Meet the Crew: Amber

I wasn't going to include myself in this but I've been reminded that if I'm going to do this to the crew that I'd better be willing too.

How many years have you gone to the Rez?

This will be my 5th year being a team coordinator. I first went to the Rez with a church in Indiana and have been a couple of times on my own without a crew.

What is the thing about it that has changed you and made you want to go back?

I grew up in a church in Indiana that was very mission-minded and then attended Anderson College which also offered mission trips several times a year. I finally got to go on my first mission trip back in the early 90's. Seeing how other people in other parts of the world live always changes you ... it breaks your heart and you are just never the same. It becomes harder to justify spending lots of money on yourself - not that there is anything wrong with that, but you learn that there is more joy in giving to someone else in need than in spending it on self.

I also have never been able to find a way around the passage of scripture in Matt. 25 where Jesus has some strong things to say about how we treat the poor. I take it that he meant exactly what he said and so I figure its a good idea for me to be involved in helping the poor. In doing that, I've learned that I have a lot to learn - they often have a better handle on spiritual matters than I do and I am usually the one that is "helped".

I also wanted for our church to become more mission minded and creating opportunities for people to experience a mission trip is the best way I know of to do that. I think it is vital to the health of the church to be reaching out to people who are different than us and who have been given less in this life than we have. That kind of experience makes us better people and makes the church a better church.

What is something specific people can pray for you about?

Pray that I will be obedient to Jesus and have a good attitude. I am not the best person for this job of organizing mission trips but I am willing to do it because I feel it is important and because I know its not about "me" being comfortable in the position I am in. Leading these trips challenges me in every area of weakness that I have and I don't always handle it well.

Team Member Spotlight: Brandon

I have decided to spotlight each team member and post a bit about them on the blog so that people can see who is going, give them a chance to share something about their experience with the mission trips, and let folks know how they can be praying for each individual team member.

I get to start with Brandon simply because he got his stuff in first - which is a first, I think. Just kidding ya Brandon.

Brandon is easy for me to write about because I've known him his whole life. He is the same age as my youngest son and I have come to consider him as one of my own. There is not a lot I wouldn't do for this guy.

Everyone who knows Brandon is very familiar with his winning personality. Honestly, to know him is to love him. He's friendly, funny, very talented (my rock star), and has come to love God with all his heart. Is he perfect? Nope, but I must say that I'm impressed with what I see in him as I've watched his relationship with Jesus develop into an honest, real, and increasingly meaningful relationship that is very evident to those around him. I am very proud to call him "my other son".




While his personality is the thing that probably stands out the most about him, something people may not immediately realize is that Brandon is a deep thinker, especially when it comes to spiritual matters. I've been amazed at his wisdom on more than one occasion. I am also impressed with Brandon's ability to bond with the kids at Pine Ridge. I've watched him grow closer to some of the kids there over the years and have seen that he is indeed having an impact on them for Christ. Last year especially Brandon was able to develop some friendships with a few of the boys on the rez that he will be able to build on in the future.


How many years have you been going to the Rez with us?

I've been 3 times to the rez.

What is it about these trips that has changed you and made you want to keep going back?


The reason I really wanna go back is because of the friendships I formed. I wanna keep those going and hopefully bring God into some peoples life.



What is something specific that people can pray for you about?

Something people can pray for me about is the cost of the trip.






















* This spotlight isn't intended to be a plea for sponsors and Brandon certianly didn't ask me to mention this, but if you would like to sponsor Brandon I'm sure he would be very appreciative.

Jan/Feb Newsletter from Shellly

Hello friends, just want to connect with everyone and let you know how things are going here in South Dakota. We hope that you all had a great start to 2008 and we enjoy news and phone calls from you all. I am going to try to send the newsletters monthly, but sometimes every 2 months is all I can do.

