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TSUNAMI PRESENTATION
A very special ceremony took place on Friday, June 10th in Jaffa, Northern Sri-Lanka, when several fishing boats were presented to local fishermen and their families who were caught up in the awful disaster of the Boxing Day Tsunami.
The boat keys were handed over to people that had not only lost their livelihood but had also lost many of their relatives and friends who had perished.
Remarkably there was a Rhondda Valley connection to this very moving and special event, as the persons involved in handing over the boat keys were Rhondda couple Pastor Andrew Jenkins and his wife Joyce who were raised in Ynyswen and Clydach Vale respectively.
Andrew is a board member of ‘Action Overseas’, which is responsible for the many Missionary Enterprises related to the Apostolic Church in the UK.
In recent years, Andrew was particularly responsible for enterprises in Latvia, Eastern Europe but his duties of care now lie with A/C Enterprises in Southern India and Sri-Lanca.
In January, Andrew and the chairman were attending pre-arranged speaking appointments and visits throughout Southern India and Sri-Lanca, arriving in Colombo just after the Tsunami struck and witnessed first-hand the terrible devastation.
The purchase of the replacement fishing boats was made possible by the generosity of the members of the Apostolic Church in the UK and during the ceremony a special trophy was presented to Pastor Jenkins which expressed the gratitude of the Sri-Lancan people.
In August, during the Annual Convention of the Apostolic Church, which was held in Swansea University, Andrew presented the same trophy along with a video recording of the Sri-Lancan ceremony and declared how the event had been such a very precious moment for both himself and his wife Joyce, who works in management at the Royal Gwent Hospital.
The couple’s parents still reside in the Rhondda, being Tom and Rita Jenkins of Woodland Vale, Treorchy together with John and Beryl Gregory of High St, Clydach Vale.
Tom Jenkins, Woodland Vale
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Photo:
Bill Wheeler (left) and David Price in Treorchy Library
Mr William E Wheeler, President of The Ystradyfodwg Art Society and professional artist, was recently in Treorchy to sign copies of his new book Painting Skies & Landscapes in Watercolour.
The book, Mr Wheeler's first, contains many superb examples of his art displayed in the most vibrant colours and was the result of a long term ambition to make his work accessible to a greater audience.
Bill, as he likes to be called, trained as an interior designer at the Cardiff Art College in the nineteen sixties. As part of his training he was required to visit the Museum of Wales in order to sketch objects related to his subject and it was during one of these visits that he saw an exhibition of Victorian watercolours. As Bill states " It all started from there "
The subject matter of Bill's works are landscapes and industrial scapes; he is particularly fond of dereliction sites where old farms, mills and forges give him inspiration. In all he has produced some one hundred and sixty completed paintings and about fifty pencil sketches'; a wide selection of which are illustrated in his new book
In addition to producing fine examples of watercolour paintings Bill is in great demand as a tutor and travels the length and breadth of Britain in order to impart knowledge and skill of his favourite medium. Such has been his success that a second book called An Adventure in Watercolour is planned where more of his work will be illustrated.
We wish Bill well in producing further stunning works of art and in his publishing endevours.
photos and interview by IAN PRICE, Treorchy.net
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