The Mail-Journal, Volume 27, Number 47, Milford, Kosciusko County, 4 January 1989 — Page 5

Return to Guatemala

Helping Santa: A fire truck for Chiquimula and toys and clothes for the children in an orphanage

“Being in Guatemala with the Lions Allemenos Ot Brownsburg, during the month of December makes Bud’s job was to video tape the a person feel like one of Santa’s official presentation of a fire helpers In their bags of Christmas joy. truck from the Pike Township the Hoosiers had fire trucks, am- Lions to the people of Chibulances and other vehicles for several quimula, a community Os around communities; toys and clothes for the 19,000 persons. Prior to the children in orphanages; and new and presentation, there had been no used clothing for others in need. Truly. fire truck here. God would bless these people this holi- We followed the bright, red, day season ." — Jeri Seely 1963 GMC truck, Which was —l driven by one of the bomberos By JERI AND BUD SEELY volunatar ios(v o 1 u n tee r J firemen), out of Guatemala City, south and east through the mounWhen one considers the fact tains for some three hours. The there are no ambulances in scenery enroute to this village, Guatemala City, there is no need on |y a f ew short miles from El to guess what type of equipment Salvador, was beautiful. The the smaller towns and villages weather in this tropical area was have for fighting fires and help- warm. The sun inviting. ing the ill and injured. Then, the fire truck stopped. There are only those vehicles \y e were within five minutes which have been brought to the traveling time from the town. It country by International Director was time t 0 wait as other chi . Jim Cameron and the Lions of In- quimula bomberos, city officials diana over the past four years and Lions joined the caravan, and old pick up trucks which Sitting in the van on the road to have, in some communities, been Chiquimula, this writer watched converted to haul patients. They humbly as a member of the offer no other modern conve- bomberos volunatarios apniences. That’s why this year’s proached the fire truck. His eyes gifts are so special. The two fire glistened with tears as he walked trucks and six ambulances, as a i ong the side of the vehicle, well as the truck, the van, the car which he and other members of and the bus all fill special needs. his department would now use to Both groups of travelers, those fight fires iri this area. I watched who flew down and those who as he slowly made his way to the drove down, reached Guatemala g ac k o f t h e truck, put his head City late Saturday night, Dec. 3, down on it and wept tears of joy. and joined forces. We were over It was then that I, too, shed a tear 60 strong and our presence was G s happiness for this man and for both felt and welcomed in this (he work the Lions of Indiana are Central American Nation. doing for these people. Sunday morning, Dec. 4,-found us headed for Chiquimula. Our Enroute, the bomberos had rented nine-passenger van was stopped to fill the truck with gas

driven by Past District Governor and to wash the dirt and grime Jim Ross, a member of the from its body so it would be Township Lions Club of In- and shining when it reachdianapolis, who wanted to be ed the city. At this time, Anthere when his club’s fire truck drovett and Sweitzer climbed on arrived in its ne\v home. It was to top of the fire truck with their be a climax of the first part of the new friends, the Chiquimula Lions’Mission to Guatemala. We bombferos. They would were going to be part of the town photograph the rest of the trip receiving the truck. from this vantage point. Others in the party were Ross’s In all, the area to be covered by wife, Norma; Mike Androvett this truck and the bomberos is and Steve Sweitzer of WISH-TV, about 36,000 square kilometers, channel 8, Indianapolis; Mario “They need this truck,” said Blanco of McAllen, Texas, the in- Ross, who went on to explain terpreter for the Indiana Lions there are 33 firemen in the Mission; and Elizabeth department and all are “super

■ /w 41 > - SMILE — Steve Sweitzer of WISH-TV, Indianapolis, is shown with his back to the camera as he focuses his television camera on the children at the orphanage in Chichicastenango. The boys and girls are proudly displaying their new toys which, were made by Katie and David ‘’Sloan of Indianapolis and delivered to the orphanage by their grandparents, Jim and Norma Ross of Indianapolis. (Photo by Jeri Seely) &

Tax man misses deadline

By JOHN SLOAN Chalk up another black mark for Section 89. For the nation’s employers, this employee” benefits law and ‘ the circumstances surrounding it look grimmer all the time. Congress gave the Internal Revenue Service until November - 15, 1988, to issue regulations on the employee benefits law that seeks to micro-manage how employers offer benefits to their highly compensated and nonhighly compensated employees. After January 1, employers must run a myriad of tests of their benefit plans to determine if they discriminate against non-highly compensated employees in favor of the highly compensated ’ ■ ? ■ 1 Britain to buy Uranium KNOXVILLE, TN - Great Britain has contracted for an unspecified amount of weaponsgrade uranium from the,federal government’s nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, a Department of Energy spokesman confirmed.

