April 15, 2021

Respected John Sir,

I don't know where to start  and how to start. So let's start from our first meeting. I hope you remember, our first meeting was in my ola cab. On that day you had booked my ola cab to go to the market from Priya's house. That day was also a normal day for me like the rest of my working days. I did not know that God was going to introduce me to a special man today. That man was Dr. John Bickert !

God had sent him to add some color to my colorless life and show the right direction to my directionless life. But I can not know in the first meeting. I picked him up from Priya home and dropped back like a normal customer and I thought that he came from another country and should have taken more business from him, then I had requested him. Sir, whenever you need a cab please call me any time. So this is how my journey Started with Dr. John and I did not realize it. When did he become a part of my family! We can also say that Dr. John's personality is such that he would make everyone his own within minutes. And I strongly believe that he is nothing less than a magician. Because the magician attracts everyone by hypnosis and Mr. John attracts everyone by running a spell of love.

So After first meeting we took many trips. Dr. John also introduced me to CFTW and provided knowledge about CFTW. Vision and Purpose of Cftw is to spread love and help those in need, Providing basic health facilities including healthcare and education in third world countries. And then I understood the reason for Dr. John's arrival in india. 

I always wanted to help others, due to the lack of income and lack of the right path I could hardly help needy people and whenever I had a chance to help a needy person I tried to help. We are human beings and this is the most unique thing created by God. And I strongly believe that God helps those who help others. So, Dr. John showed me the right path and  he started bringing me with him to help needy people. We visited many Places like ruler areas in delhi, punjab for giving treatment for any health related issue. We also visited schools / Colleges to help needy students who want to study, but because of the lack of money in the family, they are unable to study further.

I am thankful to Dr. John because he gave me the opportunity to serve others. Dr. John also helped me and helped my family alot during covid -19 lockdown periods. He helped us financially by buying groceries and paying the children 's school fees.

There are a lot of things to write and speak for him, But for a person like him, the more you write is less for him. There are very few people in the world. Who leave their mark in the hearts of others but you are one of them my dear Dr. John.

In the end it is thanks to God from bottom of my heart that he gifted me a friend like Dr, John. We love you alot. Sir. You are a legend for us.

and wish you a very very happy wedding Anniversary.

With Regards,

Amandeep Singh

Personal initiative is part of Spiritual Life. It is part of our freedom to chose how to act. When Charity reflects our love for God, and through that, we assist those in need, it is indisputable evidence of our love for God and, in turn, our love for others.

When giving is difficult, it is a more extraordinary act of your love for others. Mother Theresa is an excellent example of the freedom of action in Spiritual Life. 

Do not miss your opportunity to help those in need with your gift. 

Please Donate Now. 

God Bless,

Thank you

Dr. John Bickert,

President

CFTW 

We have just past the decade anniversary of the gigantic Japanese earthquake/tsunami which occurred on March 11, 2011. A force so strong, it not only shook Japan, but the rest of the world along with it. If you were over the age of 10 you probably remember what you were doing that day, and every news source providing updates on it for weeks afterward.

On that day, a 100-year-old Clock was stopped by the jolt, as one of it’s parts must’ve been knocked out of position. After this the clock has rested at an antique store to present day. However, this year on February 13^th, nearly 10 years after, Japan was struck with another Earthquake, while it was not as damaging as the massive quake of 2011, it still created fear. Many scientists believed this was still an aftershock of the original one. This aftershock must have been the correct amount of force needed, as it somehow turned the clock back on. 

The 58-year-old antique store owner claims this as a sign of restoration. World-wide efforts were made to assist Japans efforts in cleaning up the nuclear damage, along with providing aid to those who lost their homes and businesses. Although, the lasting impacts have still been lingering, in cases like this we must look towards instances such as the clock for hope.

At times we all fail to consider our privilege, and the fact that everything around us, the things, people and places we take for granted can be taken away at any moment. For the families who were impacted by the Tsunami, they are still dealing with radiating damages over a catastrophe which occurred 10 years ago.

