[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 64 (Wednesday, May 5, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H2773-H2776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      CHURCHES IN INDIANA COME TOGETHER TO AID REFUGEES IN KOSOVO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Northup). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Souder) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. SOUDER. Madam Speaker, having visited the Balkans, and I was 
privileged to be included in the trip with Senator Stevens and Chairman 
Young a few weeks ago, I have been aggressively against this war which 
I do not believe is winnable in the traditional sense. And it is time 
to get a negotiated settlement and it is time to cut off the funding, 
but I wanted to share a couple of things tonight about the terrible 
things that have happened to the people there.
  These are pictures that I took in Vranje, just north of Skopje, in 
Macedonia. This shows just one of what I call the long white road to 
the mountains. These are actually the shorter mountains. They rise 
higher up. It is impossible to get ground troops through this area, 
which many armies throughout hundreds of years have learned is 
impossible.
  This street goes on and on, miles and miles, and this is just one of 
the camps. There were 23,000 people, we were told, in that camp when we 
first came in. 8,000 additional people were added just that day.

  These Albanian men were at the back of the place because they kept 
asking us, ``Are the Apaches going to save us? Are they going to wipe 
out the tanks?'' Of course, we had to tell them no, that is not what 
Apaches are designed to do, but we wondered where they were getting 
that information.
  They have radios throughout the camp that are constantly broadcasting 
to them that there is this hope that they are suddenly going to go 
back.
  These are some of the people trying to make do. These tents, this 
size tent from USAID basically had supposedly four to eight people; 
many of them I saw far more that. They get a couple of cans of food, 
some bread and fruit each day, but they are desperately trying to make 
a fire or something to heat it up.
  As these camps are expanded to 30,000, 50,000 people and upwards, it 
is just not going to work; nor are the restroom facilities, the water 
facilities. Here people are desperately trying to stay clean.
  In the Macedonian camps they are coming mostly out of the cities. 
They were often booted out in the middle of the night. Most of the 
people are well dressed. The clothes had not come from the U.S. This is 
not able to be sustained over a long period of time.
  This photograph was taken at the back of the camp. I had gotten 
separated from the other Senators and Congressmen during the trip, as 
well as the interpreter, and this man was trying to talk to me by going 
like this. This girl had just come into the camp the night before but 
spoke some English, said, ``May I help you try to translate?''
  What he tried to tell me is he saw 20 people get their throats slit 
just before he left; saw the mass grave before they torched his house 
and he got out. That was just one of the many stories we heard.
  He and all the others around them, when they were asked, first, do 
you want to go back? ``Yes.'' If we get rid of Milosevic, you are going 
to have to live under the Serbs. ``No, no, we are not going to live 
under the Serbs. We are going to get rid of Milosevic,'' was what they 
said, ``all Serbs and Milosevic.'' We heard that all through the camp. 
We said, what will you do if you get back? You have to try to live 
together. ``No, we are going to kill them.''
  We have now the stories from like this man of the throats slit, and 
it is not something that is going to lead to this kind of humanitarian 
peaceful settlement that some people are dreaming of.
  This girl here had just come into the camp the night before as well. 
We stopped her. We saw she had diapers. And she broke down crying. I 
will never be a professional photographer because I could not snap the 
picture when her tears were coming down, but she is separated from her 
family. She is worried about her little child and so on.
  Now, I say that because I want to illustrate some of the things that 
have been happening in my district. No matter what a person's position 
is on the war, their heart has to go out to the refugees here or in the 
other countries where they have been displaced.
  I am pleased in my district that a number of churches and people have 
reached out. We tried to make the point while we were over in Europe to 
the ambassadors of seven nations, to NATO, that Europe has to pick up 
the bulk of these funds, but we in America are going to have some 
obligations as well.
  One story from Pastor Rick Hawks, who heads a large church in Fort 
Wayne, The Chapel, has coordinated with 8 churches: The Chapel; 
Broadway Christian; Church of the Good Shepherd in Leo; Blackhawk 
Baptist, also in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Fellowship Missionary Church in 
Fort Wayne; North Park Community Church; Wallen Baptist Church.
  We also had in my home church, Emmanuel Community Church, Abigail 
Roemke coordinated this. They had so many clothes and toiletries and 
stuff come in that it overwhelmed the distribution system that they 
originally had planned. They had far more than they could actually get 
directly there in that group.
  Also Pastor Ron Hawkins' church, First Assembly of God, put together 
a group that has two registered nurses, Nancy Grostefon and Dawn Rice, 
and Dr. David Smith, a pediatric surgeon, to spend two weeks working in 
two camps, and they raised the money through their church to underwrite 
these nurses and this doctor going over.
  In Fort Wayne we also have a large Macedonian population. George 
Labamoff in the Fort Wayne-based Macedonian Tribune, the oldest 
continually published Macedonian newspaper in the world, put together 
the Macedonian Relief Fund. They have also have an effort to try to 
raise money for the refugees in the countries.
  Lastly, I wanted to read as much as I can of this letter. I visited 
an alternative school in Columbia City on

