Dear Aura's House Donors, Friends, and Supporters,

Phew. It feels like a years worth of news happened in March alone. Where to start?

Well, first, as of April 1, 2006 we are more than halfway to our goal for the Philippines Classroom Project. with $4214 raised so far! At the start of March, we had a successful fundraiser with William Paterson University Art Students in New Jersey. Over 200 students, faculty, and staff showed up and ate $800 worth of food. It was a great social event and we raised close to $300 in a short amount of time. Check out the photos from this event. Also, thanks to Aura's House partner Mike Epler, his company Countrywide matched an earlier $800 donation he made around Christmas. Hopefully in the near future, Christian Capin (8) and over 4,000 of his classmates in Manila, the Philippines will have adequate school facilities to study in.

Also this past month, not only did we get the photos from finished Small Project #1 for Levy in the Philippines, but we completed two other Small Projects: Small Project #2 for Luis in Guatemala and Small Project #3 for Cindy in the Philippines. We've even launched a new Small Project on 3/26/06 for Kenci Julissa and her family in Honduras. They live in a small one-room hut and own only one bed and have no electricity, kitchen, or toilet facilities. Our goal is to raise $500 to buy Kenci and her family beds, furniture, food rations, vitamins, and supplies. Visit this Small Project. Only $295 left to raise as of 4/1/06.

And finally, the biggest thing to happen in March, at least for me...was that I finally got to meet my sponsored child Aura Yesenia Solis Hernandez (12) of Guatemala! That's right. Aura's House Partner, Anastasia Yecke and myself took to the skies and found ourselves visiting Aura's real house in Guatemala and also the home this website helped build for the Rojas Family of Honduras. Many of our donors and volunteers kept up with Kristen and Ana's misadventures day to day in our online travel journal. You can now also see the photos here. Video clips are also coming soon.

All in all, it was an amazing month. Special thanks to Mike Epler, Christina Sidoti, and Christina Vermeal who helped out so much with the site while Ana and I were away. And thanks to all our visitors for keeping up with our projects and helping so many deserving families with small donations that add up fast.

Best wishes and Happy April,
Kristen Palana and the Aura's House Team

What's Next :

We'll continue fundraising for our Philippines Classroom Project and work with interested Children International sponsors on our Small projects Section. We'll be also adding video clips from the Guatemala and Honduras trip. Also soon, we will add Spanish translations of select pages on our site, thanks to Mariana Gil Sir, a volunteer from Venezuela.

We're still waiting on news from the Zambia School project as well as photos from Small Projects 2 and 3. To keep up with any new developments, please check out our Community Forums for news and updates. Don't forget to stop in and introduce yourself.

Our Art Contest is accepting entries only until April 30. If you or someone you know is a high school art student, please let them know about this great portfolio building opportunity.

We're also always looking for people to help out with fundraising, design, graphics, promotions, and keeping the site going. Interested? Please contact Kristen (kpalana@aurashouse.com) if you have any comments, ideas, questions, or suggestions. Volunteer Job Positions can be found here.