wfn.org | Self-Development Committee Approves Funding for 18 Projects

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

28-May-1999 
99208 
 
    Self-Development Committee Approves Funding for 18 Projects 
 
    by Marianne J. Cashatt 
 
WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. - The needs and concerns of the Native Americans of the 
American Southwest were the focus of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 
National Committee on Self-Development of People (SDOP) when it met 
recently in Window Rock, Arizona, on a Navajo Indian Reservation. 
 
    Former SDOP member Hector Zavaleta and visitors from the Fort Defiance 
Presbyterian Church provided an overview of the history of the Navajo 
Nation and welcomed the committee. They emphasized that Navajos regard the 
Earth as their Mother and believe that they are, therefore, "the children 
of the land." They also noted the rich heritage of the Presbyterian Church 
in the area. 
 
    Committee members, divided into three groups, visited Presbyterian 
churches and participated in dialogues with church members. Others toured 
the Sage Hospital, visited a sheep farm, and traveled to an original Navajo 
trading post and to the Canyon de Chelly.. 
 
    The group also visited such SDOP-funded enterprises as a day care 
center, an irrigation project and a volunteer fire department. 
 
    The Rev. Edith Gause, interim executive of Grand Canyon Presbytery, and 
the Rev. Roger Davis of Fort Defiance Presbyterian Church, spoke to the 
committee members about some of the mission and ministry of the PC(USA) in 
Arizona. 
 
    Turning to committee business, incoming chair Michael Youngblood of 
Warren, Ohio, and vice-chair Mary Ann Walt of Solon Springs, Wis. were 
installed. 
 
    Staff members Alex Sherman, Mary Tinker and Deborah Harrison were 
commended for 10 years of service to SDOP. Cynthia White was honored  for 
her 20 years on the SDOP staff. 
 
    Funding was approved for 11 international self-development projects: 
 
    *  Chantai Women Farmers Association, Volta Region, Ghana, $20,100 
    *  Pampamwie Cooperative Food Farmers and Processing, Pampamwie, 
Ghana, $16,122 
    *  Koiro Women's Group, Oyugis, Kenya, $18,820 
    *  Jokadam Women's Group, Oyugis, Kenya, $30,000 
    *  Tumaini La Jamii Self Help Group, Nairobi, Kenya, $22,380 
    *  Mazahua "Tzinze," San Felipe del Progreso, Iztapalapa, 
Mexico, $21,000 
    *  Katosi Women Fishing Group, Katosi, Uganda, $20,850 
    *  Wuwan Village Residents Committee, Hunan Province, People's Republic 
of China, $28,000 
    *  Maize, Cassava and Gari Processing, Sikaman, Ghana, $7,708 
    *  Gode Community Saw Milling and Intensive Farming Project, Oyugis, 
Kenya, $29,600 
    *  Salem Cooperation Vegetable Production and Processing Society in New 
Town, Ghana, $15,000 
 
 
    Seven domestic projects also were approved: 
 
    *  Family and Friends of Pennsylvania Death Row Inmates, Philadelphia, 
Pa., $30,000 
    *  Newtown Florist Club, Gainesville, Ga., $15,000 
    *  Freedom Quilting Bee, Alberta, Ala., $32,000 
    *  Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste, Woodburn, Ore., $25,000 
    *  Asian Pacific Self-Development and Residential Association, 
Stockton, Calif., $5,000 
    *  Pulaski County Mothers Center, Inc., Little Rock, Ark., $55,000 
    *  Associacion de Trabajadores Fronterizos, El Paso, Texas, $25,000 
 
    One synod and 17 presbytery SDOP committees were certified to receive, 
screen and approve self-development projects within their bounds. They are 
the Synod of the Covenant and the Presbyteries of  Beaver-Butler, Central 
Florida, Charlotte, Cherokee, Chicago, Cincinnati, Eastminster, Genessee 
Valley, Geneva, Homestead, Lackawanna, Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Long 
Island, Los Ranchos, Miami, Minnesota Valleys, Monmouth, Muskingum Valley, 
National Capital, New Brunswick, Northeast Georgia, North Central Iowa, 
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Redstone, Santa Fe, Savannah, Sierra 
Blanca, South Dakota, West Jersey, Western North Carolina and Western 
Reserve. 
 
(Marianne Cashatt is a professional journalist currently serving on the 
National Committee on the Self-Development of People.) 

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