We received $600.00 from the AIC (American Indian Council) for the Ladies Group that was started here last summer for supplies. We were able to purchase fabric by the bolt, cutting mats, cutters and other supplies to get our ladies going on sewing projects. One of the great things is that we have four young ladies 11-13 that are participating in the group and are excited about learning to sew. Once everyone has learned all the initial things they need to know about sewing, machine and practice some we'll do a beginning project and then take a quilting class as a group project. I think this is going to be a great time of learning and uniting our women and a way of generating income for them. I would like to thank Sam Johnson, president of the AIC for making this possible.

I would also like to thank the churches in Fairfield and Jersey Shore that helped us with a project this year to bring Christmas to some special people here that might not have had much. I thank God for you, your generosity and compassion for the people here and your willingness to always help. I would like to continue with some special programs here at Christmastime and anyone that would like to be part of this, just let me know we can use all the help we can get. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I want to thank those that support us in prayer, with clothing, things for the Thrift Shop, financially and by planning their work camps to come out here and work and provide VBS for the children here. We are planning some special things this year for our work camps, we are focusing on building relationships and really submersing you with the culture here. So come prepared for a time this Summer like you've never had before!!!

We have some other special people to thank, they are Norval and Mary Justice from Faith Fellowship CHoG. They sent us 30 beautiful padded chairs for our sanctuary, a much needed and appreciated gift. We were able to carpet the sanctuary at about the same time the chairs arrived and the two matched so closely you would have thought it was planned to match! We thank you and all the members of our church thank you. It was so great to have the first wedding of the year in our beautiful newly done sanctuary.

I think our next project will be linoleum for our fellowship hall and then it will be time to expand. We have noticed that it is getting harder to fit everyone in the fellowship hall when we have weddings and large dinners, but that is truly a good thing.

We are looking forward to the Tri-S Group coming on the 9th of March, our first work camp of 2008. It will be good to see Ed Breeden and Emily Clark again, and to meet a new group of students. In my next letter I will print out the scheduled work camps and when they will be here. This is going to be a busy summer and our goal is to lead others to Christ and to build relationships in the community and with all of you who work so hard and are so dedicated to the Lakota people.

God bless,

Barry & Shelly Bentley

Pics from the Italian Dinner

Our "Beauties" from the Beauty Contest

2008 VBS Teams

Teens
Jeff
Cathy
Charles
Bev


Middlers
Jean
Daniel
Bub
Teresa
Darlene
Andreina
Dennis
Amber

Little Ones
Becky
Tim
Debbie
Chrissie
Ericka
Josh

New Web Site!!

We are happy to annouce that we now have a new web site for Backpacks for Pine Ridge.

Check it out at www.BackpacksForPineRidge.com

Italian Style Dinner

An Italian Style Dinner

March 2nd after the morning worship service

Ticket prices: $12 individual, $20 couple

The meal will be served restaurant style (you will be seated and we will serve you) and will include:

Spaghetti

Lasagna

Salad

Breadsticks

Drink

Desert

Spaghetti, salad, breadsticks, provided by Olive Garden

Desert provided by Swan Deserts

For your dining pleasure entertainment will include a "Woman-less" Beauty Contest

Come and enjoy the food and fun!

For those who cannot eat Italian food, if you purchase a ticket we will prepare the food and take it to Serve City. Its an opportunity to help 2 Missions for the price of one!

Proceeds from the meal and Beauty Contest go toward our expenses for the mission trip

and include:

A meal each day for 100-150 Lakota children

Construction materials (some for the church, some for the homes of Lakota people)

Fuel and travel expense

VBS materials

March Meeting

The March team meeting will be on Sunday, March 2nd after we clean up from the Itialian Style Dinner. It will be a long and grueling day .... just a preview of days to come. ;)

The next payment of $100 is also do at that time.

The good news never ends does it.

Rock-A-Thon

Thanks to Tim, we have some pictures from the Rock-A-Thon that the Haiti and Pine Ridge teams participated in last Saturday. Enjoy!

