TAFT GRANT RECIPIENT MARKS PROJECT COMPLETION

UNCLAS MOSCOW 003344 DEPARTMENT FOR PRM/ECA AND EUR/RUS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREF KIRF EAID RS SUBJECT: TAFT GRANT RECIPIENT MARKS PROJECT COMPLETION REF: (A) STATE 6779, (B) STATE 35430, (C) MOSCOW 1540 ¶1. (U) Summary: The Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy (MPC) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony November 17 to celebrate successful renovations on its new Parish Center, a social services office and refuge for mainly African refugees and vulnerable migrants in Russia's capital. Approximately 35 attendees, including religious leaders and Russian and African supporters of the Center's nonsectarian humanitarian mission, heard the USG's generosity and community spirit extolled by MPC's pastor. End Summary. PRM (through Embassy Moscow) the lead project donor -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) In the Ambassador's absence on official travel, Refcoord represented the Embassy at a celebration held to mark the official opening three weeks earlier of newly renovated quarters for MPC's Parish Center. In September, State/PRM had awarded MPC $20,000 from the Julia V. Taft Fund for Refugees (refs) in order to outfit what is now named the "Ambassador's Room," a library and computer center for beneficiaries of the Parish Center's services to displaced and isolated Africans. Other donors to the project were: -- Evangelical Lutheran Church of America ($15,000); -- Peter Gerwe, President of MPC ($10,000); -- American Baptist Church ($5,000); and -- MPC parishioners ($2,000). Though far from the city center, the new Parish Center location is convenient to public transportation. Only the rumble of passing trolleys disturbs the peace of its suite of freshly painted rooms in church basement space made available by the Ingrian Lutheran Church. ¶3. (U) The Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy is an interdenominational Christian ministry established in 1962 to serve the English-speaking community of Moscow. Because its services are in English, MPC has attracted a corps of parishioners from Anglophone Africa (and later their friends from Francophone Africa) - many who came to Russia as students and then sought refugee status when changed regimes in their home countries made them afraid to return. Today, MPC serves refugees based on need and regardless of religious affiliation. ¶4. (U) In addition to referring carefully selected individuals to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, MPC maintains a Task Force on Racial Attacks that catalogs refugees' reports of harassment and racist violence. Earlier this month it opened a medical clinic to serve the African refugee and student population in Moscow. Embassy Moscow's RMO is volunteering at the clinic, providing patient care and working to ensure adequate medical supplies and pharmaceuticals through a network of physicians in the U.S. A Tribute to Partnership -------------- ¶5. (U) MPC Pastor Robert Bronkema introduced the Center's ribbon cutting by noting the presence of interested dignitaries, including the provost of the Russian American Christian University. "The Parish Center provides a much needed refuge for people who today call Moscow their home, while their real homes are much farther away," Bronkema observed, adding: "With a partner such as the U.S. Embassy, who also considers this very vital work, we are able to provide relief, education, and safety to those who otherwise would be adrift and in danger in Moscow. Without the aid of the U.S. Embassy this center would not have been possible." ¶6. (U) In her own remarks to the assembled clergy, volunteers, and beneficiaries, Refcoord praised the reinforced, cleaned, and comfortably furnished space. She cited the words of Julia Taft herself from a 2005 speech to the Women in International Security Summer Symposium: "I encourage each of you to engage - assert yourselves and use your talents to empower the institutions and peoples in countries emerging from conflict. Remember, the countries may be broken - but the people are not. They need the resources and opportunities you can provide them to craft their own destiny." BEYRLE