1. Sarnelli House (Nong Khai, Thailand) - $1,000 – 7/6/03

Sarnelli House was opened on the 2nd of October 2000 and was set up to provide medical care and a new home for all the children affected or infected by HIV and AIDS coming to Sarnelli House. It is the only institution of its kind in the north-east of Thailand (about 1/3 of the country) which is looking after these kids.

The children come from extremely difficult backgrounds. Some of them have mothers and fathers in prison, drug-addicted parents, many are orphans, they are rejected by Thai society, nobody wants them. But Sarnelli House provides them with everything possible. These kids are really loved. Some of them die but now all are doing well because they are getting the best medicine possible, popularly known as the triple drug cocktail. Many of them can live to be teenagers, perhaps much longer, nobody knows yet. It was so moving to be surrounded by these 46 children, all orphans with AIDS and they are so sweet and loving. You can learn more about Sarnelli House here:
http://www.sarnelli.org/index.htm?sp=en

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2. Chiang Mai Coordination Center for Protection of Child Rights (Chiang Mai, Thailand) - $1,000 – 7/13/03

I have a friend there that I have known for at least 25 years. His name is Sombat Tapanya, a Ph.D. psychologist and professor and a wonderful person who is extremely knowledgeable and experienced concerning social problems faced by so many in Thailand. The Chiang Mai Coordination Center for the Protection of Children's Rights (CCPCR), is located at the City Hall of Chiang Mai Province, Thailand. CCPCR provides care for child abuse victims through coordination of efforts with local resources such as hospitals, police services, educators, community leaders, legal, social work, medical, and mental health professionals. I met with the Director and Social Worker. They were extremely helpful and grateful for the donation to help children living under extremely difficult conditions (child abuse, victims of violence, extreme poverty, no parents etc.).

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3. Bantoongpong Elementary School (village near Chiang Mai, Thailand) - $500 – 7/13/03

This is located in Lamphun Province in the small village of Bantoongpong in Northern Thailand, about 45 minutes from the Northern Capital of Chiang Mai. Among students of the school there are 38 young children. Most of the children are orphans usually because their parents died from AIDS. Some of the children are themselves infected with HIV. All live with either relatives or grandparents who are very poor. Donations received from the 100 Friends Project will be used to support their education and living expenses.

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4. Sivhuoch Family (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) - $40 – 7/17/03

Sivhuoch is a translator and journalist for a local newspaper in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He earns around $200 a month. He works ten hours a day. He is supporting his brother to go to university to study computer science. He also helps his parents (peasant farmers) We donated $40 to pay for 1 year of English classes for his younger sister. This skill will open many doors for her so she can support herself. It doesn’t seem like much money but it is a lot for them.

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5. Human Development Foundation (Klong Toey, Bangkok, Thailand) - $1,000 – 7/18/03

The Human Development Foundation is run by an amazing man, a Catholic priest named Father Joe Maier, a humanitarian and a huge Grateful Dead fan. He is quite a character. He's been working in the slums of Bangkok for almost thirty years. You can read about him and his work here:

www.bangkokpost.net/outlookwecare/020698_Outlook01.html

www.fatherjoe.org/overview.asp

Their goal is to help the poor in Bangkok's teeming slums help themselves. The Foundation's activities have steadily expanded over the years, reaching out not just to the slum's Catholic minority, but to all of Bangkok's poorest people, the majority of whom are Buddhist and Muslim.

In the past three decades, the HDF has touched the lives of over 500,000 men, women, and children in need. With the exception of emergencies, they provide guidance, leadership, and specific skills training rather than hand-to-mouth donations. They offer many, many different types of programs.

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6. Duang Prateep Foundation (Klong Toey, Bangkok, Thailand) - $300 – 7/19/03

The Duang Prateep Foundation provides many services for the residents of Klong Toey. They provide services for people with AIDS, drug addicts, senior citizens, victims of fires, evicted slum dwellers, a credit union, a fire department, educational services, health and nutrition, art projects for children, special education, programs for deaf children, women's supportive services and much more. The donation from 100 Friends is mainly for an emergency fund to help people in all kinds of dire situations including medical disasters, homelessness and other desperate situations. Another part of the donation was for the children's art project. To learn more about the Duang Prateep Foundation take a look at their website:

www.dpf.or.th/eng/index.html

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7. New Light Foundation (Kolkata, India) - $2,200 – 7/22/03

One of the poorest slums in India is a placed called Kalighat. It is also a place of amazing spirit and joy. I am happier in Kalighat than almost anywhere I have ever been. It must be experienced directly to understand its power. Mother Teresa's original home "For the Destitute and Dying" is located in the heart of Kalighat. Read the book, "City of Joy" for a vivid picture of life in Kalighat.

