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September - October 2005

 

Tottori, Japan Inbound

by Jim Bourn

 

On Monday September 26 we will receive 17 ambassadors from Tottori, Japan for a weeklong inbound exchange. Many of us visited them in 2002. Some of our home hosts went on that exchange back in '02 and have arranged to have those families or individuals stay with them here in Dallas.  Thanks to the following members for volunteering to be home hosts: Bourn/Rowe, the Dooleys, the Dursts, the Edgrens, Rose/Perez, the Stahls, Terrell/Varney and the Waldrons.  Zia Shamsy, Jean Beler, Carol Anderson and Mary Williams will be day hosts.  

 

We've added two new activities to our agenda (see below). We'll take our ambassadors to the new Gaylord Texan Resort on Lake Grapevine and to Grapevine Mills Mall. I'm also working with staff at the Dallas Arboretum to arrange for us to plant a tree to commemorate this exchange. Our Farewell Party will be a steak cookout at the home of Darwin and Myra Smith on Swiss Ave.  

 

I'll have signup sheets for activities and prices out soon. All members and guests are welcomed to attend any and all of the activities. There is a fee in advance for only two of them; for the remaining events, the club pays the fees of the ambassadors and you pay your own fee if you attend.  

 

UPDATE: The reservation list has been sent with the last newsletter. To request one, contact txtravel@flash.net. Please return to Ana Marie Lee by September 20.

 

Here's the line up of activities [as of press time, subject to change]

Mon Sept 26 

Ambassadors arrive. Open evening.  

Tues Sept 27

Welcome Brunch at Kisner’s from 10-12 (FREE), then Arboretum, then free for exploring Dallas.  

Wed Sept 28 

Fort Worth Tour:  Arts district - Amon Carter Museum, lunch at Kimbell, Downtown, Cattle drive in the Stockyards district.  

Thu Sept 29

Downtown Dallas walking tour - Dallas Museum Art, Nasher, Crow, Fountain Place, Sixth Floor Museum, and West End. Small dinners in the evening.  

Fri Sept 30

State Fair and/or free day. Small dinners in the evening.  

Sat Oct 1

Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Grapevine Lake, lunch at Grapevine Mills Mall, then free day.

Sun Oct 2

Free day. Farewell Party at Myra and Darwin Smith’s - Texas steak cook out.  

Mon Oct 3

Ambassadors depart.  

NOTE: Make reservations for events and see the details of this exchange on the  Exchange page.

 

If you went on the Tottori outbound in 2002 and have some photos of folks [more close-ups than far away shots] or memorable events that you can lend us, please send them to M.C. Meador, mcmeador@comcast.com, as he is coordinating the production of a photo CD as a gift for the Tottorians. Thanks, MC! 

 

Thanks in advance to all who are helping put together the events.  If you'd like to help out, contact Jim, airbourn@comcast.net or Gary Paramore, gazzapazza@mindspring.com

 

If you’d like to see Tottori’s World Friendship Day web page, check out this link: http://www.friendshipforce.org/wfd2005/clubs/tottori.html

 

 

From top left: Chisato Sakata, Akemi Fujii (ED, will not come due to death of mother-in-law), Noriko Hasegawa, Akiko Yamamoto, Eiko Ozawa, Masako Teraoka, Noboru Ozawa, and Sachiko Kageyama

From bottom left: Kikue Kadowaki, Toshiko Adachi, Hitomi Miyoshi, Kazuko Sugimoto, Junko Fukushima, and Miyuki Miyauchi  

 

Sanae Minatodani, Yukimi Ueda, Maiko Miyauchi, Noriko Miyata (new ED)  

 

          

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Paula's Roses

Dear Friendship Force Friends,

 

On this, the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we are in final preparations for the arrival and hosting of 18 FF members from Tottori, Japan [in western Japan, where FFD visited in 2002]. In addition to some great events planned by ED Jim Bourn, we will be one of the first organizations in the Dallas area to contribute to a Peace Garden at the Dallas Arboretum. The Tottorians and FFD are contributing to the planting of a tree to commemorate this exchange. Hopefully, we will continue this tradition with future exchanges (originally spawned from a presentation by Berry Bock, FF Ft Worth at the SW Regional Conference in Feb 2005). Won't it be great to show future and returning ambassadors (and out of town guests) FFD's special tree(s) when we tour the Arboretum?  

