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World Family Foundation Staying In Touch - Fall 2015 Dear WFF Sponsors and Friends, With heartfelt thanks for your loyal and loving support for Worl
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Dear WFF Sponsors and Friends,
With heartfelt thanks for your loyal and loving support for World Family Foundation, we offer the quarterly newsletter for Fall, 2015, with stories about the children, recent fundraising events, and ongoing projects. It is your support that makes it all possible! Enjoy!
www.worldfamilyfnd.org |
 Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. |
TO BUILD MORE CLASSROOMS for the children...
Thank you to everyone who has been working so hard to raise the funds to build four more classrooms for the village children in India. We have raised $33,000, so we are 1/3 of the way there! Arrangements have been made to break ground this coming January.
Please consider making a year end tax deductible donation to the Building Fund! Less than 2 months left!
Rural poverty in the villages around Puri is very high with nearly 36% of people living below the poverty line... and conditions are much worse for single mothers and fatherless children. It has been shown again and again that the key to breaking this ingrained cycle of poverty is education. Please help us bring effective education to these poor village children.Every donation of any size brings us closer to providing a good education all the way through high school for these impoverished children. CLICK HERE and earmark your donation "Building Fund".
ONLY IN INDIA...
To celebrate and sanctify the coming groundbreaking, the children of Prashanti School and Prashanti International School gathered to bless the heavy machinery. They decorated the bulldozer/backhoe with sandalwood paste and flowers, and sang songs to "Swami's Elephant" as they called it. The machinery was brought to the property specially for the kids to bless by the construction company which is aptly named Divine Construction! (You just can't make this stuff up!) |
 Puja to bless "Swami's Elephant." |
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| |  Celebrating! |
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PILGRIMS FOR PRASHANTI - The story of a wonderful fundraiser!
In August, 2015, five intrepid WFF supporters (4 board members and 1 sponsor) went on pilgrimages to raise funds to build new classrooms for Prashanti International School in Puri, India.
WFF board members Therese and Kim rode 200 + kilometers of the Camino de Santiago in Spain on bikes, and board member Edie and WFF sponsor Saiyeeda walked100 kilometers of the Camino on foot. Board member Martha created a local Camino and with 20 other participants walked 20 kilometers here in southern California.
All the Pilgrims here and in Spain raised funds through sponsorship by friends and family - nearly $10,000 was raised for the building project in India! Thank you to everyone who sponsored our fabulous pilgrims!
If you would like to create your own fundraising Camino or host a fundraising event, please contact us so we can help in any way needed.
Here are the pilgrims' stories and photos: |
THERESE:
"The Camino de Santiago, the 1,200-year old pilgrimage path we chose as the basis of a WFF fundraiser, was something that challenged each of us in different ways. For me, there was the physical and emotional obstacle of trying to ride a bike with a foot healing from a bad break earlier in the year." read more>> |
KIM:
"For me, the Camino was an amazing spiritual journey that has been truly life-changing. I feel grateful for all the wonderful people I met along The Way and look forward to walking the Camino next year. I feel happy and grateful to all the sponsors that helped us raise so much money for WFF."
read more>> |
EDIE:
"I had decided a few years ago to do the walk- but things came up and I'd decide to put it off.. Once a person decides to commit to a pilgrimage - that very moment is really the beginning of the journey and if you are mindful you watch it unfold..accept the gifts that come along with that commitment -- it's a call to open yourself to experiences that whether you like it or not will transform you".
read more>> |
SAIYEEDA:
"Most meaningful for me..was being part of such a 'Collective Collaboration of Love' ! .... From the Board of Directors.. to the Pilgrims.. to the Donors...and ultimately for the beautiful and deserving Kids in India..."
read more>> |
MARTHA:
"Since I couldn’t travel to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago with my fellow board members Edie, Kim and Therese and sponsor Saiyeeda as I originally planned, I decided to walk my own local Camino and have people sponsor my walk. Much to my surprise, not only did people want to support the walk, but also be a part of it."
read more>> |
RAKHI PURNIMA CELEBRATION
Rakhi Purnima is one of the most wonderful festivals of Odisha, The girls tie a little rakhi bracelet on their brothers' wrists and put sandal paste on their forehead, scatter rice and flowers on their heads, a white flower in their ear and feed them sweets. They celebrate in this way through their whole lives, even elderly sisters and brothers visit each other on this day. The brother promises to help the sister financially if she is in difficulty in the future and the sister promises to feed the brother if he is in difficulty. Even little ones 2 and 3 years old tie rakhis. There is so much love generated, it is just wonderful. At Prashanti School, all are brothers and sisters. You can see the love on their faces! This year, some of the mothers and siblings of the Prashanti children came to celebrate Rakhi Purnima too! |
 The children's favorite, Ganesh. |
GANESH CHATURTHI CELEBRATION
The Hindu deity Ganesh is a favorite of children and students in India. He is widely revered as the remover of obstacles and Lord of intellect, wisdom and learning. Children pray to this aspect of the Divine to ask for help with studying, learning and exams. His elephant head makes him even more appealing to the kids!
The children at PS celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi (Ganesh's "Birthday") in September by doing a puja to beautifully crafted statues of Ganesh made by Krushna Das, a member of the PS caretaker staff. |
 Celebration of Ganesh by the children. |
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 The older PS boys carrying one of the two decorated Ganesh statues. | |  The joyful puja includes breaking coconuts and throwing flower petals. | |  Preparing flower petals for the puja. |
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Krushna was one of the original 21 kids brought to PS after the 1999 cyclone. (Read more about the story of PS.) Krushna is a fine artist. When he was a student at Prashanti School, he won all the art awards. He is a loving caregiver for the kids and security guard at the school in the daytime. Having grown up at PS, Krushna beautifully embodies the human values and dedication to service and love that is taught here. He finished high school plus two years of junior college in Arts. He also helps the PS children with afternoon homework during daily study time. Here is Krushna with one of the newly made clay statues before it was painted and decorated. |
 Om showing off his toys. |
VISIT BY WFF FRIEND, CHARYS SAYLOR
WFF friend and supporter Charys Saylor made a special trip to Puri from Mumbai, just to spend a day with the children at Prashanti School! Here is her loving note about her visit: "Dear Prashanti School Children, I am delighted to be so fortunate as to get to visit you and your wonderful school. I feel very blessed by your good work, your beautiful smiles and bright sparkling eyes. I am glad that you are learning such important things for a happy, productive life that will help to make the world a better place. Many hugs and blessings! Love, Charys Saylor,(Oct. 12, 2015)" |
 Liza, Lusi and Jhumeri painted henna designs on Charys' hands. | |  Mantu shows off a squash in his beautiful vegetable garden. |
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 Photo op with the boys... | |  ...and the girls! |
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END YEAR TAX DEDUCTIBLE GIFTS
"GIVING TUESDAY" IS DECEMBER 1ST!
Please help World Family Foundation stay strong through 2016 and beyond by making an end year tax deductible gift. So much better than "Black Friday", "Giving Tuesday" is a chance to make a real difference in the world. Your gift will help so many children to have happier childhoods and a chance for a brighter future!
You can donate online at World Family Foundation or send a check to
WFF, PO Box 351, Ojai, CA 93024. |
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