorod area. Those on hand for the ribbon cutting at the two clinics included Uzhhorod Mayor Victor Pohorelov, Fedir Vashchuk (Rector/President of Uzhhorod National University), Drs. Paul and Natalie Kolesnyk, Dr. Ivan Rohach (dean of post-graduate medicine at Uzhhorod National University, Dr. Ivan Chopey (resident training faculty), Julie Manning (Corvallis mayor and Vice President at Samaritan Health Services), Dr. Mark Rampton and Dr. Lara Gamelin (primary care physicians from Corvallis Family Medicine), Els Lofgren (retired Oregon State University Health Clinic nurse practicioner and AIHA grant committee member), Nancy Boom (wound and ostomy nurse at Corvallis-based Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center), Chris Clausen, retired Corvallis nurse, and Marc Vomocil and Alice Rampton, ATU-6 shipment committee members.. With the development of these training clinics through Uzhhorod National University and the recent addition of a family practice residency program through Samaritan Health Services, the two health care entities are now developing opportunities for residents to participate in a month-long medical exchange between both communities.

Open World Delegation meets with CUSCA Representatives and Mayor Manning On November 11, representatives of the CUSCA Board and Corvallis Mayor Julie Manning met with the 2013 Umpqua Community College (UCC) Open World Delegation. The delegation included three representatives from Uzhhorod National University, two delegates from Kremenchuk National University and an Open World facilitator from Kiev. Funded by a federal grant from the Open World Leadership of the Library of Congress, the delegation visited Oregon for nine days to learn about higher education and democracy in the United States. This is the fifth year UCC has hosted representatives from Uzhhorod National University. Uzhhorod delegates included Oleksandr Dubiv, Innovation Technologies Department; Mr. Vasyl Levkulych, Associate Professor of Philosophy; and Ms. Tereziya Popovych, Professor of Law. A lively discussion was held and Mayor Julie presented each delegate with a Corvallis City pin and some materials on the city. In addition to meeting with CUSCA and the Mayor, the delegates visited with several departments at Oregon State University including the College of Business, the College of Education and the Chemistry Department. The delegation was accompanied by Jason Aase, UCC Dean of Arts and Science; Pete Bober, retired Director of the UCC Small Business Development Center and the Workforce and Community Education Department; and Oksana Dobbins, interpreter from Portland. This is the fourth year a delegation from UCC has come to Corvallis and met with representatives of CUSCA. In 2006 CUSCA hosted and delivered a ten day program for an Open World Delegation of Ukrainian NGO representatives including a representative from Uzhhorod. Blueberry Meadows Yurii Babkov, former Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Consulate in San Francisco, brought his wife and a husband and wife team who are farmers from Ukraine to Oregon to learn more about blueberry farming. The couple from Ukraine was interested in the equipment and processes that we use to grow blueberries in Oregon so he could establish a sustainable crop back in Ukraine.

We are appreciative of Lynn and Kevin Thompson, owners of Blueberry Meadows in Corvallis, for taking time to show their farm to this visiting delegation.

News from Uzhhorod In this newsletter we have news from one of our friends in Uzhhorod, Vasya Chubar, who works at the Hotel Atlant and always takes time off when we travel to Uzhhorod to help us with the children and to interpret. He sent some comments on the current political situation in Ukraine:

People all over the world are concerned about protests in Ukraine. It’s been a #1 topic in the news. I’m not sure I can add more. Just a few of my thoughts, kind of from the inside! The initial reason to protest was our president not signing an association agreement with EU. A lot of people really expected it to be signed. In that case we would show the world our willingness to move in the Western direction (actually, we have already done that even without signing papers but it’s not the same…). When our president decided not to sign the agreement and indicated a closer alignment with Russia, a large number of people took to the streets. As you have probably read in the papers, special forces swept protesting people out of the central Independence square in Kiev during the night, which resulted in people from many parts of Ukraine travelling to Kiev or starting local protests and lock-outs in their cities. In my opinion, it was not about supporting any political power/party but about becoming a modern, educated, recognized and respectful country and nation, and a desire to avoid Russia’s and Belorussia’s fate. But at some point the crowd (even though it was an intelligent and peaceful crowd) was in need of a leader to guide it! We didn’t have that leader and thank God the crowd was smart enough not to start a Civil War. In a relatively short time, all the protests turned into a sort of 24/7 festival, non-stop concerts, and New Year/Christmas celebrations. Even if no significant political changes were reached it seems like people’s minds were changed. People became more united!

P.S. we’ve got one of my favorite tiny sculptures back on its place! Brave Soldier Shveik is back. He was gone in late August (people say for remodeling but I know he was on a mission) and he returned right before the winter holidays. Good bye! Vasya.

Membership Reminder Please note that membership contributions to the Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association are separate from donations to TOUCH. The TOUCH project is under the umbrella of CUSCA. Membership donations to CUSCA support other activities and projects with our Ukrainian Sister City. Online membership form: http://sistercities.corvallis.or.us/uzhhorod/uzhhorod-member

Corvallis-Uzhhorod Sister Cities Association

P.O. Box 176, Corvallis, Oregon 97339 2013 Membership Registration and Renewal --- Please respond by March 1

Memberships are available at a variety of levels. Annual dues for each level is outlined below: q Youth $10 q Individual $15 q Family $30 q Friend $50 q Sustaining $75 q Patron $100 or more

Yes, I’m interested in membership: Name: ______________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ Phone: ______________________________________________ E-mail: ______________________________________________ Please check type of newsletter delivery: email ______ U.S. mail ______ Sponsor a child in Ukraine _____ $75 Other donation $___________ Please make checks payable to C-USCA

I'm interested in volunteering in the following areas: (please check all that apply)

q Host visitor events q Provide home stays for visitors q Provide transportation for visitors q Write grants q Translate Ukrainian or Russian q Help with annual flower basket sale q Serve as a board member q Serve on a project or committee