Assalamu alaykum and

Ramadan Kareem!

Dear Friends,

I’ve been blessed to spend a bit of time at

Sitara this year and wanted to update all

of our friends and supporters. I arrived in

the country in March and have spent

almost four months here. My husband

now lives in the north, so we commute to

Sitara for visits about once a month.

While I’m there, I do a teachers’ training

workshop for STI, Sitara Teachers’

Institute. Alhamdulilah, the Institute is

functioning very well, thanks to the

efforts of our principal, Rizwana Sami,

and vice principal, Asma Sayyam. I

recently attended a guest lecture at Sitara

on the topic of Technology in the

Classroom. The speaker demonstrated

some very good online links to

complement classroom science lessons.

The New Campus

I was thrilled to see the new campus.

Pictures are one thing, but experiencing

the difference a real campus makes is

another. The students and teachers are

very happy with the classrooms and the

playground…especially the playground!

But we are already filled capacity in the

prep, play group and first class. We have a

waiting list! The good news is we are

building four new classrooms on the

upper level of the building. Class three

and four can shift upstairs and we can

enroll more little ones. We will also

designate some space for our girls’ high

school, coming in 2017, Inshallah!

I know that some of you would like to

donate during the holy month of

Ramadan, so here’s your opportunity. It

will cost between $8,000 to $10,000 to

build the new rooms We want to start

building ASAP so that new students can

be enrolled in the fall. Please contribute

whatever you can to this effort.

Orphan Sponsorship

If you wish to give on a more personal

level, here’s another opportunity. Sitara

currently has twelve orphans enrolled in

various classes. By Islamic standards, a

child is considered an orphan if his father

has died, even if his/her mother is still

alive. All orphans attend Sitara free of

cost to their families. If you would like to

sponsor one or more of these children,

please do. A full year’s education at Sitara

cost about $350 per child (USD: please

adjust rates for other currencies.)That is a

suggested donation amount so please feel

free to contribute what you wish. Online

donation info. is at the end of this

newsletter.

Sadaf Sayyam, our school receptionist has

prepared this description of our orphans

together with their pictures.

Kanwal , Kinza and Moosa Zafar came

from Kashmir .Their mother is working at

a shopping mall after her husband’s

death. They recently joined Sitara

in

April, 2016. Kanwal is in 6th class, Kinza

is in 5th and Moosa is in 2nd.

Syed Fahad and Syed Farhan are twins

who were just one year old when their

father died. Their mother is also a doing

job for her kids’ survival. They got

admission in Sitara in April 2016.

Muqaddas Bibi and Talha Hussain have

been studying in Sitara since 2013. Their

elder brother is giving them financial

support. She is in the 7th class and he is in

the 5th.

Shumaila and Awais Janisar are

studying in Sitara since 2012. Their elder

brothers are giving them financial

support. Shumaila is in the 5th class and

Awais is in 2nd.

Samreen Faiz got admission in Sitara in

April 2016. Her mother is working as a

house maid for her daughter because her

in-laws are not willing to give financial

support to Samreen . She is in 1st class.

Naveed got admission in Sitara in April

2016. Before getting admission he was

selling coconuts. Now his uncle is

supporting them financially. He is in prep

class.

Hassan and Sania Hameed are studying

in Sitara since 2013. Their mother is also

working. Sania is first class and Hassan is

in prep.

Well Building Project

Masha’Allah, though we are in stressful

times, there are individuals in every

corner of the globe who are trying to

make a difference. I was recently

introduced to Sr. Janet Kozak. She and

her husband Syed, have started a well-

building project in Baluchistan, one of the

driest areas of Pakistan where access to

clean water is a deadly serious issue. I

was impressed by their organized effort

and agreed to feature their project in our

Ramadan update to give you the

opportunity of doing even more good in

this blessed month. For a full description

of the project and the organizers, please

go to https://goo.gl/X4osWY. If you

would like to help supply water to needy

families in Baluchistan, please contact

Janet Kozak with “Wells Baluchistan” in

the subject line. janet_kozak@yahoo.com.

Payment can be made via Western Union

or Bank transfer. Sr. Janet will provide the

necessary info. to interested donors.

I’m getting ready to return to the U.S. for

Eid and hope to see some of you there

over the summer. Look for our annual

Launchgood fund-raiser coming in the

fall. If you wish to donate online during

Ramadan, or at any time, please send me

an email sommieh@gmail.com and I’ll

send you our bank information. I’d also

appreciate feedback on this newsletter

and please like our FB page, which is

maintained by our staff and follow us on

Twitter.

It’s been another great year at Sitara. Our

fifth graders got some of the highest

scores in the district on their Ministry

exams! Some of our recent activities were

Sports Day and Flower Day. The older girls

enjoyed the National Book Fair in

Islamabad. In addition to our school

library we now have classroom libraries

on the upper level. The students were

delighted to receive a complete set of

Jennah Jewels, autographed by one of the

authors. If you have not seen these books,

then look for them on amazon.com and at

Daybreak Press. They are great reading

material for your young daughters or

granddaughters.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Sitara Institute is a registered non-profit in

the state of Michigan, U.S.A. Your donations

are tax exempt. You can donate online by

using Chase Quick Pay. The name of the

account is “Sitara Institute” Please contact

sommieh@gmail.com for more detailed bank

information for money transfers. You can also

send us a check at Sitara Institute, P.O. Box

871023 CANTON, MI 48187