Here is a link to beautiful photos of life in Kalighat:

http://students.seattleu.edu/clubs/calcutta/archive1.html

One Hundred Friends has made a donation to the New Light Foundation. Run by an amazing social worker named Urmi Basu, they focus on helping the neediest children who come from the bottom of the social scale and are therefore in need of a special program to change the direction of their lives. Their parents are sex workers, street-sweepers and they burn the bodies of the dead – all traditionally low-caste occupations. New Light’s programs provide excellent education, nutritious meals, educational supplies, music, art, yoga classes and medical care for the children and their families.

This donation was to construct a building for the children of the Doms. This is a caste that has traditionally been marked as untouchable because they take care of burning the dead bodies. There are 25 students at the new center. The construction is now complete and these lovely children (I met them last summer) now have a place of their own. I went twice to the site in July, 2003 and it is completely magical and has a true spiritual feeling to it. I met the children and they were happy, enthusiastic and very loving to me and the other visitors. With the backdrop of a Kali temple and surrounded by the supporters of the project it was a sublime experience being there and a privilege to be a part of this project.

You can learn more about the New Light Foundation by clicking on this link:

www.uddami.org/newlight/

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8. Uddami Project (Kolkata, India) - $650 – 7/22/03

www.uddami.org/

Here is a description of the program and how 100 Friends funds will be utilized by Alison Saracena, the project director:

"Uddami is a free computer school in Kolkata, India. Our centre teaches basic job-oriented computer skills. Our students are young people of working age (16-25) from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. We also include classes for deaf students. Classes are small with only one student per computer. We believe that an individualized approach with as much one-on-one instruction as possible gives maximum results.

This year we were able to increase the number of computers from four to six and we now have 43 students enrolled in our school. After learning the basics, students learn how to apply their skills by creating projects such as personal web pages and PowerPoint presentations. Small achievements in this supportive environment give our students confidence in their abilities. This is particularly important because many of our students are from circumstances where they have always been treated badly because of their caste or color and their self-esteem is often very low.

Last summer, Marc gave us money to buy a new printer for our classroom. The teachers are amazed to have a fast, efficient printer that enables them to print quickly and easily and the students are thrilled to print out copies of the newsletter they put together during their DTP class, complete with photographs of themselves.

This summer Marc has generously donated Uddami 20,000 rupees (approximately $450) for our school. We can use this money in many ways, to show you how far this money will go here are just a few examples: full tuition for two students; a teacher salary for a year; half of the price of a new computer.

We discussed the idea of turning an unused storage room upstairs from the school into a library. None of our students (or teachers for that matter) can afford books so no one reads much here. The few libraries that exist are for the wealthy elite or they are connected to universities so that only the students who attend those universities can use them. We thought that it would be wonderful to have a quiet, bright place full of literature in Bengali and English - novels, reference books, magazines - so that our students (and others in time) can have access to information that will expand their knowledge of the world and open their minds to begin questioning. Sadly this is often not a part of their experience in the school system here and is sometimes actively discouraged.

100 Friends has donated the funds to start our new library and it is now open and is a great success! Our heartfelt thanks to all of you involve with 100 Friends for helping to make so many of our dreams a reality!”

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9. Shuktara Project (Kolkata, India) - $215 – 7/22/03

Shuktara has two small family type homes on Kolkata (Calcutta) for orphan boys with disabilities. The youngest is Raju who has severe cerebral palsy affecting his lower limbs. With physiotherapy daily he is now taking steps and is enrolled in a local nursery school. He had been cared for on the street (where he was born) by his grandmother after his mother died and his father left.

The oldest boy is Bablu Lal., in his early 20s. He also has cerebral palsy and he had previously been moved from home to home. He now attends an Adult Training Center. He does printing and swims on his lunch break. Unfortunately his cerebral palsy was never treated and his legs are severely deformed. Other boys at Shuktara included plus other boys with emotional trauma and a great group of deaf boys. The boys have all grown in many ways and it is a great joy to see them develop individuality and enormous self respect plus a sense of belong to a community who fully embraces them.

"Marc Gold has visited Shuktara and is always welcome. We think 100 Friends is an amazing project. It helps very small NGO's (non-governmental organizations) that are not in the public eye and possibly more importantly individuals who Marc meets with needs that are quite astounding. As contributors to 100 Friends you are helping us all in ways that you could never imagine. The 10,000 Rupees ($215) Marc has donated to Shuktara this year will feed 11 boys and 5 staff for a month. It could also pay the rent on our two homes for a month or cover all our staff wages for one month. Marc has photos of the boys on his website. 100 Friends - Thank you!"

