Hi 100 Friends Supporters!

Greetings from Thailand. I have been in Asia since July 28th and it has been (as you will soon read) an extremely busy time and much has been accomplished to use your donations in the most effective manner possible.

I just came back from a short visit to Cambodia. One of the places I am working with is an extremely poor orphanage called, "Peace Orphanage". It is located about 20 minutes from the airport (Phnom Penh) in a village with very few resources. There are about 35 charming, beautiful and lovely children between 4 years and 18 years old, about equal number of boys and girls. Most are between 7 and 13 years old. There is a small staff who are rarely paid any salary and I know them for several years and it has been proven to me on numerous occasions that they are 100% honest. I have gathered together several people from the US and the U.K. who are helping me to help these children.

The food the children and the staff are eating is substandard and never enough. The skyrocketing cost of food and energy has hit countries like Cambodia very hard. Recently the United Nations World Food Program stopped giving free breakfasts to 450,000 Cambodian children because of the rising costs of food: http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-06-06-un-food-program_N.htm

I am not the UN, 100 Friends, as you know, is a tiny organization and at this moment I am concentrating on one orphanage. Peace Orphanage. I am working on several other projects as well but that is not the subject of this report.
So far here is what we have accomplished (fellow grassroots philanthropists Ryan Anderson, Samantha Kempe and Joe Channer are also significantly helping Peace Orphanage):

1. Roof replaced.

2. Floor and walls re-done.

3. Hired and paying $200 monthly salary of our good and trusted friend Sous Namee. He is a good English teacher and has become the overall administrator and planner for PO (Peace Orphanage). It is VERY important for these kids to learn as much English as possible as it opens doors.

4. Took one child to hospital and saved his life (he had a terrible infection).

5. Providing $100 per month for food. A Japanese group is also providing $100 per month per food. They still need another $400 per month to properly feed everybody...I am working on solving this problem.

6. Purchased kitchen supplies.

7. Purchased shoes, shirts, hats, skirts, short pants, long pants, toys, books and educational supplies.

8. Purchased rice, noodles. fried fish, fruit, vegetables, etc.

Right now only 6 of the 35 children go to school. That is because school fees are approximately $100 per year per child. I am also working on this problem as well. Whew! A lot of problems to solve! The big long-term problem is to get them some land and a proper building in the future: $30,000-$60,000; but first I am concentrating on food, health and education (when I come back next month all the children will go to the dentist for the first time...and get medical check-ups as well).

The Orphanage was given some farmland in one of the poor provinces several hours from here. There are three fields all about the same size. They want to grow potatoes which are way less vulnerable to insects than rice.

The basic deal is this:

They need $700 per field to get them up and running (this covers all associated costs). For each $700 investment in a field they estimate they will earn $1,000. If I can raise $2,100 for all three fields they will make $900 this year and much more in following years because the $700 for each field covers equipment and other start-up costs.

One of my primary goals for an organization like PO is to get them as financially independent as possible as soon as possible so they do not have to depend upon foreigners so much. I have written to one of my donors who I think will come through with some or all of the $2,100. Whatever I raise, I will send them at least $700 for one of the fields.

I LOVED visiting Peace Orphanage again and they put on an extremely lovely dance performance. I took all the kids and staff from PO and some grandmas to the Water Park and then for pizza. Wow! What a day...you never saw such happiness. None of them had ever done anything like that before!

I also donated $8,400 to the Center for Children's Happiness (www.cchcambodia.org). CCH rescues children who lived in the municipal garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This donation is an annual gift because 100 Friends is supporting 12 children. You can see films and videos about this program in the Multimedia section of the 100 Friends website.

Other current projects:

Sent $2,000 to purchase for 650 blankets for AIDS orphans in Malawi (Africa). This is through our friend Emily Phiri that I met in California last year. I was going to visit Malawi this year but I had to postpone it until 2009.

Here is their website:

http://kudomalawi.com/

The average income in this part of Malawi is $12 per year!

KUDO's mission is to improve the livelihood of the rural poor in Nkhata-Bay South by increasing agricultural productivity, increasing literacy, improving health and overall quality of life of the most vulnerable groups i.e. children, the aged and women and thereby build a better future for them and their families.

