Dear UAA members,

Thank you for entrusting me the important responsibility of being a Board of Director of UAA. I'll cherish your trust and do my best to serve our community. Together, we will make a difference in the future of our people.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank the former Board of Directors for their outstanding service.

I specially thank Rizabek Pasha aka, Erkin Alptiken aka, Enver Can aka and other distinguished guests who came from far distances with their great hopes for UAA. Their presence at the Congress was tremendous inspiration and encouragement for all of us. That reminded us of the great expectations of our people from our community.

On behalf of the Uyghur community, I also would like to thank Jack and Kathy for the terrific jobs they have done for our people! Jack, Kathy, your effort is making a difference for Uyghur people. You will be remembered by them.

Establishment of Uyghur American Association is one of the major milestones in our community in US. It is the manifestation of our desire to have a closely held community and a common voice.

Since its establishment two years ago, UAA has survived the tests of constant challenges and achieved significant accomplishments. Most significantly, UAA has contributed significantly to the increased visibility of Uyghur issue in US and other part of the world.

The creation of Radio Free Asia, the Amnesty report and recent Senate and Congress resolutions on Rabiye Kadir are major milestones in our struggle for visibility and recognition of the human rights violations in East Turkistan. These milestones have opened the door for a greater opportunity. However, UAA has yet to overcome the unique challenge arisen from our limited resources. We are a small community scattered all over the country. We all have to take care of our jobs and family on top of our obligation to UAA. As you are all aware, prioritizing between these different responsibilities is not easy.

However, no matter how big is the challenge, UAA will survive and grow. Today, our people is experiencing the worst time of our history. Our community in US is small, but we are well aware of the fact that we are the hope of our people. We have to face the harsh reality and take up the challenge. No matter how small we are, if we stand together and work together, we can make a difference, as we have already demonstrated.

As a reflection of the strength of our community here, UAA is a small organization today without an office yet. It's future still will mirror our young community's American dream. I firmly believe that it is only a matter of time before UAA finds its place in Uyghur history and becomes an important tool of communication between our people back home and the western civilization. UAA will spread the seeds of democracy in East Turkistan by taking advantage of our people's trust in and respect for our community.

We all came here to learn. Our people expect great things from us because of that. UAA is part of that learning process. It will provide us with a rich and rewarding experience. Let's learn it together and build a stronger UAA for a better future for Uyghurs.