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10. Gurepole Children's Education Project (Kolkata, India) - $500 – 7/22/03

The Gurepole Children's Education Project is located about 40 miles from Calcutta. This program serves 22 very poor children in ages ranging from 7 to 15 years. The project provides educational training, books, exam books, pens, pencils, school uniforms and meals for the children.

The donated funds also help to pay for the salaries for the teachers. The monthly salary for each of the three teachers (working 6 hours a day, 6 days per week) is 1,000 Rupees (about $20 per month). The school did not have a toilet so one is being built. The electricity supply in the village is unreliable so extra gas lamps (4) have also been purchased. The school director is also paid 1,000 Rupees per month ($20). Thierry's right hand man is Bikas and he visits the school on a monthly basis. There is no rent because the school is held inside the very small mud house of the mother of Bikas.

The children and their parents are very happy about the school. The government run school in the village is not very good so this program is a huge improvement over the normal school program offered to the children. In the future the program hopes to obtain funds to build a proper school which will be much larger than what is currently available. The Gurepole Children's Education Project wishes to thank the 100 Friends project for their support.

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11. Sikkim Orphanage: Support TNG (Gangtok, Sikkim, India) - $430 – 7/22/03

This donation is to help my Tibetan friend Thinlay Gyatso start a special orphanage in Sikkim, India. It will house 25 orphans and also house and care for numerous elderly people as well. The elderly we select are those who are homeless and without family support – so in a sense the young and the old will all be orphans. Support TNG will purchase land and build a facility in the near future.

They will provide whatever help is needed to children of all ethnicities and their families, from paying for schoolbooks and fees to replacing tattered rags with new school uniforms, from providing family counseling in broken homes to paying for medical care.

Their initial goal is to establish a family environment where they can raise and educate 15 to 20 children and care for 5 elderly people at a time. Once their family model has been tested and refined, they hope to expand to help more children and seniors. They hope that the children they raise will go on to pursue service work of their own.

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12. Gu Chu Sum (Dharamsala, India) - $2215 – 7/26/03

The 100 Friends Project has supported this excellent program in the past. Here is some information about their work. You can learn much more about Gu Chu Sum by looking at their website:

http://www.guchusum.org/

The Gu-Chu-Sum (which means 9-10-3) Movement of Tibet was established on March 27, 1991 in Dharamsala, India by ex-political prisoners of the Tibetan freedom movement. Initially organized by monks, nuns, and lay people the Gu-Chu-Sum Movement grew out of the earnest, heartfelt wish to help the suffering Tibetans remaining in prisons in Tibet and to provide needed support to ex-political prisoner who have journeyed into exile. Gu-Chu-Sum is endorsed by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan Government-In-Exile, and the Indian Government. All 170 members of Gu-Chu-Sum are former political prisoners.

Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet was named according to the months in which major demonstrations occurred in Lhasa. "Gu" is for September 27, 1987, "Chu" is for October 1, 1987 and "Sum" is for March 5, 1988. On these dates major demonstrations were carried out by the three main monasteries in Lhasa and the monks who participated were suppressed mercilessly by the Chinese Army.

These monks were imprisoned for their efforts to regain Tibetan freedom and were brutally tortured, physically maimed, and often forced to do back-breaking labor while being fed starvation rations. Many of those tortured succumbed to their injuries and either died in prison or were released so that their families would have to deal with their relative's deaths. Currently, more than 1,200 prisoners of conscience are suffering torture, cold and starvation in Chinese prisons in Tibet.

The Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet is an organization, set up on 27 September 1991, made up entirely of ex-political prisoners. Their aim is to provide whatever help they can to former and present Tibetan political prisoners, as well as informing the international community, from governments and NGOs to individuals, of the suffering of Tibetans so that pressure will be put on the Chinese to respect basic human rights.

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13. Street people (Thailand, Burma, Laos, Cambodia and India) - $395 – 6/15/03-7/26/03

Women, children, monks, seniors, beggars, people without limbs, homeless people, street musicians, cobblers, street sweepers, garbage and rubbish scavengers, handicapped people and many, many others too numerous to mention. I always reserve some funds to help those I met along the way.

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14. Gul Jan Family (Kabul, Afghanistan) - $360 - 7/26/03

This group of families (23 people in all) were devastated by the wars in Afghanistan. Their homes were completely destroyed during fighting between different groups of fighters (Mujahaddin). !00 Friends helped this family purchase windows and doors so the kids and poor family will be warm next winter, the children were VERY sick last winter.

