And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: On the impoverished Pine Ridge, help from afar 8.30 a.m. ET (1231 GMT) July 27, 1999 http://www.foxnews.com/news/national/0727/d_ap_0727_56.sml By Chet Brokaw, Associated Press WAKPAMNI, S.D. (AP) — Emily Has No Horse struggles to make ends meet with her $513-a-month Social Security check and the few dollars she earns sewing clothes. Yet the 80-year-old widow's income doesn't provide enough for her family's needs in this small village on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, part of a county that has been labeled the nation's poorest. That's where the Adopt A Grandparent Program comes in. Mrs. Has No Horse and other elderly Oglala Sioux have received money, clothing and other supplies from across the nation from people who have chosen to become their adopted grandchildren. "When the program came on, it really helped a lot of us. I know it really helped me,'' she says. "That's the only help we do get from the outside world.'' The outside world often seems a long way from the sprawling, 5,000-acre reservation in southern South Dakota. Wounded Knee is here. So are the Badlands. Diabetes, alcohol and traffic accidents are prolific killers in this windswept region where summers are hot and the winters savagely cold. President Clinton called attention to the reservation's 75 percent unemployment rate and lack of adequate housing during his visit earlier this month, the first by a president to Indian country in 60 years. Shannon County, which includes the Pine Ridge, was the nation's most impoverished, according to 1994 Census Bureau data. A more recent report said 57 percent of the reservation's children lived in poverty in 1995. The Adopt A Grandparent Program was started in 1987 by a free-lance photojournalist, Gail Russell, who had visited the reservation while on assignment for a magazine. "I was appalled,'' says Russell, who lives in Taos, N.M. "I had no idea that living conditions were like that.'' During one visit, she learned that three elderly people had recently frozen to death, and Russell discussed the problem with Nellie Red Owl, who has since died. "I was nagged into it by a 73-year-old grandma,'' Russell says. "One time as I was leaving, she said: `Don't you think somebody down your way would like to adopt a grandparent?''' Today, about 350 members from around the nation and abroad provide aid and letters to some 230 elderly reservation residents as part of the program. In exchange, sponsors get a chance to make a new friend and learn about the culture, tradition and history of the Oglala Sioux. "I know everybody in her family,'' says Barbara Whitestone of Glen Ellen, Calif., who sponsors Mrs. Has No Horse and visits her adopted grandmother almost every year. "It's an amazing experience.'' Last year the nonprofit program spent $83,000 for salaries, rent and other operating expenses. An additional $63,000 paid for propane, wood, electrical bills and groceries for elders who needed quick help. Members also sent an estimated $125,000 worth of clothes, food and other items directly to their adopted grandparents, Russell says. Cash is usually sent directly to a store or utility company. Sponsors can choose to adopt grandparents from a list. Sue Gerome, a school counselor in Guilderland, N.Y., has enlisted the help of students and staff at the Northeast Parent and Child Society Grout Park School to support Pine Ridge elders. The students have held bake sales, sold flowers and put on a talent show to raise money. "For the students, they are learning a lot of history and culture, that there are people in this country who need their help,'' Gerome says. Gerome recently sent flannel sheets to elderly people in the Wakpamni community to help them stay warm in the winter. One woman cried because she had never before had new sheets. "It can be discouraging. You can feel like you could spend every dime you had within that community for many years and it wouldn't make a dent,'' Gerome says. "I'm hoping over time through our school we can raise the standard of living in that community,'' she says. Russell says she often makes the 12-hour drive from her home in Taos to deliver food and other supplies to the reservation. And she organizes a get-together for grandparents and sponsors during the Oglala Sioux's annual meeting. "So much of the things that happen with this program are things that are not measurable in dollars,'' Russell says. Ben and Alvina Conquering Bear would like to have someone adopt them. The retired couple raised 10 children and now have 35 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. "It's a struggle and a half for my family,'' Mrs. Conquering Bear says. "Sometimes I have four families here.'' Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
