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All the news that fits— / Compiled by Elizabeth Applebaum
New Eco-Shalom Corps
Graduates Four Students
NYANA To Establish Refugee
Advocacy Group
n the premise that no one un-
derstands the needs and
problems of refugees better
than the former refugees themselves,
the nation's largest voluntary refugee
,;settlement agency has launched a na-
I
t. tionwide search for former
.16.
1r clients, offering them the
opportunity to create their
own refugee-advocacy and
assistance organization.
NYANA, the New York
Association for New Amer-
4
icans, Inc., which is affili-
, ....4
,
ated with the New York
.o
Jewish Federation, believes its search
could yield an alumni group of 100,000
or more.
Since its founding in 1949, NYANA
has helped resettle more than 400,000
refugees from 40 different countries in-
cluding the former Soviet Union,
Poland, Cuba, Ethiopia, Vietnam and Ti-
, bet.
The decision to support the forma-
tion of the alumni association was
`, prompted by several factors, agency
executives say. Among these are the re-
cent decline in government support for
t
refugee resettlement and a parallel in-
crease in anti-immigrant sentiment
across the country.
In addition to advocating immigrant
admission policies and adequate re-
settlement funding, the NYANA support
group could directly serve
newcomers by employing
them in their own busi-
nesses or helping them
find jobs; by lobbying
others in business and in-
dustry to employ immi-
grants; by providing
scholarships and other
educational opportunities.
"No one understands the problems
of immigrants like other immigrants,"
said NYANA Executive Vice President
Mark Handelman. "Former refugees are
among the most valuable resources we
have for helping newcomers through
their initial transitions."
Former NYANA clients and their rel-
atives interested in forming an alumni
association should contact Alice Ades-
man at NYANA, 17 Battery Place, New
York, N.Y. 10004, or call 1-800-775-
3364.
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1°4
Chernobyl Children Project
Announces New Evacuation
F
ollowing the release of a World
Health Organization report cit-
ing the dramatic rise in cancer
rates of children living in the Chernobyl
area, the Chabad Children of Chernobyl
Project announced evacuation plans for
1,000 Jewish children before the end
of 1993.
Carrying 100 children bound for Is-
rael, the first of a series of planned
flights departed this week.
The WHO report noted that the rate
of thyroid cancer among Chernobyl chil-
dren is 80 times higher than normal
since the 1986 nuclear disaster. WHO
Dr. Keith Baverston expressed surprise
that cancers in the children were show-
ing up so soon. "Normally, we would
not expect solid tumors like these any
sooner than about 10 or more years af-
ter exposure" to radiation, he said.
The Chabad project, based in the
small village of Kfar Chabad near Tel
Aviv, has been airlifting Chernobyl chil-
dren since August 1990. The first sev-
eral hundred children to arrive came
from the Byleorussian town of Gomel,
cited by the WHO report as 'The most
contaminated region studied."
The children are evacuated, without
their parents, on special emergency
medical/humanitarian visas.
our Jewish students recently be-
came the first to complete the
Eco-Shalom Corps in Cudde-
backville, N.Y., a new program to train
Jewish adults as environmental activists.
Under the leadership of Jewish
environmental educator David Ada, par-
ticipants studied contemporary environ-
mental issues and the ways in which
F
Do You Know The
Commodore?
Washington, D.C., researcher
is seeking information about
a famous 19th-century Jew-
ish commodore.
As part of a major exhibit sponsored
by the Jewish War Veterans USA Na-
tional Memorial, Inc., Leslie Freuden-
heim is preparing a book and exhibit
about Uriah Phillips Levy (1792-1862).
Information is being sought regarding
Levy's restoration of Monticello, his
meetings with Lafayette in Paris, his
commissioning of the D'Angers Jeffer-
son statue, Levy's naval career, and his
real estate and Jewish involvements in
New York and Philadelphia.
Write Leslie Freudenheim at 3723
Harrison St. NW, Washington, D.C.
20015.
NFTY High School
Begins In Israel
T
hirty American students left this
month for Jerusalem, where
they will form the first class of
the National Federation of Temple
Youth's high school in Israel.
Accredited by North American high
schools and based in Jerusalem, the
semester-long program emphasizes
Reform values and includes Hebrew
ulpan and stays on kibbutzim.
A second session begins in Febru-
ary. Scholarships are available. For in-
formation, contact Paul Reichenbach,
director, UAHC Israel Programs, P.O.
Box 443, Bowen Road, Warwick, N.Y.
10990, or call (914) 987-6300.
Jewish tradition, experience and prac-
tice addresses these questions. They par-
ticipated in a series of study outings,
including a lobbying trip to Washington
with the Religious Action Center.
Eco-Shalom is sponsored by the
Shalom Center in Philadelphia, Pa., which
is dedicated to protecting the earth from
nuclear and environmental destruction.
Move Over, Thorne, Jim Is Here
S
o, you spent all night with Love's
Torrid Temptations and now
your mate looks about as entic-
ing as cold mashed potatoes?
Joan Shapiro knew it would happen.
Dr. Shapiro, former professor of psy-
chology at George Washington Univer-
sity Medical School, is warning young
and old lovebirds alike that those spicy
novels just might put out the home ro-
mantic fires.
"People who believe the stuff they
read in romantic novels are very disap-
pointed in their intimate relationships
and often end up getting divorced," Dr.
Shapiro writes in a recent issue of the
American Journal of Family Therapy.
According to Dr. Shapiro, romance
devotees often hold unrealistic expecta-
tions. It seems those fellows in romance
novels (the ones invariably named
Thorne or Devereux or Cruz – isn't any-
one named Jim anymore?) don't fight
with their raven-haired beauties and al-
ways know instinctively what their
beloved desires.
Real life doesn't exactly work that
way, and that's where the problem
comes in. "Real-life relationships have
conflict in them," Dr. Shapiro writes. "It's
important to understand that. That's what
makes relationships work."
MDA Aids Somalian Victims
m
agen David Adam, in co-
ordination with the Israel
Ministry of Foreign Af-
fairs, the Ministry of Health, and the
Ministry of Finance and Defense, is
preparing to render relief aid to the
famine victims of Somalia.
The decision to send aid to So-
malia was made at a meeting con-
vened by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. Israel diplomatic offices will
determine the most effective chan-
nels of transferring the funds.
To contribute, send a check –
marked "For Famine Victims in So-
malia" –to the American Red Magen
David for Israel, which will forward
the funds to Israel. The address is 888
Seventh Ave., Suite 403, New York,
N.Y. 10106.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 11