[[Page H2774]]

Monday. One of the things that they were doing was also collecting 
clothes and materials to send over to Kosovo. The teacher wrote me, 
saying, ``Teaching current events to young people with little or no 
background in geography or history is a challenge. So I try to make 
every lesson relevant by working from what they do know. And at-risk 
kids, just like at-war kids, know suffering and deprivation. Twenty-
five percent of my students have lost a parent to unnatural causes. 
Twelve percent have been homeless.''
  The point here, and I will insert the full thing in the RECORD, is 
these kids know what it is like to suffer, and because of that they 
collected clothes to help.
  I hope all Americans understand we have a long-term responsibility 
here to those who have been harmed, regardless of our position on the 
war.
  Madam Speaker, I have a series of articles that I would like to put 
in the Record in association with this special order.

               [From the Journal Gazette, Apr. 20, 1999]

                       Supplies Short in Balkans

                            (By Brian Meyer)

       Fort Wayne residents will be asked today to donate clothing 
     and toiletry items to some of the 600,000 Kosovo refugees 
     fleeing Yugoslavia.
       The Rev. Rick Hawks, pastor of The Chapel in Fort Wayne, 
     has scheduled a news conference for 10:30 a.m. today to 
     announce a citywide campaign to provide relief for Kosovo 
     refugees. Donations of clothing, shoes, socks, outerwear, 
     blankets, linens and toiletries will be accepted at seven 
     local churches until May 3. Hawks said the Fort Wayne 
     campaign, called ``Clothes for Kosovo,'' followed his 
     discussions with Dick and Barb Kelley, former Fort Wayne 
     residents now affiliated with the Slavic Gospel Association 
     in Rockford, Ill. Donations from Fort Wayne will be shipped 
     to Rob and Pam Provost, missionaries working in the Albanian 
     capital of Tirana.
       ``At this point, there's a shortage of everything,'' Hawks 
     said. ``Clothing, personal-hygiene items.
       ``We aren't dealing with anything perishable, just things 
     like clothes and blankets.''
       Seven Fort Wayne churches will serve as collection sites: 
     The Chapel, 2505 W. Hamilton Road, Broadway Christian Church, 
     910 Broadway, Church of the Good Shepherd, 14711 Wayne St., 
     Leo, Blackhawk Baptist Church, 7400 E. State Blvd, Fellowship 
     Missionary Church, 2536 E. Tillman Road, North Park Community 
     Church, 7160 Flutter Road, and Wallen Baptist Church, 1001 W. 
     Wallen Road.
       Hawks said the local campaign is also seeking volunteers to 
     help sort and box the donated goods; anyone wishing to 
     volunteer can call The Chapel at 625-6200.
       ``The most labor-intensive thing is that everything has to 
     be sorted, and there has to be a quick quality check,'' Hawks 
     said. ``And then everything has to be boxed accordingly.''
       Hawks said he is hoping to acquire enough donations to fill 
     a tractor-trailer rig. The Chapel will pay the $5,000 to ship 
     the donated materials to Albania.
       ``We think we'll fill that (truck rig) quite easily,'' 
     Hawks said.
                                  ____


                        [From the News-Sentinel]

                       Locals Coordinate Efforts

                         (By Jennifer L. Boen)

