Newsletter
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
SELAM Foundation Newsletter
Get To Know SELAM Foundation August 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get To Know SELAM Foundation
-- SAVE THE DATE - August 26 from 4 to 8 PM. Birthday Party and Fundraiser - Please Celebrate With Us!!!
-- ETHIOPIA - Our First Trip
-- The Biology Scholars Program - Our First Educational Partnership
-- Next Stop - The Phillipines! NOTE: THIS TRIP HAS BEEN POSTPONED
-- MEET DR. SEBLE FISSEHA
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the first newsletter of SELAM Foundation. For those of you who haven't yet heard of SELAM, we are a newly formed humanitarian and educational non profit foundation which sponsors service learning experiences for undeserved youth where they participate in medical service missions to international communities in need. The launching of SELAM represents the fulfillment of the vision held by our founding Board of Directors, a remarkable team of ethnically diverse professionals, physicians and educators. To learn more about us, please take a look at our website. SelamFoundation.org
In this, our first newsletter, you will hear about upcoming activities and events including our organizational "birthday party" fundraiser, our upcoming medical mission trip to Ethiopia, and a profile of one of our board members, Dr. Seble Fisseha, and a sneak preview of our second mission trip to the Philippines, coming up in January 2007.
SAVE THE DATE - August 26 from 4 to 8 PM. Birthday Party and Fundraiser - Please Celebrate With Us!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please come join us for a celebration of friendship, caring and commitment as we formally launch SELAM Foundation by coming together to eat, drink, dance and revel in the good company of SELAM friends and family.
The gathering is scheduled for August 26, 2006 from 4 to 8 PM and will be hosted by SELAM board member Dr. Bill Lewis, his wife Vaishnavi and their daughter Yashoda in their beautiful Berkeley home. This is sure to be the absolutely best party of the year. To log-in to your personal "E-Vite" page, CLICK HERE!. For those of you who cannot attend our party but still wish to make a "birthday gift" show of support, you can CLICK HERE. to visit the SELAM contribution page or go directly to our Paypal page here. Make a Donation If you have any questions regarding how you can donate to SELAM, email us at donations@selamfoundation.org
ETHIOPIA - Our First Trip
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SELAM's first mission trip is becoming a reality - We are going to Ethiopia! On October 5 a SELAM team of staff members and 5 student interns will travel to Ethiopia on a 17 day medical mission to provide a range of critically needed treatments to persons in need.
Our first mission trip will have three components - in surgery, pediatrics and public health. SELAM board member Dr. Bill Lewis will perform ENT surgeries at Yekatit 12 hospital in Addis Ababa hospital. SELAM director Dr. Seble Fisseha will lead group members in providing clinical pediatric services at the AHope orphanage and Barlow House Clinic, and other locations in Addis. The group will also visit the small city of Bahir Dar, to investigate feasability of establishing a family health clinic where it is most needed. Dr. Lewis will be teaming with other doctors from Global ENT Outreach and ENHAPA (Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association), to provide critically needed ENT services to children and adults. To learn more about the surgical rotation, take a look at this newspaper article featuring the efforts of SELAM Board member Dr. Richard Wagner.
Click Here To Read Article
The Biology Scholars Program - Our First Educational Partnership
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On August 7, we formally began our first student internships with 5 interns from the remarkable Biology Scholars Program at U.C. Berkeley ("BSP)" . For those who don't know BSP, it is a unique and hugely successful undergraduate program at UC Berkeley designed to promote the success of students from economic, gender, ethnic and cultural groups historically underrepresented in the biological sciences. Last year 40 students from BSP applied to medical school and exactly 40 BSP students were admitted!
There are currently about 500 students enrolled in BSP and about one-third of them have expressed interest in medical school or other medically related career paths. In this way, the partnership between BSP and SELAM is a natural expression of our interrelated missions. At its heart, BSP is also about community service, and most BSP students are motivated by their heartfelt commitment to dedicate what they achieve to serving their communities and the world at large. In this way also, the relationship between our two organizations is complementary and symbiotic.
Next Stop - The Phillipines! Please note: THIS TRIP HAS BEEN POSTPONED
SELAM's second trip is scheduled for January, 2007 where we will be partnering with the Philippine Medical Society of Northern California (PMSNC) in their annual mission trip to the Phillipines. We are excited to announce that on this trip our student interns will include select high school students from the Faces For The Future program at Children's Hospital and Research Center at Oakland.
