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FOMAA Accomplishments and Activities Since July 2010
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A report on FOMAA’s accomplishments presented at the General Body Meeting held on October 15, 2011 FOMAA Website: Redesigned the FOMAA website.Uploaded a “Staying Safe” paper along with helpful information tips for the new arrivals, as well as the general immigrant community. National Committee Meetings: National Committee has to meet only once in three months. However, FOMAA is exceeding this requirement. We had National Committee meetings on July 4, August 26 and October 30,2010 and on March 13, April 14, May 8, June 11 and July 14, 2011. Next National Committee meeting is scheduled on October 15. This reflects the importance given to the National Committee by the Executive Officers. Membership: Two new membership applications were received. One application appears to meet the membership qualification and the organization is expected to be admitted to FOMAA by the National Committee on October 15. The second application for membership was disqualified by Credentials and Bylaw Committee. Executive officers reached out to four more associations and two of them seem to be keen and they are awaiting their respective general body’s approval for applying for FOMAA membership. FOMAA Helpline: FOMAA Helpline has been streamlined to make it user-friendly. During this reporting period, FOMAA has successfully raised money towards Saramma Thomas’ family assistance fund, JojoSidhardhan’s treatment fund and Seena Thomas’ education fund. These funds have been distributed. Currently, there are two cases posted on FOMAA Helpline. One is for sponsoring the distribution of lunch at a few hospitals (Government Hospital, Konni; Government Thaluk Hospital, Nadapuram; and Government Hospital, Mannar) for underprivileged patients in central Kerala. This proposal will be posted on FOMAA Helpline till December 2011. Our goal is raise enough money to cover the cost for a year-long free lunch program at these hospitals. Another, needy case that FOMAA is raising money for is Joby Thomas’ family assistance fund. Joby was a young man who passed away in Staten Island recently, leaving behind his family and parents. MalayalathinuOrupidy Dollar: This new initiative of FOMAA, led by the National Advisory Council, has gotten off the ground. The New YorkEmpireState region has donated Malayalam books to a local library in Yonkers. The Capital region has reached a Memorandum of Understanding with the Howard County Library System to donate Malayalam books. Discussions are going on with RutgersUniversity to explore the possibility of starting Malayalam classes. Our next goal is to raise funds for scholarships to honor rank-holders in Malayalam BA, MA and MPhil and MA journalism courses during the Kerala convention in January 2012. Our goal is to raise at least $15,000 to cover the scholarship. We are raising this money by selling coupons. Currently, we have printed 150 books with 20 leaves in each. Each leaf is expected to bring $5.Regional vice presidents are in charge of overseeing the distribution and sale of these coupons in their respective regions. Fundraising events took place in Houston, New York and Detroit. National Literary Competitions: FOMAA conducted anational-level Malayalam Literary Writing Competition for the residents of USA and Canada. Following are the winners in different categories: Malayalam Short Story (Cherukatha)
Bridging of the Minds: Bridging of the Minds is a new FOMAA initiative. Its objective is to promote “knowledge exchange” between Kerala and North America. Malayalees began immigrating to North America in significant numbers in the 1970s. A large number of Keralites who came to the United States and Canada in the ’70s and ’80s were healthcare professionals. A second wave of immigration from Kerala occurred in the 1990s, when thousands of information technology professionals came to North America. In Kerala, both waves of emigration were seen as “brain drains” because of the large-scale loss of technical skills and knowledge. But now, with the Malayalee population that came in the ’70s reaching retirement age and those that came in subsequent decades at the height of their professional careers, FOMAA sees a unique opportunity to turn that “brain drain” into a “brain gain” by facilitating the reconnection of these highly talented and trained groups to Kerala through the Bridging of the Minds initiative. Here are some of the activities that FOMAA is planning under Bridging of the Minds:
