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Wednesday, December 12, 2012 | 75 cents
Obituaries.........................Page 5 Views...................................Page 6 Sports.................................Page 8 Church Corner...............Page 13 Classified..........................Page 14
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Journey to South Africa becomes ‘Our Hope’ By Dennis Box
B
Editor
etsy Meyer had an epiphany nearly nine years ago on a bus ride in Seattle. That bus ride took her on a journey to South Africa where she founded Betsy Meyer an organization called Thembalethu, “Our Hope” in English. “God put AIDS and orphans in my heart,” Meyer said during an interview Friday in Enumclaw. Also in her heart was the will to make a difference in this world, and she has. Recently Meyer returned to the Enumclaw area to visit her father, Rich Elfers, and to raise money around the region for her nonprofit, Thembalethu Care Organization, that provides assistance for the children and adults who are ill from HIV. Meyer went to South Africa in 2004 to help a
Photos courtesy of Rich Elfers
Left and above are children at the Thembalethu Care Organization in the Amangwe Tribal Area in Central Drakensberg KwaZulu-Natal South Africa. Betsy Meyer founded the organization to care for families and children. home-based caregivers organization. The workers were trying to support their South African neighbors who were dying of AIDS. “The people were dying like flies because there was no treatment,” Meyer said. “They (the home-care workers) were just trying to come along side and sup-
port them and make them more comfortable.” About 40 percent of the adults in the KwaZuluNatal area of South Africa are currently HIV positive. South Africa as a whole has about a 20 percent AIDS infection rate. Life expectancy in the 1980s in South Africa was
City accepting applications for empty seat on council Position No. 3 open following the Nov. 16 death of Kevin Mahelona By Dennis Box Editor
The city of Enumclaw is accepting applications for the council seat
left vacant following the death of Kevin Mahelona. The City Council has 90 day to fill the vacancy and it is expected the deadline will be easily met according to city staff. If the council does not meet the deadline, the King County Council is charged with selecting a member.
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in the 60s and today has dropped to the 40s due to the impact of HIV. Meyer said there is such a stigma attached to AIDS families would often try to take their sick and hide them. “If you were HIV infected it meant you must be a very promiscuous kind of
The deadline for an application to be emailed or sent to the city is Jan. 7. City Administrator Mike Thomas said once all applications are received, staff will present them to the City Council at the Jan. 14 meeting. Once the council has the applications, it is up to the members to decide the process for sifting through the applicants. An applicant must live in the city limits and be able to serve until Dec. 31, 2013. The city is asking for a one-page letter of interest and a resumé sent
person,” Meyer said. HIV in South Africa is primarily in the heterosexual population. Meyer said in the rural area where she is working, the men travel to the city and get infected with HIV from a sexual partner, then
See CALLING, Page 3
to City Clerk Meredith Shirey at mshirey@ci.enumclaw.wa.us or by mail to 1339 Griffin Ave., Enumclaw, 98022. The 54-year-old Mahelona died Nov. 16 from acute interstitial pneumonia. He had served on the council since 2002 and was in his third term, which would have ended Dec. 31, 2013. City Council terms are four years. Mahelona was the mayor pro tempore and served on the Public Works Committee, Community Services Committee and Committee on Committees.
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