But: “Education is the key to opportunity. It's a ticket out of poverty” – Barack Obama

References:

Clock stopped by Japan earthquake restarts decade on. (2021, April 14). Msn. Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/clock-stopped-by-japan-earthquake-restarts-decade-on/ar-BB1fEzMv

Having a disability is never a choice, but sadly it is a trait which can prematurely determine the success of the individual. This is visible in North America, with the subminimum wage legally given to individuals with downs syndrome (National Down Syndrome Society). In other cases, we see the recent integration of sign language training for health care professionals to accurately assist patients with hearing loss (Eldridge v. British Columbia, 1997). All of this being understood, we must strive to acknowledge how disability discrimination can be amplified in countries like India.

Poverty is kind of like an overruling theme in India, with roughly 300 million people living below the poverty line, it definitely finds its ways to seep through every single infrastructure in the country, damaging and hindering progress of the entire population. This is evident when we look at education rates, which are directly indicative to employment opportunities later on. India has made attempts to improve inclusivity for disabled children in the past, passing the Integrated Education of Disabled Children (IEDC) act in 1975, which worked towards integrating those with mild to moderate disabilities into regular classes with financial aid (Sharma, 2005). However, this initial attempt like the many which followed were unsuccessful, as the UN reported that 75% of children with disabilities have never attended school a day in their lives in 2019 (UNESCO Office New Delhi).

To help combat this, Dr. Bickert went to one of the only 388 hearing impaired schools in India. This is where he met a Jyoti, who at the time was in the eleventh grade, she is almost completely deaf. At the school, Dr. Bickert stood in front of every student, and asked “what do you want to do when you grow up?” with a mixture of recently learnt sign language, and some help from the teachers. Notably, only Jyoti replied, “a tailor” she said, a trade which India is famously known for with an array of designs and patterns being visibly splattered across the streets of every large city in the country. The industry is vast and has a lot of room for more to begin working in it. However, with the added of difficulty of communicating with someone who has an hearing impairment combined with the fact that many women who are buying the clothing are often not educated enough to read, many are unwilling to put up with the extra inconvenience to provide them with any real business.

Looking back, it is understandable that the other kids didn’t have an answer for many reasons which had been drilled into their minds from a young age. All children have a dream, but sadly these were minimized with reoccurring comments made to them from those who surround them on a daily basis. In an impoverished area, such as the one the school was in, in Lucknow, it can be devastating to the family if the child is born with a disability, turning them into more if a liability instead of a source of hope. While parents always want best for their child, it can be incredibly difficult to assist your own son or daughter that needs special attention to reach their goals when you can barely afford to put food on the table.  Those who wanted to become astronauts, surgeons, lawyers, are automatically written off, as there is no one like them in those positions publicly, little to no help getting an education, and a general sense of inferiority. This leads them to accept the idea that they will be limited to small odd jobs, or work on farms, just as their families have been, further continuing unable to break out of poverty.

This makes Jyoti a rare case, her bravery in her comment in front of the other students led CFTW to provide her with her own sewing machine, some tools, cloths, and some educational books to help her get started. We hope with her courage to be vocal and work towards her goals, the other students in the school can become inspired and realize they too have a chance, despite what the general public may say. The connection between poverty and disability remains strongly correlated in the country, with poverty often leading to an increased amount of disability, and in return disability continuing poverty in a cyclical manner (Rao, 2009). We here at CFTW believe that children such as Jyoti, are the cure for this issue.

Giving away something you’ve earned can seem difficult, especially when that very thing is what keeps you alive and functioning in society, money of course.  Still, certain charities continue to successfully raise millions, even billions of dollars each year, such as The United Way with 3.6 Billion in private donations, or Direct Relief reaching 2 Billion in the last year (Barret, 2020). This compels the question, why are so many people driven to make donations? In this blog we will attempt to uncover the answer, based on a survey of 15 individuals, and journal analysis.

Trust 

Trust. If the donors can form a relationship with the organization they are donating to and can understand exactly where their money is going to, they are highly inclined to donate again.  Therefore, charities must focus on being completely transparent with where their funds are being allocated. 

Tax Benefits

Many individuals and companies regularly partake in making large donations to registered charities to decrease their income tax yearly. With companies such as Walmart donating over $400 million to registered Canadian Charities over the past 25 years (Walmart Canada). A clear guide on how to claim Tax deductible donations is offered through the Canada revenue agency, just follow the link here.

