Letters to the Editor 10/16/2013

To the Editor:

John Griffith's article about the Young Eagles day last Sunday at the Sisters Airport was very welcome and all of us involved in aviation at Sisters are very enthusiastic about this welcome addition to our flying community.

I'd just like to offer one small correction and only because I think it's important to all our students and their parents. While the article said that a person must be 17 years old in order to solo an airplane and 18 years old before being eligible for a pilot certificate, that is incorrect. A student pilot may solo at 16 and may take the practical test for Private Pilot at 17. A year is a long time in the life of a high school student.

Thanks very much for reporting on the Sisters Young Eagles.

Brian Lansburgh, CFIA&G

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To the Editor:

I live in the city of Sisters; it is not the city of Sisters Country.

Voting precinct boundaries are a fundamental part of our political system. Basically, we have a patchwork of separate but overlapping voting districts that all compete for the same dollar.

The people that reside outside of the city boundaries have voluntarily surrendered their right to vote on city issues. Perhaps that is one of the tradeoffs for being able to return home each evening to quiet and peaceful surroundings while city residents must tolerate the disruptions of several annual events.

Manipulating the rules so that residents from outlying subdivisions could vote in city elections would be a form of gerrymandering and would create a huge and powerful voting bloc.

Furthermore, many questions arise. Such as, how far would that authority extend? And would future developments that are built outside of Sisters be integrated into the city's voting precinct?

All of the various homeowners associations in the surrounding area have their own set of rules and regulations that their members have agreed to obey as a condition of purchase. I don't want the residents from Tollgate, Crossroads, Black Butte Ranch or any of the other communities outside of the city of Sisters voting on issues that affect my neighborhood and not theirs.

In other words, it would be unfair and off-balance if a faction from outside of the city boundaries were to gain political power within the council. The impact would affect my life, home and property.

The majority rule is tempered by minority rights. We cannot abolish the set of laws that protect the minority. Moreover, political boundaries are an essential part of the complex system of checks and balances that help protect the rights of the individual; the largest minority on the planet.

Kevin L. Dumas

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To the Editor:

Walking through the village of Kapchorwa, Uganda where the Sabine tribe live, you notice the joy on the faces of these humble farmers and the laughter of their children playing with homemade toys, or kicking balls made from rolled up plastic bags. But then occasionally the harshness of African life roars it's head and I find myself in the middle of a crisis. Occasionally when I "show up," I wonder at why I am here at this time. The timing is right for a woman named Beatrice.

In her ninth month of pregnancy Beatrice went to have her blood drawn and only exam during the nine months. She was handed a card by the medical assistant and told she had HIV, which had been unknown to her at the time. For some women in Africa this means you become instantly ostracized by your family and treated as an outcast in the village. Tired and in shock she left the card laying on the bed to start dinner for her other five children.

Her husband coming in and finding the card became outraged that this had been kept a secret from him. Even though she didn't know herself, or he most likely was the one who gave it to her, he went after her in a rage and beat her close to death and then threw her out into the street. Luckily for Beatrice her 14-year-old daughter Violet ran out to help her mother. Violet knew of a woman in the village, a member of the Sisters of the Heart, that she had heard was a merciful woman. Helping her mother to the small compound of this single mother, Christine Muga, she begged for shelter for the night and help for her mother.

When I arrived in September Christine brought Beatrice, Violet, and her 2-month-old baby son to our vocational center. They were willing to help cook, clean, run errands, anything we needed to repay the kindness Christine showed by bringing them in and making room for three more in her small home.

Over the past two years the women's ministry team at Sisters Community Church has partnered with the Sisters of the Heart in Uganda, becoming prayer partners and donating to their micro loan foundation. Each month at their Assemblage brunch, where women from all churches and the community of Sisters is invited, they collect donations to be taken to Uganda on each trip I make, to help the needy.

This trip Beatrice and Violet are the needy! The women of Sisters of the Heart are going to use the donation to help find a house and pay for a few months rent to give them shelter. A micro-loan will be given to help Beatrice open her own business of making a morning bread called mandassi to sell around the town to earn a living. Violet will become a student in the vocational training center to learn a skill, and will hopefully stay on as a future member once trained.

"We listened to the destitute and heard their prayers." Women of Sisters community and Sisters Community Church, you heard Beatrice's and answered hers.

Janet Storton, Uganda

Editor's note: Those who wish to contribute may do so through a dedicated account that goes through Sisters Community Church; donors can receive a tax-donation receipt. Checks can be made out to the church with Sisters of the Heart on the memo line.

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To the editor:

The asphalt paths/sidewalks in the Edge O The Pines subdivision were installed with safe-routes-to-school grants for the purpose of encouraging children to walk or bike to school safely. There are many places along these paths that routinely are blocked or unkept, forcing children to ride over loose gravel out into the roadway to dodge the obstructions.

These paths have recently been blocked by out-of-town RVs, residents' vehicles parked on the path (rather than on the side of the road), vehicles protruding into the path from driveways. Broken tree branches have also been on the path.

There are also some sections that have quite a bit of gravel and/or pinecones on them, making them difficult for small children to ride on. (Thank you to those who have recently cleaned these things up.) Homeowners are responsible to remove the snow from the paths, are they responsible for these coverings also? (In front of my house the snowplow pushes this gravel onto the path, and it is a chore to get it back off. Perhaps each spring the city could address the gravel piles on the paths?)

Jess Draper