Southern Illinoisan from Carbondale, Illinois • Page 3

SOUTHERN ILLINOISAN THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1984 Page Three Serving seven counties in Southern Illinois mm LVLyCi 5t 01 taditam AinnieirSe found home ray gees We are lucky to be here, Wo thank the church members for bringing us here. Wo like almost everything about the U.S. And the weather is good for a change. Kaleab Gebru 99 By Brenda Sprague Southern lllinoisan Correspondent They left behind their father, mother, younger sister and two younger brothers. They struggled in an oppressive land and waited two years to get here.

The similarities are striking to the plight of America's founding fathers. And although they have never tasted turkey or celebrated Thanksgiving before, Kaleab and Tewolde Gebru are thankful thankful to be alive. Kaleab, 23, and his brother, Tewolde, 21, are Ethiopian refugees brought to America through the First Presbyterian Church of Car-bondale. They are refugees from a country torn by famine and civil war in a communist country. Through an interpreter, the two told of their journey to the United States that began long ago in their home town of Keren.

The large number of foreign students in Carbondale is beneficial in setting up support groups for refugees. And the church must provide complete support until the refugees are able to support themselves. "We are lucky to be here," Kaleab said. "We thank the church members for bringing us here. We like almost everything about the U.S." including the weather.

It's "good for a change." Both Kaleab and Tewolde said they want to go to school, get jobs and support themselves and to help their parents and family remaining in Eritrea. More information about sponsoring a refugee can be found by contacting Florance Foote or Duane Lanchester at the First Presbyterian Church of Carbondale at 549-2149. Donations to help feed Africa's are being handled by the church or Church World Service, 475 Riverside Drive, New York, New York 10115. somewhere else and they can't join the EPLF." Like so many others, Tewolde and Kaleab left their family and fled to Sudan, walking over 300 miles at night, avoiding military planes "which would shoot at us. Boys from the age of 13 are considered rebels," Tewolde said.

During the journey, they ate a kind of porridge made from mixing flour and water. After arriving in Kassala, their struggle continued. "In (refugee) camp you just sit all day," Kaleab said. "We were working as carpenters, dishwashers anything we could find. We went there to save our lives.

If you don't work, you don't eat." They worked for a construction company, earning the equivalent of between $50 to $75 a month. And food is very expensive. Since famine affects several African nations, any country with food can name their price. In their quest to come to the United States, Kaleab and Tewolde had to apply at the United Nations office for resettlement and be interviewed by the U.N. office, and the1 U.S.

Immigration and Naturalization ServicesThen the anxious wait for approval or denial. "You just go crazy if you are denied," Kaleab said. "You try to find a job or another country that will take you." Florence Foote of the First Presbyterian Church explained that First Presbyterian Church of Carbondale decided it was time to sponsor another refugee family through the National Council of Churches Resettlement Agency. "We had sponsored a Vietnamese family some years ago. We wrote to the Illinois Council of Churches and they sent a list of people from various countries, but they indicated that the people from Ethiopia were in extreme danger." Good neighbors give meaning to Thanksgiving A It'-V I -ft U.

'i houses and killed many people," Tewolde added. "At that time hundreds of thousands of people began living as refugees. Before there had been refugees, but then there were more." "Almost every family has had someone killed or arrested," Tad-dese added. Tewolde said the Ethiopian government is taking 10-year-old boys and making them fight in Somalia "that way all the Eritreans will die Gobblo it CHUDO By Ann Schottman Knol Of The Southern lllinoisan We have Thanksgiving because "there's turkeys all over the world," according to four-year-old Amanda Dilley of Carbondale. The results of an unscientific survey of Carbondale New School kindergarteners indicate that turkeys are the only reason for Thanksgiving.

Turkeys were on their minds Friday, as they watched live turkeys strut around Elizabeth Money's rural Carbondale farm. "I'm going to eat one of those turkeys for Thanksgiving, but I don't know which one yet," Mrs. Money told them. A collective gasp came from the children, and Akil Hamilton, 5, repeated in shocked disbelief, "They're going to eat them for Thanksgiving?" The children formed a ring around the turkeys and fought to feed them as the gobblers spread their magnificent tail feathers. "Is he a Daddy?" a child asked, pointing at one of the gobblers.

i fe "In 1977, about 85 percent of Eritrea (a nation overtaken by Ethiopia in 1952) Was controlled by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) a group of Eritreans who wish to gain independence from Ethiopia," Kaleab said. In order for Ethiopia to gain back control, they deported all foreign nationals and diplomats from Eritrea then, supported by other communist countries, "they took back the towns gained by the EPLF, burned the recalled Wednesday with tears in her eyes. But now her outlook, and conditions, have changed for the better. "I am so proud to look around this place and see how beautiful everything looks," Mrs. Galloway said.