But t'he iron enforcer of deadlines for taxpayers, the IRS, missed one of its own. The agency didn’t even offer any preliminary guidance before the effective date. Now, employers and their benefits specialists do not have any time to prepare for the new law, one that IRS took two years to figure out! ' To make matters worse, this law is an employer’s nightmare, even with regulations. The maze of tests and requirements that Section 89 creates no doubt qualifies the edict as the most counterproductive and confusing benefits law on the boons. 'The “89” scheme is so impossible that the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation's largest advocacy organization representing small businesses, has made repealing the law one of its top priorities for 1989. Sect i on 8 9 redefines discrimination. Under this IRS code, offering coverage equally is not enough; lower -pa id employees who choose not to participate in a benefit can cause a plan to be thrown into the reject pile. Then, the highly compen sated must pay tax on the excess value of their benefits. “Highly compensated” and

nice people.” Most of them had been at the border when the Lions crossed from Mexico to Guatemala. They were part of the welcoming committee and they had gone there to see their new truck. “There are really no words to express how you feel. It’s just a great feeling to be part of it,” continued Ross. When all was ready, we entered" the town with sirens screaming. As we made our way down the main street of the community, more and more vehicles joined the parade. Soon, there were some 20-25 vehicles winding their way towards the square. The entire community turned out to watch and take part in this special event. It was a-hero’s welcome. There were kids everywhere. Everything in and around Chiquimula stopped as the people watched the vehicles pass. All eyes were on the big, red truck- Was is really theirs? “It’s going to be a big ceremony,” said Ross. “They know it’s going to be their vehicle. They remind you of kids on Christmas morning. The fire trucks given to the communities are oldies but goodies. They are better than what they have.” Mario Blanco added, “It makes me very proud. I’ve seen lots of cities in the USA get new fire trucks and there is never a big turn out to see the new truck.’.’ The crowd grew and grew. At first, it was estimated there were between 12,000 and 15,000. persons. This figure was later changed to 50,000. Youngsters, many of whom were too young to really comprehend what was going on, lined the streets with their parents to watch the fire engine make its way to its new home. Bud said at the time that everyone loves a parade no matter what time of year or what the situation. The firemen, he said, put on a good show for their American friends. He continued, “People who don’t think that Lionism has an outreach program should see this. It would make them feel differently. There is a tremendous input of the volunteers from the USA who come down here. They give of

“value” are just two of the key definitions yet to be clarified by the IRS. Employers also peed details on how to test part-time workers, and they await procedures for testing several plans at once. The IRS, however, is not the only culprit in this fiasco. Congress deserves much of the blame. Lawmakers had an opportunity last session to kill, or at least delay, this administrative monster. Instead, they chose to make only minor adjustments. Now, employers have almost no time to analyze their plans and change them accordingly. Many business owners will be forced to go with the status quo and live with the penalties later. If they find their plans to be discriminatory, employers and employees will have to pay the price'in the form of additional taxes, Legislators can expect a barrage of heated complaints when the nation’s small employers realize the impact of this law, and full repeal of Section 89 will be the only way to silence the clamor. John Sloan is president of the Na tional Federation of Independent* Business, representing more than half a million 'small business men and women

