PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS, Ripon native Father Wally Kasuboski arrived in Panama in 1988, doing missionary work in an area of the world where school and hospital facilities are almost unheard of, roads are mainly rutted mud trails, and polluted water causes sickness and death; and,
WHEREAS, Father Wally addressed the problems of his new vast congregation, by becoming a leader in establishing schooling and medical care, building a catechetical center, established road and home construction crews, initiated water projects, and created a fishing industry for the Kuna Indian tribe; and,
WHEREAS, in 1996, Ripon Rotary raised $15,000 and obtained a $15,000 matching grant from Rotary International to help finance the largest water system in rural Panama, providing clear, potable water to about 7,000 people living in more than a dozen communities who up to this point could rely only on polluted lowland stream water; and,
WHEREAS, a group of people of all ages and gender from the Ripon area have traveled to the jungles of Panama to do mission work with Father Wally beginning in 1994, on seven different trips varying in length of approximately ten days;, and,
WHEREAS, the City of Ripon has in the past several years adopted and linked themselves with the sister cities of Opelousas, Louisiana and Ripon, England;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Aaron Kramer, mayor of the city of Ripon, Wisconsin, do hereby formally declare, on this 26th day of November in the year 2007, that the city of Ripon and its inhabitants are officially linking, as a sister city, with the city of Wacuco, Panama and its residents, as well as those who call the surrounding area home, and encourage further interaction and cooperation between the two regions in a continuous effort to foster further understanding of our cultures and traditions.
WHEREAS, Father Wally addressed the problems of his new vast congregation, by becoming a leader in establishing schooling and medical care, building a catechetical center, established road and home construction crews, initiated water projects, and created a fishing industry for the Kuna Indian tribe; and,
WHEREAS, in 1996, Ripon Rotary raised $15,000 and obtained a $15,000 matching grant from Rotary International to help finance the largest water system in rural Panama, providing clear, potable water to about 7,000 people living in more than a dozen communities who up to this point could rely only on polluted lowland stream water; and,
WHEREAS, a group of people of all ages and gender from the Ripon area have traveled to the jungles of Panama to do mission work with Father Wally beginning in 1994, on seven different trips varying in length of approximately ten days;, and,
WHEREAS, the City of Ripon has in the past several years adopted and linked themselves with the sister cities of Opelousas, Louisiana and Ripon, England;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Aaron Kramer, mayor of the city of Ripon, Wisconsin, do hereby formally declare, on this 26th day of November in the year 2007, that the city of Ripon and its inhabitants are officially linking, as a sister city, with the city of Wacuco, Panama and its residents, as well as those who call the surrounding area home, and encourage further interaction and cooperation between the two regions in a continuous effort to foster further understanding of our cultures and traditions.
Aaron Kramer, Mayor
Father Wally's website
