White House Press Corps.org: Air Force One Press Gaggle by Dana Perino

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Air Force One Press Gaggle by Dana Perino
— Monday, February 18, 2008 —

Q What do you have on his downtime today?

MS. PERINO: Yes. I wanted to let you know that the President and Mrs. Bush had the opportunity to visit with Ellie Leblond -- that is their niece -- Doro Koch's niece(*).

Q How old is she?

MS. PERINO: She's 19, and she's here in the country for a few months working with a group called the Tanzanian Children's Fund. And a woman named India Howell, who is the founder and director, joined them for the visit, as did Nano Chatfield -- she's the president of the board of directors of the Tanzanian Children's Fund. India Howell is the founder and director. I would encourage you, if you have a chance, to look up the Tanzanian Children's Fund website, because they do some really great work with orphans.

And India Howell has been in Africa since -- well, she first climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 1998, and she says in her bio that it changed her life and that she wanted to fulfill a lifelong dream of doing something to help orphans. And so she started an orphanage first in her own home, and then expanded it, and now she serves over 40 -- 41 children are living here with her right now at what they call a children's village. That was as of March 2007, there were 41 children living with her in the children's village. And so Ellie is there volunteering for a few months.

(*) Ellie Leblond is Doro Koch's daughter

Labels: Africa, Air Force One, Dana Perino, Doro Koch, Ellie Leblond, India Howell, President Bush, Press Gaggle, Tanzania, Tanzanian Children's Fund, White House Press Corps

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