The Pittsburgh Press from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 22

Job Assignments Abroad Civil War an Adventure' Their Angol Danger, I Part Of Joyce and Robert Taylor ill i iiiiKi iiv Wat ity 'blocks as a souvenir we lost a lot of them that way." HOUSEKEEPING WAS a full-time -job in Angola. Shopping was done separately for each meal one didn't buy too much at a time for fear this would deprive others of food. Each morning Mrs. Taylor and Monica would set out for the market at 7:30 a.m. It was a 2Vi mile walk.

Eventually Monica's stroller would be filled. Perhaps a fresh fish, vegetables, a cantelope would be tucked around the child. By 11:30 they were back home' and making lunch. The same routine began later for the evening meal. "There were no telephones, ao televiiloa in Luanda, and we read a lot," Mrs.

Taylor recalls. "Visiting each other is the big entertainment Especially on Sunday which is family day. I liked it. Even now that I'm home, I find long telephone conversations a waste of time." As the Angolan civil war heated up in late 1974, Mrs. Taylor and Monica left Luanda, living for 2tt months with her parents in Virginia and then returning to Africa but to a Gulf compound in Zaire.

"With the family gone, I stayed at the oil field most of the time it was kind of away from everything," Taylor says. "But representatives of the factions did come to the field with entourages of soldiers. They'd talk to officials, then leave. "FOOD DID get scarce and the fighting was close to the" city by October of 75," Taylor says. "You'd hear the shots and see the tracer bullets.

"One night I was -sleeping at the company house in Luanda when I heard an explosion so loud I thought it was outside the window. It was across the park and three blocks away, but that was close enough." Golf closed its operation from December of 1975 to March of 1978. It is now being operated under a temporary agreement with the Communist-backed Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola, which won the civil war. The Angolan experience was a valuable one, both Taylors agree. She enjoyed living in a new culture, learning new ways and languages.

He found it a help ful career experience. Having to rethink training programs for people who had no technical background took him back to essentials, Taylor says. It has stood him in good stead in his new managerial position. TOMORROW: To Japan by way of Africa. (Fifth of a series.) By SYLVIA SACHS Monica Taylor went to a class in Portuguese at the age of 14 months and to a civil war at 16 months.

She has traveled more in her four years than most people do in a lifetime. Monica is the daughter of Robert E. Taylor Jr. who is manager, Human Resources Planning and Development for Gulf Oil Trading and Transportation Division. In February of 1974 when Taylor was supervisor of Gulf's training programs, he, his wife Joyce and their baby daughter were sent to Angola where Taylor was to set up training classes for Angolans.

"I didn't have any hesitation about the assignment," Mrs. Taylor says. "My parents did they were worried about Monica. "BUT I THOUGHT of it as an adventure. Of course I worried about things like diapers.

I took a foot locker full of disposable ones, but by the time we left Lisbon I was learning how to wash cloth ones The Taylors of the South Hills spent a month in Lisbon preparing fortheir African adventure. The main purpose was to learn the language. When a babysitter wasn't available, Monica joined the class. lit ifC'i toy Wii'fm an im Tt rmrji Helps Retarded Find Niche Pittsburgh Press, March 10, 1977 what coins he needed, how to ask for a transfer and now to watch for his stop. "By mid-March, Russell will be-able to leave Marcy and reside in a group home in Squirrel Hill" "AFTER RUSSELL learned bus-riding techiques, we took him into town and showed him how to purchase shave cream and blades while the others were shown how to ride escalators, read store directories and spot key department store personnel for directions.

a "We've taken them' to laundromats, Pitt Program To Honor Retired Prof The University of Pittsburgh's partment of fine arts is sponsoring a lecture program at 4 p.m. March 10 in the Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building honoring retired professor; Walter Read Hovey of Shadyside. Speakers will be Kathryn M. Lin-duff, assistant professor of fine arts, and Reinhold A. Heller, professor of fine arts.

