PEACE FLAG

Children and youth from Seattle, Sammamish, Tukwila, ...

THANK YOU for your participation.

Kids Without Borders Peace Flag was presented to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

BACK FROM INDIA

Our KWB volunteers (and board members), Beth and John Daynes, joined by Leslie Walker and Shannon Goodwin, are back from Ladakh, India, where they were able to distribute supplies donated by our generous KWB supporters to victims of the devastating flash floods. The downpour that occured on the morning of August 6, 2010 was the worst ever recorded in 1,200 years of Ladakh history. They focused their efforts on families in two of the hardest hit villages, Saboo and Choglamsar. Your cash contributions are being used to help restore normalcy to this devastated area.

Later in the trip, Beth and John had the opportunity to present the KWB peace flag banner - created by Seattle area children - to representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. Everyone in Dharamsala who saw the banner was deeply touched by the sweet sentiments of the children.

THANK YOU for your generous donations to the KWB Ladakh Flood Relief Project. We also greatly appreciate your participation in the Peace Flag project.

Peace Flag leaving for India

Thanks to all who participated project. Based on traditional Tibetan flags, local children have designed flags with dreams and wishes for other children in the world. In August, Beth and John Daynes, KWB board members, will be traveling to Dharamsala, India to present the flag project to the Dalai Lama as a gift of peace and goodwill.

Update: tragedy has struck one fo the areas that Beth and John are going to visit. A couple weeks ago, a flash flood struck in Leah and killed and injured many people, with many more missing. Beth and John, volunteering for KWB, have just gotten permission to work in the relief camps in the area. Their focus is on supporting the children in the camps. They will be bringing supplies donated by KWB and local groups across the Puget Sound. We thank you for your support in money donations for the Leah relief project- special thanks to Physio-Control and Microsoft employees (local ASHA for Education group) and the local friends who contributed. Thanks to you, we are going with needed supplies to a critically distressed and isolated area. Beth and John will not be in an area where communication is readily available, so look for an update from them when they return in mid-September.

Polio Fight Connects Seattle & India

Watch our friend/supporter/volunteer/colleague/fellow humanitarian Penny LeGate in action:

Polio Fight Connects Seattle & India
CityStream Thursday, June 11, 7 p.m.

SEATTLE — This week on CityStream, Penny LeGate travels to India to report on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s $355 million partnership with Rotary International to eradicate polio.

Once polio ravaged the entire world, including the United States, but through the use of vaccine, the disease has been virtually eradicated except in four countries: India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan. Over the last twenty-four years, Rotary International in partnership with the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF has achieved remarkable results reducing cases of polio worldwide from 350,000 cases in 125 countries to 2000 cases in the aforementioned nations. The key is to deliver oral vaccines to the population most at risk of catching the deadly paralyzing disease: children under five.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $100 million in 2007 and $255 million in 2009 to help carry out Rotary International’s effort. In India, CityStream’s LeGate documents Rotary’s efforts and interviews Seattle Rotarians about why they return year after year to seek out children who have not been vaccinated. She explains that poor sanitation, rampant malnutrition and the presence of other virulent disease contribute to South Asia’s relatively high rate of infection. And she brings back footage of the children who are being saved by this program and those that have already been stricken by polio.

WATCH THE STORY by following this link: http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=3070923

This week’s CityStream, Thursday night at 7 p.m., SEATTLE CHANNEL, Cable 21 or watch it online at www.seattlechannel.org .

Reporting from India

Our very good friend from KIRO Television (CBS - Seattle) Penny LeGate is on the road again. This time: India.

India has taken a new place in America's consciousness, thanks to the huge success of the small budget movie, "SlumDog Millionaire." ... follow Penny's travel blog:
http://www.kirotv.com/station/18675726/detail.html

About Penny: http://www.kirotv.com/contact/1868168/detail.html and her current assignment (Going Green Northwest): http://www.kirotv.com/goinggreennw/index.html