See How You Can Help Backpacks for Pine Ridge

Click here

Fundraiser Opportunity

Rock-A-Thon - Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008. See Amber or Tammi for a sponsor sheet. Please let Amber know ASAP if you're planning to do this.

Christmas Greetings to and From Pine Ridge

Each of these are less than 4 min. long.

A Video Christmas Card from Our Crew to our Friends on Pine Ridge Reservation



Christmas Greeting from Pine Ridge Reservation



The Outtakes & Bloopers Reel

Deadline is Close

REMINDER*

The deadline for the '08 trip to Pine Ridge is getting here fast. All of your registration materials along with your first payment must be in by Sunday, January 6, 2008.

To register you need to turn in:

1. Your Team Member Information Form
   
2. The Emergency Medical Information Form
   
3. Team Member Agreement Form
   
4. Your first non-refundable, non-transferable payment of $100

All of the forms can be found in your packet.

Winter Pics of the Rez

The Badlands covered in snow

Some of the housing on the Rez

The sactuary of the church with new carpet and new chairs!

Rezonate '08

Pine Ridge Reservation

A Family in Need of Christmas Gifts

The missionary asked if our church could provide a family in the village with Christmas gifts this year. She is asking each church that goes there for workcamps to take a family and give them Christmas gifts.

Here are the ages, etc.

• Hazel, the grandmother
  likes bath items
  Already Purchased - earrings, bath soap set
  
  
• Marie - the mother
  Likes anything for her house, earrings, bath items,
  Favorite colors are marroon and hunter green
  Already Purchased - Winter Coat, flower arrangement, bath soap set
  
  
• Charlie the father
  Likes tools and movies, gloves, cologne, hair clippers
  Size 3 or 4 X shirt
  Already Purchased - Watch, flannel shirt, hair clippers
  
  
• Arlo - age 11
  Likes football, head and wrist bands, pants size 14 regular, man's size large shirts
  Favorite color - blue
  Already Purchased - football, basketball, wrist bands, blue shirt
  
  
• Michael - age 8
  Likes Spongebob,
  Man's shirt size large or XLarge
  Favorite colors - yellow and green
  Already Purchased - Spongebob dominos & Bingo game, game, green shirt
  
  
• Everet (Bubba) - age 7
  Likes "Transformers"
  Pants size 8 Regular
  Favorite color - red
  Already Purchased - Trouble game, game, red shirt
  
  
• Aleaha - age 6
  Likes horses and dogs
  Favorite color - pink and purple
  Already Purchased - Gap hoodie sweatshirt, my little pony, pink running set

All of the children like art supplies, games, and sports.

If you have purchased something for this family, let Amber know and it will be posted here so we don't duplicate items.

Please do not send used items.

See Amber for the address

Suicide

I got a call yesterday from the missionary on the Reservation. She was distraught and asked us to be praying for the Lakota people, and for them as they deal with several tragedies.

In the past few weeks several young people on the Reservation have committed suicide by hanging themselves. The oldest was 21 years old. The others were younger still. The impact this has had and is having among the people there is hard to imagine. Perhaps the best way to illustrate it is to tell what the missionary told me yesterday.

One of the mothers in the village called the church in a panic because she had caught her 6 year old little girl with a noose around her neck and with the end of it thrown over the doorway and was about to pull it when her mother found her. This is a family that those of us who have gone out there know well. My son Logan has had a special bond with this little girl.

For us, this is not a story of tragedy far away. It affects our friends, our extended family if you will. It's personal and heartbreaking.

Please pray.

Porcupine Clinic Update

THANKS to all who donated toward helping the Porcupine Clinic. We collected $800 at church yesterday and today the check will go in the mail. I spoke to a lady at the Propane Company this morning and she is thrilled to know that help is on the way. She works for the propane company but is also working very hard to help the Clinic get it's needs met. She seemed to really care about the people there.