 

Also in September, Ed Edgren will lead 20+ ambassadors (many from other FF clubs in the US) on a dual mission to Romania. They'll be taking six computers and several talking calculators (purchased through our BridgeBuilders funds) to the school for the blind in Bucharest. Then, they'll be meeting with groups of Romanians who are interested in establishing new Friendship Force clubs there. Finally, they'll spend some time touring Romania before heading home.  

 

After we visited the Tulio Herrera Leon School for the Blind in Trujillo, Peru in March to deliver three computers, I noticed their need for Braille supplies and software. I contacted several companies and organizations here in the US and Freedom Scientific of Florida agreed to donate 10 boxes of Braille paper. In keeping with the inter-club cooperation, I found out that the FF Cincinnati club was going on an exchange to the FF Nor Peru in Trujillo. The ED polled their ambassadors and they will be taking 5 boxes of Braille paper and several talking calculators (also purchased through our BridgeBuilders funds) to the school. I'm working on getting the remaining 5 boxes to Trujillo.  

 

Finally, after reading the latest Friendship magazine (from FF International), Ken Walker has taken charge of establishing a FFI and FFD board approved fund to assist Indonesians who were orphaned in last year's tsunami.  The interesting part about this fund is that it is for college students whose parents died during the flooding and provided most of their support. See Ken's article later in this newsletter and info on how to join him in helping those students.  

 

What a phenomenal set of outreach projects from one club to different parts of the world!!  We are really exemplifying the mission of Friendship Force - creating "an environment where individual friendship can be established across the international barriers that separate people." A world of friends is a world of peace.

In Friendship, 

 

Paula  

 

 

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FFD Meetings  

 

September

 

Our September meeting will be held at the Tokyo No Hana Japanese restaurant where we will learn about Japan in anticipation of the Tottori inbound later that month.

 

Date/time: Sep 11, 2005 at 5 pm

Topic/Speaker: Tieako Wright

Place: Tokyo No Hana Restaurant [one sign shows “Tokyo Hana”]

               7525 Greenville Ave. [north of Walnut Hill]

               Dallas, TX 75231      214-987-2333  

Dinner/cost: Japanese buffet, soft drink/tea/coffee & gratuity - $18

 

Send your reservation and check to Susan Cooper by September 8. If you did not receive a meeting flyer, contact Susan for information: copertuz@flash.net.

 

We will also hold our annual Business Meeting, including election of officers for 2006 and reports from officers and committee chairs.

 

As stated in our by-laws, the list of nominees for the elected FFD officers for 2006 in posted below, presented "to the membership in writing within fifteen (15) days before the annual meeting."  See the slate below.

 

October– Parties for the Tottori, Japan Inbound Exchange: Welcome breakfast at Kisner’s on Sept 27- 10 am - 12 pm and Farewell Party at Smith’s - Sunday Oct 2 at 6 pm. Reserve to Ana Marie Lee by Sept 10. Info at amlee@wans.net.

 

November 13 – UPDATE: Dinner at May Dragon restaurant, 4848 Belt Line Road (just E. of Addison Road) at 5 pm. Buffet dinner includes chicken, beef and vegetarian entrees; price includes drinks (tea, coffee or soft drink) and tip. Wine may be purchased at the restaurant. $16 per person. Welcome to this year's new members. Reserve with your check by Nov. 9 to Susan Cooper - copertuz@flash.net.

   

December 11 – Winter Gala tentatively scheduled at Azuga restaurant near Bachman Lake.

 

As we gain more members and have more friends and guests attending our meetings, we’ll need larger places in which to meet. So, if you know of a restaurant, clubhouse or meeting place that can easily accommodate a large (70-90) and friendly group, contact Mary Latham, VP for Programs at mjmcl04@yahoo.com.

 

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Past Meetings

 

September meeting

August meeting

 

About 50 of us met at Constantine 's Restaurant in Addison. Mita Tripathi, from Richland College talked about the International Student program at the Multicultural Center there. They help about 100 students each semester from around the world who have come to Dallas to go to school at Richland.  They also work with volunteers from Richland's Emeritus Program to provide conversation partners, tutors/mentors, registration and class greeters, and other assistance. If you are interested in the program or volunteering, you can contact Mita at mTripathi@dcccd.edu. Learn more at  the Richland website at http://www.richlandCollege.edu/multiculture.htm.

