I do specifically thank Kamu, Bill, Saikou, Hashim and Kasim, Kannan, Ildiko and Ilari, Unnop and Pailin, Soda, Kaija, Esa, Virpi, Ville, Pentti, Matti and Matti, ........
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CHAFF Newsletter Issue 01
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Dear friends,
- First Birthday of CHAFF
- Meeting this SATURDAY is at Pohjankartano
- Our Sponsored Footballer gets GOLD
- Our Sponsored musicians cut their FIRST CD
- CHAFF Help Fund
1. First Birthday of CHAFF
A typical Chaff meeting this summer.
It is with great pleasure that I can inform you that we are celebrating ONE YEAR of the Chamber of Assistance of Finns and Foreigners (CHAFF).
Starting from just four people (Kamu, Bill, Saikou and myself), from this circulation list I find I am addressing over 200 of you around the world.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Arpad Hamos from Hungary/Austria, Chilli a great lady engineer from China, Anais, a youth worker from France, Paneer Subramaniam, a social worker who was active during the tsunami, and Dr. Sebastian a Deputy Director of Research into wireless systems, both from India, Michaela, a youth worker from Slovakia, Isaac’s family from the US, are just some who came and took part in our efforts to help our fellow men by offering fellowship. We had participants from China, India, Venezuela, Zambia, Gambia, Thailand, Germany, Turkey, Australia, England, Sweden, USA, and of course many many Finns.
All this has been logged on the CHAFF blog.
Many thanks to so many of you who have contributed photographs to make this site popular. We have readers in all continents and participants from all continents
Many of you helped many people in many ways - materially and emotionally. But above all by giving your time when most needed.
Our records show that we handled well over 100 cases last year. We helped people who suffered from psychiatric problems, financial problems, legal problems, physical spouse violence, alcohol addiction, those who faced deportation, those who had problems to get their residence permit in Finland, finding accommodation, and even a case relating to where a Bangladeshi student was arrested in India. We, from 7000 km away, were able to help him.
Those who came forward and helped, loved doing it.
We did have a few failures. But we have learnt much from these.
We must continue to strive to help others selflessly.
There is much work still to be done.
But more about that later.2. Meeting this SATURDAY at Pohjankartano
This week’s CHAFF get together will NOT be on Sunday at the Pailin Restaurant, but on Saturday 14th October 2006 at the Pohjankartano School (Suvantokatu 1) where there will be an International Market.
The International Market will start at 14:00 hours and we will be there till 18:00 hours.
Many CHAFF participants are taking part.
Those of you who missed the Thai festival will be able to see the highlights as all the major musicians, dancers and Thai boxers will be there in a special half hour starting at 14:30. The Thai Embassy is flying out two representatives to take part in the event.
There will also be many other cultural events at the festival.
But those of you who still want to meet on Sunday - I will be at the Pailin Restaurant with some Chaff die-hards, as usual!3. Our Sponsored Footballer gets GOLD
It is with great pleasure that I must inform you that in his very first year in Finland, one of the youngsters we sponsor, Soda, got the GOLD medal for his contribution to the Tervarit Musta Football Team which won all its 9 matches and topped their league.4. Our Sponsored musicians cut their FIRST CD
Thanks to Ilmi Dubrani of Walda, the Thai Boys, Yut, Khim and Soda, were able to cut their FIRST CD at the Multi Purpose Youth Centre in Maikkula.
I remember giving Ilmi Dubrani and his group from Kosovo a chance to perform at a football match between an Albanian Youngsters Team and Tervarit team over 6 years ago. Ilmi has repaid me in full by helping these youngsters in cutting their first CD.
I was at the recording session. The music was great. Tune No. 3, a very old Thai melody, spiced to a modern tempo, had Ilmi, Jussi and me stomping our feet and drumming with our fingers inside the studio box!
For a first CD attempt, the boys had very little of reworking to do. Soda played drums and did some chorus vocals, Yut played the lead guitar and did the vocals, while Khim played the base guitar and did some chorus vocals.
Jussi, with his Mac music set-up, is a true professional and helped the boys get the best out of their effort.5. CHAFF Help Fund
During the last year we worked with absolutely no funding but small personal contributions which helped defray some costs and pay for those who could not even afford to pay for a meal. Everyone contributed their time and effort totally out of goodwill.
There are so many to thank. The list is endless.
I do specifically thank Kamu, Bill, Saikou, Hashim and Kasim, Kannan, Ildiko and Ilari, Unnop and Pailin, Soda, Kaija, Esa, Virpi, Ville, Pentti, Matti and Matti, ........
As our efforts grow, it appears that we must have a fund with which we can help people in distress. The money will not to be disbursed as gifts but as low interest short term loans.
Many months ago I had broached this subject. Several of you came forward to offer small sums of money to form this fund. On a couple of occasions when some people needed financial help, I approached a few of you and the help flowed freely.
But the burden was shared among a few of us.
If you share the values that we believe in as a CHAFF participant, may I kindly request you to make a small contribution towards the CHAFF Help Fund ENTIRELY WITHIN YOUR MEANS. Your contribution, even if it is just Euro 5, can be put in an sealed envelope along with your name and your contact details. Hand it over to Unnop at the Pailin Restaurant or to me.
If your contribution is MORE than Euro 20, you can transfer from your bank to the following Bank Account
NORDEA 249818 - 69968
and in the Message Box put in the text "Chaff Help Fund".
Whatever amount you contribute will be refundable at 4 weeks notice with nominal interest.
To start the fund, Annikki and I are each contributing Euro 250 each.
As an example of those who have already been helping take care of matters, Kannan, from Rauma, has been contributing a nominal Euro 17 per month.
Remember, it is drops of water that make up an ocean. Even the smallest contribution can be of great help to someone in distress.
Many of you who have received help during the past year must have wondered how we were able to help you at the drop of a hat, without thinking for a moment about the time and money that was invested in helping.
Now it is your turn to offer help to others in trouble or those who urgently need our help.
All contributions will be acknowledged. The contributions and the details of recipients will be kept strictly confidential so as not to embarrass anyone. But the "masked" accounts will be able to be viewed online by both contributors and the recipients, but without mention of their identities.
(I will be using the Google Spreadsheet feature. It does mean that you have to have a gmail account to be invited to view the spreadsheet. If you do not have a Gmail account, i will invite you to open one for yourself. It is free and you get over 2 GB of storage plus many free services from Google)
See you all on Saturday at 14:00 hours at the POHJANKARTANO SCHOOL, Suvantokatu 1, Oulu.
Jacob Matthan
Kampitie 6 B
90150 Oulu
Finland
Tel: 041 - 7067788
email: jmatthan@gmail.com
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