![]() Home |
1999 Newsletter | back to current newsletter
School Number SixOur sixth school, to be finished in October 2000, is located in Zhongdian, a Tibetan village in northwest Yunan Province. It was largely funded by Mr. and Mrs. P. Hu of San Jose, CA. The Hus traveled to Yunan in 1998, built their first village school there to honor the memories of Mrs. Hu's parents. Mrs. Hu joined FORCE in 1999 and is now one of its four board members in charge of finance.A Recent Trip to Inspect the SchoolsIn October 1998, FORCE co-founder Lin-yi Wu, with her family (all active members), visited Ansai County to see the first four Friendship Schools.They received a red carpet welcome: dancing and parades by the schoolchildren, meetings with local school board officials, and fine hospitality from the people of Ansai County. The gratitude and pride of the village people who contributed free labor, the smiles of the children who left their dark caves to attend classes in bright new brick buildings amply rewarded our efforts. Please watch this space as we mount photos and more details of this wonderful visit. New Home in Northern CaliforniaIn 1998, four years after its inception, FORCE is now based in Berkeley, CA. It has become a non-profit (501c3) corporation, which means that all US donations are now tax-deductible (tax id #: EIN 94-3322936). FORCE obtained its status from the help of an attorney in Oakland for a nominal fee. Jim has since acted as our pro bono legal consultant. We are ever grateful to another donor, Bill, of Tennessee who put us in touch with Jim and helped financed some of the required legal work.Art from AnsaiBesides funding school projects and scholarships, FORCE has also staged exhibits of peasant paintings and papercuts from Ansai County. Proceeds from the sales of the art work were shared between FORCE and the Ansai Institute of Culture. It is hoped that more exhibits will be done in the future as the art work is unique in its long tradition and bold colors and forms reminiscent of such avant garde painters as Picasso and MatisseIn 1995, the Wus hosted a master papercutter, Bai Feng-lian, whose grandson attends one of the Friendship schools. Proceeds from sales of some papercuts she left us went to build new schools.
|