  Egoism/Social purposes

        Altruism

Oxford lists the definition of Altruism as being “the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others”.This was the most common reason of giving among those surveyed, as they stated they felt compassion towards those in need or towards the less fortunate. With one individual stating “I’d rather do something kind for someone else than for myself” and another individual making a similar comment “’the feeling you are fortunate enough to help someone in need”.

Religion

Last but not least, a few individuals claimed religion to be their purpose. The following are two of the replies I got, “God pervades in every living soul so why not give back to the Great Giver by donating”, and another simply responding with “religion”. No religion is against charitable giving, with many even stating a minimum requirement. In Islam, the Zikat states they must donate 2.5% of the wealth yearly (Islamic relief) , many Christians and Jews believe in the principle of tithing (Christianity.com), which means giving 10% of their earning, similarly for Sikhs, a principle called the Dasvandh is followed where they either donate 10% of their income or 10% of their time in the form of volunteering (Sikhiwiki).

While it may seem, there is a right or a wrong reason for donating, in my opinion every reason is valid, as it is providing someone with a meal or a roof over their head that they wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. If we didn’t have our yearly contributors who donate for tax benefits or to enhance their reputation, a little girl may not have gotten an education. Therefore, we must look at it as a sort of necessary incentive and view the outcomes to be far more beneficial than the reason for the inputs.      

We are amid worldwide changes. 2020 was a great challenge, and we hope that in 2021 we can surmount all the rigours life throws at us.

My 8-year-old grandchild, Joaquin, was interviewed today for a chance to move to a new school in Potomac, MD. He seemed to grasp the importance of the interview. 

The Principal, Mr. M, explained to Joaquin that there would be a lot of freedom at this new school. The Principle went on to ask, “What does this new freedom mean to you, Joaquin?”   

Joaquin is an avid reader and didn’t hesitate to quote from a book[1] he had just completed reading, “Well you know Mr. M, you can’t have freedom without self-discipline. Freedom comes from making good choices.” 

Mr. M., following the interview, reported to my delighted daughter what Joaquin had told him. 

Freedom truly is the freedom from slavery to bad choices and reactions to false pride and egoism. To make good choices is about seeing the need that exists around you and to open yourself to the Love of God, and respond to the impulse he gives us to be genuinely free.

Working in our clinic, a woman named Fozia told me she wanted to do something great, something extraordinary with her life. She is a Muslim woman recently married and waiting for her husband’s immigration to Canada.

“Precisely, that is what it does. It just hangs out in the sky and gives light for us in the dark. That is what you must do to be great. You must reflect God’s Love. You must be a light in the darkness.” I continued to say, “You are Muslim. You have devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus. What did she do special? Was she the leader of a country? Was she a corporate leader, an engineer, doctor, great scientist?”

Fozia smiled, “No.”

Mary said 2020 years ago, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices I God my Savior for he has regarded the humility of his handmaid. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. Because he that is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name…”[2]

“So Fozia,” I continued, “to be great in your life, you must reflect God’s Love and become like to moon, a light in the darkness like the moon reflects the light of the sun.”

We all have a choice to make 2021 better than in 2020. We have a choice of freedom to choose good or to remain slaves to capricious whims and passions.

Thank you for your donations to CFTW in 2020.  Please continue to be a light in the darkness and reflect God’s Love. 

Our projects desperately require your continued generosity.

“Well you know Mr. Ross, you can’t have true freedom without self-discipline.”

Please help us help those in need.

John Bickert, B.Ed., D.C.

President,

CFTW

 [1] The Way of the Warrior: An Ancient Path to Inner Peace © 2019 McManus, Erwin Raphael. The Fedd Agency, Inc. Austin TX

 [2]Luke 1:46-49Luke 1:46-49

The country of India is known for its bright festivals and unique architecture. Since its rise as a global power, many people have assumed that the wealth of the country has boosted the livelihoods of the people living there. Unfortunately, more than 80% of people live on less than $3 per day, and the top 1% own more than half of the country’s wealth. For perspective, 16 people in India are as wealthy as 600 million people—and that means that for many, opportunities as basic as learning to read and right are far out of their reach.

