ANNUAL REPORT
October 2004
BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF
TWI
FOR THE CHILDREN, INC.
The
directors of TWI for the Children, Inc., listed below, consented to the holding
of said meeting by mail, on 11 October 2004, and to the transaction of any and
all business by the directors or voting by proxy, including, approval of 2005
projects, closure of 2004 projects and approval of the financial report for CY
2004 to date.
Dated: 30 October
2004
Lisbeth Willis, Board Member
Harry E. Soyster, Board Member
Julia Warden, Board Member
Philippe Dupont, Board Member
The
Board of Directors of TWI for the Children, Inc. held its annual meeting by mail
on 11 October 2004.
The
following directors and officers, constituting a quorum of the full board,
responded to the email meeting:
Bobby
J. Houser, President
George M. Houser, Secretary
Lisbeth H. Willis, Board Member
Julia Warden, Board Member
Ed Soyster, Board Member
Philippe Dupont, Board Member
The
following directors and officers did not respond:
None
Bobby
J. Houser, Corporation President presided and responded to mailed questions.
George M. Houser served as Secretary of the conference meeting.
ELECTION
OF OFFICERS
The
Chairperson requested confirmation of officers. The following persons were
unanimously confirmed in the offices shown after their names for the CY 2005:
Bobby J Houser, President
George M. Houser, Secretary
Each
officer accepted his or her office.
BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
Pursuant
to paragraph 3.4 of the Articles of Incorporation, the number of Directors will
be no less than three (3) or more than ten (10).
Board
of Directors: The
following persons have agreed to remain on the Board of Directors:
·
Mrs.
Julia Warden, Director, Accotink Academy, 1633 Bennington Hollow Lane, Reston VA
20194. (Member of the Executive
Committee of the Board)
·
Mrs. Lisbeth
H. Willis, Director of Alumni, Philadelphia University, 5914B Wayne Ave,
Philadelphia, PA 19144. (Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Board.)
·
LTG (USA,
Retired) Harry E. Soyster, 2181 Jamieson Ave., #1503, Alexandria, VA 22314
·
Dr. Philippe
Dupont, Associate Professor, The George Washington University, Foundation School
of Prince George’s County, 3917 Lorcom Lane, Arlington, VA 22207.
OTHER
BUSINESS
·
The Secretary has submitted payment for the
annual Corporation registration fee to the State Corporation Office.
·
A report of the TWI for the Children Bosnian
Activity, Year 2004 was prepared by the Secretary and filed at the Corporation
Office. The 2004 projects were as follows:
Project
Success in 2004
All
of our 2004 projects were affected by donations not being received until the
last moment and by the rate of the Euro against the dollar.
Fortunately, our volunteers from the New Jersey Synod and from the TWI
team paid for their Camp2Kids experience and did outstanding jobs of
fund-raising. We also received Euro grants from a donor in Greece to cover
expenses for both of our Training Workshop projects for adults in the field of
education and mental health.
•
Camps
2 Kids 2004.
During
the summer of 2004, we were able to expand this project to three Camp2Kids teams
by organizing a split-camp team within the New Jersey group and by adding
additional camps to the TWI group. Our volunteers continued a four-year
partnership with the New Jersey Synod Lutheran Church Teams and most of our
volunteers for the TWI Camp2Kids Team returned from 2003. The teams worked with
more than 2,000 children in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and in
Montenegro.
The New Jersey team, consisting of 23 volunteers formed in two-teams,
conducted camps at schools in Bihac, Banja Luka, Kozarac, Sipovo, Visoko, Foca,
Gorazde, Potoci, a village near Sipovo, Gradacac, Donja Mahala, Brcko and a
school in Sarajevo (Vojkovici). The New Jersey Team also held a two-day retreat
at the “House of Peace” in Rama.
The TWI team, consisting of six volunteers, hosted camps at a school in
Sarajevo and in the Republic of Srpska town of Trebijne. Two-day camps were
conducted at orphanages in Mostar, and in Montenegro. Single day camps were held
at orphanages in Sarajevo and Zenica.
Additionally, the TWI team conducted a “Day in the Park” for disabled
children from the “Learning Center for Disabled Children” in Sarajevo.
•
Training
Workshops 2004.
•
March
2004 Training Workshop.
Mrs.
Bonnie Miller presented Training Workshops concentrating on "Training the
Trainer with a focus on an introduction to Learning Disabilities and Attention
Deficit Disorders". The team traveled to three towns in BiH (Breko, Bihac,
and Banja Luka) and presented full day workshops. More than 450 teachers,
caregivers, parents and mental health professionals attended the workshops.
Workbooks, videos and handouts were provided to each school participating and to
all participants.
The workshops were made possible by a donation of 3000 Euro’s from a
donor in Athens, Greece. TWI paid for airfare for Bobby Houser, handouts and for
refreshments at each workshop.
•
October
2004 Training Workshops.
Mrs.
Miller continued to lead a series of “Train the Trainer”, LD/ADD workshops
at three new locations – Srebrenica, Gorazde and Travnik in BiH. This workshop
series was held 25 – 29 October 2004. More than 300 teachers, caregivers,
parents and mental health professional attended the workshops. Workbooks, videos
and handouts were provided to each school participating and to all participants.