 

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Member News

 

Marilyn Wilson – In Memoriam

by edward perez

 

It is with sadness that I announce the recent passing of Marilyn Wilson due to complications from a cerebral aneurysm. She had been transported from Palacios , TX (where she lived) to the Herman Hospital in Houston where she passed away. Her funeral was held Monday, August 15, 2005 at the First Baptist Church in Palacios, TX and was buried in Gonzales, Texas .

 

Marilyn was a member of FFD for many years until she moved to Palacios several years ago, retaining an associate membership in the club. We got to visit with her when she visited Dallas occasionally. She served in many roles in our club. 

 

In 1998, she was the Exchange Director when FF Dallas club went to Itanhaem and Araraquara, Brazil. In 2001, she served as FFD's president. The following year, she was the director of the 2002 FF International Conference held in Dallas and also helped organize an FF Southwest regional conference held in Dallas.

 

Back in Jan 1993, Marilyn began as a volunteer with the Visiting Nurse Association's Hospice Program. Myrna Ridings worked with her there; she was introduced to FFD by Marilyn.

 

I collected thoughts and signatures in a nice sympathy card [see below] and mailed it to her daughter who lives in Palacios. If you would like to send a note or card to the family, contact edward perez for details.  

"Love lives on forever... in the memories, in the stories,

in the hearts of all whose lives have been touched by a very special person.

May it comfort you to know that while the one you love is no longer with you,

precious memories will live in your heart forever.

With Deepest Sympathy."  

Interestingly, here is an email that Marilyn recently sent several FFDers after she returned from an FFD exchange to Sweden and Norway. She was a friend to many FF members in Dallas and around the world. We will miss her.  

From: "Marilyn J Wilson" mlynwilson@hotmail.com
To: mlynwilson@hotmail.com
Subject: Exchange
Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2005 14:00:01 -0500

 

Dear Friends,

I returned home from my exchange to Sweden and Norway about a week ago.  I had such a great time.  The Hosts in Sweden are wonderful and if you ever get a chance to go there, do so.  We had dinners, parties, lunches and tours and saw all of southern Sweden.  The club is just across the water from Denmark by ferry 30 minutes and by train from Copenhagen about 2 hours.  

 

We were there for their Mid Summer, that is when the sun never sets and it stays light all day and night. Had to sleep, but we did some. Had a big celebration to celebrate the event and got to see some Swedish dancing around a pole that reminded me of the May Poles we use to dance around. Had lots of good food and of course drinks.

 

Our Hosts made sure that we had a good time and made our trip exciting.  The group I went with was from Arizona , but there were two Texans, six from California , some from Conn, Las Vegas, Portland, OR, and Iowa. Twenty-four all together and they were all very friendly and nice to be with.

 

Our extra tour was to Norway and that country is breathtaking and wonderful to see.  Go there by all means. I think there is a FF Club there, but we did not have any contact with them. Eight of us stayed on in Copenhagen, Denmark for three days and had a city tour and hears lots of free jazz music. It is a great city to visit. I came home for a week and then flew back to Atlanta for a week to be with two daughters and all my grandchildren. I don't stay home much.

 

Take care and hope to see all of you again in the near future.

 

Marilyn

 

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City Slickers To Blueberry Hill Farms  

by Pam Varney-Terrell  

 

After picking a "Full" basket of blueberries (way to go guys!), Bev and Don Erb and Marge and Ed Edgren enjoyed their Gourmet Lunch, which they had bargained for and purchased at the FFD Fundraiser Auction back on March 1. Pickin' and eatin' was followed by a shopping excursion in the (don't blink) Village of Edom and Blue Moon Gardens. And it stands on record that Ed's basket was filled with the 'biggest berries' – according to Marge! See y'all next year, ya’ hear? 

 

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Club News

 

Slate of Officers

 

The following people have been nominated by the nominating committee to be officers in 2006:

w        President                            Paula Rose [returning]

w        First Vice President           Martha Durst

w        Second VP Membership  Herb & Juli Ziev [returning]

w        Third VP Programs            Ray Enstam [coordinator], Erbs, Stahls, Nancy Hicks

w        Secretary                            Lillian Fipps

w        Treasurer                            Wendy Whaley

 

Respectfully,

 

FFD 2005 Nominating Committee

Ana Marie Lee (chair), Jim Bourn, Raymond Enstam, Lillian Fipps and John Whaley

 

Article VII - Nomination and Election of Officers

Section 1 excerpt: "At the annual meeting, the President shall receive for the floor any further nominations with the consent of the nominees."

