Estonian LifeNets Project
(Posted October 3, 2000)
My name is Karen Allwine. I am a member of The United Church of God in Spokane, WA. Last year my husband, Gail, and I were able to attend The Feast of Tabernacles in Tartu, Estonia; and we are returning there for a second year. In becoming acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Vic and Bev Kubik, we have become aware of the Lifenets projects that Mr. Kubik coordinates with the help of others. Much of the information below has been drawn from Mr. Kubik's web site which is http://kubik.org and the LifeNets page which is http://www.lifenets.org
.LifeNets is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization that develops programs offering practical assistance that promote the well being and self sufficiency of needy people throughout the world. Through volunteer help we have helped thousands of people in Ukraine, the Baltics, Malawi, Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala and more. If you give a donation and would like a receipt for tax purposes, you can ask for one through LifeNets. The address will appear at the bottom of this message. You can learn more about other projects for LifeNets on the web page.
LifeNets has served people around the world. One of the projects has been helping handicapped children at Emajõe Kool in Tartu, Estonia. (Please look up information about Estonia. Learn where this beautiful country is.) This is the only school for handicapped children in all of Estonia. There are currently 96 children, 19 of whom are blind, in the school. 30 are from Tartu and go home after school each day. The remainder stay at the school and go to their respective home either every or every other weekend. The government of Estonia has been good about providing the basic necessities such as food for the children. What has been sadly lacking is extras for recreation, including physical recreation. Several Feast-goers from last year were able to make a donation to help the children at the school. Immediately $980 was collected. Then another donation of $1000 followed; and on Monday, February 14, 2000, LifeNets wired $2300 for the children at Emajõe Kool in Tartu. They were very happy in that they can purchase some gym exercise equipment, a CD player and a music keyboard. School officials mentioned to us that they have virtually no budget for extras of this kind and that this was greatly appreciated.
The United Church of God has been holding an annual Festival in Tartu, Estonia and has been paying special attention to these children. Three of the conference attendees work at Emajõe Kool. Last year conference-goers brought developmental toys that were donated to the school and took a dozen or so children on a nature hike.
The United Church of God is again holding it's annual meeting in Tartu from October 13-21 and attendees are once again going to be encouraged to bring a developmental toy as a gift. The children promised to perform Estonian music for one of the meetings! When seeing the children enjoying themselves so much on outdoor gym equipment, a collection was taken up to provide the children something similar at the school.
While we wanted to construct a jungle gym and new swing sets on the school yard, we learned that the school sits near a historic wall going back to the days when Tartu was a principal city in the days of the Hanseatic League hundreds of years ago. In the next year or so archeological excavations are going to be done on the property, so we cannot construct anything outside; however, we still want to purchase some indoor equipment that will help the children. A treadmill was suggested along with other items such a keyboard for playing music and a CD player. We are going to purchase these items with the money donated.
Thanks for your support.
We received this email note from Helle Rooma, assistant director of Emajõe Kool for the $2300 donation made for gym equipment for the handicapped children.
March 1, 2000
Dear Victor,
I am sorry for my late letter. Do you know I am very bad in English but I will try.
We thank you with all our heart. Please say it to all our friends in the U.S. who helped us.
Sincerely,
Helle Rooma
I, Karen Allwine, am coordinating a monetary donation from any interested parties. I will be taking this money with us (Gail and me) when we attend the Feast of Tabernacles 2000 in Tartu. Please send your donation to me as soon as possible. (The Feast will be here before we know it.). We have a savings account, which will draw interest between now and the Feast, into which this money will be placed. Your donation will be appreciated and well-used. If you want a receipt for the donation you send, please request it with your donation. I will be sure the information is passed on to LifeNets. Our address is:
Gail and Karen Allwine
56343 Swenson Road
Nine Mile Falls, WA 99026
Thank you, in advance, for your support of this humanitarian LifeNets project.
Karen
LifeNets
P.O. Box 88165
Indianapolis, IN 46208-0165