The workshops in Srebrenica and Gorazde were particularly important as both Serb
and Bosnian professionals attended them. We received a generous donation of
4,000 Euros from our Greek donor to defray the cost of the workshops. TWI paid
for airfare for Bobby Houser and handouts at each workshop.
•
Humanitarian
Support
- The
TWI van maintained for our use while in Bosnia was updated with new windows and
roof rack.
TWI committed funds for maintenance of the vehicle.
The vehicle was used for Camp2Kids and the
"Learning Center" for Disabled Children even though TWI no
longer funds this project.
The van is owned, registered to and maintained by our driver in Sarajevo.
In September 2004
our driver was struck with an infection in his foot that required his leg to be
amputated below the knee. Bobby took donations for Vahid with her to Bosnia in
October.
•
International
Studies
–This
project now includes three sub-projects:
•
Studies
in America: This
project brings students from the Balkans to study in the United States.
“TWI for the Children” hosted a student from our Sewing Project to study
English in America. Mirella came to
the United States during the summer of 2004 to live with an American family with
the purpose of improving her English language skills. We were not able to find
appropriate classes for Mirella and therefore we stopped her project after two
months and she returned to Sarajevo. A gracious American donor paid for her
travel expenses.
•
University Instructors: This
project hosts university instructors to teach for two-week periods at a Bosnian
University in Mostar. We were not able to provide instructors in 2004.
•
Orphanage
Support: This
project, which couples an American university student with a Bosnian student,
sends instructors from the United States to the Balkans to work with orphanages
in BiH and in Montenegro. Although we scheduled a one-week English Language
course at the Montenegro Orphanage at the completion of our TWI Camp2Kids in
Montenegro, we were unable to accomplish this project. At the direction of the
Orphanage Directors, emphasis is placed on teaching English speaking skills.
Projects
Proposed for 2005:
The
board approved the following projects to be actively pursued by TWI for the
Children during CY 2005:
*
Camps
2 Kids: TWI
will continue this project with three teams. This will provide coverage of
schools and orphanages for the Camps2Kids activity and allow us to continue
working in Montenegro and expanding the project to new areas.
A TWI core group will coordinate the camp theme and oversee all teams
involved in the Camps2Kids project in BiH and in Montenegro.
Leaders selected by TWI will organize and supervise their teams.
Individual teams will provide funding for lunches, transportation, interpreters,
craft supplies and sports equipment for the schools they will visit.
*
Disabled
Children's Camps: This
camp will be conducted in conjunction with the TWI Team of the 2005
“Camps2Kids” itinerary.
It will be scheduled to consist of a 2-day camp at the monetary at Rama
for the children and their families.
*
Training
Workshops: The
Training Workshop will continue its traveling format from the past two years as
we reach more teachers. We want to also present a two-day Training Workshop at
the “House of Peace” in 2005 to give educators an opportunity to gather in
one place to share experiences of concerns they have with children.
A travel workshop will be held in late October 2005 to assist key
teachers, caregivers and academics learn more about subjects such as learning
disabilities in children, discipline, drugs, teaching strategies and other
topics specifically requested by the schools and orphanages. The participants at
this Workshop will be required to pay for their transportation to the workshop
and for their accommodations. They will also be asked to provide instruction to
their institutions upon completion of this course.
The degree of paid participation at this course will indicate how well
our courses are being accepted in Bosnia and which areas are receiving
educational training and financial assistance from the local school board.
*
International
Studies:
*
Orphanage
Support: TWI
will send student volunteers for short-term work at orphanages in both Bosnia
and Herzegovina and in Montenegro. We have been asked to emphasize
English-speaking instruction as a major part of our time with the children and
adolescents.
These instructors are university or graduate students involved in social
work and other areas of study.
These volunteers will spend extended periods at a single orphanage during
the summer of 2005.
*
University
Instructors: TWI
will host university and high school teachers to go to Mostar, BiH to teach
two-week courses at the Bosnian university in this city.
These volunteers will teach in the spring and fall school period of 2005.
*
Balkan
Tours: TWI
will conduct "the Balkan Traveler" an educational fact-finding trip
for groups to visit the Balkans to learn about the countries, the culture of the
people and to visit TWI projects.
The trips will be made on a for-profit basis to help pay for other TWI
projects.
*
Humanitarian
Support Projects:
There
are no projects scheduled.
Other: In
an effort to reduce administrative costs we are using our home number
(703-569-9213) as our TWI telephone line. We use "net2phone" for all
international phone calls and use our mobile phones for long distance calls in
the US. We have also changed our email ISP to twi4kids@earthlink.net.
We use our frequent flyer miles when possible to
fly to Sarajevo. The Euro/dollar rate has been extremely unfavorable and has
caused our project budgets to be under funded.
We must obtain additional funds for our projects, and are asking our
volunteers to pay more of their costs. Please, check out our web site and give
us your opinion (www.twi4kids.org).
We may have to consider stopping our web site if donations are not received.
·The
Financial Report for the period January 2004 to October 2004 was approved.
The
Board approved no projects for closure:
Budget:
The
Board approved the Financial Summary for 2004.
George
M. Houser, Secretary
TWI for the Children, Inc.