Section 2 excerpt: "Voting for the officers shall be by ballot. Each member shall have one vote for each officer. Only members present and in good standing may vote. There shall be no voting by proxy. If a quorum is present, the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present and voting shall be required to elect each officer. If there is only one nominee for an office, voting for that office may be by voice vote."  

 

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Name Badges, Yearbooks  

 

If you have recently joined but forgot to order a name badge or if you need a replacement name badge, please send your name and $5.50 per badge to Juli Ziev, our Membership Co-Chair. Contact her at:julimdesigns@sbcglobal.net.

 

If you need a yearbook or want the recent updates, please contact Lee Latham at hlatham@swbell.net.

 

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Home & Lifestyles Expo

 

Our club participated in the Home & Lifestyles Expo Saturday-Sunday August 20-21 at Dallas Convention Center (sponsored by NBC Channel 5 and Telemundo 39). We met lots of folks, distributed FFD information and answered questions, etc. We had several scrapbooks (created by Marilyn McRae over the years) and photos from the Peru exchange last March.

 

A BIG THANKS to the following members who volunteered their time and energy: Paula Rose (organizer), edward perez [general FFD roadie], Ray Enstam, Martha Durst, Mary Williams, Richard Secrest, Marge and Ed Edgren, Diana Bosworth, LaNell Koch and Jim Naughton (pictured here), John and Betty Funk, Mary Suther and Dora and Ed Stahl.  

 

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Board Meetings  

 

The next meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Monday September 12th at Mariyn McRae's clubhouse. All Board Officers and Committee Chairs - please plan to attend so we will have a quorum for any decision-making. These meetings are open to any member or friend who wishes to attend. Be sure to call Marilyn McRae for directions and to be put on the admittance list if you wish to attend [the apt management has a doorman who checks all guests]. mim555art@yahoo.com.

 

For a copy of past board meeting minutes, contact Pat Peters, patrycia43@aol.com or Betty Mayeur, bmayeur@ccccd.edu.  

 

For information about our financial condition, contact Susan Cooper, copertuz@flash.net or any board member.  

 

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Newsletter deadline  

 

We publish our newsletter bi-monthly. Please send all articles, news items, photos, etc. to edward perez by September 20th for the next newsletter issue (via email erperez@acm.org or by fax 214-553-4547).

 

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Committees  

 

If you know of any FFD member or friend who could use some Sunshine, contact Mary-Helen Lyons, mhltx@mymailstation.com or Jean Beler.  

 

If you know of a group who would like to know about FFD, contact Jim Bourn, airbourn@comcast.net.

 

If you would like to volunteer for any committee or project, contact any board member.

 

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Board of Friendship Force of Dallas    

 

Elected Officers

President: Paula Rose   

1st Vice President: Mary Suther  

2nd VP, Membership: Herb & Juli Ziev   

3rd VP, Programs: Mary Latham  

Treasurer: Susan Cooper

Secretary: Pat Peters & Betty Mayeur

 

Administrative

Parliamentarian: Mary Williams

Ways and Means: Ed Edgren

 

Exchanges

Exchange Coordinator: Ray Enstam

Exchange Treasurer: Ana Marie Lee

Tottori Japan Inbound: Jim Bourn

 

Communications

Newsletter: edward perez   

Publicity/Communications: Myrna/Dick Ridings

Website/Yearbook: Mary Williams 

Telephones: John Funk

Speakers Bureau: Jim Bourn

 

Outreach

Bridge Builders: Bob Langford/Ed Edgren           

Hospitality: Waldrons, BeHanneseys, Fipps/Anker, Whaleys

Prospects/Member Packets: Lee Latham

Sunshine: Mary-Helen Lyons, Jean Beler

FF of Dallas History Historian/Photo Album/Scrapbook: Marilyn McRae  

 

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FFD Exchanges

 

Mission Trip to Romania  

by Ed Edgren  

 

I’ve been a member of FFD since 1995 and am currently co-chairman of our Bridgebuilder program. Our club has been active in sending computers for the visually impaired to overseas schools and has sent 12 to two schools in Romania. 

Atlanta FFI and the FFD Board have approved my effort to take a group to Romania to help start Friendship Force clubs in Romania; the one club in Romania is not functioning well.  