The latest news is that they now have enough money accumulated to get them through 1/3 of the winter. They also have an old cook stove that is about broken down - they are smelling propane leaking from it. They are unsure what to do about that.

*UPDATED*

I also talked to Stella White Eyes at the Porcupine Clinic. I called to let them know that our church had a check for them that I would be putting in the mail. Here is a piece of that conversation ..

"Porcupine Clinic, can I help you"

"Is Stella White Eyes available?"

"She just stepped out to get the mail. Can I take a message?"

"My name is Amber and we normally come out to Allen each year. We heard about your need of propane and I wanted to call and let you know that we collected $800 yesterday at our church and I will be putting that check in the mail tomorrow."

Before I could finish my sentence, I heard a wild gasp and the lady on the phone said, "OH! Wait and let me get Stella ... she will want to talk to you!"

A bit later Stella came on the line and I told her the same thing I had said to the other lady. She was very touched and grateful and told me to "thank all of those people for me".

It was cool to hear the relief and excitment in her voice.

The clinic is back up and running but they still have many needs. Continue to pray for these folks.

Urgent Need @ Pine Ridge Reservation

Porcupine Clinic, located in the small community of Porcupine, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota [Sioux] Reservation is out of heat.

According to Stella White Eyes, Administrative Assistant for the Clinic, the Clinic has closed its doors until it can find resources to fund their heating costs.

Porcupine Clinic is the only independent Indian community-controlled health clinic in the United States. It is not connected with the Federal Indian Health Services (IHS) program and is funded primarily by grants and donations. Unfortunately, those resources have become exceptionally rare this year.Porcupine Clinic opened its doors in 1992 and serves the entire Reservation as well as the Porcupine District in which it is located. Patients are billed according to their ability to pay and many patients, including low-income Elders and children, receive free health care there. In 2004, the Porcupine Clinic opened its dialysis unit, saving countless lives of those diabetic patients who could not journey 120 miles away to Rapid City for needed dialysis treatment several times a week. The only other dialysis treatment available on the 11,000 square mile (2.7 million acres) Reservation is located in the small IHS Hospital in the community of Pine Ridge. But that facility hosts only a handful of dialysis beds, is up to 100 miles away from the more remote areas of the Reservation, and is completely unable to treat the vast need of the entire Reservation.

Recent statistics state that the diabetes rate on Pine Ridge is 800% that of the National average and the life expectancy rate is 52 to 58 years old. It is said that 55% of the adults on Pine Ridge over the age of 40 have diabetes.

Ms. White Eyes states that the Clinic has been unable to pay their annual propane tank rental fees of $245 (for both the Clinic and dialysis unit tanks) or for the propane to fill them. They have three tanks: a thousand gallon tank which services the main clinic and two five hundred gallon tanks servicing the dialysis unit. The minimum propane delivery from their provider, Western Cooperative (WESTCO) out of Chadron and Hay Springs, Nebraska, is $360. If all the tanks were filled, at $1.69 per gallon, it would cost well over $3,000. Further, that will need to happen more than once this winter.

While the dialysis unit helps to fund at least part of its own propane use, the Clinic is out of funding now, just as winter is approaching fast. Harvey Iron Boy, Porcupine District Vice President and Head Man, spoke of the vital role that the Clinic plays in the local district as well as the Reservation as a whole. Not only are the health care services, bi-lingual assistance, diabetic education, and dialysis treatments all meeting critical needs on the Reservation but there are more basic needs met by the Clinic as well. He pointed out that locals often come into the Clinic simply to get warm on days when they have no heat in their own homes. Ms. White Eyes has contacted various non-profits and assistance organizations but has largely gone unanswered.

