Fall Fundraiser update:

Thank you to those who have been moved to contribute to Susila Dharma and the projects we support. This year we have been especially grateful for the funds given in the names of those who passed on recently. It feels like they’re still here helping to make a difference in the world.

• In memory of my parents and grandparents (Jawaharlal Prasad)
• In memory of Harris Clemes (Benedict and Aminah Herrman, and Marilyn Schirk)
• In memory of Stuart Sundet (Hassanah Nelson)
• In memory of Robert Feltman’s 1000th day (Lydia Feltman)

You can donate to our Fall Fundraiser by following this link. Now is the time when we receive most of the funds to support 2022 grant requests. Thank you for your support.

Covid-19 Relief Efforts at Anisha

We also want to thank the Guru Krupa Foundation, our partner in supporting the Anisha Kitchen Garden Project in rural India. We share this update from this project.

As the world has struggled with the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020, India was particularly hard hit in the spring and summer of this year. In a very rapid progression of the disease across India, the government imposed a tight lock-down that forced millions of workers living in India’s large urban areas to return to their villages of origin. When they got there, life was very tenuous with very little chance of earning an income or managing to feed families restricted by the lockdown. Anisha had to abandon its plans to launch Year Five of its successful Kitchen Garden Project (KGP) because of school closures.

With the situation growing rapidly desperate, Anisha and other local leaders banded together to find ways to help stranded families survive. Anisha’s focus went on to food relief and transporting Covid patients to treatment and quarantine centers. An appeal went out to one of Anisha’s major donors – the Guru Krupa Foundation based in New York state – to reallocate funds they had designated for Year Five of the KGP to fund Anisha’s Covid relief work. The Foundation immediately responded by offering its KGP Year Five grant of $10,000 to support this vital local effort. As a result, 520 local families received life-saving dry ration kits, and gasoline expenses to support the free transport of covid patients were covered, as well as PPE for volunteers.

Deepest thanks go out to the Guru Krupa Foundation for its dedicated and significant support for Anisha over the last five years. When their help was most urgently needed this year, their response was immediate and very greatly appreciated. As Susila Dharma does its work in the world, having partners like the GKF makes all the difference!

Update from Michelle Fried, FUEGOS founder:

“Our first group of students graduated in a ‘solemn ceremony’ followed by a fun fiesta with food and dancing. We are so proud of them, as are their parents/significant others. Together we celebrated the formation of ambassadors of real, healthy food that highlights the students´ cultural identity, their newly-developed skills and the products of the land and sea.
Iche, the B Corporation of social responsibility restaurant, is hiring two of our graduates. We trained them and they will have good jobs.”

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.