 

Plans are well under way for the mission to Romania in September. Twenty-two FF members from Dallas and around the US (CA, CO, CT, FL, IL, NC, NH, NY, TX and WV) will visit Romania to initiate contacts for potential new clubs in Bucharest, Sibiu and Brasov. We will then travel through the country by bus with driver and English speaking guide to Sibiu, Cluj, Bistria, Suceava, Sighisoara, Brasov, Dracula's Castle and Bucharest. We have also been invited to homes in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania where their children may act as our interpreters.  

 

In addition, we are visiting the Scoala Pentru Deficienti de Vedere (school for the blind) in Bucharest on September 7 to deliver six computers and monitors for the school (purchased using BridgeBuilder funds). We will return on September 19 to have lunch with the children (232 visually impaired kids) and pass out small gifts such as several talking calculators that FFD purchased (using BridgeBuilder funds) and several large-readout calculators that Paula Rose has donated.  

 

See http://www.friendshipforcedallas.org/services.htm for details of the mission trip.

 

Ed Edgren may still need a few hard sided suitcases to take computers and monitors. Contact him at texmared@aol.com.  

 

Here’s a letter from the School for the Blind that Ed received in June 2005:

  

First of all, we would like to thank you very much for your kindness. The donation that you gracefully offered helped our students and us too. The Romanian Custom technical procedures are rather difficult and we have to wait almost two months to get the legally papers for all those free taxes packages. All this time costs us an extra, as you already know. However, we succeeded in our efforts and now we are sincerely thinking that it worth. Our students study some elementary Windows programs and play various educative games in the computer class. Your donation helped us to improved individual study in some special education classrooms and in two of the visually compensation area.

 

In addition, we found the Curriculum for Visually Impaired and Blind very interesting and useful. Thinking of that, we tried to change some points of view and we would like to improve our teaching-evaluation skills. Therefore, we held a meeting where we debated many ideas, methods and teaching techniques from “independent living” or Evaluation forms. After all that we have read, told us that students has the same questions about themselves and they has almost the same needs. Many colleagues considered the evaluation forms as “patterns” for their teaching activities and we would like to apply many of those effective ideas with out students. For part of that Curriculum, we have a Romanian translation. We also accessed the web site of Texas Blind and Visually Impaired School in our search for educational information.  

 

In the end of this letter, we respectfully invite you to visit us again.  

Sincerely yours, 

Valerica Chiliment [as best as I could read it – edward]  

 

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Zagreb, Croatia 

Outbound – late May - early June 2006  

Mary Williams, Exchange Director  

 

Mary is in contact with the ED in Zagreb. We are planning for a late May exchange to take advantage of lower priced airfare and tour. Because this is a joint exchange with Rio Grande Valley club, they will have some of our 16 home stay places, so we anticipate a full exchange. 

 

There will be a "start date" in the fall to reserve a place with a deposit that will be publicized to everyone in both clubs. If you have any leads, contacts or info about Croatia, contact Mary. More info later.  

 

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FF Southwest Region Open Doors  

 

FF of Ft. Worth will be hosting an Open Doors event September 7-11. See more info at Fort Worth

 

The participants will be coming to Dallas on Thursday, Sep 8 to visit our Arts District. So, Pat Peters asked Jim Young, the organizer, "Will it be possible for some of the FF Dallas members to participate in the Thursday evening activity? If so, how many of us can take part?" Jim replied "I think it would be great for as many Dallas members as would like join us for Thursday afternoon and/or evening as they can." So, if you are interested in meeting the Fort Worth members and Open Door participants downtown, Contact Pat at patrycia43@aol.com or edward - friendshipForceDallas@yahoo.com so they can coordinate transportation, etc.   

 

The next Open Doors will be in Baton Rouge LA Feb 2006 (Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade). Contact Jim Young (jim_and_berry@hotmail.com) for more info.  

 

FF International Conference  

 

This year’s conference will be in Sao Paulo, Brazil from November 3 - 6, 2005. If you are interested in going, you’ll need to register by September 2, 2005 to experience Brazil and see all your FF friends! Ray Enstam will be our official representative; others are planning to attend. 

 

Check out FFI’s website at http://www.friendshipforce.org/BrazilConference.html for more details and to register.  