Anyone wishing to donate towards propane fuel for the Porcupine Clinic may do so directly to the propane company. Please contact: Loretta at Western Cooperative (WESTCO) 170 Bordeaux St Chadron, NE 69337-2342 Call Toll Free 800-762-9906 Credit Card and Bank Card donations by phone will be accepted. Small donations are also welcome and will accumulate until the minimum delivery has been reached and then the company will make a delivery of propane to the Clinic.Please clearly mark any donation "For Porcupine Clinic." Donations may also be sent directly to the Clinic.For more information, please contact:Porcupine ClinicStella White Eyes, Administrative Assistant P.O. Box 99 Porcupine, SD 57772 Internet Information:http://www.lakotamall.com/porcupine/Phone: 605-867-5655Note: Due to lack of heat, there may or may not be anyone available to answer the phone at the Clinic at this time. Please leave a message.Stephanie M. Schwartz may be reached at SilvrDrach@Gmail.com Visit other writings of Stephanie M. Schwartz at www.SilvrDrach.homestead.com

The Backpack Packing Party

Thanks to all who came and helped fill the backpacks with school suppiles last night!





We'll do it again before we leave next summer.

Annual Holday Candy/Cookie Fundraiser

It's that time again. If you would like to let us do your holiday baking, see any of the following team members.

Cathy J.

Buckeyes - $12.00 for 3 dozen

Peanut Butter Fudge - $8.00 per pound

Brian W.

Hugs & Kisses (cookies, not real hugs and kisses) $5.00 per dozen

Amber B.

Homemade Gingersnaps - $5.00 per dozen in gift bag

Chocolate Walnut Fudge - $8.00 per pound

Tyler H.

Low-Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies - $4.00 per dozen

Proceeds help to pay Team Member's trip costs.

Please order from the person selling the item you wish to order.

Please pay at the time of order

If you are a team member and want to participate, get your information Amber asap

Mission Coffeehouse

Here is what came in the mail today.

Good Afternoon Amber,

I am happy to inform you that Backpacks for Pine Ridge was selected as our monthy mission focus for Mission Coffeehouse. Over the course of the month we collected $638.18 for your cause.

Mission Coffeehouse was opened just over one year ago. We are a fully functioning coffeehouse with a foundation in faith. We are located in the First Lutheran Church in Brookings, SD. We not only sell Fair Trade Coffee but all income over expenses goes to support missions such as yours.

We want to thank you for your dedicated efforts and wish you wll on your next trip to Pine Ridge.

Sincerely
(name omitted for online security)

---------------------------------------

I don't even know what to say. I am continually amazed at the generousity of strangers.

If you are ever in the Brookings, SD area, stop by Mission Coffeehouse and have a cup of coffee and thank them for caring for others by selling Fair Trade coffee and giving to missions.

Our Friends

Check out some of our friends on our MySpace page. Some of them are going out of their way for us.

Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser

Mark your calendar for Sunday, March 2, 2008 for a Spaghetti Dinner to benefit the Pine Ridge team.

The dinner will be following the morning worship service in the fellowship hall.

We will sell tickets in advance, so team members may sell tickets at work or to family or neighbors.

We will need team members to help with all aspects of this event. Team members who work the event will benefit from it, and those who do not, will not benefit. Proceeds will go toward team member's trip costs.

It's Here! The Backpack Packing Party

We will do the Backpack Packing Party on Saturday, Oct. 27, 2007 at the Buriff house. We will get started at 7PM and it will probably take a couple of hours. In the past we've knocked it out in an hour but this year we have more backpacks to fill and pack.

We are going to do it different this year to allow people who are not going with us in '08 to be a part of the trip if they want to. I am going to open it up to the church and will take the first 15 people who sign up. Crew members are welcome to sign up too, in fact, we'll need some of them, but this way some who are not able to travel to the Reservation with us can still have a "hands on" experience in helping.

So, if you want to come - let me know so I can add you to the list.

By the way, we are still collecting money, backpacks and school supplies. We currently have enough for 3 villages but if we get more, we will take more - we'll just have another backpack packing party to get them filled and packed.