Each year for the past 20 years, The Philippine Medical Society of Northern California sponsors teams of volunteer doctors, nurses and support staff to visit impoverished rural communities in the Philippines. The breadth and depth of the medical services rendered and population served in these weeklong mission trips is truly remarkable, ranging over the years to up to 9,000 patients. Dr. Lewis has had the privilege of participating in the Mission in both 2005 and 2006. The size and sophistication of these trips make it a perfect opportunity for a larger group of SELAM volunteer physicians and nurses to take our first group of high school students as “junior medical interns” in an environment that while challenging and life transforming, is also extremely safe, well organized and providing of a variety of unique service learning opportunities. To read an interesting letter describing the group medical mission taken in 2000, click here.
MEET DR. SEBLE FISSEHA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am so gratified to be a member of the SELAM Foundation Board of Directors and to help lead our first trip to Ethiopia. To understand my passion for this work, you have to know a little bit about my own personal journey.
I am of mixed Eritrean and Ethiopian descent and was born in Ethiopia. I lived there for the first 10 years of my life. As a young child, I suffered from terribly painful recurrent ear infections and related problems and despite my parents heroic efforts, we were unable to get medical help for me. During that time, Ethiopia was not only impoverished but also ruled by a brutal dictator. My parents, who were politically active, were threatened with arrest and possible death. We made a decision to try to leave the country, which required a harrowing overland journey on foot through the desert to a refugee camp in Sudan. Because of her young age, we had to leave behind my 2 year old sister, Semhar, who stayed with my grandparents. We would not reunite with her for another 11 years. (Semhar, a recent graduate of UCLA, will be joining us as a volunteer on our first mission trip!) (To read more about Dr. Fisseha's remarkable journey, Read Dr. Fisseha's Story)
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: newsletter@selamfoundation.org
phone: 510-868-0276
web: http://www.selamfoundation.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward email
This email was sent to peter@petermeadow.com, by newsletter@selamfoundation.org
Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Powered by
SELAM Foundation | 2961 Summit Street | Oakland | CA | 94609
Get To Know SELAM Foundation August 2006
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Get To Know SELAM Foundation
-- SAVE THE DATE - August 26 from 4 to 8 PM. Birthday Party and Fundraiser - Please Celebrate With Us!!!
-- ETHIOPIA - Our First Trip
-- The Biology Scholars Program - Our First Educational Partnership
-- Next Stop - The Phillipines! NOTE: THIS TRIP HAS BEEN POSTPONED
-- MEET DR. SEBLE FISSEHA
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the first newsletter of SELAM Foundation. For those of you who haven't yet heard of SELAM, we are a newly formed humanitarian and educational non profit foundation which sponsors service learning experiences for undeserved youth where they participate in medical service missions to international communities in need. The launching of SELAM represents the fulfillment of the vision held by our founding Board of Directors, a remarkable team of ethnically diverse professionals, physicians and educators. To learn more about us, please take a look at our website. SelamFoundation.org
In this, our first newsletter, you will hear about upcoming activities and events including our organizational "birthday party" fundraiser, our upcoming medical mission trip to Ethiopia, and a profile of one of our board members, Dr. Seble Fisseha, and a sneak preview of our second mission trip to the Philippines, coming up in January 2007.
SAVE THE DATE - August 26 from 4 to 8 PM. Birthday Party and Fundraiser - Please Celebrate With Us!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please come join us for a celebration of friendship, caring and commitment as we formally launch SELAM Foundation by coming together to eat, drink, dance and revel in the good company of SELAM friends and family.
The gathering is scheduled for August 26, 2006 from 4 to 8 PM and will be hosted by SELAM board member Dr. Bill Lewis, his wife Vaishnavi and their daughter Yashoda in their beautiful Berkeley home. This is sure to be the absolutely best party of the year. To log-in to your personal "E-Vite" page, CLICK HERE!. For those of you who cannot attend our party but still wish to make a "birthday gift" show of support, you can CLICK HERE. to visit the SELAM contribution page or go directly to our Paypal page here. Make a Donation If you have any questions regarding how you can donate to SELAM, email us at donations@selamfoundation.org
ETHIOPIA - Our First Trip
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SELAM's first mission trip is becoming a reality - We are going to Ethiopia! On October 5 a SELAM team of staff members and 5 student interns will travel to Ethiopia on a 17 day medical mission to provide a range of critically needed treatments to persons in need.