As a part of this initiative, FOMAA held the Professionals Summit of Keralites 2011 at Sheraton Suites in Chicago on June 11, 2011, in association with North America-based professional bodies such as AKMG, KITA, MEANA, NAINA, ISWA, IPC, MRA and MEGA. Speakers included Ambassador Srinivasan, P.Chandrasekharan IPS, Dr. M.V. Pillai, Dr. Ann Kalayil, Dr. Javad Hassan, Dr. TojoThachenkery, Dr. SreedharKavil, T.D. Sivakumar, Antony Satyadas, Dr. Narendra Kumar, Dr. ArvindPillai, Dr. SolymolKuruvilla, George Joseph, SanthoshKurian, Johnson Myalil, TissyNajravellil, John Titus, Varghese Chacko, P.S. Nair, Vinson Palathingal and George Koshy. Mr. George Abraham was the chairman and Mr. Gladson was the co-chair of the conference. The event was inaugurated by Hon. Ramesh Chennithala. We believe this was the signature event of FOMAA this year. We received accolades from various individuals with special mention to Mr. VenkatRamakrishnan, 2009 Nobel Prize winner and 2010 PadmaBhushan winner. As part of this initiative, FOMAA is currently working with the Government of Kerala to establish a Human Virology Institute in Kerala, in collaboration with the Baltimore-based Institute of Human Virology, founded and headed by the renowned scientist Dr. Robert C. Gallo. (He co-discovered HIV as the cause of AIDS.) In a region like Kerala, where several viral illnesses wreak havoc, such an institute would be a real asset. FOMAA Volunteer Work FOMAA Capital Region organized charity volunteer work at the Missionaries of Charity Gift of Home in Baltimore on Saturday, July 9, 2011. The volunteers helped the homeless residents by cleaning their rooms and premises and assisted them with their other needs. FOMAA president John Uralil, former President John Titus and General Secretary Benoy Thomas also participated in this event. Convention 2012 FOMAA reached an agreement with Carnival Glory to hold our 2012 convention aboard the cruise liner. The “Convention-at-Sea” will start on August 1,2012. We will depart at 5 p.m. from New York. There will be two stops: St. John and Halifax.We will return to New York on August 6, at 8 a.m. Carnival Glory, one of the best-rated ships, can have up to 3,000 passengers. It originates from Boston in June and July in 2012. That was the reason we were forced to schedule the convention to early August. So far the only Malayalee organization to hold similar convention is AKMG. Convention Sponsors As of this reporting period, there are nine (9) sponsors bringing in $50,000. Convention Committee As promised, we were able to announce the first round of the Convention Committee a year in advance of the convention date. Deficiencies and omissions were noted and now it is being expanded with new members in order to make it all inclusive. FOMAA NEWS Two editions of the FOMAA News have been printed .Both editions printed 11,500 copies each. We mailed FOMAA News copies to 10,500 households. Rest was distributed at the various events. First edition was sponsored by New York Metro and Empire State Regions and the second by Central Region and Great Lake regions. The Youth Leadership Summit Originally scheduled to take place on August 13, 2011, it will now be held November 26, 2011, in Washington. It was postponed to ensure maximum participation, as August 13 is close to college opening. This one-day youth leadership conference targets those between the ages of 18 and 35. The objective of the conference is to help prepare the next generation of Malayalee leaders in North America. Among other things, the conference will:
Kerala Convention FOMAA’s Kerala Convention is scheduled to take place on January 14,2012 at Windsor Castle in Kodimatha, Kottayam. Here is the tentative program(the final one will be announced at FOMAA's National Committee meeting on October 15):
PravasiBharatiya Divas A FOMAA delegation attended the PBD, which was held in New Delhi on January 7-9, 2011. The next PBD is scheduled to take place in Jaipur from January 7 to 9. The main activities are on 8th and 9th. Like last year, a FOMAA delegation is planning to attend the PBD this year as well. Congressional Luncheon and White House Briefing A FOMAA delegation participated in the Congressional Luncheon and White House briefing organized by the National Federation of Indian Associations (NFIA) on September 15 and 16, 2011 in Washington, D.C. Embassy and Consulates and Pravasi Issues The FOMAA Leadership was always in the frontline to address various issues and concerns affecting the Indian American community in North America. On August 15, 2010 a delegation met with New York Consulate General Hon. PrabhuDayal and Head of the Chancery Mr. Pramod Bajaj. It raised various issues affecting the Malayaleecommunity that comes under the New York consulate’s jurisdiction. In October 2010, a FOMAA delegation met with Hon.Ambassador Meera Shankar to raise the community’s concerns about direct taxation code and re-entry permit. The voting rights issue wasalso discussed. In October 2010, a FOMA delegation met