       Angie Stump and Bob Boughton are anguished by pictures of 
     Kosovo residents fleeting to refuge with just the clothes on 
     their backs.
       ``It's really heartbreaking to see what's going on there,'' 
     said Boughton, a Tokheim Corp. employee in Fort Wayne, ``but 
     it's really good to help someone less fortunate.''
       The desire to help is compelling Tokheim employees, local 
     churches and others in the Fort Wayne area to organize 
     assistance.
       Well-meaning people and organizations eager to help 
     refugees or victims of disaster are well-advised to 
     coordinate their efforts through relief agencies to ensure 
     they are helping, not hindering the effort, said Stephen 
     Apatow, executive director of the Humanitarian Resource 
     Institute.
       The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization works closely with 
     the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and 
     coordinates relief efforts.
       Efforts can easily be wasted:
       World Relief, which handled tons of donations for Hondurans 
     after Hurricane Mitch last year, said critical deliveries of 
     food, building materials and other goods were impeded by the 
     pileup at shipping ports of clothes and other noncritical 
     items.
       Donated clothing piled 17-feet deep covered a 5-acre 
     collection site after Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992. 
     Much of the clothing eventually was buried or incinerated.
       Cases of antibiotics donated by U.S. pharmaceutical 
     companies were shipped to rural Honduran clinics without 
     Spanish labeling. Health-care providers, without instructions 
     in their language, could not use the medicine.
       In Honduras, clothing donations were so abundant they 
     destroyed the business of small vendors there.
       Thus, the United Nations agency has some good advice for 
     those with good intentions:
       Before sending donations, work through national or 
     international groups that have workers on site where the 
     relief is needed, said Jennifer Dean, associate public 
     information officer for the High Commission for Refuges.
       It is precisely why Stump, union counselor and project 
     organizer for UAW Local 1539 at Tokheim, is working with the 
     Salvation Army. The Salvation Army and the American Red Cross 
     both have workers in refugee camps.
       The Salvation Army has issued national news bulletins 
     listing what people should and should not donate. Because at 
     least 45 tons of clothing awaits distribution, the agency is 
     not accepting more at this time, said Maj. Ken Reed, Fort 
     Wayne director.
       ``It is important that organizations have the logistics 
     thoroughly worked out for transportation and delivery of in-
     kind donations, said Apatow.
       ``They need to have logistics set up for transport before 
     the goods are collected.''
       It's also better to buy the building materials, tents, 
     medical supplies and food from retailers close to the people 
     who need them, said Apatow and Dean. It saves shipping costs 
     that could be better spent on direct service.
       The cost savings could be enormous.
       For example, the Chapel is organizing a clothing drive for 
     Kosovo refugees among several Fort Wayne churches.
       Coordiantor Abigail Roemke said it would cost $5,000 to 
     ship an 8-by-8-by-50-foot container of clothing overseas. The 
     Chapel has made a connection to help distribute the clothes: 
     Rob Provost, an American living in Albania who is director of 
     Abraham Lincoln Center school in Tirana, Albania's capital.
       Provot's school is working with Slavic Gospel Association 
     and Samaritan's Purse to assist Kosovo refugees. And 
     Samaritan's Purse has a contract with the United Nations 
     relief agency to set up a refugee tent camp near Tirana.
       The clothes will go to evangelical churches in Albania for 
     distribution, Roemke said.
       Relief organizers urge taking advantage of the enormous 
     purchasing power of organizations such as the Salvation Army 
     and the Red Cross. ``Buying things in bulk is much less 
     expensive,'' Dean said.
       Immediatly and lower costs are two good reasons to buy 
     relief items as close as possible to the affected countries, 
     and there's a third:
       The countries Kosovo refugees are fleeing to are poor. 
     ``They are facing an enormous strain on their own 
     resources,'' Dean said.
       It is why the United Nations agency is buying things 
     locally (overseas) as much as possible. ``We are paying 
     bakeries to make the bread for refugees,'' she said, helping 
     both refugees and their new communities.
       The American Red Cross wants monetary donations only for 
     the Kosovo refugees, said Jean Wagaman, interim executive 
     director of the Northeast Indiana Chapter.
       ``The Red Cross estimates we need $1 million each week to 
     meet the needs of the refugees,'' she said. The organization 
     is helping provide shelter, food, health care and first-aid 
     teams.
       For the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and other 
     organizations, the best way for people to help is to donate 
     money.
       ``We do not want to discourage anyone who wants to help,'' 
     Dean said. ``All the enthusiasm of the caring and help is 
     wonderful.''
       But getting the right kind of help is important, Apatow 
     said. Make monetary donations for Kosovo relief through these 
     organizations:
       The American Red Cross--send to American Red Cross 
     International Response Fund, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C. 
     20013; or to the local chapter, marked Kosovo Relief, 1212 E. 
     California Road, Fort Wayne, IN 46825. Secure credit card 
     contributions can be made over the Internet at 
     www.redcross.org. Call 1-800-HELP-NOW, or 1-800-435-7669, for 
     more information and to make a donation.
       Salvation Army--send to 3100 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, 
     IN 46208; mark check ``Kosovo relief;'' credit card donations 
     can be made by calling 1-800-SAL-ARMY, or 1-800-725-2769.
       To donate clothing at one of eight area churches 
     participating in the Chapel's ``Clothes for Kosovo'' 
     campaign, call Abigail Roemke at 625-6200; Contact Rob 
     Provost on the Internet at www.lincoln__intl.org.
       The Salvation Army is accepting the following donations for 
     military personnel dispatched to the Kosovo region through 
     PROJECT SACKS:
       Individual-size bottles of anti-bacterial soap; Packaged 
     candy (nothing that melts); Packaged snacks, peanuts, snack-
     sized bags of potato chips, crackers and cookies; Writing 
     materials, cards, paper and envelopes; Games, playing cards, 
     pocket-sized crossword puzzle books and word-search books; 
     First-aid supplies, adhesive bandages, medical tape, gauze 
     pads and pocket-size Bibles.
                                  ____


