wfn.org | National Self-Development Committee Visits Appalachia

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Note #5929 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

5-June-2000
00227

	National Self-Development Committee Visits Appalachia

	Members visit projects in Tennessee and Kentucky

	by Marianne Cashatt

WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. - Typically at its May meeting, the National Committee on
the Self-Development of People (SDOP) convenes in areas where grants have
been given or future grant recipients may be found. Both cases were true in
the committee's recent trip to Williamsburg, Ky.

	Some SDOP members visited the Woodland Community Land Trust in Clairfield,
Tenn., a project that includes a four-year plan for sustainable forest
management and construction of native material houses by people of low
income.

	The group also visited the Save Our Cumberland Mountains (SOCM)
organization in Lake City, Tenn., which works across lines of age, race, and
income to achieve social, environmental, and economic justice.

	Committee members held exploratory conversations with the Mountain Women's
Exchange in Jellico, Tenn., a group that began around a member's kitchen
table and now works effectively to better the community through numerous
education and economic development activities.

	Another group of SDOP members visited projects in Kentucky, meeting first
in C.B. Caudill's store, a long-term center of community organizing in
Blackey, Ky.  They were given an introduction to the region using
award-winning documentaries made by "Appalshop," an Appalachian community
arts and education center.  Later they toured areas which have been
particularly hard-hit by the economic and environmental effects of
strip-mining and clear-cut timbering.

	As part of their regular business, the national committee approved the
following international grants:

	* Oxen Project in Matayos, Busia, Kenya, $14,210 
	* Maize Mill Construction in Kampala, Uganda, $7,474 
	* Development and Beekeeping in Agome-Anedi, Togo, $6,412 
	* Women Rice Farming Cooperative in Jasolam, Ghana, $18,500 
	* Cooperative Fishing and Marketing in Kpeve, Ghana, $14,500 
	* Salt Water Fishing in Semau Island, Indonesia, $39,000 
	* Posho Mill Operation in Esikulu, Western Province, Kenya, $13,100 
	* Fishers Education and Resource Centre in Karungu Bay, Nyanza, Kenya,
$27,294
	* Improved Wood Stoves in San Martin, Chimaltenango, Guatemala, $9,826
	* Tailoring and Knitting in Busia, Kenya, $6,012.
	
	 A number of domestic grants were also approved: 

	* People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources in Austin, Texas,
$20,000
	* Laotian Organizing Project in Richmond, Calif., $30,000 
	* 359 Cooperative Services in Laredo, Texas, $40,000 
	* Bernice Bakery in Rochester, N.Y., $75,000 
	* Embrace in Austell, Ga., $64,000
	* Self-Developed Moms of Knoxville, Tenn., $40,000.

	For the year 2000/2001, the Certification Committee approved SDOP
committees in the Presbyteries of Albany, Arkansas, Baltimore, Cascades,
Central Florida, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, East Tennessee, Genesee
Valley, Geneva, Greater Atlanta, Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Long Island, Los
Ranchos, Miami, Missouri River Valley, Monmouth, Muskingum Valley, New
Castle, Peace River, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Gabriel, Santa Fe,
Seattle, Sierra Blanca, Susquehanna Valley, Western North Carolina and
Western Reserve,.

	The synod SDOP committee for the Synod of Alaska-Northwest was also
certified.

	Michael Youngblood of Warren, Ohio, was installed as SDOP chair and Mary
Ann Walt of Solon Springs, Wis., as vice chair.

	Appreciation was expressed to Carnell Hampton of Gable, S.C., the Rev. John
Koppitch of Indianapolis, Ind., and Tavita Durow of Lubbock, Texas, who
completed their terms on the committee.

(Marianne Cashatt is a journalist serving on the SDOP committee.)

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