November, 2009

Dear Friends of TFF:

Once again, it is my pleasure to write this annual “State of TFF” letter. As before, I am sending this letter by email in order to save on postage, envelopes and paper.

Our ninth year as a not for profit organization went very well despite some new and difficult problems in China. We had three programs at HUST in Wuhan - July, September and October - all of which were received enthusiastically by the university and students. As usual, our teachers in all three sessions displayed their deep desire to aid the students gain confidence and improve their English skills. We sent 40 teachers to HUST in July, 36 in September and 16 in October.

For the first time, because of the H1N1 virus many of our July teachers were under quarantine for several days upon their arrival on the university campus. This was a university decision and not one caused by any illness among our group. The quarantine caused some problems with class scheduling and participation since many students had to attend other classes until their assigned teacher could get into the classroom. Our TFF teachers handled all of this with flexibility and understanding. Thanks to George Kiefer and Nancy Lutz for their leadership during this unusual time.

We were able to convince the university not to impose the quarantine on the September group unless absolutely necessary. Fortunately, we did not have to quarantine anyone. We had two groups – one on the Main Campus and another at Tongji - which were ably led by Rosemary and Bill Hallinan on the Main Campus and Norm Land at Tongji.

A new program for advanced student English speakers was initiated in October. Norm Land was in charge of this small group. There were a few difficulties with respect to classroom space but, overall, things went well.

We had one long term teacher at Wuyi University and have sent three to Hunan University. We have many requests for long-term (6-12 months) teachers- if you are interested, let me know. Several universities would like teachers to start this February.

We have started recruiting for 2010. We will hold our first meeting for prospective teachers from 1-4PM on Saturday, January 9th at the Eckstrom Library at Columbus and 22nd Street in Tucson. A second meeting will be held on Thursday, January 14th from 4-6PM at the Oro Valley Library. Based on last year, I expect that we will have a large number of applicants, so if you want to be considered, it is best that you go to the website – www.teachforfriendship.org to fill out an application.

We still maintain hope that we will be able to develop meaningful programs outside of China. To this end, we are communicating with people in Kazakhstan and Chile. Check the website, if you are interested in Kazakhstan since that seems to be moving along well.

As usual, our tours were well received and we will continue to offer them in 2010. We have not yet determined where the tours will go (of course, we will continue our 101 tour to Shanghai, Beijing and Xian) so check the website as information about trips will be posted just as soon as we can confirm them and have some idea of costs. George Kiefer and Judy Lee will, once again, provide leadership.

Under the guidance of Judy Liebman and Karen Loquvam, we are revising our Resource Guide which will be available to all accepted teachers this spring. Judy and Karen are changing the format of the Guide to make it more useful, deleting dated materials, and adding lots of new activities, including some from the survey responses of our teachers. Also, Dan Davidson is revising the CD. The TFF fee will be $50 for all accepted teachers and will include the new Resource Guide and CD. We will, of course, hold our training sessions after teachers have been accepted. Again, dates and venues will be on the website. We are planning to videotape our informational meetings and training sessions so they will be available to everyone.

Dan Davidson keeps our website up and current. Almost all answers to your questions will be found there; otherwise, feel free to drop me a note.

We have added two new members to our Board of Directors – thanks to Dee Malvern and Ned Ingram for their willingness to serve. Being a member of the Board takes a lot of time and hard work; I am most grateful to the entire Board for their dedication. Clearly, we could not go forward without their efforts.

We have embarked on couple of new ventures: if we can raise the funds, we would like to offer scholarships to deserving new teachers/students in ESL who would benefit from a stint abroad with TFF. We would like to start with two or three, and pay their airfare and some related expenses. In addition, we believe that our mission of building bridges of friendship would be well served by helping some student refugees, who today come from Asia, Africa and the Middle East improve their English by providing them with ESL dictionaries after they have satisfied certain criteria. These dictionaries are of a special type and we would like to be able to purchase 100 of them at approximately $35, each.

Finally, I remind you that TFF operates almost entirely on the fees paid by all accepted teachers and on donated funds. As we grow, we need to be able to fund our existing and new ventures. Clearly, we need your help. As you know, we are a charitable 501(c)(3),tax exempt organization registered in Arizona and with the IRS. No one involved with TFF receives a salary – all are volunteers who, like you, believe in the transformative power of person-to-person contact. Please consider making a donation to TFF. Checks should be made to our Treasurer, Don Phillips at 7494 E. Wandering Road, Tucson, AZ 85750-6213.

We anticipate a busy and productive 2010 and I look forward to seeing many of you again. On a personal note, my thanks to all who continue to inquire about Flora - we both appreciate you thoughtfulness and concern.

Happy Holidays to you and to all those about whom you care.

Bill