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| April 2000
HUMANITARIAN AID CONTAINER PROJECT A SUCCESS After more than a year of hard work, our 40 foot ocean container of Humanitarian Aid supplies arrived in the Port of Archangel in November 1999 and cleared customs in January 2000. Shortly thereafter, the medical equipment, medical
supplies, clothing and other supplies were distributed to a number of hospitals
and orphanages in the Archangel Oblast. We sent over 12,000 pounds of
supplies on a total of seventeen pallets inside the container. These
supplies were urgently needed and were well received by our friends in the
Archangel region: "We are very grateful to you for this help. Let us on behalf of people of Archangel, Novodvinsk and Kotlas express our great appreciation to everybody in the US who took part in this project." "Thank you and your colleagues very much for humanitarian aid. The medical instruments, devices, and materials are already in use." "We are particularly grateful for the monitoring device for newborns." "Thank you very much for the medical supplies and clothing. We are very happy and satisfied." "We thank you for the aid which you have given to us for our orphans and children left without the care of their parents." "ENORMOUS THANKS for the aid which you sent."Other institutions receiving supplies were the Archangel Regional Maternity Hospital, the Novodvinsk Maternity Hospital, and the Archangel City Orphanage. Special thanks go to all of those here in the United States and Canada who contributed time, energy, supplies, clothing and money to this project. We are thankful to Tom Keefe of the International Medical Equipment Collaborative in New Hampshire who provided all of the medical supplies and equipment at no cost, and we are grateful to Hapag-Lloyd Shipping Company for providing ocean shipping at a reduced rate. Also, special thanks go to the Russian organizations for their essential help: the Sister City Committee in Archangel, the Northern Shipping Company, the Northern Marine Agency, and the Archangel City and Regional Administrations. Finally, we appreciate everyone's patience and support
throughout this long process. There were times when our spirits were low,
but it always seemed that someone would respond in a wonderful way just when it
was most needed. Those of us who will be fortunate enough to travel to the
Archangel region in the near future should take the time to visit at least one
of these hospitals and orphanages to see just how important this project was,
and to investigate how such help can continue in the future. LEGAL EXCHANGE WILL BE BUSY IN 2000 With increased funding from the Russian-American Rule of Law Project, our Legal Exchange Committee will have an eventful 2000. From May 5 to May 9, 2000 Professors Judy Potter and David Cluchey from the University of Maine School of Law will conduct a conference in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The conference will bring together the directors of the Student Legal Clinics of four American. and four Russian law schools. The American schools will be Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Cleveland Law Schools, and the Russian law schools will be Pomor in Archangel (paired with Maine), Vologda (paired with New Hampshire), Karelia (paired with Vermont), and Novgorod (paired with Cleveland). The legal clinic concept is new to Russia, but the Pomor Legal Clinic, which opened early in 1999, has already served over 400 clients. In addition, five leading Judges from the Archangel Oblast will visit Maine from June 22 to 30, 2000. While here, they will be hosted by the Maine State and Federal Judiciary and by the University of Maine School of Law. They will be part of a 30 member delegation of Russian judges who will be visiting throughout the United States during that time. It is hoped that this visit will not only strengthen the ties between our legal communities, but also will help further reforms in the Russian legal system. Finally, it is hoped that a legal delegation from Maine will visit the Archangel Oblast in September or October of this year. VISIT OUR NEW WEBSITE! Thanks to gwi for hosting our website. Check it out at www.arkhangelsk.org
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