Fall Fundraising Letter

We hope the photos, words and project updates we share in this year’s letter will help you feel close to the wonderful projects your donations support. We thank you for all the help you have given and continue to give to Susila Dharma USA.

Introducing Michelle O. Fried and FUEGOS (Food for Change)

Michelle is a North American citizen who has lived and worked in Ecuador since 1972. She held the position of Program Director for the World Food Programme and is well known in Ecuador as the woman who wrote the first cookbook of Ecuadorian food. The cookbook became a best seller and is still sold in airport shops as well as in grocery and bookstores. Besides cooking, Michelle had a role in helping to promote women’s organizations, through food to bring about awareness of domestic violence issues. In her early years living in Ecuador women were not allowed out of the house without their husband’s permission so they could not seek help if they were being abused. Michelle, along with an Ecuadorian doctor who worked with new mothers, offered a class in cooking and childcare. Since the class was about cooking and children the men permitted their wives to attend. Through this class, women opened up about their abuse and a movement to help these women began. These issues are still not completely resolved but greatly improved from those early days.

Although Michelle has retired from her United Nations position, she is still involved in development work through food. Along with others in Ecuador she recently founded FUEGOS, “Food for Change”, an organization of the civil society which uses food to bring about social, economic and environmental change. FUEGOS successfully opened a restaurant and food & hospitality school in San Vicente, a small fishing town near the epicenter of the 2016 earthquake this past year.

Open the link to learn more about this project or follow them on Facebook.

Giving Back To The World: Meet Fennisya

The BCU School in Kalimantan, Indonesia recently shared a story about one of their students who is now using what she learned at BCU to give back to Society.

As a young child Fennisya Veronica saw an ad in the newspaper about the BCU School. Although she didn’t speak English she begged her parents to send her to this school. She just knew it was what she wanted. Her parents relented and Fennisya became a student in 2005 and graduated in 2011. Here’s what Fennisya would like to share with SD USA members:

“BCU’s learning method focuses on practical interactions and nurturing human values as well as an enriching learning environment. BCU School has taught me how to adapt and be tolerant to differences. At this moment, I have created an International Foundation, Euroweek School of Leaders Indonesia in Central Borneo that values humanity and differences which focuses on enhancing English, leadership skills, Social, Communication, and creativity skills, and understanding different cultures, and being tolerant. BCU School has given me the mindset of giving and sharing and has also greatly impacted my personal development and professional skills indirectly. I stand for those same values until this moment that BCU taught me.
BCU is not just a school, it is like my home, a very welcoming place, and I want my community in Central Kalimantan to experience what I had.”

Visit SD Network Passport

If you want to feel good about the world visit SD Network Passport and enjoy. Posted on this network are presentation from SD projects like Quest, I Protect Me and many others. Just go to YouTube and search SD Network Passport.

Thanks to your help, we have met and surpassed our goal. More than $10,000 was raised for Susila Dharma projects, giving us a good boost towards meeting granting needs for 2022. Thank you for your support.

New Melinda Wallace Grant

SD USA has awarded a Melinda Wallace Memorial Fund grant of $500 to the Winston-Salem Subud group. The group became aware of a Subud member in Malaysia, Nadya Holland, who is helping Rohingya refugees receive education and health services. They were moved to establish an endowment fund to support Nadya in her efforts. The grant will be used to set up a website explaining this wonderful project. Please read the story about how the Subud Winston-Salem group is expressing the feeling of Susila by helping others who are less fortunate:

“The Hasnah Endowment Fund is established under the 501(c)(3) umbrella of Subud USA, Winston-Salem. The endowment is currently worth $15,000 which was donated in the form of equity in “Manara” enterprise. At the moment the endowment is able to very minimally support one project – the Anisah Center for Refugee Education – but our goal is to be able to send enough to this project so that it may really truly take off and turn into something wonderful. One day, God Willing, the endowment will be strong enough to be able to support other Subud-led charitable projects”.

