President's Fall 2007 Report

November 8th, 2007

Dear APPNA,

APPNA has been very busy this fall, as many of you are aware. This letter will give an overview of accomplishments and upcoming events.

Accomplished
Fall Council Meeting on October 9th 2007
Civic Engagement and Community Activism Seminar October 8th, 2007
APPNA Presidential visit to Pakistan October 6-10, 2007

Upcoming
The Day on the Hill is scheduled for December 6th 2007,
The Winter Meeting is scheduled for December 27th to 29th, 2007
Constitution and Bylaws Amendments Ballots Reminder

Fall Council Meeting
We had a very productive fall council meeting on October 9th 2007. Several issues were discussed and plans were approved.

During the Meeting, Council:

1. Approved the purchase of office building adjacent to the existing office as we are growing and the existing office space is not enough to effectively perform the routine organizational work. This building will be a part of the lifetime fixed assets.
2. Approved plans to obtain Tax-exempt status in Canada as several of our members unable to donate for APPNA projects.
3. Strongly suggested election reforms, we have learn several problems in running the organization during the last year lawsuit. We have already dealt with the majority of the issues and implemented the corrective actions.
4. Discussed SW&DR Endowment Fund and APPNA Foundation. There is a great need to establish an endowment for such an active organization. I asked Dr. Mahjabeen Islam to work on the APPNA Foundation which was also suggested by Brother Hamza Yousuf during our Annual Meeting and requested Dr. Saima Zafar to work on SWDR funds. Soon I will send out the information for your input.
5. Approved the Funding for Muslim Advocates and MOU has been signed.
6. APPNA Sukoon, a project related to palliative and hospice care in Pakistan, will be launched in December 2007, a grant of $5000 has been approved.

Civic Engagement and Community Activism Seminar
On Friday, October 8th we had a successful seminar on civic engagement and community activism. Our members took part in this interactive session, which had speakers from Muslim Public Action Committee [Salam Al Mayati], Institute for Social Policy and Understanding [Saeed Khan and Fakhia Rashid], and Muslim Advocates [Farhana Khera].

During this seminar we learned how to engage in our local community issues and how to address our concerns to the local community. As a result of the seminar, I came to believe that even though we APPNA members are financially prosperous, the majority of us live in mental ghettos, By this, I mean to say that we socialize, communicate, and entertain only among people from the same cultural background. It is my opinion, though, that in order to gain true success and to be truly helpful in this world, we have to break the walls of this mental ghetto. We must come out, and reach out to our neighbors and local lawmakers and media. We must get involved with our school system, local police, and local charity works, etc. Of course several of us are living outside of mental ghetto. Nevertheless, all of us need to liberate ourselves from this self-imposed way of getting things done, and become more involved in our full communities.

APPNA Presidential visit to Pakistan
During my recent visit to Pakistan (October 6-10), I;

• inaugurated the APPNA funded new hospital in Abbottabad, which had been totally destroyed by the earthquake
• met with our partners in Pakistan for The MERIT program (functioning very well)
• visited the APPNA Orthopedic and Rehab Center in Rawalpindi (very proud of it),
• visited the orphanage in Rawalpindi for earthquake related victims, also funded by APPNA, (excellent project with a very new concept),
• reviewed and evaluated the APPNA Sehat project (which is performing the given task),
• reviewed the progress of Khatai School (inshallah will be completed by December 20th 2007),
• finalized the winter meeting arrangements (if situation in Pakistan gets worse, we may be forced to cancel it).

The Day on the Hill
The Day on the Hill is scheduled for December 6th 2007, during which we will address civil rights issues faced by our members. Please join us and contact your senators and congressmen to attend the luncheon with us as well. Further information will be circulated very soon by our Advocacy Committee.

The Winter Meeting
The winter meeting is scheduled on December 27th to 29th. On both the 27th and the 29th we will have CME and dinner at Sheraton and DOW University. On 28th we will visit Mohenjodaro. A Boeing 737 is arranged to take us to Mohenjodaro and the aircraft will wait for us until the tour is over and we will be back after Juma prayers. Only 108 seats are available for the flight and they will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.

Constitution and Bylaws Amendments Ballots Reminder
Lastly, please send us back your filled for the Constitution and Bylaws amendments ballots ASAP, which have been mailed and emailed to you. This high priority document needs to be finalized so we can implement the changes proposed by the council, but cannot move forward without a majority general body vote.

Once again thank you for your support.

Nadeem Kazi, MD
President APPNA

Attachments:

Ballot
Constitution and Bylaws Amendments