Why Children In India Need Your Help To Get Education 

India is well on its way to becoming the country with the largest, youngest workforce ever seen; half of its population is under the age of 25. If these young people are not able to complete an education, that’s half of India that will be unable to perform entire sectors of jobs. An educated population is good for a country—and for the people who were able to attend school.

But why do children withdraw from schools after only a few years? Why don’t they simply stay in school? To understand how we can help, first, we must understand why schooling is such a challenge.

Here are the reasons why children in India have been dragged out of school. 

The Gender Bias  

One of the main drivers of dropouts is gender. Daughters are expected to help in the kitchen and at home, while sons can go to school. In addition, lack of access and affordability to feminine products mean that girls who make it past the first year or two or schooling drop out once they reach menstruation (at a rate as high as 57%). Young arranged married to older men has the same effect.

Uninteresting Methods of Teaching  

India continues to struggle with the methods its teachers use—likely a result of those teachers themselves not receiving sufficient education or income to improve the classroom. Blackboards and chalk are still the standard method, and without engaging and comprehensive teaching tools, many students don’t learn as much as they could. This leads to the feeling that their time would be better spent earning some income for their family in poverty, and so they drop out to do labor jobs. And despite the country’s booming growth over the last 15 years, the majority of it has been jobless creation of further wealth for the rich, which never improves the lives of those in the slums who do not have access to that private money.

Unavailability of Resources 

Because the 1% control so much of the nation’s wealth, very little is sent to schools. This means that government schools in the slums are in disrepair, and teachers do not have access to critical tools such as multiple copies of textbooks and workbooks. And with some schools being too far for many low-income families to reach on foot, education is out of the question for a large number of households.

What Can We Do to Bring a Child to School 

As a charity, CFTW is working hard to ensure that underprivileged children in third-world countries receive the education they need to pull their families out of poverty and have a chance at the life they deserve. We pay school fees, build schools, and more to spread education across every corner of the world. 

Ajitha, one young woman that we have sponsored for three years, is closer to graduation than the vast majority of her female peers due to our support—and we hope to see her graduate and find success. Her success directly impacts the wellbeing of her family and her country of India.

Just $25 can help to educate the children of India who do not have the access to schooling that they deserve. You likely can’t go to India, Africa, and other struggling areas to teach children yourself, so let CFTW do it on your behalf. For the cost of a couple cups of coffee, you can help us to sponsor more children and build more schools. Donate to give the lifelong gift of education.

Introduction  

Across the globe, women often find themselves in underprivileged positions when it comes to education. Many women are denied basic access to schooling, and with this comes a lack of ability to read or write. Even if a family contains a man who is literate, women being unable to perform these tasks has wide-ranging impacts on communities and nations.

Some countries continue to struggle with literacy in general; less than 20% of Niger’s population can read and write, and Ethiopia remains under half. Men globally lead women by as much as 8% in terms of literate population, and only approximately 11% of women in African and Indian communities have received sufficient education to read and write.

Developing greater literacy among women is a crucial issue, not only because equal access to education should be a basic human right but also because literacy improves life outcomes. When most nations are made of somewhere around 50% women—and those women are uneducated—the average education level of the population decreases, and problems that could be solved with enough scientists and researchers may be neglected.

Similarly, many women who cannot read or write live in impoverished communities, particularly in Africa and India. If these women were educated, they could turn their abilities into income generation and provide better outcomes for themselves and their families. This would boost their entire community and create positive influences.

Causes and After-Effects of Low Female Literacy

Across the world, women face many challenges in seeking equal education. In areas suffering from poverty, many women cannot spare the time to attend schooling when they must help to care for family—whether their own children or their siblings and older relatives. In India, public schooling facilities do not have separate bathrooms for women; as a result, as many as 23% of girls stop their education once they reach puberty since they do not have the resources they need to cope with menstruation at school. 

For some, physical access to a school is a problem when the only location is far away from their homes. For others, child marriage places a burden on their ability to continue their education. The reasons that women are globally less literate are many, and the effects are lasting.

