Special Sales to be Announced This Week

To see last week's announcement about Black Friday click here.

Rajani Dhangchai, taken in Manhattan this week.

I reviewed the new documentary, that premiered in NYC on November 16th about the Children's Village in Thailand. On Saturday, November 11th I got to meet the founder, Rajani Dhongchai, who started Moo Baan Dek with her husband 38 years ago.

 

The event was very dramatic and it was an emotional experience watching the documentary in a full house as the founder also watched for the first time. 

The democratically run Children's Village is in the jungle but has branches for very young children in Bangkok. They take care of over 125 children. Some of her graduates from over a decade ago came to the film showing. 

A founder of the Ashram/orphanage in Nepal met Rajani after the showing and they decided they'd like an exchange of students between the two orphanages. What a powerful experience that would be. Now, how to fund it? 

For those interested in arranging a showing, go to the link below for that information and the review of the film. 

Go here for more info. 

As part of AERO's ongoing work to highlight and provide access to educational alternatives, AERO representatives will be showcasing the work they've been doing with youth groups around the world. Let us know if your group would like to do something similar. 

On November 16th AERO Representative Heather Martinson and a group of youths from Celebration Education in CA made a special presentation on their experiences at the center.   They shared their first-hand experiences with homeschooling and unschooling and what led them in this direction.

By Timothy Egan

It would be much easier to sleep at night if you could believe that we're in such a mess of misinformation simply because Russian agents disseminated inflammatory posts that reached 126 million people on Facebook.

The Russians also uploaded a thousand videos to YouTube and published more than 130,000 messages on Twitter about last year's election. As recent congressional hearings showed, the arteries of our democracy were clogged with toxins from a hostile foreign power.

But the problem is not the Russians - it's us. We're getting played because too many Americans are ill equipped to perform the basic functions of citizenship. If the point of the Russian campaign, aided domestically by right-wing media, was to get people to think there is no such thing as knowable truth, the bad guys have won

.

As we crossed the 300-day mark of Donald Trump's presidency on Thursday,  fact-checkers noted that he has made more than 1,600 false or misleading claims. Good God. At least five times a day, on average, this president says something that isn't true.

We have a White House of lies because a huge percentage of the population can't tell fact from fiction. But a huge percentage is also clueless about the basic laws of the land. In a democracy, we the people are supposed to understand our role in this power-sharing thing.

"Hola amigo Jerry:

 

Here we are!  Ana Yris and I are fine.  Nuestra Escuela is opened and serving its community.  No electric power but opened despite the hard circumstances.

 

Now we have some internet connection.  I read your various e-mails.  Thanks so much for caring for us.  We really appreciate your solidarity.  We also read your translation of the Nuestra Escuela report.  You did a great job.  Please let the AERO community know that we are fine and appreciate their good wishes and contributions.

 

A big hug,

 

Justo Méndez Arámburu

Coordinador General

VAMOS Puerto Rico"

 

"Hi Dear Jerry,

Thank you so much for caring for Nuestra Escuela and the situation in Puerto Rico after hurricane María. I am honored that you and your wonderful team want to help us. It is a beautiful gesture. It makes us feel very happy to know that we count with good friends around the world who want to support our organization and our Mission of Love. 

 

Once again, I'm grateful and honored to count with your friendship and support. 

 

Sending you all my love and gratitude,

Ana Yris"

To contribute to the fund for Neustra Escuela go here.