Oct./Nov. 1982 RAIN Page 35 about the program: The training that I received in this project has helped me immensely in my own nutrition. I learned a lot about the food chain and eating simplefoods. I also got a lot of information on chemical additives in food and what they do to you. I passed all of this information on to my mother who has used it to get the whole family to eat better. To me, that's the most impressive thing that's happened. The reason that 1 enjoy this job so much is that I'm helping people. By providing a means for senior and handicapped citizens to get their groceries, I'm helping them to stay out ofthe clutches ofnursing homes. This makes me feel very important, because I'm providing a valuable service. If, for instance, I was working as a grocery delivery person out ofa grocery store, I wouldn't feel half as good about my job or myself. In this job, however, not only do I deliver groceries, but I also provide companionship and information on nutrition. It's a lot more fulfilling. At a time when youth unemployment and crime are increasing, and isolation of the elderly and handicapped is far too common, the Mobile Assistance in Nutrition Program addresses many community needs that go unmet elsewhere. The sense of personal worth and fulfillment for both the young and the old gained through MAIN is a priceless benefit to the community. For more information on the VIobile Assistance in Nutrition Program contact: Youth Employment Planning Team c/o Dr. Jerry Blake, School of Urban Affairs, Portland State University, P.O. Box 751, ’ortland, OR 97207. Telephone: (503) 229-4087. — Rosalind Riker The State Fair and The Country Fair Kathy Ging, and the folks at the Amity Foundation should be congratulated for a successful Energy Woundup held at this year's Oregon State Fair in Salem. The Roundup included booths and demonstrations of renewable energy development and conservation programs. In another kind of fair setting, the Country Fair, an armual event in Lane County, Oregon since 1968, has bought the land where the fair has been held all these years. The fair is. for the southern part of Oregon, a reunion spot, such as the mountaineers maintained in the fur trapping days. The members of intentional communities and transformational groups gather here to exchange goods and watch the passage of time. Urban Naturalism The first issue of the Urban Naturalist, published by the Urban Naturalist Pro^am of the Portland Audubon Society, includes a map of the Portland area that indicates the remaining wild areas. A quiz in the issue includes such questions as: How many species of slugs (native and introduced) are there? and; Using the Burnside Bridge as a starting place, where would you have to travel the least distance to see the following? a. Owls, b. Whistling swans, c. Great Blue Heron Rookery. More information from Chris Kasselmann, Audubon Society, 5151 NW Cornell Rd., Portland, OR 97210. Rain Facilitates Self-Help Community Garden Project for Southeast Asian Refugees in Portland Well over 100 Mien families now have community garden plots thanks to the combined efforts of their Family Association, the Multnomah County Community Action Agency (MCCAA), and Rain staffers Ann and Bruce Borquist. Originally subsistence farmers in Northern Laos who were recruited by the CIA to be guerrilla fighters, the Mien started arriving in Portland about three years ago, literally uprooted so they wouldn't be wiped out by the victorious Laotian Communists. About 1,500 Mien now live mainly in two housing projects in urban Portland, cut off from their traditional way of life, their culture, and their land. Late last year President Reagan decided that 18 months was plenty of time for any refugee to master English and find a well-paying, stable job, so in April of this year almost 90 percent of the Mien lost their cash and medical assistance benefits along with other refugee groups and were told, in so many words, to sink or swim. Jobs in Oregon this summer were about as plentiful as sunny days are in winter. But the Mien didn't sink. In an effort to become more self-sufficient at least in food, they requested, and were granted, a total of iVi acres of unused land by Multnomah County in June, and set to work with a will and their short-handled hoes. The 100-plus families who have plots now report that they and their relatives are eating better, spending less on food, and feeling a new sense of hope because of the gardens. A unique partnership made all this possible. The county assigned the land and a budget of $5,000 to MCCAA, and Rain coordinated the refugee side of the project. Together MCCAA (a county agency) and the Rain Community Resource Center (a private non-profit community education organization) were much more effective in meeting this group's needs than they ever could have been separately. The story won't end with this, though, for the Mien are now becoming convinced that they can control their own development. They recently requested a series of winter gardening workshops, and we have been hard at work with a local Master Gardener coordinating them. We'll keep you posted with more progress reports on this exciting project. —Ann and Bruce Borquist Another SE Asian agricultural project has been operating in the Seattle area. For information on the project, contact Sharon Hart, Commission on Asia- American Affairs, 206/464-5820.
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