Women who did not attend schooling tend to raise female children who will also drop out of schooling. This keeps families in a cycle with little to no upward mobility or improvement in their circumstances, as education is not opening the way to greater income opportunities. A nation with half of its population unable to reach their full potential cannot solve problems with the same speed, efficacy, and utility as a nation with a higher literacy rate. In fact, if India were to improve learning outcomes for women and encourage females to study in order to join the workforce like their male counterparts, the country could expect an estimated $770 billion growth in the GDP in the next five years. 

What Can WE Do?

Those of us who have been raised literate—and you have, if you are reading this—may struggle to understand what we can do to bring necessary education to young women around the world. Women in Africa and India continue to struggle to attend schooling due to a number of issues that may seem simple to solve, such as providing needed menstrual products, building schools close to communities, and prohibiting female children from being responsible for housework for the entire day. However, these issues are more complex than they may appear, and many of the communities struggling with this problem live on less than $2 per day—not enough income to generate substantive change for themselves.

Instead, it is primarily the role of NGOs and charitable organizations to lend a helping hand to improve outcomes for these young women. CFTW is one organization that is passionate about providing support to the whole person, not just by offering financial assistance and education but also spiritual healing and mental help. CFTW has been hard at work building schools so that more students have greater access; these schools have appropriate facilities, such as separate bathrooms, to encourage young women to continue attendance.

If you would like to do your part to help solve the problem of female literacy around the world, consider a donation to charitable organizations like CFTW. If you are not in a financial position to make this contribution, you can also make a difference by volunteering your time or offering a needed service that you are skilled at so that charities can spend time accomplishing their goals for these young women. 

The Most Common Diseases

Throughout the third world regions of Africa and Asia, three diseases in particular ravage the population and leave little room for treatment: malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Where a rich person can continue on with life after HIV/AIDS by taking medicine, this illness is almost entirely untreated in the poorer regions of the world. Tuberculosis is essentially unheard of in first world countries, and vaccination has slowed or even stopped the spread of germs that have the potential to wipe out entire communities of children in some parts of Africa and Asia.

In the developing world, up to half of all deaths are due to infectious diseases. AIDS has cut the life expectancy of some countries nearly in half, with Botswana seeing a drop from 62 years old (in the 1980s) to only 37 due to the high rate of HIV infection: about 39% of all people in the country. Across sub-Saharan Africa, the life expectancy remains at a low 47 years of age on average.

Poverty plays a primary role in why these regions of the world are primarily infected. Affluent countries have no issue with affording the drugs that suppress HIV, but those medicines—and even more inexpensive options to treat only the infections resulting from their weakened immune systems—are unavailable to poorer countries. Tuberculosis takes advantage of the widespread HIV epidemic to proliferate itself, latching on to those with already weakened immune systems. Up to 15% of HIV cases die as a result of TB. 

Malaria also plays a significant role in health outcomes of third world countries. Transmitted via the bite of the Anopheles mosquito, malaria causes more than one million deaths per year—90% of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. It is highly resistant to many antibiotics that have previously been used to treat it, and this trend is not anticipated to slow down any time soon. For residents of developing countries that do not have access to newer treatments, this constantly evolving disease is an ever present threat.

The Cost of Fighting

It is the responsibility of richer countries to assist in fighting disease in the developing world. Some solutions are simple and inexpensive, such as mosquito nets infused with insecticide. Simply installing these in sample regions has cut the number of malaria deaths by 20%. The UN has noted that affluent countries pay a fraction of the cost for medicines that the poorest in the world would be entirely unable to pay for, and NGOs like Action Aid have maintained consistent lobbying to cut drug prices.

Anti-retroviral drugs that keep people with HIV alive cost nearly $10,000 in developing countries, but thanks to the efforts of organizations like Action Aid, the price has been brought down to about $300. This is still prohibitively expensive in many of the world’s poorer areas, but the price is anticipated to continue downward. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan established the Global Fund for HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria, though affluent countries have been stingy to contribute toward its yearly $7 billion goal, with the US sending only $500 million. 