 

Conference only – $335 

With post-conference tour - $1,590 [Nov 2 - 11 from Miami] 

With hotel – $500 - With post- conference home stay - $1,750 [Nov 2 - 15 from Miami]

 

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Other FF Exchanges  

 

See http://www.friendshipforce.org and click on “Find an Exchange” for more details on the exchanges below and other exchanges. If you'd like to receive monthly updates about upcoming FF exchanges, send your name, postal address and/or email address to ffi@friendshipforce.org. Be sure to mention that you'd like to receive the FF exchanges updates.  

 

Remember, you can join the exchange of another club from your own country if they have room for you. 

 

NOTE: These updates are posted on our website under Exchanges, Other Clubs.

 

Some exchanges you may want to consider:

Oct 2005: New Zealand, North Island

Feb 2006: SE Australia, New Zealand

Jan – Mar 2006: Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru

Jan – Apr 2006: Ghana, Egypt, Jordan

Feb – Mar 2006: Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand

 

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Humanitarian Missions

 

Nov & Dec 2005; Jan & Feb 2006: Cuba - Restoration Project in Assisted Living Communities in Havana and Santa Clara. Approx. $1600 + $300 tax deductible contribution which will be used to purchase materials for the work project.  See http://www.friendshipforce.org/Events/Cuba.html for details. See the article on our trip to Cuba.

 

Feb 2006: Myanmar - Join this special National Friendship Force group for 9-10 days in Myanmar on and off the tourist path. Led by Dot Cada and Kathy Weinmeister who visited Myanmar in June 2004. Join them on guided tours of this beautiful tropical country where they will visit an orphanage, hospital and school. Gather at least one suitcase containing allowances for humanitarian aide. Approx $1000 (land only). [see http://www.friendshipforce.org/Events/NewExchanges.html for details. For an itinerary, click on Myanmar.

 

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Announcements  

 

Aid for Tsunami Students

by Ken Walker  

 

One of the countless tragedies wrought by the devastating tsunami last December is that of students attending universities across Indonesia. Many found that their homes, even their entire families, had been carried away by the giant waves. Imagine yourself in this situation. Home - gone, family – gone, financial support – gone. This is a tragic personal loss, but also a tragic loss to the future of Malang if the education of these students cannot be continued.

 

Ismah Akbar, treasurer of FFI of Malang and chairman of the Malang Peduli, has identified 46 university students who were orphaned or stranded by the tsunami. She published an article in the latest FFI “Friendship” magazine about these students and appealed to FFI members worldwide for help that their education might be continued. This article went to every FFI member worldwide. As of late June, only five people have contacted Ismah offering to help.

 

Surely, FFI can do better than this. Those of us who travel realize how rich we who live in the United States are. Those of us who travel with FFI often seek opportunities to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Each of these students only needs about $1600 per year to pay for tuition, books, housing and food. I asked Paula to bring a motion before the board to support this project. She told me: “Everyone was glad you have brought it to our attention and voted to OK a fund that you set up and manage.”

 

It would only take about $10 a month from 14 members to sponsor the education of one orphaned student. Wire transfers to Malang are expensive, so it would be beneficial to pool our support. I am offering to coordinate individual contributions from the Dallas FFI club. I will establish a fund through which we can consolidate our contributions to the account established for this purpose by the Malang University Rector.

 

Ismah, in the “Friendship” magazine wrote, “It seems that our friendships are not only bounded in happiness but in sorrow as well. A friend in need is a friend indeed, and a world of friends is a world of peace.”

 

If you would like to take part in helping these students please contact Ken Walker or Peggy Benton at pkintheroad@hotmail.com.

 

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Hosting Opportunity

 

We received this letter: “I came across your website for Friendship Force International and was wondering if you might be able to help me. I am part of an organization that organizes a one-year exchange for high school students from over 35 countries. These students live in American homes for 10 months and become part of the family! It is an amazing experience for both the students as well as the families that host them. Our mission is very similar to yours in that we hope to break down cultural barriers and promote international friendships through international education. Is there anyone in your organization who would be interesting in possibly hosting a student or volunteering with us as an International Exchange Coordinator? I would be happy to send more information to anyone who is interested. Right now we have many students who will be coming to the Dallas area who still need permanent homes. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank you so much for your time and I hope to hear from you soon!

 

Sincerely,

Lauren Cotoia

Recruitment Manager

EF Foundation for Foreign Study, Cambridge MA

Lauren.Cotoia@EF.com   888-44-SHARE   

http://www.effoundation.org  

 

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