               [From the Journal Gazette, Apr. 30, 1999]

                     City Team Will Assist Kosovars

                             (By Joe Boyle)

       It's a matter of faith for three local medical 
     professionals who are leaving in two weeks for Albania to 
     help Kosovar refugees.
       Registered nurses Nancy Grostefon and Dawn Rice, and Dr. 
     David Smith, a pediatric

[[Page H2775]]

     surgeon, will be on a Health Care Ministries medical team 
     working in refugee camps on the Kosovo-Albania border.
       ``The team itself, the way it came together, was 
     providential,'' said Marilyn Tolbert, missions director for 
     First Assembly of God Christian Center, 3301 Coliseum Blvd E.
       The team will spend two weeks working at two camps, with a 
     total of 800 to 2,000 refugees in each, said the Rev. Ron 
     Hawkins, the church's pastor.
       The Assemblies of God has traditionally been very active in 
     overseas missions, Tolbert said, and the local church has 
     sent people on different kinds of missions before.
       But, she said, this is the first time the local church has 
     sent a medical mission into a refugee situation.
       And for some of the team members, a chance to minister 
     through an overseas mission is a dream come true.
       ``It's been a desire of mine since I was in high school,'' 
     said Grostefon, a cardiac critical care nurse from Parkview 
     Hospital. ``It's a God thing.''
       Grostefon said she's been preparing for the trip by 
     watching many TV news reports and reading newspaper articles 
     about the Albanian refugee camps, which, according to some 
     reports, now hold more than 370,000 displaced people.
       Despite the fact that she's traveling to the fringe of a 
     war zone, Grostefon said her family has supported her 
     decision.
       ``My kids are excited, and my husband knows this has been a 
     desire in my heart,'' she said.
       Rice, who is executive director of the Fort Wayne Sexual 
     Assault Treatment Center, brings another special skill to the 
     mission.
       ``Rape in wartime is not new,'' she said. ``It's not new to 
     this war, and it won't be held back from the next war.''
       Rice said helping rape victims from a war is different than 
     treating rape victims in the city because evidence collection 
     isn't a major part of the program.
       But what's similar is tending to the injuries of the 
     assault. Rice said she hopes to help with both the 
     psychological and physical injuries the victims suffer.
       And for Rice, it's a chance to do something instead of 
     watching it on television.
       ``It's so easy to watch what goes on and say, `I hope 
     someone takes care of them','' she said.
       It's not just the three team members who are hoping to make 
     a difference.
       Geoff Thomas, media coordinator for the Lutheran Health 
     Network, said Lutheran and St. Joseph hospitals are excited 
     to help the refugees through aiding the team.
       The hospitals donated handmade quilts, T-shirts for 
     children, thermometers, stethoscopes, latex and non-latex 
     gloves, bandages, sutures, surgical kits and Ibuprofen, which 
     Thomas said is a hot commodity in the camps.
                                  ____


                [From the News-Sentinel, Apr. 29, 1999]

                     Medical Team Going to Albania

                         (By Jennifer L. Boen)