The Poorest Place in America

I've been dreaming and I've also been crunching some numbers (those who know me will cringe at that). It's my goal to provide backpacks and school supplies to as many children on the Reservation as we possibly can. Ideally, I would love to provide backpacks to each child on the Reservation. It would take at least $65,000.00 each year to do that. That's not a lot of money but when you have nothing at all, it's a mind boggling figure. To think of raising that even one time seems out of reach, but we do have a big God and last time I checked, He was not short of cash. So, I believe this is doable.

As I've researched what it would take to pull this off, my heart has been broken all over again. Reading the statistics about Pine Ridge will do that to you. If I didn't know the Lakota people, their sense of humor and their incredible ability to survive, I would be tempted to despair.

I've often said that the Pine Ridge Reservation is the "poorest place in America". Here is what Wikipedia says about it, and particularly about Allen, the village we go to.

Allen, SD is considered to be the Poorest place in America About 95.9% of families and 96.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 97.1% of those under age 18 and 100.0% of those age 65 or over. Only Haiti has a lower life expectancy anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

Like I said, it's heartbreaking.

November & December Fundraisers

Good news! John J at church has agreed to donate Flag and Military memorabilia display cases to both the Haiti and Pine Ridge teams. John has generously agreed to donate as many as we need!

These display cases look like the one pictured and are made of solid oak with a glass front. They can be used to display the Flag, Military, Police or Firefighter memorabilia.

Here is how it will work...

These cases will be available for anyone making a donation of at least $100.00.

Team members can include this in their sponsor letters to take orders for them from family/friends/coworkers. Money from any cases you sell will go into your account to pay for your trip costs.

Any donations of $100 or more outside of sponsor money will go toward the purchase of product from Matthew 25 Ministries in Blue Ash. We hope to be able to take another truck load of product to the mission next summer but we will need to raise at least $2500.00 to do this.

John also makes wooden toaster tongs that he is making available for $2.00 each to the Mission teams.

John will need to know ASAP if you have any orders for these cases.

We will kick off the fundraiser at church on Veterans Day but you can put this info. in your sponsor letters now.

If you have any questions you can email Amber

New Logo

Gary has been an online friend of mine for several years. He's a very talented graphic artist with a heart for God. Last week he surprised me and sent me a design that we can use as the logo/link to the Backpacks for Pine Ridge page. How cool is that? To have a professional graphic artist volunteer to do a logo for us!

If you're part of our team, stop over at Gary's blog and say thanks!

Another God Thing

It continually amazes me how God leads in these trips. It seems sometimes we have little to go on other than a desire and a hunch but we move ahead only to see that God was behind it all the whole time.

That is really how these trips came to be and each year there are several instances where that kind of thing happens.

I just spoke to Shelly a few minutes ago. I called to check on the electric problems they are having and to see how everyone is doing. I also wanted to talk to her about the possibility of taking backpacks and school supplies to a 3rd village.

Our supporters have been very generous this year. We had originally hoped to expand the backpack project to include the village of Allen and Wounded Knee, but it is only September and we already have enough backpacks and school supplies to expand to include a 3rd village! I needed to find a contact in a 3rd village where we can distribute them. I wasn't sure where we would take them or how it would work but I knew there were plenty of children on the Rez that needed them and that we would figure out a way to get them to them. I had been thinking of taking them to Kyle but I wasn't sure. I don't know anyone in Kyle and was not sure how many kids were there and I wasn't sure if maybe there was another village that would need them more. So I called Shelly and told her we had enough backpacks for Allen and Wounded Knee and that we still have 100 more that could go to another village. She immediately suggested - you guessed it - Kyle.

So many times that's the way things go. It has been my philosophy to just collect all we can and we'll figure out where to put it and how to get it there. I have no idea what will happen but we move on. I rarely have clear "leading" from God on a matter but I don't want to limit what God may be trying to do so we just move on and then figure out the specifics as we need to. And every single time it is crystal clear that He is really in control and has been leading all the time. Some may say that we're getting ahead of God. Maybe so, but I assure you we've not had that happen yet.