By JERRY VONDAS The "Marcy Project" is helping mentally retarded adults re-enter the mainstream of life. Supervising the project is the staff of the Vocational Rehabilitation Center (VRC), taking adults from Marcy State Hospital and training them in living and working basics. Similar projects are going on all over the country since a federal court judge ordered all, hospitals and state institutions- to pay patients for work performed. THIS HAS put a squeeze on the insti- tutions which depend largely on the patients for menial work. It also necessitated finding jobs in the community for the mentally retarded.

What makes the project unique is that many of these adults have been institutionalized an average of 30 years. According to spokesman Sue Malo-ney: "It's a one-year project, but when you realize these adults have been shut off from the world for so many years, it's easy to understand why it takes so long to teach them basics." James Kasper is the project supervisor. Joan Mondale To Talk April 23 At Music Hall Mrs. Joan Mondale, wife of Vice President Walter Mondale, will speak at 10:30 a.m. April 23 in Carnegie Music Hall as part of a two-day conference entitled "Partners: The Arts and Education." An Imaginarium performance, "The Color-Go-Round," will follow, her speech.

The Imaginarium Company, a troupe of adult dancers, musicians and artists, Squeegee the Clown and children from Imaginarium classes will demonstrate the integration of music, motion and visual art At 1 a.m. April 22, Kathryn Bloom, director of the Arts in Education Program of the John D. Rockefeller HI Fund, will discuss the arts in education in Carnegie Lecture Hall. Tickets to Mrs. Mondale's talk and the Imaginarium performance are free to the public from Carnegie Institute's public relations office.

Luanda, Angola, presented a whole new lifestyle to these Americans who had never been abroad. "Gulf initiated the programs to train locals," Taylor says. "I had to design the classes for people who had little or no experience with mechanical techniques. You know, most Americans grow up with appliances. We take for granted a certain familiarity with these things.

"In Angola we taught how to read a pressure gauge and bow to weld, basic electronic things and techniques. The classes were held in the oil field terminal area, in Cabinda, 250 miles north of Luanda. Mrs. Taylor and Monica lived in a house in Luanda where they were part of the local culture. Although it was a new world to both, they adjusted happily: People were warm and friendly," Mrs.

Taylor recalls. "I'd take Monica for a walk, someone would say, 'Come in and and it might be five hours till I eot home from that walk. "Monica would be playing in the yard with her American blocks when someone walked by. She'd call out which is and throw a block at the person. Soon they'd be playing together.

Sometimes the person kept the RABBI LEIB HEBER Hospital his synagogue. Besides the salami sandwiches, counseling and religious training, he has' helped half a dozen mildly retarded patients get jobs and function outside. LAST YEAR he arranged a Passover Seder (traditional dinner) for his congregation. The year before be saw that a group Bar Mitzvah service was available for interested patients, even though many were three times the 13 years of age traditional for the ceremony. The big outing this year for the 165 of Rabbi Heber's congregation able to travel will be a luncheon at the William Penn Hotel Sunday.

They will be joined by some 40 state officials and administrators of the various institutions, as well as interested members of the public "The state has been wonderful in helping us with this luncheon," Heber says. "The state institutions are well run I tell that to parents who ask. But of course they can do everything." The rabbi has awakened public con-' cern for forgotten institutionalized people and Jewish community leaders are rallying around his work. A Western Pennsylvania Auxiliary for Exceptional People has been formed. And the 1977 lunch is being enthusiastically supported by a committee headed by Mrs.

Emil Herman. ST Prau Photo kv Lm Jotlraon with daughter, Monica. A-22 OF THE 38 adults who started in September, four have been placed, nine are waiting placement, nine have been returned to Marcy because of medical problems and the remainder are still training. The adults commute daily from Marcy to the VRC on Forbes Avenue, but once employed they will move into county-financed group homes. One of the four employed is a middle-aged man who is washing pots and pans in the Longvue Country Club.

He is also given room and board at the Club. One trainee is working at Little Tony's Restaurant and another at Mclntyre's Bakery. Of the four, 40-year-old Russell is a good example of what can be done. Hospitalized at Polk for nearly 25 years, Russell seems to have found a niche for himself Recently, he started as a janitor for Click's on Forbes Avenue. WHEN HE CAME to VRC, he had never ridden a bus or used a telephone and couldn't tell time.