Our first mission trip will have three components - in surgery, pediatrics and public health. SELAM board member Dr. Bill Lewis will perform ENT surgeries at Yekatit 12 hospital in Addis Ababa hospital. SELAM director Dr. Seble Fisseha will lead group members in providing clinical pediatric services at the AHope orphanage and Barlow House Clinic, and other locations in Addis. The group will also visit the small city of Bahir Dar, to investigate feasability of establishing a family health clinic where it is most needed. Dr. Lewis will be teaming with other doctors from Global ENT Outreach and ENHAPA (Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association), to provide critically needed ENT services to children and adults. To learn more about the surgical rotation, take a look at this newspaper article featuring the efforts of SELAM Board member Dr. Richard Wagner.
Click Here To Read Article
The Biology Scholars Program - Our First Educational Partnership
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On August 7, we formally began our first student internships with 5 interns from the remarkable Biology Scholars Program at U.C. Berkeley ("BSP)" . For those who don't know BSP, it is a unique and hugely successful undergraduate program at UC Berkeley designed to promote the success of students from economic, gender, ethnic and cultural groups historically underrepresented in the biological sciences. Last year 40 students from BSP applied to medical school and exactly 40 BSP students were admitted!
There are currently about 500 students enrolled in BSP and about one-third of them have expressed interest in medical school or other medically related career paths. In this way, the partnership between BSP and SELAM is a natural expression of our interrelated missions. At its heart, BSP is also about community service, and most BSP students are motivated by their heartfelt commitment to dedicate what they achieve to serving their communities and the world at large. In this way also, the relationship between our two organizations is complementary and symbiotic.
Next Stop - The Phillipines! Please note: THIS TRIP HAS BEEN POSTPONED
SELAM's second trip is scheduled for January, 2007 where we will be partnering with the Philippine Medical Society of Northern California (PMSNC) in their annual mission trip to the Phillipines. We are excited to announce that on this trip our student interns will include select high school students from the Faces For The Future program at Children's Hospital and Research Center at Oakland.
Each year for the past 20 years, The Philippine Medical Society of Northern California sponsors teams of volunteer doctors, nurses and support staff to visit impoverished rural communities in the Philippines. The breadth and depth of the medical services rendered and population served in these weeklong mission trips is truly remarkable, ranging over the years to up to 9,000 patients. Dr. Lewis has had the privilege of participating in the Mission in both 2005 and 2006. The size and sophistication of these trips make it a perfect opportunity for a larger group of SELAM volunteer physicians and nurses to take our first group of high school students as “junior medical interns” in an environment that while challenging and life transforming, is also extremely safe, well organized and providing of a variety of unique service learning opportunities. To read an interesting letter describing the group medical mission taken in 2000, click here.
MEET DR. SEBLE FISSEHA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am so gratified to be a member of the SELAM Foundation Board of Directors and to help lead our first trip to Ethiopia. To understand my passion for this work, you have to know a little bit about my own personal journey.
I am of mixed Eritrean and Ethiopian descent and was born in Ethiopia. I lived there for the first 10 years of my life. As a young child, I suffered from terribly painful recurrent ear infections and related problems and despite my parents heroic efforts, we were unable to get medical help for me. During that time, Ethiopia was not only impoverished but also ruled by a brutal dictator. My parents, who were politically active, were threatened with arrest and possible death. We made a decision to try to leave the country, which required a harrowing overland journey on foot through the desert to a refugee camp in Sudan. Because of her young age, we had to leave behind my 2 year old sister, Semhar, who stayed with my grandparents. We would not reunite with her for another 11 years. (Semhar, a recent graduate of UCLA, will be joining us as a volunteer on our first mission trip!) (To read more about Dr. Fisseha's remarkable journey, Read Dr. Fisseha's Story)
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: newsletter@selamfoundation.org
phone: 510-868-0276
web: http://www.selamfoundation.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward email
This email was sent to peter@petermeadow.com, by newsletter@selamfoundation.org
Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Powered by
SELAM Foundation | 2961 Summit Street | Oakland | CA | 94609
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