Besides, I think I'd rather be out there doing something, even if it's making mistakes, than to sit around wondering what we're supposed to do and end up doing nothing.

Prayer Request - Electricity

Please keep the village of Allen (and possibly others) in your prayers. We have word that the electric company has cut off electricity to many of the homes there. Shelly seems to think they will have it back on again before cold weather hits but this creates a time of intense frustration on the Reservation. It is during times of frustration when things can get out of hand. Drinking and gang activity tend to increase with the frustration. Along with the frustration there is boredom because there is no TV. Boredom and frustration are not a good mix. Please pray for all affected and for the missionaries there who are trying to minister.

FYI

Now that accounts are being settled we have a grand total for the trip - $19,126.14

That includes all of the following expenses:

• Truck Rental
• Van Rental
• Fuel
• Lodging
• Food
• Pallets of Product
• Backpacks/school supplies for 150 kids
• Freezer
• VBS
• Teen Nights
• Work Projects - at the Pass Creek Church as well as in people' s homes

If we had to pay for all of that and had no donations the cost of the trip would have been $736.00 each. (with 26 people going)

Coffee and Hot Chocolate that Help Make a Difference!

We are still selling Equal Exchange Fair Trade Coffee to help us with raising money for Backpacks for Pine Ridge. I have also just placed an order for Equal Exchange Fair Trade Hot Chocolate Mix! Hopefully in October we will also have Fair Trade Chocolate Bars - they are really good. All of these products are quality products and they help to make a difference in the world.

Here's how it works...

You can buy the coffee and 48% of the money from your purchase will go toward purchasing backpacks and school supplies for the children on the Pine Ridge Reservation. It's a situation where everyone wins and we have an opportunity to make a difference in many ways.

• First, we will be making money to purchase school supplies and making a difference in the lives of children on the reservation.
  
  
• We will also be helping the farmers who in developing countries by purchasing Fair Trade coffee.
  
  
• And, we will be raising awareness about Fair Trade products.

That's 3 different ways we can make a difference!

Will it cost more? Yes, but your money will be doing so much good on so many levels and the products are so much betterAbout Fair TradeFair Trade ensures that the farmers who grow the coffee in Third World countries are paid a fair wage for their crops, that they do not have to work in hazardous conditions, and that no child labor is used.

Some things you may not know ...

• The farmers who grow the coffee we drink are often paid less than it cost them to grow their crop, keeping them in a cycle of poverty.
  
• With chocolate, the story is far worse. "While chocolate is sweet for us, it can be heartbreaking for the hundreds of thousands of child laborers that pick the cocoa that goes into some of our favorite treats. In 2001, the U.S. State Department, the International Labor Organization and others reported child slavery on many cocoa farms in the Ivory Coast, source of 43% of the worlds cocoa. Subsequent research by theInternational Institute of Tropical Agriculture revealed some 284,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12 working in hazardous conditions on West African cocoa farms. Of these children, it was reported that some 12,000 child cocoa workers that had participated in the study were likely to have arrived in theirsituation as a result of child trafficking". - From The Global Exchange
  

Informational Meeting for the 2008 Trip

There will be an informational meeting for the 2008 trip to Pine Ridge Reservation on

Sunday, September 9, 2007 @ 4PM

Anyone who has interest in going on this trip needs to be at the meeting. Attending the meeting does not in any way commit you to going on the trip.

If you have never been on a Pine Ridge Trip before it essential that you attend this meeting. You need to know what you're getting into before you make a decision about registration.

If you have gone on two (2) of these trips in the past, you need not attend this meeting but you will need to see me for your folder with your registration materials in it.

All youth 13-16 must have a parent attend the meeting with them.