Their tales of being bombed are horrifying. One of the family members somehow found out that the fighters were coming to loot their house, rape the women, burn their houses and then kill all of them. They fled into the night with almost nothing but the clothes on their backs. They then faced an incredibly treacherous journey into the mountains, always in danger from bandits, fighters or the elements. They finally reached terrible refugee camps in Peshawar, Pakistan, where they lived an existence beyond comprehension for years.

After the Taliban were routed, they returned to Kabul where they have been rebuilding their lives, literally one brick at a time out of the very ground they stand upon. When I arrived at their house the devastation and the modest attempts at rebuilding, one brick at a time, was overwhelmed, sad and inspiring, all at once. The family was extremely happy to receive the assistance.

I noticed that there was no radio, TV, electricity or other amenities. I bought them a radio/tape player and extra batteries so there would again be music in the house. The children especially were delighted. In typical Afghan fashion, they said I was now their brother and that for the rest of my life I should consider myself as part of their family. We explained the idea behind 100 Friends and they seemed delighted.

Finally, I told the children that they should give some Afghanis (48 Afghanis=$1.00) to a person even more poor than them, at a time in the future that they could afford it. They loved the idea. All the children go to school and work doing anything they can to help support the family.

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15. Amir Khan (Kabul, Afghanistan) - $100 - 7/28/03

Every morning near the hotel Amir Khan goes across the street to beg. He is a victim of war and landmines. He has no legs or anything else below his waist. One arm is missing a hand. He has no device to help him get around. He simply uses his arms and stump of a hand to pull himself around. This money will go a long way to help him survive in many ways. Because a crowd started to develop we quickly explained the 100 Friends idea, gave him the money and wished him well. A few moments later he was gone. But the look in his eyes still haunts me..........A photo of Amir Khan and Marc Gold is posted on the website.

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16. Descendants of Nak-e-Mohammed the Matryred (Kabul, Afghanistan) - $1700 - 7/29/03

A man named Zar Mohammed is the director of this orphanage (the name of the orphanage is “Descendants of Nak-e-Mohammed the Matryred”). He is looking after 700 orphans and another 2,300 are on the way.

Read that again:

He is looking after 700 children.......2,300 more children are literally on the way coming from Iran and Pakistan. He has very little help. He is desperately trying to erect dirt and tent shelters before winter comes. I have seen the children and their condition made me weep. There is no clean water and 160 children were very sick this year. He owes money to some men for things he needed for the children. Yesterday they came looking for him, angry. He wasn't there so they beat one of the children, I met him today....broke my heart. He is a former military officer and his former colleagues all laugh at him for doing this work. He is getting very little help from the outside but supposedly the Afghan Government and some aid organizations will help soon. The donated funds are to help him to feed, clothe and educate the orphans.

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17. Afghan Mobile Mini Circus for Children (Kabul, Afghanistan) - $100 - 7/29/03

I met people from a small NGO who trains children in puppetry, costume making, set design, dancing, acting, joke-telling, acrobatics, painting etc. They go all over Afghanistan doing this and children have performed in front of as many of 6,000 people (adults and kids).

You must understand the significance of this. This land has been at war for 23 years. There has been no laughter, no joy, no singing, no dancing...let alone entertainment, especially for kids. I have seen photos and videos of these artistic and playful trainings for the kids and the performances..... It's very powerful and moving.

You can check out their websites here:

www.afghanmmcc.org

www.geocities.com/afghanmmcc

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18. AWEC (Afghan Women's Educational Center) (Kabul, Afghanistan) - $1100 - 7/29/03

This is a program for 120 children and 60 women. The children and the women all come from extremely poor backgrounds. They are teaching 45 of the older boys carpentry and construction techniques. Also, 45 women are learning tailoring and embroidery techniques. Since all of the women were illiterate, they are learning to read and write in Dari, the local language (very similar to Persian). They also learn about health issues such as diet, hand washing, diseases such as malaria etc.

After being trained in their crafts they receive small loans to help them get started in a small business. All of the children are getting what they call, "informal education". But in fact the government schools they may attend are very much inferior to the education they receive at the center. I visited all of the five classes, each with 15-30 students. They were so sweet. Each student stood up and talked about their family situation. Most involved sad stories of fathers killed or badly injured during all the wars or mothers struggling under dire conditions.
This program is unique because they have two social workers/counselors. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD) is practically an epidemic in this country, but people are so busy trying to survive that this matter is sadly usually left untreated. But the effects are very real and disabling.

