Aura's House March 2006 Newsletter

Entire Village Enjoys New Well in India. $2491 Raised so Far for Classroom in Philippines. Family in Guatemala only $100 Away from Beds and Supplies.

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

February was a busy month at Aura's House and a lot has been going on behind the scenes. To start, we recently got word that the water well for Rituparna and her village of Khordanahala in india is complete! Check out the official letter from Children International, photos, and 'Thank You' letters here.

Earlier in the month we also received photos and a profile of 8 year-old Christian Capin, a first grade student who is dreaming of a new classroom at the Sto. Nino Elementary School in Manila, the Philippines. Meet Christian and learn more about his home and school. So far we've raised $2491 as of March 1 for the Philippines Classroom Project. We have an upcoming fundraiser for this project in the New Jersey/New York City area on March 8, 2006 from 5-8 PM in Wayne, NJ. If you live in the area, please visit our Baja Fresh Fundraiser Page. Hope to see you there!

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, Luis Marcos (9) and his family, featured in our Small Projects section, are only $100 away from receiving badly needed beds, supplies, and home repairs. Visit this project. We're almost there!

Anastasia Yecke and myself will be traveling to Guatemala and Honduras from March 11 to March 19 to visit the first two families helped at Aura's House. This will be my first visit to either country and my first real-life meeting with my sponsored child, Aura Yesenia Solis Hernandez- the namesake and inspiration for this site. If you'd like to follow our day-to-day adventures (internet access permitting) please check our travel journal in the Aura's House forums. You can bet that in the next newsletter we'll have photos, stories, and video to share. I think it will be a strange sensation indeed to walk inside the real "Aura's House" and to finally meet Aura, now 12 years-old!

Here's to hope and to the promise that Spring is on the way. I'd like to send a special thank you to my student web interns that are helping out with all aspects of running the site this semester along with their other web duties for the school: Christina Vermeal, Kristin Isakson, Carina Wise, and Michele Catalano. For the full list of all our generous volunteers, (without them there would be no website) please visit this page.

Best wishes from Kristen Palana, along with Anastasia Yecke, Mike Epler, and the crew at Aura's House.

Meet Christian Capin (8), a First Grader at Sto. Nino School

Chrsitian prepares for school/
Christian Capin (8), is a student at the Sto. Nino Elementary School. Here he gets ready for school in his home, near the family's sleeping area.

Christian is one of the top five students in his class and has dreams of becoming a police officer, while his mother wants him to become a teacher. Christian shares a one-room shack with his family where everyone sleeps on the floor and their only window faces a neighbor's toilet.

Most of the children from the Sto. Nino Elementary School in Manila live in slums. For them, a new classroom provided through our Philippines Classroom Project will give Christian and his classmates (and their families) hope for a better future through education.

You can help children from the Sto. Nino Elementary School get a new classroom that will increase space, add more time to their school day, and improve their chances for breaking the cycle of poverty.

See more photos and learn about Christian's home and school.

March's Featured Donor

Elvis Kibiti, Mountain View, CA.

Elvis on the right with his Father and Sister.
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Special thanks to Elvis, who has been a repeat donor at Aura's House for multiple projects including the India Well, Zambia School, Small Projects, and Philippines Classroom Project. He even auctioned off one of his IPods and donated the proceeds to Aura's House in December! Thanks for your creativity and enthusiasm.

Elvis writes :

"I accidentally bumped into Aura’s House in the summer of 2005. I can’t quite remember what I was googling, I only remember telling my friends that “I found a jewel”. I am in awe of the projects that Aura’s House undertakes and the commitment levels displayed by Kristen, Anastasia and Mike among others who are actively involved with this organization.

I hail from Kenya (born and raised). I currently live and work in Mountain View, California. As a product of the third world, seeing people come together in the first world to help those living in unimaginable conditions means a lot to me. It gives me hope that one day, through unity (plus a couple of other factors) we shall all be able to live our lives to the fullest of our capabilities without being inhibited by lack of the more basic elements necessary for our survival and growth as human beings.

My journey in the giving realm began when aligned myself with my school’s NSBE (The National Society of Black Engineers at: www.nsbe.org) chapter. Giving has been one of the more fulfilling aspects of my life and Aura’s House only goes to add a sheer amount of joy to my life.

Thanks to everyone involved with Aura’s House. Now lets put some GASOLINA in the giving fire and send some kids to school!"

Weds. March 8, 2006. "Toot for Tots." Eat Mexican Food for a Worthy Cause. A Baja Fresh Fundraiser for Aura's House.

WEDS. March 8, 2006. 5-8 PM at Baja Fresh Mexican Grill- Route 23, Wayne, NJ. (Only 30 minutes from NYC.)

Auras House is having a fundraising event on Weds. March 8, 2006 from 5-8PM at Baja Fresh Mexican Grill on Route 23N in Wayne, NJ. Many William Paterson University teachers and their classes are going to be there. Join us and bring your friends and family if you live in the New Jersey or New York area!

Eat in or take out on March 8 from 5-8PM and Baja Fresh will donate 15% of proceeds to Aura's House. Our current project is to build a classroom for 4,611 slum children in Manila, the Philippines. Help these kids break the cycle of poverty through education by eating lots of great Mexican Food. Learn more about the project here:

All you need to do is bring our flyer to the cashier when you order. Get your flyer at our Baja Fresh Fundraiser Page or find Professors Kristen Palana or Lauren Razzore at the event.

Thanks in advance for your help with this worthy cause! You've got to eat, so why not make a difference at the same time?

What's Next : We will be fundraising and promoting our Philippines Classroom project as well as continuing to raise funds for our Small Projects section. We're still waiting on news from the Zambia School project and photos from the first Small Project, completed in January.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 now accepting entries until April. 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.

• Please note, this donation button, along all the others on the site are for the current Philippines Classroom Project. To donate online to the Furniture fund on our Small Projects section, please donate from this page.

I prefer to donate offline.

Thanks for checking out our newsletter.
Don't forget to tell your family and friends about: aurashouse.com

© Kristen Palana 2003-2008.
This website is for nonprofit, charitable purposes only

Rituparna Mandal (11) and her mother of Khordanahala Village, India pose with the brand new, complete tubewell that Aura's House donors made possible. Thank You! See more photos and read thank you letters here.

Previous Newsletters :

February 2006

January 2006

Newsletters from 2005

Newsletters from 2004

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In 2005 Children International launched an online fundraising tool inspired by Aura's House called SponsorThon. Since then, it has now grown and evolved into the Lift One Project.

Just $22 a month will help a child get basic medical and dental care, schooling, clothing, and more. Learn more about Lift One.

Luis Marcos (9) and his family are only $100 away from receiving beds, supplies, and repairs to their home. Luis's sponsor, Amalia Marshall of the UK is raising funds for the family in our Small Projects Section. Visit this project.