       ``I'm being carried by God's hand,'' says nurse Dawn Rice, 
     who is preparing for a two-week medical work trip to Albania.
       Rice is the director of the Fort Wayne Sexual Assault 
     Treatment Center and is experienced at helping people through 
     trauma. But knowing how to help the Kosovar women who have 
     been raped and tortured is something she can't fully grasp.
       ``I don't know what to expect,'' she said. ``All these 
     people will have post-traumatic stress syndrome . . . the 
     terrible things that are going on there.''
       Rice is part of a team that includes Fort Wayne pediatric 
     surgeon Dr. David Smith of Lutheran Children's Hospital, and 
     Nancy Grostefon, a Parkview Hospital intensive care nurse.
       The three will fly to Athens, Greece, on May 14 and travel 
     by land to a refugee camp just north of Tirana, the Albanian 
     capital. They plan to return to Fort Wayne on June 2.
       The team is sponsored and supported by First Assembly of 
     God, 3301 Coliseum Blvd. E, and will be working under the 
     auspices of the denomination's Health Care Ministries 
     division, based in Springfield, Mo.
       Also being sent from Fort Wayne will be a semi-truckload of 
     supplies and medicine donated by local hospitals. Bandages, 
     thermometers, stethoscopes, medical gloves, quilts and other 
     items are being donated by Lutheran Health Network.
       Parkview Hospital is donating surgical and medical 
     supplies, as well as antibiotics, diaper rash cream and 
     vitamins. Van Wert Community Hospital in Ohio also is 
     donating supplies and medicine.
       This is the first time a medical team is being sent from 
     the church, said Marilyn Tolbert, chairwoman of the church's 
     mission committee.
       ``We've always wanted to do a medical trip,'' Tolbert said. 
     The mission committee had contacted Health Care Ministries 
     earlier in the year and was told all openings for people to 
     participate in medical trips were filled.
       Just two weeks ago, however, Health Care Ministries 
     contacted the church and asked for a team of people to go to 
     Albania. Church member Michelle Denton took on the task of 
     finding the right people.
       ``The type of people they want there are people who are 
     skilled in dealing with trauma,'' said Tolbert. ``. . . These 
     three were ready and willing to go.''
       They will be working out of tents and giving medical care 
     to refugees who have crossed the Yugoslavia-Albania border, 
     she said. Rice hopes to help train other medical personnel to 
     identify those women who have been raped and give guidance on 
     how to treat for sexually transmitted diseases. ``A female 
     may be able to help better than a male,'' she said.
       Smith has been on several previous medical work trips, but 
     it is a first-time experience for Rice and Grostefon.
       Other local individuals and businesses are helping make the 
     trip possible. Root's Camp 'n Ski Haus and GI Joe's Army 
     Surplus have donated equipment and supplies. Brateman's Inc. 
     donated boots. American Freightways is donating the shipping 
     for the supplies to Springfield. An organization called 
     Convoy of Hope is packing and shipping the supplies.
       ``We have so much,'' said Tolbert. ``The poorest of us in 
     this area are worlds beyond people there. We don't have a 
     clue.''
       The Rev. Ann Steiner Lantz is director of chaplains at 
     Parkview and chairwoman of the hospital's mission and 
     community outreach committee. She is coordinating the 
     hospital's involvement in the project.
       ``This is part of our mission and our Judeo-Christian 
     heritage,'' she said. ``It's the right thing to do.''
       ``What we're doing is a drop in the bucket,'' Lantz said. 
     ``But if everyone does a little, we can help a whole lot.''
       Donations to help with the cost of sending the medical team 
     from Fort Wayne can be sent to First Assembly of God, 3301 
     Coliseum Blvd. E., Fort Wayne, IN 16805.
                                  ____


                        [From the News-Sentinel]

                         Letters to the Editor

                          (By George Lebamon)