themselves, their time and their treasures to bring* the vehicles down. It’s service work in action.” What was the WISH crew doing all this time? Filming the crowd’s reaction. They were in the middle of a great humanitarian story and they knew it. At last, the parade ended and the visitors from Indiana were escorted to a large stage in the middle of the square. Here the ceremonies began with the Guatemalan national anthem and the “Star Spangled Banner.” During the speeches,one bombero said the fire truck was, “The greatest Christmas present they had ever had.” Later, Bud would comment on the people of Chiquimula, “This is their day. This is their show. It sounded like the 4th of July in the USA but it was the 4th of December in Guatemala.” We learned last year that firecrackers, the marimba and pine needles are important in celebrations in this country. It was ho different today. Firecrackers sounded all along the parade route as the citizens voiced their approval. After the celebration, we were taken to the home of a Lion and a steak fry was held in our honor. We were given gifts — roasted peanuts, which had been grown in the area, and canned hearts of palms. All too soon it was time to bid our new friends farewell and head back to Guatemala City. Monday we would head north for the rain forest to join the others in the work at Tactic. Other Celebrations While we delivered the fire truck, other Lions from Indiana were part of another ceremony. One of the ambulances, the one from the Mid-Lakes Lions in Oswego which had been driven to Central America by Wallace and Virginia Huffman, was given to the people of San Christobal. They, too, received a hero’s welcome as thousands lined the streets to see the “new” ambulance that would be put to use there. • As in Chiquimula, the people were friendly. They showed appreciation for this vehicle which would make their life a little better. Those in this group also felt a’ sense of accomplishment. And, all across Guatemala, whether the Indiana Lions were able to attend the ceremonies or not, those communities which received vehicles held celebrations. The gifts *they received were special. They make their community special. They bring gifts of life. The Children Remembered On Wednesday, aur group was joined by International Director Jim and Fran Cameron of Urbana, Past International Director Gene and Kathryn Rice of Wanatah and Dick «Gale of Zionsville. Gale is a new Lion who donated a truck to the mission ' and was sworn in by Cameron in Ross’s yard on November 26, just prior to the start of the mission. Cameron is the man who has headed the Mission to Guatemala for the past four years. We were headed for two towns we had visited last year. Our first Stop was at Chimaltenango where we enjoyed a short visit with friends and took a look at the fire truck the community had received last year. Then we found ourselves on the steep, winding road to Chichicastenango and the orphanage there. When we reached our destina-

Strader has been added to bureau

Dan Strader, a forecast analyst in the engineering/network department of United Telephone of Indiana and a resident of Columbia City, recently completed training and has joined United’s Speakers Bureau. United’s Speakers Bureau, which has about 40 members and Local residents act as delegates at national convention Roger North Webster, will be acting as voting delegate to the American Farm Bureau Federation, while Mike Zimmer man of Milford will stand by as an alternate for the American Farm Bureau Federation National Convention. The conven tion will be held in San Antonio. Texas. January 8 through 12. The local voting delegate to the AFBF Women’s Business Meeting will be Paula Miller of North Webster.

tion, we once again received a royal welcome. The television crew found the' conclusion to a story which had begun in Indianapolis before the trip began. Two of Jim and Norma Ross’s grandchildren, Katie and David i Sloan, spent several months this summer making 200 stuffed animals for the children in this government orphanage. Androvett and Sweitzer had aired a story on WISH prior to leaving for Guatemala. The story featured the children and their special summer project. Now the two channel 8 representatives were on the scene as the animals were delivered and presented to the Two sewing machines were left at the orphanage for use there. We also unloaded boxes and boxes j)f children’s clothing, including some shirts which had been purchased at Milford Shoe and Clothing this past summer. Again, as last year, we were told these would be kept for the children’s Christmas. Had we not come, they would have only had the traditional pinata filled with candy for the holiday. Now they would have gifts, too. A NEW TOY — This two-yeftr-old Guatemalan boy is one of the youngest children at the orphanage. After receiving his stuffed duck he went off in a corner and sat down by himself, notknowing what to expect next. The, government of Guatemala providesfood'and shelter for these youngsters but there is no

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HAPPY CHILDREN. — .The children at the orphanage in Chichicastenango were very happy to receive the stuffed animals which had been made for them by Katie and David Sloan. Above, some of the youngsters display cats and bears for the camera. (Photo by Jeri Seely)

is stationed out of United’s general office in Warsaw, presented 358 programs to 13.942 persons during 1987. The number of programs represents a growth of 58 percent over the previous year. Strader, like all United Speakers Bureau members, has volunteered his time to take part in the program. The Speakers Bureau began in 19&and lists 25 available programs, Most of the programs speakers Bureau members present are not telephone related. The Speakers Bureau offers educational programs such as the one dealing with Mount • St. Helen’s. The group also has many programs on safety. Safety topics include wearing seatbelts, handling railroad crossings, tips for latchkey children and safety so senior citizens Strader started, his career with United in January of 1976 as a chief draftsman in the general office. In r December of 1979. Strader started working in Columbia City as a junior engineer for outside the plant, his job before he returned to the general