Here is an email from Emily to me written on July 31, 2008:

Dear Marc Gold

I am fine. I am so happy that you have found time to write to me and that you still remember of the people I talked about while I had that opportunity meeting you, one of the busiest persons in the world for the sake of well being of others.

Let me first of all thank you for your generosity of thinking of sending KUDO $2,000. The organization has a lot of responsibility of the vulnerable children in education and health. So if resources were available, they will go towards these programs. A report and pictures of beneficiaries will be sent to you for sure.

I had all the hope that you would come and the community had started preparations of your coming and that is why I had sent an email through Hon. Aleke Banda’s office to enquire of your coming. I am sad that you will not make it but I do understand that if you were to come, it would need a lot of preparation, therefore,, a lot of resources I will remain hopeful that one day you will make it so that you come and see the most beautiful and peaceful country at the same time meet the ever smiling people.

I wish you all the best in your endeavors of helping the needy people across the continents.

For proposals I would instantly extract two scenarios:

HIV/AIDS ORPHANS (Blankets)

-U$150 = 1 bale of second hand blankets = 50 blankets

-U$2,000 = 13 bales of second hand blankets 50 x 13 bales = 650 blankets distributed to 650 orphans.

TUITION FOR ORPHANS

-U$270 per year x 7 students x 4 years of secondary/intermediate education.

In plan (a) there are orphans who sleep under a tattered cloth or even sack!

In plan (b) so many drop-outs especially girl - orphan from school because of lack of tuition. The fee would cover tuition for 4 years of there intermediate education which is a basic requirement to enter higher education or technical training.

My life is so much occupied by work in the village. I spent most of time working with communities. Once in a while I do come into Lilongwe our capital city to where I have a small house. My two grandchildren and there parents live in it and that what I have as a family. I am happy that I work to rural poor, though resources sometimes are difficult to raise, but the people’s spirit are are an inspiration.

Yes, I have been asked to run as a member of parliament and I think I will take up the challenge for the sake of continuation of the development work that I am already doing for the people.

Safe trip to Burma and South East Asia.

Still hopeful of your coming when chance permits

Your friend

Emily

In another development, I am putting a young woman through Nursing School in the Philippines. Two months ago, her island was hammered by a typhoon. Adam Carter and I sent her some money to help some survivors, this is her report in her own words:

Dear Santa,

here's my report..sorry there's no microsoft word here in the internet cafe thats why my report is like these.

100 FRIENDS PROJECT

Last June 21, 2008, the typhoon "FRANK" gives disaster to all the people here in aklan. Many houses are destroyed
and also many people died. and we also mud flood. It so difficult to us what we had experienced but for my own opinion
i think its what they called "global warming" that mother nature wants us to realize to give importance to our own surroundings.
i think many people realize that , and now thank god that our place here clean and no more mud on the streets and everybody is back to business...

and in the past three weeks i prepared the goods that will be given to the people. i prepared can goods,1 kilo of rice in each family,and dried fish..and noodles i was not supposed to include the dried fish but my mom pleased me to buy her dried fish because she's selling dried fish and its good because its a delicious kind of food. i also buy plastic bags and i individually write "100 friends project" in each bags. my mom help me give goods to the 30 family including my uncle,remember?

and i also write on board "thank you, 100 friends project" and we also gives goods in kalibo my teacher help me, ms. Marinelia Torea my teacher she's so good to me i also tell here about you and 100 friends project. we give also give goods in 20 family and they are so happy and thankful but before we start giving the goods i give them inspiring words about all the good things you did to me and to my family and i also told them that you and 100 friends project are really want to help and i am just the only way...then we give them snack and let them eat before we giving the goods. then after giving the goods we had picture taking but the pictures are lost because of computer problem, so sorry...

hope you like it.

aubrey

Finally, I have been working with the Wishing Well Foundation for several years: http://www.wishingwellthai.org/index.php?action=activity〈=en

They are a Thai version of the Make a Wish Foundation. They work with children in Thailand who have terminal cancer. I have known at least six of these children who have since died. This year they are having a 3 day camping retreat for 50 children with cancer. 100 Friends has contributed 10,000 Baht (almost $300) to help pay for the camp.

Now I am assisting Wishing Well in a plan to provide hospice services to terminally ill children through Thailand.