News Archives

Milk distribution in Sri Lanka (11/26/04) Another project in Sri Lanka (Image: 81380.gif) Milk distribution for the poor families.

MOTO Man (11/6/04) One Ummah Foundation has been working closely with Bernard Krisher and the American Assistance for Cambodia in building solar paneled computer-equipped rural schools in Cambodia. Addtionally, One Ummah Foundation is assisting in the development of the Motoman system. We are working to connect schools by expanding the Motoman e-mail delivery service to remote villages. The Motoman system uses motorcycles to collect email via Wi-Fi as they pass remote schools. The email is forwarded onto the Internet upon returning to a connected city. The Motoman system enables telemedicine diagnosis and treatment to villagers along with e-commerce and participatory democracy in rural areas. Consider a contribution. Small contributions make a huge difference!

Welcome our New Board Member (11/6/04) We are pleased to announce and welcome Ambassador S. Azmat Hassan (Ret.) to the One Ummah Foundation board of directors. Azmat is a Faculty Associate at the Whitehead School of Diplomacy at Seton Hall University and Adjunct Professor at Caldwell College. Azmat is former Ambassador to Syria, Malasia and has held Senior diplomacy positions in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and Afghanistan. Azmat Hassan will add tremendous value to the One Ummah Foundation organization.

IT lessons (11/6/04) Picture (40556.gif): In the classroom at The In Memory of Mustafa Saeed Rahman School (#205) in the village of Kanh Chheung, Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia.

Putting a Face on the Facts of Child Labor (7/6/04) Image: 760131.gif According to International Labor Organization statistics, there are currently over 250 million children in the workforce worldwide. A number like this can, at first glance, be unbelievable. However, the key to action is to remember that each child is so much more than just one more faceless statistic. Every single child removed from the hopeless cycle of child labor and placed in an educational opportunity is another prospective doctor, lawyer, businessperson, scientist or teacher. Developing countries need qualified professionals more than any other resource, but paradoxically, these are the very countries with the highest rates of illiteracy and child labor. In Pakistan alone, 18% of children ages 10-14 must work to help support their families. Each child typically earns about 75 cents a day for 9 hours of labor. Tragically, in addition to robbing these youngsters of their childhood, the work these children perform in mines, farms, and factories injures and kills hundreds of them each year. One Ummah Foundation is dedicated to moving these children from poverty, ignorance, and forced labor into an environment that promotes literacy and self-esteem.

Welcome to our new board member (5/11/04) Bernard Krisher was born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1931 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1941. He studied at Queens College, Columbia and Harvard. He moved to Japan in 1962 and joined Newsweek as a correspondent, later became bureau chief. Bernard moved to open the Fortune bureau as Tokyo correspondent in 1980 and also joined Shinchosha Publishing Co. as chief editorial advisor, helping to start up Focus magazine. He also set up the Japanese edition of WIRED for Dohosha. He acts as the Far East representative of the MIT Media Laboratory and member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Bernard is the author of five books, including Interview, "Harvard Diary," "The Plus & Minuses of Being Japanese," "We Who Lived in Japan," and "Charisma and Leadership with King Norodom Sihanouk." Currently, Bernard is engaged in co-authoring a series of books by eminent scholars and world leaders who have made a difference. Eight years ago he established two voluntary organizations, American Assistance to Cambodia: and Japan Relief for Cambodia, which support various charitable projects in Cambodia. Krisher is also the publisher of The Cambodia Daily and founder and chairman of the charity Sihanouk Hospital--Center of Hope in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, run by HOPE Worldwide. In 2001 he won the Gleitsman Foundation International Activities of the Year Award. His major current project at present is coordinating the construction of 250 computer-equipped rural schools in Cambodia from private donations matched by World Bank funds. He has made three trips recently to distribute food and medical supplies to the famine victims.