Market Incentivization and What to Do

One of the largest problems facing the treatment of these diseases is the lack of incentive to focus on them from a market standpoint. Out of 1393 new medicines that were approved for public use, only 16 focused on tropical diseases like TB. A drug for sleeping sickness, which kills an average of 66,000 people per year, saw its production halted when no one was buying it—because it was too expensive for the developing countries that needed it. However, it was rebranded for use in the United States, where it is now used frequently as a hair remover. 

Drug companies must be incentivized to continue or focus on production of critical, life-saving medications even when poorer countries cannot afford them. This will require significant policy change in the government as well as the support of normal people, who can contribute by donating to charities that provide monetary assistance to underprivileged areas. 

The recent COVID-19 pandemic that has swept the globe has caused dramatic, lasting changes in all regions—first world or developing country, peaceful or stricken with conflict, countries around the world have had to adapt quickly. First suspected in late 2019, the coronavirus situation has continued to develop, and the vaccine is still not currently available as of late 2020. It is unclear when such a measure may be widely accessible to the public; in the meantime, the world must continue addressing the crisis through mitigation and responsible activity.

As lockdown measures begin to ease, the international community must consider how these actions will affect the world’s most vulnerable populations. One such concern is with Sub-Saharan Africa, which is likely not ready to bear the brunt of a full-scale coronavirus infection. The United States has shocked the world by recording more than 2,000 deaths in a single day, but more catastrophic results could be possible if the most susceptible among the world’s populations are left to fend for themselves.

Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study

Africa as a whole is widely vulnerable to a large-scale coronavirus outbreak for many reasons, and its effects could be long-lasting and severe. The region is characterized by overall weaker than average healthcare, and the number of healthcare workers remains low at only 2.2 per 1000 people. This means that a COVID-19 surge in the region will likely quickly lead to overwhelmed hospitals, and a recurrence of the tragedy seen in Italy earlier in the year may not be far behind—but on a much larger scale.

Few African countries have ventilators in numbers enough to make any substantial difference were the coronavirus to rear its head; in fact, the Central African Republic may have only three ventilators total. These life-saving machines are meant to assist those having a severe reaction to the coronavirus, but with countries largely unable to access this critical piece of equipment, the death toll could climb quickly to unprecedented levels.

Both short- and long-term consequences could result. While it is true that Sub-Saharan African has its previous experience with Ebola to rely on, COVID-19 could prompt a race between fatal hunger and a life-threatening illness. In some states with already weakened infrastructure and political guidance, the situation could become so dire that the entire state fails, opening the region to periods of unrest and potentially violent actions at the hands of extremist groups.

In the longer term, extended productivity losses may create ripple effects that result in extended joblessness and school closures. Over time, the region may see increased child marriage, domestic violence, and teen pregnancies as a consequence of the shifting dynamics. 

Protecting Vulnerable Regions

The international community has not left the crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa unnoticed; the International Monetary Fund, has made moves to quickly and efficiently bolster emergency funding and secure as much capital as possible in preparation for large-scale assistance. As many as 90 countries have already approached the IMF for assistance, and the organization has since reached out in cooperation with the World Bank to address this crisis as it unfolds. 

Other countries have also joined in participation, with China suspending debt payments due from the poorest developing countries. Grant resources provided by the IMF and other organizations are pooling in to offer some form of debt relief for some low-income countries, and other states have done their part through medical donations to the region.

What You Can Do

Each country and its people have their own role to play in the prevention of what could be one of the most catastrophic medical health outcomes in recent memory. Developed countries should prepare to share their knowledge of mitigation strategies and containment methods with threatened locations, while both public and private sector organizations can continue with monetary management and the procurement of medical supplies.

On the home front, it can be difficult to imagine what a single person can do to assist in this endeavor. First and foremost, individuals must take responsibility and mitigate the spread of coronavirus as much as possible. Wear a mask and self-isolate to avoid spreading or become a carrier for the virus; a single point of transmission may be sufficient, over time, to introduce COVID-19 to the world’s most vulnerable regions.

Those seeking to help can also dedicate their time or money to charitable causes that are supporting efforts in the region. Both in-person or remote work to reduce the burden on charities may be available, and monetary contributions go toward funding necessary medical supplies, grants that improve the economic situation of countries by addressing their debts, and a number of other critical uses that free these developing nations up to address the coronavirus in a timely manner—before it spirals out of control.