"These ladies that have helped me have been almost like angels." To her, the best part of the clean up work by various individuals and the Green Thumb service organization in Mount Vernon is not so much the physical changes in her mobile home but the love and friendship that has accompanied their work. "No, I'm not worried about being forgotten again when the work is done. I've made some good friends and I know they will be back," she said. Except for major cleaning items like sweeping and mopping, Mrs. Galloway thinks she will be able to keep up the place with the weekly in-home visits by the Illinois Department of Vocational Rehabilitation Services in Benton.

The organization had previously stopped in-home visits because of her "terrible living conditions." "There are a lot more hungry and hurting people in this area than people realize. It makes me so mad here about our country sending money overseas when no one bothers look in their own back door," Mrs. Galloway said. "I think I'll do OK." A "tJ lllinoisan photo by JOHN McCUTCHEl Galloway of Sesser all up: Teacher Debbie Allen By Elizabeth Renshaw Of The Southern lllinoisan With only $21 a month in food stamps to spend, Mary Lou Galloway of rural Sesser said she may not have a huge spread around her Thanksgiving table today. But she has never been more thankful because of the help from her neighbors.

After a month of a whirlwind clean up and repair job by dozens of Southern Illinois residents, the partially paralyzed stroke victim says she is now living in a "palace" compared to her near-squalor conditions before neighbors discovered her need. "I would have never thought two years or two months ago that I would have a Thanksgiving like this," Mrs. Galloway said Wednesday. When a handful of concerned church women in the Sesser called to check on Mrs. Galloway in October, the women found her living in a place few would consider livable.

A three-foot hole in the floor kept her from manuevering her wheelchair to the small bathroom in her trailer. She could not use either exit in her mobile home because of a rotten wooden ramp at her front door and a three-foot drop-off out her back. She lacked a working hot water heater, draperies, sanitary mattresses and sturdy furniture. "I felt so alone," Mrs. Galloway 1 Now surroundings: Mary Lou to to Southern yew If there wasn't Thanksgiving, there would be no such thing as turkeys.

Mary Bergerhouse 4 years old Southern lllinoisan by DARYL MALE IKE turkey farm oiMnrni(0' il i they're good to eat." Mary Bergerhouse, 4, of Carbondale, took the turkey-Thanksgiving link a step farther, in an interesting theory of evolution: "If there wasn't Thanksgiving there would be no such thing as turkeys." The children were vague about Pilgrims. "I've heard of Pilgrims," announced Christian Schermerhorn, 5, of Carbondale. "They're people. I only know what the fathers are dressed like. They are dressed with top hats and they wore a whole bunch of black clothes.

That's all I know about them." Tristan said, "I have heard of Pilgrims. I haven't heard anything about them, but I have heard of them. I don't know what they do at Thanksgiving." Food remained on the children's minds as they listed what they have to be thankful for. Most of them were thankful for turkeys, Katie was thankful for muffins, Jenny was thankful for chickens, and Nessa was thankful for eating turkey with Grandma. presents.

"Consumers are a lot more confident this year," she said. Carbondale J.C. Penney Manager Greg Stoltz agreed consumers are less reluctant to be parted from their money this year. But even in these brighter economic times, people are shopping carefully and demanding more quality "The consumer is actually inspecting goods and they're willing to pay for quality," he said. "They're looking for a long-term use out of the item but they're buying more of it." Stoltz said he believes the general upbeat mood in the country has reached Southern Illinois even though the region continues-to lag behind the national economic recovery.

"The confidence people have in the whole economic condition is better," he said. Stoltz said he believes 1983 will be a definite improvement over 1984 and also credited settlement of the coal contract with boosting Southern Illinois consumer confidence. iday Photo for The with New School students visting a ok 99 "You're not going to eat her, are you?" Mrs. Money assured her that a Japanese Silky is too tough to eat. Jenny Hall, 5, of Carbondale, said the idea of eating turkeys bothers her now that she's seen them alive.

