2009.05.25: May 25, 2009: Headlines: COS - Moldova: Frisbee: The Register-Guard: In Bravicea, Moldova, an odd thing draws Peace Corps worker Erik Heinonen together with the children: a Frisbee
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2009.05.25: May 25, 2009: Headlines: COS - Moldova: Frisbee: The Register-Guard: In Bravicea, Moldova, an odd thing draws Peace Corps worker Erik Heinonen together with the children: a Frisbee
In Bravicea, Moldova, an odd thing draws Peace Corps worker Erik Heinonen together with the children: a Frisbee
It’s such a novel thing for them,” the 2001 South Eugene High School grad says, “in that they’ve never seen one before.” So he bought a bunch. They play for hours. And laugh. “Older kids will play alongside younger ones,” he says. “Girls, who usually aren’t included in soccer or much of anything else ‘sports-wise,’ will play without hesitation.” In a country many consider the poorest in Europe, Heinonen now sees beyond what the kids call the “flying plates.” Envisions a “sports facility” — a basketball/volleyball court with a paving-stone surface, a grass mini-soccer field, a gravel track, a long jump pit. All of it fenced to keep out the grazing animals in this village of 4,000. In his two-year stint in this small country — imagine three Lane Counties wedged between Romania and Ukraine — Heinonen has seen how the other side lives. He ran for Oregon and Colorado; he’s experienced first-class sports facilities. Then wound up in a place that has crumbled economically since breaking from the Soviet Union in 1991. Most of his students don’t have running water at home. The school’s sports equipment consists of a few beat-up volleyballs and soccer balls. About a quarter of adults go abroad for work. “One of my neighbors didn’t see her working-abroad mom from sixth grade until 12th grade,” he says. Heinonen saw empty buildings, parks overgrown with weeds, a sense of hopelessness. So, he decided to do something about it. He’s spearheading the building of a sports facility.
In Bravicea, Moldova, an odd thing draws Peace Corps worker Erik Heinonen together with the children: a Frisbee
Sports facility a way to thank Moldova kids
By Bob Welch
Register-Guard columnist
Posted to Web: Monday, May 25, 2009 11:58PM
Appeared in print: Tuesday, May 26, 2009, page B1
News Updates: Story
Caption: The village of Scoreni in Moldova by Giku Prómitt Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic
In Bravicea, Moldova, an odd thing draws Peace Corps worker Erik Heinonen together with the children: a Frisbee. “It’s such a novel thing for them,” the 2001 South Eugene High School grad says, “in that they’ve never seen one before.”
So he bought a bunch. They play for hours. And laugh. “Older kids will play alongside younger ones,” he says. “Girls, who usually aren’t included in soccer or much of anything else ‘sports-wise,’ will play without hesitation.”
In a country many consider the poorest in Europe, Heinonen now sees beyond what the kids call the “flying plates.” Envisions a “sports facility” — a basketball/volleyball court with a paving-stone surface, a grass mini-soccer field, a gravel track, a long jump pit. All of it fenced to keep out the grazing animals in this village of 4,000.
In his two-year stint in this small country — imagine three Lane Counties wedged between Romania and Ukraine — Heinonen has seen how the other side lives. He ran for Oregon and Colorado; he’s experienced first-class sports facilities. Then wound up in a place that has crumbled economically since breaking from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Most of his students don’t have running water at home. The school’s sports equipment consists of a few beat-up volleyballs and soccer balls. About a quarter of adults go abroad for work. “One of my neighbors didn’t see her working-abroad mom from sixth grade until 12th grade,” he says.
Heinonen saw empty buildings, parks overgrown with weeds, a sense of hopelessness.
So, he decided to do something about it. He’s spearheading the building of a sports facility. At 26.Heinonen is a health teacher at the village school, but also runs after-school programs, teaches English and — thrilling to me, his former Reporting I teacher at the UO — leads a Young Writers Club.
He rounded up the school director, mayor, head of the parents’ association and started brainstorming. Drawing sketches. Getting Peace Corps approval.
And on April 1, he and his “team” broke ground.
The laborers are Erik and the folks just mentioned — and kids. Lot of kids. He set up fundraisers at school and sent kids door to door to find sponsors. About $2,000 was raised for the $10,600 project.
He set up a Web page for the project on his blog and videos on YouTube (access them at my blog at www.registerguard.com/blogs). And sent e-mails to folks he knew.
Donations started trickling in. At Crest Drive School, third-graders in Jani Selven’s class raised more than $800 through fundraisers. Sports and school supplies arrived from the Girl Scout troop to which Emma Peters, daughter of Olympic runner Annette Peters, belongs. Colorado teammates sent 16 boxes of clothing and shoes.
Now, homestretch: $1,100 to go.
Amid it all, Heinonen, who leaves in the fall to start master’s work in journalism at Boston University, realized something: As much as he wants to create a place for kids to play, he’s doing this for other reasons, too.
“I want this sports facility to be a way of thanking my community, and especially my kids, for everything they’ve given to me these past two years,” he says.
Like the days playing Frisbee. How when it gets dark, the kids will clamor to “Domnul Erik” (Mr. Erik) to be the one chosen to take the Frisbee home that night.
And how the flying plate will be returned the next day, meticulously washed by a child who has learned — sometimes for the first time — the joy of play.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: May, 2009; Peace Corps Moldova; Directory of Moldova RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Moldova RPCVs
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Story Source: The Register-Guard
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