CNN focuses on Moto Man(4/18/04) The CNN program Global Challenges has featured Bernie Krisher and the Motoman project in Ratanakiri. *You can watch a video clip from CNN "Global Challenges" coverage on Cambodia here: medium quality: cambodia-cnn-128K.wmv (5.9Mb) higher quality: cambodia-cnn-256K.wmv The Global Challenges program can be seen on CNN International in Asia, Europe, Latin America and in the U.S. Global Challenges will be replayed for three more weeks on the same days at the same times.

Building bridges to Asia (4/15/04) Our South East Asian educational efforts are coordinated by Mr. Suliaman Ibrahim. He is an elder of the village of Phum Tria, and will be invaluable in helping One Ummah build relationships with communities in that area. He attended Al-Azhar University in Egypt and serves in the capacity of Vice Principal of the Phum Tria boarding school for boys. Local partnerships are essential to the achievement of our educational goals. One of our guiding principles is that we always work with the local communities to help lay the groundwork and determine regional priorities.

Founder visits Cambodia (2/15/04) Mohammad Rahman, the founder of One Ummah Foundation, visited Cambodia at the beginning of May. Unfortunately, Cambodia is still in disarray after years of Khmer Rouge control and subsequent political strife. Under this regime, which extolled the virtues of the simple uneducated peasant, all those who appeared to be educated or religious were executed. Wearing glasses, being a professional, speaking French, practicing Buddhism or the Islamic faith, were all offenses punishable by death. As a result of years of anti-educational fervor, Cambodia has one of the highest rates of illiteracy in Asia. According to a report in AsiaWeek, 65% of the adult population can neither read nor write. This lack of education has real-world consequences. Cambodian health care facilities are among the worst in the world. There is a ratio of approximately one doctor per 16,000 people. By contrast, Western Europe and the U.S. have an average of one doctor for every 300 people.. Last year, One Ummah contributed to the building of a boarding school in Phum Tria, a poverty-stricken village in the Cambodian province of Kompong Cham. During his visit, One Ummah Founder Mohammad Rahman visited the village and the school. Mohammad met with the children, many of them orphans who now live in the dormitory and attend the school. He was impressed by the warmth and optimism that he encountered among both the teachers and students. Mohammad was struck by, “these children who have so little materially, but are so full of spirit.” These orphaned boys had been living with distant relatives who had very little to spare. Now, at the new school, One Ummah Foundation is able to provide these children with three meals a day, a safe place to live, and the educational opportunity that is so rare in that region You will not find modern conveniences in the rural town Phum Tria. Here there are no telephones and no electricity. In fact, one villager confided to Mohammad that he dreamed of being able to purchase a battery operated fan to fight off the heat, but it would cost about fifty dollars, and neither he nor anyone else in the village could afford such an extravagance. So, the people do their best with hand-held fans to fight the overwhelmingly humid, tropical heat which ranges from 80° to 97°F. In Phum Tria, there is an urgent need for two more schools to educate both boys and girls. One Ummah is determined to fulfill the educational needs in this island town. Our long-range plan provides for twenty-five more schools for the young people of Cambodia.

The New York Times Features Teenage Trafficking in Cambodia Nicholas D Kristof,The New-York Times comulnist, features some articles and reports which describes the horrible reality of modern age slavery - trafficking of women for sexual explotation. The links to the articles are listed below together with the short CNN report. Girls For Sale. January 17, 2004; Bargaining For Freedom. January 21, 2004; Going Home, With Hope. January 24, 2004; Loss of Innocence. January 28, 2004. CNN Report: Girls lost to Cambodian sex trade (4:53). January 24, 2007;

Funds for a technical school (12/5/03) Children in Karachi will have more educational opportunities than ever, thanks to the kind donation of Mr. Austin Petersen. He has donated funds to establish a technical school in his name. The best location for the school is being determined at this time.