"It's scary," she said. But most kids agreed with Brian Friedman, 5, of Carbondale. When he was asked if he had lost his appetite for turkey, he rolled his eyes, giggled, and said emphatically, "No!" Despite her tender feelings for turkeys, Jenny said Thanksgiving is held for turkey eating. "You eat turkeys and it's good for you. They have lots to eat and early settlement of the coal contract has a great deal to do with it in Southern Illinois.

A coal strike would have put a crimp in a lot of Christmas spending plans, he said. "It gives people more confidence, they're more stable and they know what they're doing," he said. However, Akin said he's concerned somewhat about recent predictions of a downturn in business activity. "That's going to hurt a little bit," he said. "But I think things are going to be better than last year." Jane Brown, manager of the Dollar General Store in Anna, said she's waiting until Thanksgiving is gone before she starts counting up the cash register receipts but she's guardedly optimistic about the 1984 holiday shopping season.

"Christmas is the time when, if they're going to turn it loose, they'll turn it loose," she said. "We're not over confident but Christmas comes only once a year." Mrs. Brown said she believes there's some pent up demand wait-, ing to be unleashed on Christmas of Th ivJero Hants' ptomistio thos ho One little girl drew back from a duck in distaste and said, "Oooh, he's dirty." Akil chased a honking goose, and Mrs. Money warned, "He bites. Stay away." Sarah Marie Grenfell, 4, of Carbondale chimed in earnestly, "Get away.

Once they see you, they go after you." Akil said with relief, "I'm glad I stopped." Mrs. Money let the children pet a Japanese Silky, a small, white, fuzzy "He's warm because he's all furry," one girl said. Another little girl, full of fearful concern, asked Mrs. Money, linois retailers were somewhat pessimistic about the upcoming holiday shopping season. They worried about the slow economic recovery in Southern Illinois and, given high unemployment figures, whether people had the money to spend.

They were using phrases like "tough marketing conditions" to describe the 1983 shopping season. Southern Illinois economy hasn't exactly roared back since November 1983. Unemployment is still in the double-digits in many counties but area retailers say they detect a definite note of optimism in consumers this year. "They have a lot more positive feeling this year and that's so important," Ms. Crane said.

However, Ms. Crane said the real barometer of consumer confidence and spending plans is the day after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the Christmas shopping season. Donald Akin, who's owned Akin Jewelry in Benton for 50 years, also said he upsurge in consumer confidence and he believes Thankful for generous people who helped me' ing and appliances were broken. These ladies were touched with compassion, but they knew that my needs were so great that they needed a miracle from God. They joined hands with their new found friend and prayed the prayers of faith.

God moved on their hearts of over one hundred people who have given of their time, money and merchandise. My home has been restored and all the appliances and furniture have been replaced. I truly have a lot to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day. May God bless each and every one of you who helped me in my time of great need. Mary Lou Galloway, Sesser By Tim Landis Of The Southern lllinoisan After whistling in the dark through a recession, area retailers are confident the cash registers will ring (or beep) this holiday season.

The optimism is partially because of economic recovery but primarily because consumers are more confident this year. "It looks like it's already Christmas. If that's any indication at all, it's going to be a good season," said Edie Crane, marketing director for the University Mall in Carbondale. Indeed, anyone who's been to the mall on a November weekend has probably found the parking lot jammed. Ms.

Crane said she isn't sure if the crowds are a result of colder weather as people try to stock up on winter items or if, as she hopes, people are starting their Christmas shopping early this year. The mall, according to Ms. Crane, weathered the recession of 1981-82, but not all area retailers wrere so fortunate. Just a year ago, Southern Il I thank God and all the generous people who have helped me this past month. I am 49 years old, and suffered a stroke six years ago, which left me paralyzed on my right side.

Prior to my stroke, I worked for 20 years in factories and restaurants. Now my only source of income is a disability Social Security check of $330 per month that I draw on my previous earnings. I live in the country and have no car. One month ago, a group of ladies heard about my plight and they gathered at my home to offer their help. I cried and told them that I had been praying to die because -my small trailer home was ready to collapse around me.

My plumb.