FWB inspires Aman ki Asha!
		FWB.net - a web portal for online connections ... coming soon!
		Watch the incredibly inspiring FWB videos online!
		The World's Largest Love Letter
		The press goes wild across India and Pakistan!
		Prime Minister Singh thanks kids and FWB
		A massive concert on the India-Pakistan border?

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Greetings Friends Without Borders Volunteers Throughout India!

Thanks to the participation of all the volunteers who are receiving this email, we now have coordinators serving in most states throughout India to reachout to schools and get more children involved in this historic letter writing campaign.  We are delighted to have this opportunity to serve together in this heart-to-heart experiment.

Please Provide Region Updates

I wanted to write to you all to see how each of your campaigns is progressing in your respective regions.  Please email me (trishna@charityfocus.org) an update to give me an overview on how things are going and also, if possible, include:

(A) How many total volunteers are involved in your area
(B) How many schools are you planning to talk to about the campaign
(C) How many schools have you already approached
(D) Any questions you have

I will be sure to share each regions updates with everyone in another newsletter next month!

Update on FWB Mumbai Event: Sunday, February 19th, at Wankhede Cricket Stadium

The World's Largest Love Letter travelled from Bangalore to Mumbai to be unveiled once again for another 2,500-3,000 school children around Mumbai to write messages and paint hearts.  The purpose of creating "The World's Largest Letter" and holding events in various cities is to increase publicity and raise awareness throughout India of this letter writing campaign in order to give more children the opportunity to particpate in building friendships with children in Pakistan.

Festivities in Mumbai started by 8am on the morning of February 19th as the first group of children arrived one hour ahead of schedule; thereafter, nearly 2,500-3,000 more children poured into the stadium to get things going.  Students were provided with markers, juice, biscuits, and takeaways as each group was registered and guided into the stadium by the over 70 Friends Without Borders volunteers that helped to stage the event.  During the event, no one complained about the sun or the heat. In fact, the kids hardly paused to drink water as they signed their school tarps and painted hearts and messages on the Letter.

The schools from Navi-Mumbai (New Bombay) showed up in force, which is amazing, since most Mumbaikers believe Navi-Mumbai to be the end of the world. One school rented an SUV to bring 10 students to the event because their buses did not have the permits to leave Navi-Mumbai. Another school came with their own local TV reporter and crew. St. Lawrence school had their monitors wear their dark navy jackets.

Aditya Puri Charitable Trust was able to bring 10 children from the slums of Jogeshwari to the event, and delivered over 600 letters the next day from letter-writing events they had organized in 7 slum areas in Jogeshwari, Andheri and Vile Parle west, 100 of which were in Urdu. A volunteer for iVolunteer went and picked up three street kids from near Victoria Terminus to bring to the stadium. And a number of other NGOs working with street children brought contingents of 30 to 50 kids.  One of the guards at Anjuman i Islam Allana High School, where Maria supervised the painting of the school tarps over a period of three days, was able to come with the students and art teacher.

All in all, it was an inspiring event that touched the hearts of many people, who felt that it was something meaningful and magical and special to be a part of.

You can see pictures of the event on some of our coordinators' blogs:
Yoo-mi: yoomilee.wordpress.com/
Mark: http://www.memestream.org/
John: tobetrue.net

A message from the founder of Friends Without Borders, John Silliphant:

I really want to thank everyone for sharing in this adventure with us.  In the end, it's not about names or groups... it's about a bunch of people coming together throughout India to support a dream.  This is a historical experiment.  Never before has kid power been harnessed in such away as a force of change in the world.  Together, we are gathering all their goodwill and seeing what can come of it.  It is such an incredible pleasure to work with all of you and I really hope we can keep doing it in many ways for many, many years to come.

We hope you are enjoying the journey with us as more children are given the opportunity to build lifelong friendships with children in Pakistan.  Again, if you have any questions about reaching out to schools in your area or anything else, please do not hesitate to email me at trishna@charityfocus.org. 

Looking forward to receiving individual updates from all of you on the activities taking place in your regions.

In the spirit of friendship,

Trishna

Volunteer Coordinator,
Friends Without Borders
http://www.friendswithoutborders.org