Feeding the Hungry, P. C. Hiebert, 1929

feeding was begun. It was found necessary to send a supervisor into the district to direct the activities 318 FEEDING THE HUNGRY and for this post, Jacob Wittenberg was employed. The field was extremely difficult, but Wittenberg was an ex- ceptional organizer. His vigorous and determined prose- cution of the work soon established order and system. The various forms of assistance were systematized and made more efiective. The A.M.R. Siberia relief and reconstruction work included help in the form of (1) grain for seed loans, (2) grain or flour for food, (3) wool, flax, and cotton thread to make clothing, (4) raw material for felt boots, (5) sheep to grow wool, and (6) cows to be paid for through milk deliveries. A word of explanation on each one will suffice to give only a partial view of what this help meant to these communities. As in the South, many had become heartsick, despondent and apathetic, and some simply shiftless and indifferent. The discipline involved in participating in the constructive phases of our program was of even greater value than the food and clothing re- ceived, and its educational value was of special importance here. 1. The seed grain, wheat, rye, barley, and peas, was usually bought in the community, direct from farmers, or mills, or the market in Slavgorod, and stored in ware- houses or flour mills until needed. The price of wheat ranged from about 40 to 75 cents a bushel. Our district supervisor with the village supervisor would make up the list of farmers in the village requiring seed. Sometimes the seeding was done individually; some- times the whole group of needy in a village cooperated in seeding one large plot of ground. In any case, the whole village would give a written guarantee that the seed would be returned after the harvest, and in case of a very good crop, an additional 10% was paid. All the grain would then be stored to provide seed for the next season. The first seed loan was paid in part with horses which were RELIEF AND RECONSTRUCTION IN SIBERIA 319 then shipped to the Orenburg and New Samara settle- ments where there was a serious shortage of horses. 2. The food distribution consisted of wheat, rye, or flour, barley, peas, beans, etc. No American food was distributed. It was calculated that one pood of wheat (about 36 pounds) or its equivalent in flour would sustain the life of one person for one month. As in our other districts, a careful survey was made of the supplies still on hand among the needy families in order to determine accurately how many members of each family might be included in the feeding lists. The distribution was made once or twice a month. The food cost for one person for one month ranged from about forty to sixty cents. There were no feeding centers or kitchens for there was less danger of misuse of such very plain food. For every monthly portion of food received, each family, if physically able, was to per