Board Meeting 2003 (11/26/03) In November 2003 we held our board meeting in Portland Oregon to plan the future One Ummah Foundation. The meeting had a global reach using telecommunications with board members participating in New York and Singapore. This well attended meeting launched what is looking to be a successful year. An initiative surfaced from the board meeting where an individual or organization donates a percentage of their business revenue. Thus far, Train Mountain, Rubicon Global Asset Management, AlwaysOn Network, Inc. and Christine Jurgensen are participating in this initiative. One Ummah Foundation has supported more than 30,000 students in Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. One Ummah Foundation is engaged in supporting widowed and destitute men and women, and their families with food, shelter, and clothing. One Ummah Foundation has provided more than $600,000.00 US dollars to help build five new schools in Karachi, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. One Ummah Foundation provides support grants for schools in Sri Lanka, India, and Indonesia as well. One Ummah Foundation board members have contributed funds for the construction of three schools under the direction of American Assistance for Cambodia. American Assistance for Cambodia is a sister organization and has built more than 235 schools in Cambodia. One Ummah Foundation continues to contribute to the deployment and use of Wi-Fi networks to helping eliminate digital divide. Our support of this initiative connect villages in underdeveloped countries with the Harvard Medical Center and Massachusetts Medical Center via Wi-Fi networks. One Ummah Foundation provides funds for clothing, books, classroom texts, stationery, infrastructure, computers, housing, and water fountains. We wish to welcome and thank our newest board members that have joined us during the past six months: Tammy Thayer - Portland, Oregon Al Rowley- Portland, Oregon Doug Keenan - London, United Kingdom You make it all happen!

Legacy of Libraries (7/13/03) Every school needs a library where children can go to study and satisfy their curiosity about the world. One Ummah is happy to announce that through the generosity of Mr. Quentin Breen, four new school libraries are already under construction.

One Ummah supports secular education (1/29/03) Secular education is a multifaceted, powerful tool in the development of sustainable communities and economies in developing countries. One Ummah Foundation is committed to a peaceful world enabled by educated individuals with the skills and abilities to be constructive, creative, collaborative and productive members of their communities. Secular education promotes the conditions that support a quality education for every child in our schools. Each school employs teachers that have subject area strength and are able to speak, read, write and teach English. Among the literate, those most gifted with the use of language, writers, are often at the forefront of documenting and challenging social conditions. Secular education provides experiences that promote inquiry as a basis for learning. Our students are provided lessons that are interactive, rigorous, reflective, and experiential that builds wholesome communities and encourages democracy. Personal and academic empowerment, developed in students, is our best hope of surmounting personal and social problems. Thus, taking advantage of the opportunities where the student resides. One Ummah Foundation promotes experiences customized to each students prior knowledge. Our teachers emphasize hands-on problem solving. Staff members provide experiences that enable children to make connections between facts, fostering new understanding. Instructors tailor their teaching strategies to student responses and encourage students to analyze and interpret information, then predict outcomes. Teachers also rely heavily on open-ended questions and promote extensive dialogue among students. Asking thought provoking questions, challenge learners to "see outside of the box." Our hope is to inspire greatness among common people. Secular education promotes thinking and reflection as well as the development of ethics. It is a core value of One Ummah Foundation to empower and enable all students to become life long learners. One Ummah Foundation is committed to providing schools that enable students to take advantage of the increasing set of choices that present themselves at the local level in our developing world. One Ummah Foundation is committed to the emotional well being of every child in our schools. Confidence, curiosity, self-control, relatedness, capacity to communicate, ability to cooperate, and resolve conflicts are all attributes of emotional intelligence and secular education. Our schools reflect our commitment to the emotional well being of each child. Researchers have concluded that people who develop the ability to manage feelings well and deal effectively with others, are more likely to live productive, peaceful lives, United Nations studies show that education raises income, promotes health and increases productivity, especially when the students are women. One Ummah Foundation is committed to developing opportunities for every child, regardless of their race, religion, or sex. One Ummah Foundation is committed to secular education that is designed to support each student as an individual, with a profound concern for the physical and emotional well being of each, and to provide a sense of belonging and community.