"His socializing was practically nil and his grooming poor, Kasper explains. "He had some idea of work because he was on a work program at rout. "The first thing we did was to teach him to wash himself and comb his hair and coordinate his clothing. "Since he is still living at Marcy, we taught him how to board a bus and identify the numbers. We showed him Grant in me a quietness, gracious Lord, so I may better see, hear and touch the vast beauty which You have given.

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Lite Diet Skinny Byfoung Smoothie! 'DuPont Reg Trademark frsis Pfwtt by Antlwny KtntaTMW Staffer Gayle Dodson, center, shows how it's done. Rqbbi Chaplain Mixes Sandwiches, Religion In Life helped them prepare meals and even showed them how to sew buttons." When It became apparent to Russell's instructors, he was capable of starting a job, they took him to a nearby bank and showed him how to fill oat deposit slips, write checks and make withdrawals. He was also shown how to punch i timeclock. fi "You must, understand these are all entry level jobs which would.be tedious to others," Kasper explains. "But jobs our people can handle with proper training.

At the VRC, adults are put to work in simulated kitchens and bedrooms. ACCORDING TO. the standards of the state Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation, if the agency can reach SO per cent of competitive standards with these adults, it will meet the requirements. "The stale has been satisfied with our progress," Miss Maloney says, "And our contract has been renewed for the next Socializing is another major part of the program. Mark, in his 40s, has been at Polk since he was yean old and never had the opportunity to socialize with the opposite sex.

"Now he goes'to all our dances and was recently honored by the group for bis personal growth." The VRC staffers take the adults to movies, Pirate ballgames, bowling, camping and many other social functions. Kasper is a mild-mannered man who seldom gets aroused, but he won't atand for any nonsense: "One of our girls came in one morning crying." "We sent her home. She still has to learn this is a tough world and she has to make it." King chairs at king-size savings! PieM's regal king chair. A masterpiece of Philippine craftsmanship artfully woven of natural rattan. The 'back soars into a majestic throne over 5' tall.

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$49.99 Sale March 17. Shop todayl MT. LEBANON 1848 Greentree Rd. tafcwiy WmI, GfMorrM Ear) 18 343-7770 Sat. Sunday Hr1'i 270 rtor, wutt to mt SAVE ON RATTAN AND WICKER wtftia Religion can be introduced with a salami sandwich believes Rabbi Leib Heber whose congregation numbers 314 Jewish patients in 14 separate state hospitals and homes.

''Of the 314, only 27 have any family. The rest are orphans," the Rabbi reports. "Some have been in institutions all their lives. They've never seen a synagogue; never knew anything about their own religious observances. "MOST OF THESE people can't understand too much about religion," he continues.

"So every Saturday night my wife makes 300 salami sandwiches. We freeze them and each day I take out as i many as I need. "The patients look forward to the sandwiches. It's a pleasure to sit an4 eat with them. Then we sing songs an say the simple prayers and meet eac other." Then Rabbi Heber adds, his eyes twinkling, "I talk to the other chaplains the ministers and priests who come with their Bibles and their rosaries and I say 'Well see which brings the best results, your Bibles and rosaries or my salami sandwiches." A graduate psychologist as well as a rabbi, he was a volunteer chaplain in a federal prison while serving in a Car-bondale, synagogue.

When an opportunity to do more psychological counseling was offered in the New Castle area, Heber moved there. He was a part-time rabbi in Ell-wood City and volunteered aid to the nearby Polk State School. "I FOUND there 147 Jewish 'children' (I call them children though some are older than but I'm like their father) in Polk and they had no Jewish observances," Rabbi Heber says. Four and a half years ago the 'state decided Jewish patients should have a chaplain. Rabbi Heber was asked to handle the 14 institutions after having served 41 years in a pulpit.

"But I gave all that up because this is my best congregation, Rabbi Heber says. Best, despite the fact he must travel 1,100 miles a week just to reach his flock He's happy to do it and to be the first chaplain to serve Jewish patients in such institutions as Dixmont, Polk and Torrance. Maharlika chair. Reg. $49.99 Sale 39.88 Sale begins March 10.

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