Sakler Moo graduated junior high school in Albany this June with the highest grade point average in the school. He hopes to go on to college to become an artist or an engineer. He is a gifted artist.

Everyone on the soccer team must be on the honor roll, says Ali.

His favorite thing in America is the soccer  team, he says (so do all the other players). He has been in American for several years and like the other members of the team, he mostly misses the freedom he had in Thailand to move about freely.

He loved hunting squirrels with a slingshot, he said,  you can’t do that here in America, not in the middle of Albany.

Sakler is a gifted artist, he loves to draw. Next week, Ali and I are taking him shopping for clothes for high school. He needs sneakers and pants and a shirt or two. Sachler is quiet and sensitive with an easy and wry smile.

He gives me a hug when he sees me, and I am told he is working on a portrait of me. Fair enough.

I took these portraits because I wanted you to begin to get to know some of these children that you are doing so much to help. You are  transforming their lives, introducing them to America, broaden their horizons and strengthen their sense of community.

Ali is an extraordinary father, mentor, friend to these children, he is guiding them and supporting them every day. They revere him.

As I look for activities and “adventures” for them, I look for ways to build their confidence and community, to show them more of America than they have seen, and to come to understand just how welcome they are here to so many Americans.

Thanks for your support. We have made an enormous difference in their lives.If you wish to contribute to this work, you can do so by donating to the Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, [email protected].

I will continue this portrait and writing series so you can see the people whose lives you are supporting so wonderfully.