       A group of prominent Macedonians from around North America 
     and Europe, aided by the Fort Wayne-based Macedonian Tribune, 
     the oldest continuously published Macedonian newspaper in the 
     world, have formed the Macedonian Relief Fund. The fund will 
     provide financial assistance to agencies in Macedonia to deal 
     with the impact of the NATO-Yugoslavia conflict.
       Chris Evanoff, a Macedonian American entrepreneur in the 
     Detroit area, will chair the effort. He will be assisted by 
     people around the country, including myself.
       ``Nearly 150,000 Kosovar refugees have flooded the tiny 
     country of Macedonia in less than a week, creating a 
     humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented proportions,'' 
     Evanoff said. That total could increase to nearly a quarter 
     of a million refugees, he added. He also noted, ``Macedonia 
     was assured by NATO nations that sufficient assistance would 
     be available to care for these unfortunate victims of war and 
     ethnic cleansing. The delay in getting aid to the region has 
     crippled the Macedonian economy and its capacity to sustain 
     relief efforts.''
       The refugee crisis so far has cost the Macedonia republic 
     more than $250 million. Total costs this year could exceed 
     $1.5 billion.
       There are about 500,000 Macedonians in North America. The 
     group has established a Macedonian Relief Fund account at 
     Comerica Bank in Detroit. Contributions in the form of 
     checks, credit card payments and wire transfers can be mailed 
     to: The Macedonian Relief Fund, c/o Comerica Bank, 28801 
     Groesbeck, Roseville, MI 48066. Information requests can be 
     e-mailed to [email protected]. The group has also set up a 
     Web site at www.macedonianrelieffund.org to provide 
     additional information.


          Macedonian Relief Fund for the Kosovo Refugee Crisis

       The Macedonian Tribune, in cooperation with Macedonians in 
     the United States and Canada, is initiating a relief effort 
     to provide resources to the people of Macedonia who are 
     sharing what little they have with tens of thousands of 
     refugees from Kosovo.
       Since 1991, Macedonia has feared a humanitarian catastrophe 
     if a crisis in Kosovo developed. Regrettably, this 
     catastrophe has been realized. The strain of tens of 
     thousands of refugees has crippled Macedonia, destabilizing 
     its economy and progress toward a democratic, free society. 
     Not only are refugees suffering, but so are the people of 
     Macedonia as their factories have been closed and work has 
     come to a halt.
       Donations can be mailed to the Macedonian Relief Fund, c/o 
     Comercia Bank, 28801 Groesbeck, Roseville, MI 48066. 
     Reference bank account # 1851014603. To wire donations, use 
     transit/routing # 072000096, refer to the bank account number 
     and Comercia.
       You can donate by check or with Visa or Master Card. No 
     donation is too small, none too large.
                                  ____

                                                   Marshall Center


                                      Alternative High School,

                                   Columbia City, IN, May 2, 1999.
       Dear Congressman Souder: I am pleased to have been 
     requested to forward details of my students' Kosovo clothing 
     drive to you. I welcome this opportunity to illustrate the 
     scholastic merit of an unconventional learning activity:
       Teaching current events to young people with little or no 
     background in geography or history is a challenge. (Most of 
     the alternative students cannot locate Europe on a map, and 
     one of them even thought NATO was a country.) So I try to 
     make every lesson relevant by working from what they do know. 
     And at-risk kids, just like at-war kids, ``know'' suffering 
     and deprivation.

[[Page H2776]]

       Twenty-five percent of my students have lost a parent to 
     unnatural causes. Twelve percent have been homeless. Most 
     have survived on rice or beans or cereal for extended 
     periods. All have lost friends to violence, and all have been 
     outcasts most of their lives.
       Do they understand the politics of this (or any) war? No. 
     But they understand what it means to be orphaned, to be 
     vagrant, to be hungry, to mourn, and to be hated. They fully 
     understand what it means to be a refugee.
       So they collect clothes to help others--and end up helping 
     themselves in the process. In the process, they are working 
     cooperatively with adults (employees in the building, their 
     parents, community members) they normally consider 
     adversaries. They are earning respect for a job well-planned 
     and efficiently executed: In just two weeks a mere dozen 
     students have collected enough clothing, shoes, socks, and 
     undergarments for about 3600 refugees. Remarkably, these 
     students who anticipate failure and disapproval at every turn 
     are succeeding at something meaningful.
       While they may never compose a thesis comparing and 
     contrasting the present conflict with events in the Balkans 
     leading up to WWII, they have learned to advertise a 
     campaign, schedule and share tasks, meet deadlines, calculate 
     weight and cubic yard measurements, arrange transportation 
     and more.
       I'm glad you inquired about the project. We appreciate your 
     knowledge and support as you debate the merit of alternative 
     education programs. We need critical resources to raise 
     citizens as well as test scores.
           Sincerely,
                                                 Rebecca R. Roady,
     Teacher.

                          ____________________