Thanks Charlie and Karl!
By Sam Carpenter / Kashmir Family Aid
Feb. 22, 2008
When I started this effort it was with the fear that I would one day simply lose interest; Just another American do-gooder caught up in the short-term emotion of yet another human tragedy. Over the long term, would I slide back into becoming totally absorbed with my own personal vicissitudes, forgetting this particular struggle that is 12 time zones away? True, it’s not been easy to keep focused, what with my new marriage, businesses and book, etc (all the usual excuses…). There’s also been very real political trauma in Pakistan which has made planning to go there a big-stakes game of musical chairs.
But, this has endured for me: The faces of those kids in the back country of Northern Pakistan and Azad Kashmir. My Pakistani and Kashmiri friends stay in touch. I love that place, and my earnestness about our project runs deep. So, forgive my small self-absorption for a moment: I am in this for the long-term.
Thanks to Charles Cusack and Karl Mandry for their steady support of our organization over the past year. These are two good hearted, generous guys, and I hope they know what their generosity has meant to the children. Thanks guys.
We are a 501c3 non-profit organization now. THAT was a long-time coming, a nightmare of paper-pushing. But, it is interesting that the application went through with no knocks on the door by any curious governmental agencies…in truth, the government has never hassled me about my Pakistani connections.
Great news: Kashmir Family Aid has hired a local man, 25 year old Christopher Stollar, who will assume boots-on-the-ground management and fund raising. He begins full-time on May 1st, just after Linda and I return to Bend. Chris feels strongly that he should tour the schools we support, so we’ll be flying there in May or June for a couple or three weeks (presuming the politics-of-the-moment permit travel). Thanks Chris! And welcome!
-sam c
We are looking for corporate sponsors and individuals to sustain several projects in Azad Jammu Kashmir and in Pakistan, ranging from building a school in the tiny, high elevation and very remote village of Serli Sacha, to assisting The Sewara Foundation that has schools in Muzaffarabad and elsewhere in Azad Kashmir and the Gilgit-Baltistan region ("Northern Areas") of Pakistan. We are also coordinating aid through IBTIDA foundation. For more information, contact me :
Sam Carpenter
541-385-1234
samc@kashmirfamily.org
