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 Dear patrons and friends,
On behalf of the BLAGO Fund I would like to wish all of you and your families happy holidays - a healthy and prosperous New Year, and a Merry Christmas with the traditional salute:Christ is Born!
Most of you already know that during the past year, the BLAGO Fund has continued actively pursuing the directions set out at its inception almost ten years ago. As we quietly complete this decade-long milestone, I would like to have a forward-looking focus and share with you the four major goals that BLAGO Fund plans to undertake in 2008. You may notice that they are tailored to further promote and preserve the Serbian rich cultural heritage - not only through the archiving, but also through direct assistance in ensuring the survival of places and people that take care of them. To achieve any or all of them we need your help. As the end of the year nears, you may pause to review, reflect, and plan for the future, and we sincerely hope that you'll find these goals worthwhile.
Thank you,
Nenad Vukicevic
P.S. If you also want to be included in the BLAGO Fund 2008 Patron list please contact our office at 202 463 8643
[  2008 Plans and Actions ] 
1 LIGHT - KOSOVO PRAYER
The BLAGO has started developing a unique program that will allow faithful around the world to have a candle lit and a prayer performed on their behalf in the ancient monasteries in Kosovo and Metohija.
In the past, many pilgrims, from near and far, traveled to this holy land to join the brotherhoods in prayer, find peace and solace in the ancient church walls, to light a candle and pray for their loved ones, both living and dead. The pilgrims are now very few, but the spiritual power of that prayer and sense of the sublime in this sacred and continue unabated.
Through the power of Internet, faithful can request a prayer and candle lit in the monasteries of Decani, Gracanica, Patriarchate of Pec, Sokolica. At the same time, donations can be made for those monasteries in support of those that live in an environment that can be best described as "Christianity under siege".
This program will also allow our faithful to engage other religious groups in the task of preserving Christian Kosovo.
It is very important to keep the light of Christianity in Kosovo and Metohija. Your support will enable us to start this valuable project and raise visibility of our Church's plight in Kosovo.
2 HOPE - SURVIVAL THROUGH BRANDING
Regardless of the future status for Kosovo and Metohija, the Serbian Orthodox monasteries are there to stay. These places have been many occupations over time and have always found a way to survive through hard work and prayers. The same holds true today, as monastic and small supportive lay communities carry on daily life, often in isolated ghettos. The organic ties between the brotherhoods and their flock remain one of the keys not only to their survival, but also to ensuring the living presence of the Serbian heritage and identity in this area.
Support for this is best achieved through well-crafted economic programs and incentives. It is in this context that the BLAGO Fund is launching, a feasibility study and action plan for the Kosovo Branding project. Its principal aim is to create and promote a distinct and suggestive "Made in Kosovo, Serbia" brand based on a line of local exclusive products (e.g. honey, cheese, wines, spirits, crafts) that would engage and economically liberate both monastic and local communities. Naturally, to have a chance of success, such a program must address various aspects - logistics, financials, marketing, distribution, etc. However, properly designed and implemented, it could simultaneously achieve multiple important goals: allowing the population outside the province (in Serbia proper, as well as the Diaspora) to directly and constructively support, through an economic market vehicle, the survival of the monastic and Serbian enclaves in Kosovo-Metohija, to enabling State institutions (through leveraging the adoption of the brand on an official level) suitable promotion of the Serbian identity of the province.
Strong brand of "Made in Monastery Decani" ensures the economic survival of the monastery and small Serbian population in the area.
3 PRESERVE - PRESERVE HERITAGE
Our core activities are still to preserve and promote.
Slowly but surely, the BLAGO Fund's archive is growing into the first Serbian cultural heritage digital library. Certainly, there is a long road ahead; however, with your help we can make it.
Next year BLAGO plans to accomplish:
I. Complete the archives of the Patriarchate of Pec - more then 10,000 pictures, and virtual nodes will be presented as an archive on the BLAGO website. This is an important milestone as all of the major monasteries from Kosovo & Metohija will be present in our archives.
II. Dispatch two BLAGO expeditions to Kosovo & Metohija and southern Serbia to record many smaller monasteries and churches that are left unprotected.
III. Complete two more DVDs with Monasteries Decani and Patriarchate of Pec.
IV. Create the very first Serbian heritage digital library, available for broad use, including other organizations and institutions (libraries, museums, etc ...)
At the same time BLAGO will expand its presence in US:
I. Our slide archive, together with our other digital collections, will be donated to the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington DC, an international center for scholarship, providing resources for study and publishing scholarly works in Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and Garden and Landscape Studies. This is a great opportunity to for further leverage of the BLAGO Fund work.
II. A copy of it will be also donated to the Princeton University.
4 PROMOTE - PROMOTE TALENT
Supporting young talents and exceptional scientific work in the Homeland and Disapora
is also one of the major aims of the BLAGO Fund.
I. Exceptional students of the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade are honored with BLAGO awards at the end of the their last semester.
II. For the last eight years BLAGO supported Prof. Dr. Marko Jaric award for the exceptional work in the area of physics. Annual award is delivered to the scientist of Serbian descent for his/hers achievements in the field.
And, if this is not enough, BLAGO is open for suggestions and voluntary work. Browse our web site for more information.
[ 2008 Plans and Actions ]
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