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FIRE TRUCK DELIVERED — Jim Ross of the Pike Township Lions Club of Indianapolis is standing in front of the 1963 GMC fire truck which the Pike township Lions purchased for the town of Chiquimula in southeastern Guatemala. With Ross, who has on a Lions cap, are members of the Chiquimula bomberos volunatarios ( volunteer fire department)-. (Photo by Bud Seely)

money for anything but the necessities. Some of the children who use this government facility, we learned this year, „ are not orphans. Their fathers have been killed and their .mothers can not take proper care of them. They go to the orphanage to be with the other children and are fed and taught, much like at a daycare center in the USA. The mothers come once a month and are taught how to take better Care of themselves and their children. They are learning to cook better meals and to be cleaner. Now, they will also learn to sew. We were delighted to learn there is an American woman living in Chichicastenango who goes to the orphanage once a week to teach the children English. They are becoming quite proficient in "How are you? I am fine.” “What’s your name?” "Thank you. You’re welcome.” And, other such phrases. They took special delight in showing us their stuffed animals and repeating the animal’s English name after us. There were cats

office and became a forecast analyst in the engineering/network department. Strader is a 1970 graduate of Columbia City Joint High School. He attended Indiana and Purdue Universities. Strader is a member of the First Church of God in Columbia City, and he spent six years in the United States Navy. He is, involved in the Optimist Club.and the Boys Brigade. His' wife, Cindy (Emerick), is from Fort Wayne and is employed by Thorncreek Township School. The Straders have two children. Andrew Heath and Adam Lee

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Wed., January 4, 1989 — THE MAIL-JOURNAL

and bears, ducks and elephants and the like, all receiving special hugs from their new owners. Again, it was hard to leave these children. But we left knowing that a group of Lions will return to this orphanage next year with more clothing and other items to make the lives of the i se-children just a little bit better. Our job now will be to collect used clothing to insure a large number of items for the trip in November of 1989. Bidding farewell to the’ youngsters and the ladies who take care of them, we headed back to Guatemala City for the night wondering what, if anything, could top our second visit with these very special children of Chichicastenango. Hard Workers Sometimes, peojUe of the news media have little or no respect for television reporters and cameramen. Their actions are not always the best. This is not true in the case of Mike Androvett and Steve Sweitzer. They are professionals who know what they are doing and know how to get the best out of a story. Unlike the rest of us, they were in Guatemala to work at their jobs. WISH was footing the bill. We feel WISH got its money’s worth and more. Both Androvett and Sweitzer worked long, hard days, sometimes 16 hours at a time. They had sent tapes back to the states while in the USA but found this impossible once they were in Mexico. After reaching Guatemala City, they stayed up until the wee hours of the morning editing tape so they could send it back with Jim and Fran's son, Ron, who had made the trip to Guatemala but had to return to work on Monday morning and was flying out of Guatemala City on Sunday morning. Additional tapes would go with them when they returned to Indianapolis On Thursday. Androvett is a native of New York. He grew up in New Jersey and received 4 his bachelor’s degree from Ball State. He worked in Florida before becoming a reporter in Indianapolis. He also has a law degree. Os the trip he said. “Most unbelievable thing I’ve ever seen.” He readily admitted they had too much and said they tried to focus not on events but on people and they hoped they had accurately illustrated what is going on. As with this series, the WISH crew found there is much that has to be left out. Sweitzer is the chief news photographer for WISH. He grew up in Richmond and received his o STH ANNUAL SWEETHEART PAGEANT Feb. 19,1989 Union Station, South Bend WONDERFUL PRIZES (1988 Winner!) Open To Giris 5-21 Deodline — Jon. 19th FOR TOUR APPLICATION CALL 255-7275

bachelor’s degree from Earlham College. He also has a master’s degree from Indiana University. Married, he is the father of two young children. He said the trip was “Unoelievable. The trip of a lifetime. Something I’ll never forget.” This photographer said there was nothing like riding on top of the fire truck in a strange country (the pair not only rode to Chiquimula on the truck but had ridden it earlier in the week in a driving rain storm). He said of that trip in the rain, “It wasn’t comfortable, but it may be the only chance I will ever have to do it.” He acknowledged that his heart went out to those who have to write about trips because the camera can tell the story so much better. To this we say, Amen. Some things, like the emotions in this news item, are very hard to capture in words. The Channel 8 crew has a class act. They are professionals with a heart. They knew what they had to do and they did it. In addition to the tapes which were run while we were out of the country, WISH aired a fiveminute program each night during Christmas week. Programs that the two men had worked hard at putting together so the story of these people and the work being done by the Indiana Lions might be told to others.

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