Support Iraqi Student Project-Westchester!

Mustafa Ahmed (ISP) meets Demond Mullins at Andrewʼs 75th party. Demond (IVAW)
served in Iraqi with the National Guard. He patrolled Baghdad at the same time Mustafa
was a 14 year old student.

Dear ISP Supporter,

Happy Holidays! We at ISP-Westchester have enjoyed your generous and ongoing support for the past two and one half years of Mustafa Ahmed's very successful tenure at Manhattanville, now in the middle of his junior year.

As has been the case every semester, we will be sending you and many others a formal fundraising letter for the upcoming spring semester as we again raise our pledge of $8,000 to pay for Mustafa's room and board so he can take advantage of his full-tuition scholarship.

We decided to send this brief e-mail announcement so that those of you who want to can take advantage of the additional tax deduction now by sending a check dated before December 31, 2011. That, of course, would be a win-win for all of us. Then, when you get the fundraising letter in the spring it will serve as a detailed update on Mustafa's education and on the ISP project as a whole.

Thank you so much for your generosity. It makes an immediate, one-on-one difference for Mustafa and his family,

Best,

Howard Horowitz and Andrew Courtney
 

Tax deductible donations can be sent to:

ISP/Westchester
Fisher Avenue Post Office
Box 605
White Plains, NY 10602-9998

ISP Photo Show summer 2011

New Video About Iraqi Student Project

For more info, visit: http://www.iraqistudentproject.org/

Wed. June 29 -- A Summer Evening Celebration and Fundraiser!

Iraqi Student Project - Westchester Support Group

Mustafa Ahmed is entering his junior year at
Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY

Wednesday, June 29 6:00-8:00pm at the home of:
Alisse Waterston and Howard Horowitz
8 Forest Place, New Rochelle, NY 10804 (near Iona College)
RSVP: courtney6@optonline.net or 914 271-8633
RSVP on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=121998744550634

The Iraqi Student Project (ISP) began in 2007 to bring undergraduate Iraqi refugee students displaced by the War in Iraq to study without cost at U.S. colleges.

The Iraqi Student Project (ISP) began in 2007 to bring undergraduate Iraqi refugee students displaced by the War in Iraq to study without cost at U.S. colleges.  There are 48 ISP students studying at 36 colleges and universities in the US, surrounded by local, volunteer support groups.

The Westchester chapter of ISP supports undergraduate Mustafa Ahmed, a talented and dedicated student entering his junior year at Manhattanville College in Purchase, NY. Manhattanville College provides Mustafa with a full tuition waiver. Each year, the Westchester Support Group for the Iraqi Student Project must raise $17,000 for room and board for Mustafa.

But we can’t do it alone. We need your help! Please join us for a wine and food celebration-fundraising event to get more information on this wonderful, innovative program and to lend your support to this important project.

To contribute, please send your tax-deductible donation to:

ISP/ Westchester
Box 605
White Plains, NY 10602-9998

To contribute online and for more information about the Westchester Chapter: http://www.westchestersupport.org/

Watch a News 12 Interview with Mustafa Ahmed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tq0F89aiWo

August 1 Benefit Party in New Rochelle

The Hudson Valley Iraqi Student Project raised $2,450 at our August 1 benefit party at Joan and Sami's house in New Rochelle.  Half of the funds raised go to support college expenses for Mustafa at Manhattanville College, and half for Raed at Bard College.  A second fundraising party was held later in the month at Felice & Yoram's house in Tarrytown.  Thanks very much to our hosts and all who volunteered to make these events a success, and to all who attended and contributed funds in support of the project.

At the August 1 benefit, we had many delicious Iraqi and middle eastern dishes cooked by Farah (photo below), who was visiting from California, and many other cooks and helpers.  A special cookbook of the recipes served at the party was developed for the occasion (see cover below). 

If you weren't able to attend, please note that we have more copies of the cookbook and will send it to you a donation of $25 or more, through the http://www.westchestersupport.org/ site (Paypal or mail checks to our PO Box).  We need to raise as least $4000 for this year's expenses at Manhattanville so please make a generous gift if you can.  You can also sign up to make a regular pledge so we'll know that we can count on your support throughout the year. 

Thanks very much in advance for your help!  It makes all the difference for our young Iraqi students.

 

                  The Cookbook!
     Exclusive to Hudson Valley Iraqi Student Project

     You won't find this at Amazon or Barnes & Noble!

Group Photo

Farah, our chef extraordinaire, & Mirene

Mustafa & Alex

Michael and Mustafa enjoy some Iraqi food

Westchester Support Group

Iraqi Student Project

http://www.westchestersupport.org/

Iraqi students in Syria try to catch up

At summer school, Iraqi refugees in Syria try to catch up - CSMonitor.com

Iraqi boys study math at the Sabaa school in Damascus, Syria. Many refugee families have been unable to keep their children in school because they are needed to earn money.

By Sarah Birke, Correspondent / August 30, 2010
Christian Science MonitorDamascus, Syria

As Iraq struggles to bolster its fledgling post-war economy, some of the young Iraqis upon whom its success will depend are falling behind.
In Syria, which has absorbed the majority of Iraqi refugees, educational difficulties have become widespread. On top of the mental stresses and missed classes due to war, Iraqi students here face long commutes to schools that can accommodate them and pressing financial needs that pull them out of school to earn money for their families.

"The danger is a generation of Iraqi children ill-equipped to participate in the economy of their country," says Sherazade Boualia, the head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) office in Syria, which spends $6 million on its education initiative. "It is also fertile ground for exploitation, early marriage, and poverty."

Read rest of article

ISP Student Attends Clark University

Yes, Fouad, there is hope in America
Clive McFarlane
Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Telegram.com - Worcester Telegram & Gazette 

"...Fouad was the oldest of her five children and he was leaving in the morning on a promising but uncertain journey, so she helped him pack his bags that night. It was the easiest of tasks. He did not have a lot of belongings, and if there was ever a time of plenty in the family, he wouldn’t know..."

Read rest of article about Iraqi Student Project student at Clark University in Worchester, MA.

"Iraq Is a Shattered Country"

"Iraq Is a Shattered Country" - Nir Rosen on Obama Declaring an End to US Combat Mission in Iraq

Democracy Now

President Obama declared an end to the combat mission in Iraq Tuesday night in the second Oval Office address of his presidency. Although tens of thousands of US troops, special operations forces and private contractors remain in Iraq, Obama announced that Operation Iraqi Freedom is now officially over. We go to Baghdad to speak with independent journalist Nir Rosen. [includes rush transcript]

Listen to interview with Nir Rosen

Grim struggle continues for Iraqi refugees

FT.com / Middle East / Politics & Society - Grim struggle continues for Iraqi refugees:

By Andrew England in Abu Dhabi

Financial Times
Published: August 18 2010

"Nearly a decade after Saddam Hussein’s downfall supposedly opened a new era for Iraq, more than 1.5m of the country’s people are scattered across the globe as refugees from their homeland’s turmoil. Another 1.5m Iraqis have been displaced inside the country, unable to return to their homes, a third of whom live in squalid squatter camps."

Read rest of article

Iraqi students reunite in Bluffton, Ohio

Iraqi students reunite in Bluffton | The Bluffton Icon | Bluffton, Ohio:

"...Twelve Iraqi college students, now studying in the United States as part of the Iraqi Student Project (ISP), reunited for several days in Bluffton, Ohio. Housed in Bluffton University’s Neufeld Hall, they spent time with families of the support group for one of their own—Shahad Aldoori, an interior design student at Bluffton—and took a trip to Cedar Point."

Read rest of article