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As the end of the year fast approaches, we have much work still to do. I just returned from a trip to New York where I had the good fortune to hear His Holiness, Pope Francis speak at St. Patrick's Cathedral. His words encouraging compassion and service to all, in particular to those most in need, were both moving and inspiring. Furthermore, I joined members of our Board of Directors in attending a U.N. event celebrating the achievements of the global South. TFI was honored to receive a table at the South-South Awards held at the Waldorf Astoria thanks to the generosity of Mr. Curtis Vance. We have reason to celebrate as well! Our documentary, Living on a Dollar a Day, the making of our award-winning book is ready for previews. We look forward to showing it to you and hearing your comments. Additionally, Jennifer Zahgkuni will travel to Ghana, West Africa, in October to check on our sponsored students in Accra and make further arrangements for their education and well-being. Also, I will return to India to follow up on the programs and students we support in Delhi and Dharamsala, and to visit our newest donor-led project in Andhra Pradesh. As our last summer Fellow, Ms. Christina Stellini wraps up her work in Kenya, our two fall Fellows, Ms. Alisa Webber and Ms. Varsha Apte, will be heading to India in October and November respectively to work at the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. We have been sending Fellows to the TCHRD since 2007 and are proud of this partnership. Moreover, the fall is the time we are able to make the bulk of our Small Grants to the well-deserving organizations we support that serve the extreme poor, so it is a time we look forward to. If you would like to support any of our programs, now is the perfect time to do so. Thank you for your ongoing generosity. So many around the world depend on us!
Finally, if you have not yet seen our new mobile-friendly website, you can do so here:
www.theforgottenintl.org
Sincerely,
Tom Nazario, Founder and President
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Living on a Dollar a Day, the Documentary
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Previews of Living on a Dollar a Day, the Documentary
We are pleased to receive a final cut of our new documentary,
Living on a Dollar a Day. It chronicles the making our book of the same name. We will begin with previews to our Board of Directors and look forward to additional screenings this fall and winter.
If you can host a screening at your home or office, please be in touch with us.
Meanwhile, Author,
Thomas Nazario and Photojournalist,
Renée C. Byer continue to make presentations about their award-winning book. Most recently Tom was in New York and Renée in Puerto Rico and South Korea.
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Profile of TFI's Director of Operations
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Jennifer Zahgkuni, our Director of Operations
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TFI's Director of Operations featured in Mary Olson's Blog
While usually working behind the scenes, Jennifer Zahgkuni, was profiled last month in a blog post called "Remarkable People 2015."
It is an honor to be recognized in Mary's interview series which includes experts in technology, the arts, marketing, and social good.
Based in New York and a member of TFI's Board of Directors, Mary Olson is a C-suite advisor and marketing strategist.
You can see Jennifer's profile and Mary Olson's blog here.
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Small Grants Program and Children's Fund
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Soon to be TFI Hall for school children in Nagaland, India
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YouthNet gives TFI a big honor by naming their new school building.
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An Honor for TFI!
Through our
Small Grants Program, TFI helps under-served schools and grassroots nonprofits that are doing much good in their communities. We are thrilled to see the accomplishments of the NGOs we support and honored by their kindness to us in return.
Additionally, throughout the year, our sponsored students in India and Ghana are helped with their educational needs through our
Children's Fund. Our partnership with specific donors, namely the
Brandenburg Family, helps six children stay in school by covering all their school fees and living expenses.
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TFI Fellows Making a Difference
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TFI Human Rights & Economic Justice Fellowships
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TFI Fellow, Trinetta Chong, on site at the CCDO in Siem Reap, Cambodia
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As our summer Fellows return from their work abroad, our two fall Fellows are preparing to travel.
Trinetta Chong, a graduate student at U.C. Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy, worked with the Cambodian Child's Dream Organization to help them organize their collected data by compiling a database to include all aspects of the student body activities through their education programs as well as tracking the status of all the water wells the CCDO builds and maintains for the community. She did a lot of work and everyone at the CCDO was sorry to see her go.
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TFI Fellow, Christina Stellini, for St. Vincent's Children of Kibera
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Christina Stellini is set to return from Nairobi, Kenya, after working with St. Vince
nt's Children of Kibera for the past three months. She was helping them with their local development efforts and setting up systems to track their resources for better overall management of their education and orphan rescue programs. We look forward to hearing Christina's feedback about her experiences.
We owe much thanks to our summer Fellows for their service and hard work and appreciate our fall Fellows for their commitment to the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Dharamsala, India. Two young attorneys, Alisa Webber and Varsha Apte will be working
for the human rights agency through the end of the year.
Our Fellows are invaluable to the organizations they serve as volunteers as well as help us keep up with the programs abroad that we try to help.
We have our sponsors to thank for providing the stipends for our Fellows again this year.
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In honor of Pope Francis' first trip to the United States, we would like to leave you with this inspiring message of compassion and hope from His Holiness:
"How much progress has been made in this area in so many parts of the world! How much has been done in these first years of the third millennium to raise people out of extreme poverty! I know that you share my conviction that much more still needs to be done, and that in times of crisis and economic hardship a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost. At the same time I would encourage you to keep in mind all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty. They too need to be given hope. The fight against poverty and hunger must be fought constantly and on many fronts, especially in its causes. I know that many Americans today, as in the past, are working to deal with this problem."
THANK YOU & HAPPY FALL!
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