with India’s Defense Minister A.K. Antony, in Washington, D.C., during his visit to USA and raised our concerns on the above mentioned issues. In November 2010, FOMAA Executives met with K.C. Venugopal, M.P., and brought to his attention the concerns and issues of the community. In January 2011, a FOMAA delegation met with Union Ministers A.K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi and K.V. Thomas in New Delhi. Additionally, the delegation met with Anto Antony, M.P., Kodikunnil Suresh, M.P., and Jose K. Mani, M.P., to discuss various issues affecting the Pravasi Indian community. The same delegation also met with the Kerala’s then-Chief Minister V.S. Achudanandan, ministers Premachandran, K.V.Surendranad, Jose Thettayil and BinoyViswam. They also met with then opposition leadersOommenChandy, G. Karthikeyan, K.Muraleedharan, M.Murali, Thomas Chazhikadan and Monse Joseph. In February 2011, the FOMAA Secretary met with Dr. Didar Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, andaired our community’s concerns. FOMAA’s representation on Direct Taxation Code was handed over to the Secretary during this meeting. On September 12, 2011, FOMAA General Secretary Benoy Thomas visited the new Ambassador, Her Excellency NirupamaRao, and submitted memorandum outlining the issues and concerns of the Indian diaspora. On September 23, 2011, FOMAA President John Uralil and Treasurer Feisal Edward, along with other FOMAA leaders, asked for Her Excellency’s follow-up on the memorandum submitted earlier by the FOMAA Secretary during their meeting with her. Ask The Embassy Series On April 16,2011, FOMAA was part of the Ask The Embassy Series, which kicked off in Washington, D.C., under the leadership of FOMAA Secretary Benoy Thomas. Over 200 individuals attended this event, led by a panel that included three ministers from the Embassy of India in Washington and Jan Dvrak, President of Travisa Outsourcing. On May 8,2011, FOMAA’s Western Regional Vice President Ojus John organized a successful event on this series featuring Mrs. Susmita Thomas, Consulate General in San Francisco. Other Noteworthy Events
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Mission Accomplished! |
| I am a firm believer in the axiom that when you do community service, do it for “someone,” rather than for “something.” This was truly the case with the FOMAA delegation that visited Delhi and Kerala earlier this month.
We left this continent with a twin-mission: 1) we will go to India not for photo-ops, but to raise issues and concerns affecting the Indian Americans, especially from the Kerala community; 2) we will elevate the name and recognition of FOMAA both in Delhi and Kerala. I am happy to report that we have accomplished both. Since you have read, viewed and watched the various news stories on FOMAA, I am not repeating them in detail. However, I want to provide you with a synopsis: Our first event was a “Meet the Press” at Chemsford, which is an elite club in New Delhi, adjacent to the Press Club. Over 60, print and visual media professionals from Kerala attended the event, including the bureau chiefs of all Delhi-based Kerala media organizations. As Deepika bureau chief George Kallivayalil said, during his 10-year stint in Delhi he had never seen such a well-organized and attended event of the Kerala media persons. Our meetings with the dignitaries started with a visit to Prof. K.V. Thomas, Minister of State with Independent Charge at the Ministry Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution both at his office and home. We also met Vayalar Ravi at his residence the day before the PBD, and we discussed in detail issues such as direct tax code, re-entry permit and passport surrender issues. He assured us to take up the issues with his cabinet colleagues, Pranab Mukherjee and Chidambaram. We also met with Defense Minister A.K. Antony at his residence. We were also welcomed by his wife, Elizabeth, and their son, Ajith. We spent almost an hour with them. Antony was very eager to learn from us the economic situation and unemployment in the United States. He has agreed to attend our 2012 Kerala convention and requested us to coordinate with his personal assistant on the logistics. He also promised that he would bring the direct tax code issue with Pranab Mukherjee. One of the touching moments was the warm reception we received at the residence of Anto Antony, MP. Antony and his family welcomed us like one of their own. Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, also dropped by to see us. Both members of parliament assured us to take up all the issues that we raised. Our day at the PBD began with a meeting with Sam Pitroda, the telecom guru and advisor to the Prime Minister. He was very interested in FOMAA’s Bridging of the Minds initiative, as a former National Knowledge Commission chairman. At the PBD, rather than running around and get our photos taken with the VIPs, we diligently attended all the sessions. In one such session, “Meet the Ministers,” we brought the poor state of the highways in Kerala to the attention of Kamal Nath, the Highways minister. We felt that our advocacy was fruitful when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee declared in his address that he will look into all concerns regarding the direct tax code. Vayalar Ravi, in his speech, mentioned that the even though voting rights for NRIs has been granted in theory, there are challenges such as registration of voters at the embassies and consulates. At the moment, the Election Commission is insisting that the embassies and consulates be in charge of registration, but the Ministry of External Affairs has said that is a very difficult thing to do because of staff shortage. He also pointed out that outsourcing of OCI Card will reduce the delay in issuing the cards. Already the embassy in Washington and the Houston consulate have outsourced the job and others will follow the suit. Our Kerala trip started with a reception in Thiruvalla, where the municipal chairperson Mrs. Linda Thomas presided over the function. Many notable political, business and social leaders attended the function. One of the highlights of the trip was the reception we received at Muscot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram. Minister Binoy Vishwam inaugurated the function. Ministers Jose Thettayil, Surendran Pillai, and Premachandran attended the event. Since Oomman Chandy and other senior opposition figures were leading a protest “route march,” deputy opposition leader G. Karthikeyan represented the Congress party. Other participants include MLAs Monse Joseph, M. Murali, Raju Abraham and Panthalam Sudhakaran; KTDC chairman Cheriyan Philip; Chamber of Commerce Secretary Raghuchandran Nair, Kerala Press Academy Chairman S.R. Sakthidaran, to mention a few. There were also several print and visual media representatives at the function, which was presided over by R.Ajith Kumar, the president of the Pathrapravarthaka Union. We were invited to the home of the Chief Minister, where we had a very productive discussion with him. He was keen to know about the activities of FOMAA. We were also invited to the home of Minister Premachandran for a breakfast meeting. We received a very cordial reception from the minister and his family. We also paid a visit to K. Muralidharan, ex-MP and son of K. Karunakaran. We offered condolences to him and his family on the death of the Leader. Our last event was in Kottayam, where a host of political and cultural leaders gathered to honor us. Municipal chairman Sunny Kalloor presided over the function, and Stephen George, ex-MLA, delivered the welcome speech. Jose K. Mani, MP; Thomas Chazhikadan, MLA; Monse Joseph, MLA; and K. Vasan, MLA, were among the many other speakers that delivered felicitation notes. A bevy of academics and business leaders also spoke at the event. The participants requested FOMAA to conduct its 2012 Kerala convention in Kottayam. They said they would extend their support for the success of the convention. They requested FOMAA to contribute to the infrastructure development of Kottayam, which is Kerala’s “city of letters.” Our President Baby Uralil and Treasurer Feisal Edward deserve kudos for outstanding leadership during the trip. I also want to mention the roles of Joint Treasurer Ipe Maret,Convention Chairperson Sunny Poulose, and National Committee member A.V. Varghese in making all the events very successful. Several FOMAA well-wishers and supporters such as George Abraham, Kalathil Varghese, Paul Parambi, Chakkoth Radhakrishnan, Achankunju, Baby Manakunnel and many others also attended many of our events. Overall, it was a very productive voyage. We returned from the two-week trip with a renewed commitment to focus on this year’s activities. Speaking of which, the next National Committee meeting will take place in Chicago in April. Initial plans are under way for the Youth Leadership Summit and Professional Summit. Preliminary talks are on with the cruise liners regarding the 2012 “FOMAA Convention at Sea.” I want to congratulate our Capital Region for planning a National Literary Competition on behalf of FOMAA. It was an initiative that came from the regional committee under the leadership of Mr. Bijo Chemmanthara, regional vice president. I encourage every region to come up such creative and new ideas. I want to conclude this rather long note by reminding everyone that we have a very busy agenda ahead of us. To carry the momentum that we have built, we need everyone to step up. Looking forward to working with you all. Sincerely, Benoy Thomas Secretary, FOMAA |