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19. PARSA (Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Support for Afghanistan) (Kabul, Afghanistan) - $2000 - 7/31/03

"PARSA is a small, non-governmental organization (NGO) working directly with the needy people of Kabul, Afghanistan, particularly widows, who are on the streets begging, and those who have "fallen through the cracks" of the survey nets of the big NGOs.

Its aim and goal are to find work and/or develop skills so that these people can partly or wholly support themselves and their families. It works in a direct personal way to locate widows and to help them. The primary objectives and purposes of this organization is to provide education and charitable assistance to the poor in Afghanistan - particularly, but not limited to, the widows who are on the streets begging. We will accomplish this purpose by providing counseling, job training, financial assistance, and income opportunities for this population."

The 100 Friends Project has donated funds for a group of 30 poor women who are about to finish a training program in the use of sewing machines to make clothing. The clothes produced would benefit their own families and they can also sell or barter them to help the families. Since jobs are incredibly scarce and many women are unable to work even when there are jobs (because of attitudes towards women in the very conservative society in which they live) this affords them a chance to help the family survive while staying at home).

When the program is finished they will have skills but no sewing machine of their own. Thanks to your support all 30 women in the PARSA training program will be given a free sewing machine. They will also be given scissors and a quantity of cloth. I visited 15 of the 30 trainees to tell them they will be given these items and there were extremely excited and happy and sent their best wishes and thanks to all the 100 Friends.

There are older women who also need some assistance. It was determined that chickens are the answer! The 100 Friends Project will also buy 150-200 chickens for these 10-20 women (to be determined). They can sell or trade the eggs to buy food for the family. All the women are also given literacy training (reading and writing in the local language which is Dari, similar to Persian). Since they were forbidden to go to school during the reign of the Taliban, many of these women cannot read or write at all. There is also a beauty school training program. This is another job that women can practice at home. Finally, there is a handicrafts program that helps women produce goods to be sold for the benefit of their families.

Once both groups are "up and running" those who are able to will give a very small part of any earnings back to PARSA for a sewing machine repair fund and possible purchase of new machines for future students. A fairly small percentage of the donation will go to help with PARSA's overhead. They recently had to let some staff go and had to reduce the already small salaries of their reduced staff. This is a wonderful organization with years of experience and success.

To learn how to help them or simply to learn more about PARSA go to this website:

www.parsa-afghanistan.org

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20. Said-a-Kamir Family (Old Couple) (Kabul, Afghanistan) - $370 - 7/31/03

This is a simple story. An old couple are living in a house in Kabul. They provide housecleaning and gardening for their food and rent. The owner of the house has evicted all the tenants because he is selling the house. The old couple have nowhere to go, they don't even own a tent. They will be thrown out onto the street in 2 weeks. The old man is named Said-a-Kamir and he is almost 100% deaf. His wife's name is Bibi Yoquot. All of their family have died in the 23 years of war in Afghanistan.

Said-a-Kamir said, "I've worked all my life and now I'm old and penniless." We have arranged for this old couple to move onto the property of the Gul Jan family (described in #14 donation description). Thus we have arranged for one poor family to help another. The old couple will provide gardening, housekeeping and other duties for the Gul Jan family in exchange for food and board. The $370 is to be used to construct a small mud/brick room for them. Both families like this arrangement.

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21. Kallyan Nguon: Cambodian Student (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) - $200 – 8/23/03

Kallyan is a 21 year old Cambodian woman. She has parents, but they are very old and sick. She graduated from high school in 1999, but she never thought of going to the university because nobody explained to her the importance of continuing her education and she couldn’t afford to go. But now she has the chance to go the college because 100 Friends is paying for her educational expenses. The school fee without books is $380 a year or $200 per semester. She will be able to pay the school fee with her salary, but still she cannot make enough $200 in time to register for the very first semester. Now she is in school and doing well. We gave her some extra funds to search for a very poor person and she found an old man at a pagoda to help and gave the funds to him.

I received this message from my contact to Kallyan:

“THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR KIND HEART AND GENEROUS HELP. Kallyan and her family are so surprised and happy to hear that their daughter got a very big help from you, (from a man from the other side of the world they have never seen just for one time). I really cannot find the right words to describe how happy they are. THANKS MARC!!!”

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22. Wat Norea Orphanage (Sangke District, Battambang Province, Cambodia) - $220 – 11/7/03

A donation was made to the Wat Norea Peaceful Children's Orphanage located Battambang province in Cambodia. Led by a monk named Muny Vansaveth, the orphanage has raised orphans in the wake of civil wars, domestic violence, child trafficking and those left by parents who died because of AIDS. The orphanage has been running out of funds for food, medicine, salaries and other necessities. These funds will help them until more funds become available.

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