6/26/2007
Hi Sandira,
Thank you for being on the Global Nomads Group mailing list. If you’ve been a long-time subscriber, you know that we respect your time. We take great care in keeping your inbox free of junk mail and try to stick to information that might be relevant to you.
Today, we have a very special request to make of you and the 3,500 individuals on this list: please help us support one of our alumni, Sari, to attend Georgetown University, where he has recently been accepted.
We met Sari Saffa in 2003 while in Iraq during our Project Voice program (linking Iraqi youth in Baghdad with their counterparts in the US). At the time, Sari was in high school and stood out among his peers for his sense of humor and dry wit. During one of the videoconferences, he spoke with his American counterparts about stereotypes: “We don’t like to ride camels…I don’t have a bomb in my pocket. And you don’t look like cowboys who like to fire, Pow Pow!”
As we all know, Iraq is unstable. It is particularly dangerous for Sari, a Christian studying medicine in the center of Baghdad. Sari has lost several friends since the beginning of the war, and his father was briefly held captive just this past January.
Through a relationship with Georgetown, we submitted an application on Sari's behalf this past spring. Georgetown was very understanding of his situation and considered his application with no SAT scores and after the official deadline had passed. Last month, Georgetown informed us that it had accepted Sari for this fall and had allotted him a $14,000 scholarship each year for the next 4 years. This was incredibly generous of the University, considering that all scholarships had already been allocated prior to Sari's acceptance.
Meanwhile, at Sari’s medical school in Baghdad, word quickly spread that he would be attending an American University. His mother and father decided that for his safety it would be best for him to leave immediately and join his family in the north of Iraq.
Sari is one of the kindest, brightest students we at GNG have ever come across. Although college counseling is not part of our mission, we cannot walk away from someone who has given us and his counterparts so much.
We are ultimately hoping to raise $168,000 over the next four years to support Sari’s education. We immediately need to raise $42,000 to supplement Georgetown's scholarship and cover tuition and room and board for the 2007/2008 school year. To complicate matters, Sari needs to prove that he can afford his education at Georgetown before the US Embassy will even start his visa process (which will take several weeks at best).
The four GNG founders are each committing $250, or $1,000 total to Sari’s education. This is a start, but it is not nearly enough. Please let me know if you would be interested in pledging funds toward Sari's tuition and education. One hundred percent of your contribution will go directly towards Sari's schooling; we are working with Georgetown on the best way for it to be allocated to him. Please contact me directly with any ideas you might have: david -at- gng.org or 212 529 0377.
Finally, please share this email with individuals whom you think may be interested in supporting Sari.
Many thanks for your consideration,
David
Global Nomads Group
Director of Programs
david -at- gng.org
212 529 0377
Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 04:16AM 