THE VERY BEST OF SEASON'S GREETINGS TO ALL SUPPORTERS OF ALASKAN FRIENDS OF CHUKOTKA, which now includes many families and groups in the lower 48! As you are busy and happy doing things with your family, know that you have also made other families happy too.

MOMENTOUS NEWS FROM CHUKOTKA IS THAT ROMAN ABRAMOVICH HAS BEEN ELECTED GOVERNOR. He is dedicated to turning the region around and has already provided huge amounts of aid to needy groups through his private foundation. Now he has the chance to build the economy, social structure, and rule of law in this troubled region. The next few years will be exciting ones. During this time of transition AFOC will be in a position to continue to helping families in need.

Our second full year of work with the direct mail distributions has turned out well. Not only did a great amount of good clothing, and also funds to help with mailing, pour into Nome and Fairbanks, but people also began doing direct mailing of their own boxes from nine more Alaskan communities and from about twelve towns outside Alaska.

A rough total for the year (not counting what gets done next week) comes to 631 boxes mailed of good quality warm clothing, with fishing gear, food, and hygiene supplies often included, and another 50 sent to St. Lawrence Island via Bering Air to be picked up there by Chukotkans. Thirty-two school supply boxes, and forty-one nets were mailed. There are more nets ready to be mailed. Included in the above were many boxes to the regional hospital and orphanage. With our cooperating groups we were able to get clothing boxes to 12 communities altogether, but not to reach every family on our lists except in 4 villages. We reached all schools except for 9.

Nome received more clothing than we could keep up with due to generous donations from rural Alaska in particular. We started running out of postage money in November; then Sue Steinacher's article in the Fairbanks News-Miner gave us another huge inpouring of cash donations from that area, so we never slowed down.  We have enough to do another round of mailing in January-February to include nets.

OTHER NEWS: RFETF reports that in addition to their regular food shipments to the Providenskii and Anadyrskii regions they were able to send over one hundred blankets to the Anadyrskii region, and to send fish nets and supplies to 4 or 5 villages in the Bilibinskii region. Several children are coming for eye surgery which is being donated by an Alaskan Doctor, sponsored by RFETF. I will get his name for the next newsletter.

RFETF also sponsored the costs of the wonderful children's art calendars from the Iultinskii region villages and the Native Arts college in Anadyr. If you want to order one, let Bill Scharrer know at 907-376-3533. The children are doing science and humanities as well as art in this project and get stipends which are sometimes the only income for these  low-income families. The calendars are $15 each and the funds go right back into that program.

I think this is a very good report to end the year 2000 with, and thank everyone of you who in some way helped and encouraged us.

WHEN YOU GET OVER YOUR HOLIDAY RUSH, PLEASE CONSIDER WRITING TO YOUR CONGRESSMEN ABOUT GETTING A DIRECT MAIL ROUTE ESTABLISHED BETWEEN ALASKA AND THE RFE. Think how much time that would save! Of course the emphasis has to be on how it would help international business, not just aid. Aid groups would no longer be needed if normal business could be developed between Chukotka and Alaska, and a first step has to be better communication and transportation.

ALSO, IF YOU ARE A DIRECT MAILER, TAKE NOTE THAT WE HAVE UPGRADED OUR MAILING INFORMATION AT <WWW.UUFF.ORG/CHUKOTKA.HTM> SO THAT IT IS EASIER TO USE.

December 2000 Newsletter
 

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