Anisah Center — Subud Winston-Salem

News from I Protect Me

The seed money contributed several years ago from SD USA and other nationals has made a huge difference for this project. They are now at a point where they are attracting funds from larger non-profits. Read the note below from Randall, project director.

“A lot of good things also happened during this very challenging time. The department of social care has invited us again to apply for a grant for victim empowerment. We are having capacity building sessions with Nelson Mandela University. IPM is very present in the various communities and even more local partners are reaching out to us to share our knowledge with them on GBV (Gender based violence) and the resistance to abuse. We have a final draft of our independent research report, which we will be sharing very soon. Simone (Subud member living in the Netherland) offered to help us write our grant applications…and a lot more.

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. This really means a lot to us all. It is because of you and all the individuals in SDIA that makes our journey possible.

Randall”

Read the full letter.

Tijuana Family Outreach

For these young children school supplies mean they can attend school. Parents send hugs to SD USA members; proud children send smiles and share certificates for making the honor roll.

Now is the time to do the most good from your donation!

The Portland match has been extended to September 1st. We need $1,323 to reach our goal of $5,000, which means $10,000 to support SD projects throughout the world.

But wait, there’s more! Besides the Portland Match we also have a match opportunity from Borneo Football.

Borneo Football is constructing a Sports Center on the land next to Rungan Sari. The goal for completing this project is December 2023 just in time for the World Congress.

This complex will be the first of its kind in Central Kalimantan and will provide an income to support the charitable work now supported through grants and donations.

The project will expand their infrastructure at a cost of $350,000. They’ve already found donors to cover $290,000, and another donor has offered to match remaining donations until they reach the last $60,000!

Click here to view the Sports Complex.

What this means for those wishing to contribute to both SD USA and Borneo Football:

Donate to SD USA today and Subud Portland will double your donation.
Earmark your donation for Borneo Football and their matching donor will double your donation — again!

BCU School Update

SD USA received a wonderful update from the BCU School in Kalimantan that we would like to share with our members. They are grateful for the single desks, the projectors and the laptops that were procured from our donations. They are planning to reopen in person instruction as soon as the government allows.

Click here to see the full report.

Unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted some of the families who really value the education the school provides. BCU has a scholarship program to these help families.

If you or your Subud group would like to sponsor a child or contribute to this fund please visit www.bcuschool.org/scholarship-fund/. Every dollar will help.

As the great pandemic opening unfolds across the country, Subud Portland is emerging from its Covid cocoon with its annual Matching Fund for SD USA ready to go. Without in-person groups of members to appeal to, it wasn’t easy to raise the seed money needed for our Match! Our coffers were empty as the pandemic forced all of us inside and onto screens. We had to come up with a new plan, and the idea of creating a cookbook was born. We reached out to our local Subud members and the cohort of past Menucha gathering attendees to ask them to send us one or two of their favorite recipes. The response was amazing, and we are calling it: Quarantine Cuisine/A Virtual Cookbook.

Take a peek into the pandemic kitchens of our Subud sisters and brothers and see what they especially liked to cook up to help connect with lovely memories and delicious nutritious meals while life was so restricted. All donors to the Subud Portland/SD USA Matching Fund for 2021 will receive a free virtual copy of the Cookbook on line.

Despite the fundraising challenges of the past year described above, Subud Portland has been able to raise $5,000 to fund the Subud Portland/SD USA Matching Fund for 2021. We are proud to announce that we will match any one-time donations made to Susila Dharma USA by August 15 up to our total of $5,000. This is a great opportunity for donors to double their impact in helping support the close to 20 inspiring projects founded by or with the major support of Subud founders from all over the world, with emphasis right here in the United States. We hope that you will respond as generously as possible to this matching opportunity. Your free virtual cookbook will be emailed to you before September.

How to donate:

Please make your check out to Susila Dharma USA) and mail to:

Rifka Several
1196 Holmes Court,
Livermore, CA 94550

You can also donate on-line at: www.susiladharmausa.org/donate.

As always, we are forever grateful to all of our incredibly generous donors.
Blessings and deepest thanks to you all.

Friends of Susila Dharma at Subud Portland