In Germany, I had some meetings and photo shoots with my partners Nintendo and Mrs.Sporty. The main reason for the trip however was getting together with the entire foundation team of Children for Tomorrow to discuss the past year and set new goals.

And then it was quickly back to Las Vegas to celebrate Andre’s birthday, who had also been traveling.

Next up we are excited to attend the prestigious Kentucky Derby with our partner Longines this weekend.

Uganda is one of the areas in which Children for Tomorrow is focused. For the past three years, we have operated an ambulance at the local hospital in Gulu / Northern Uganda, where we offer physical and psychological therapy for traumatized children and their families. Our treatment team, consists of one doctor, two nurses and a social worker, who work with an ever-growing number of children.

Since the ceasefire 6 years ago, things have calmed and many families took advantage of the opportunity to leave the refugee camps and return to their villages to cultivate their fields. However, the 20-year war has left deep emotional, physical and social scars that will take decades to heal. While many NGOs have already left the town of Gulu to travel to more acute crisis areas, our goals have centered around working here with the war-affected children and families. We are currently constructing the first Children for Tomorrow hut which will house our ambulance and which the children will also be able to use as an additional therapy and games room. The foundations are all ready and we look forward to being able to offer therapeutic services in about a month.

Many war-traumatized children are not able to find their way to us because their parents and teachers often do not recognize the relationship between traumatic experiences from the war and the problems at school or in the family. So in the future, we want to do more work outside of our clinic and seek needy children locally. We intend to introduce school programs that have already proven to be successful in Hamburg. To this end, a few weeks ago Fionna Klasen (selected psychologist CFT Hamburg), James Okello (psychiatrist CFT Uganda) and Catherine Kiemer (school psychologist and currently an intern at CFT) initiated the pilot project “CFT mental health club,” a school for war-traumatized children in Gulu. In the afternoons, we to talk to children about their concerns, needs, desires and hopes, and hopefully improve their mental health. It is important that children and their parents and teachers be aware of the symptoms and effects of psychological trauma and that they know where they can go for help. Children who suffer from severe symptoms, will continue to be treated in our clinic. We hope to be able to offer our “mental health CFT club” in other schools and to be able to reach as many children as possible in their local schools.

How many and which house pets do you have?

We have 2 dogs at home, one of them is a Retriever, which we have had for 2 years now and the other one is a Yorkshire Terrier which we got last fall. They have been a great addition to the family. If it was up to the kids, we would have a whole zoo. They keep trying to persuade us to have more pets. But because of our travels, its often not easy to take care of the dogs. We are lucky to have my mom close by, who enjoys looking after the dogs when we are on the road.

Do you really write your Facebook posts yourself?

Yes, the official Facebook page is www.facebook.com/officialsteffigraf and all Facebook posts and photos are my own thoughts and words.

To which country you have never been to would you like to travel?

I have never been to Taiwan and thus I am really looking forward to visit the island for an exhibition match in May. I am also very interested in getting to know the regions in China away from the big cities. Further, I would like to visit some of the remote corners of Africa and its amazing landscapes and unique cultures and people.

What was the last movie you saw at a movie theater?

We just watched Moneyball recently, a movie about Baseball with Brad Pitt, because our son loves baseball. The acting was great and the fact that is was a true story made it more interesting. Mostly, my visits to the movie theatre are limited to children’s movies, but that might change soon as the kids are growing older.

What is your favorite food?

In general I must admit that I have a sweet tooth. At the moment we all start our days with fruit smoothies as we like to mix a good variety of smoothies out of different types of fruits. The children like to add Asian Pears.

When we are short on time, I like cooking with the wok because you can create something really good, very quickly. Either I buy pre-chopped, frozen vegetables or I chop up vegetables myself in no time and stir-fry it with chicken or rice.

How often do you still play tennis?

At the beginning of the year I set myself the goal to play tennis more often. Since then I have played with Andre and some players of the Adidas team, which made a training stopover in Las Vegas in the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately I slipped on the stairs a couple weeks ago and I am now sidelined for the next 2-3 weeks with regards to training. But I am confident that I will be back on track for my first official exhibition match in Taiwan in May this year.

Will you go to the Olympic Games in London this year?

Yes, I have been invited by Adidas and I am really looking forward to London. The atmosphere that I have experienced in the past around the games is energizing and I particularly enjoy seeing and interacting with people from so many different countries. I also hope to find some time to watch some of the track and field events which are my favorite.

Do you ever consider moving back to Germany?

Las Vegas feels like home now. With so much family and the big circle of friends that I have developed here, I think I would miss it if I ever left.

But Germany is still my home country and I go back 4-5 times a year to visit family, friends, the foundation and business partners. The next time I will go will be in April, when visit Cologne for Mrs.Sporty and Hamburg for my foundation.

What is your favorite season and why?

I like all seasons for its own reasons – except for summer. I am not a big fan of the sun and all the heat, but I enjoy the spring and fall because of the changing colors and the cooler temperatures. This might sound surprising as I live in a desert city, but one does not spend much time outdoors in Las Vegas summers. We also take advantage of our children’s long summer vacations to travel on business trips and visit relatives and so we find some welcome relief from the incredible heat.

What is your favorite city?

I do not have a favorite city per se, but I enjoyed very much getting to know so many cities through the sport. Big cities like New York, San Francisco, London and Tokyo, fascinate me with all their unique cultural institutions, their energy and their diversity.

I heard you are coming to the Kentucky Derby to Louisville?

Yes, our partner Longines invited Andre and me to the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky at the beginning of May. The Kentucky Derby will be held for the 138th time and is an annual spring celebration of food, fashion and fun with a premier race for fillies. We will also be participating in a benefit for female cancer survivors, who are still struggling with the disease. Everyone will be wearing pink. I am honored and excited to act as a juror at the Longines Kentucky Oaks Fashion Show and help to select the ladies’ most original fashions. But first I need to find an outfit with pink details and the even bigger challenge will be to find a hat.

The men’s preparation for hard courts usually happens in Indian Wells near Miami and though it was the first time for Djokovic back on the court in Dubai after his sensational victory in Melbourne, his clear dominance for the first quarter of the year is likely to continue into the spring. Juan Martin del Potro has had a good start into the new year as well with two tournament wins in Marseille and Chile and with his comfort with hard courts, it will be interesting to see how he performs in the upcoming tournaments.

For the ladies, Victoria Azarenka began the year with three tournament victories in Sydney, Melbourne and Doha and has emerged as a clear leader in what may be a very strong women’s field. I was delighted to see German player Julia Görges advance to the finals in Dubai and that Angelique Kerber won the tournament in Paris. With Becker, Petzschner and Kohlschreiber on the men’s side, we are seeing more German players competing deeper in tournament play.

For myself, the preparations have been in full gear for my next exhibition match in Taiwan in May and its been great. One of my promises to myself this year was to spend more time on the court and with the Adidas-team making one of its regular stops in Vegas, I have been having a blast hitting a few balls around with a few great players, such as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Sorana Cirstea. That and the already spring-like temperatures in Las Vegas has made it a lot of fun to get outdoors again.

Djokovic,  building on the high level of play he showed all last year,  will probably continue his impressive play, although he did show signs of fatigue at the end of last season. It would be great to see a Djokovic/Federer final at this tournament.  Federer has defeated the Serb twice in the finals of the Australian Open but hasn’t been able to celebrate a Grand Slam victory in two years. Not to be underestimated, however, are Murray and Tsonga, who both have had a good start with their respective victories in Brisbane and Qatar. In 2012, I will be interested in following Nadal’s season, which will depend a lot on his health and fitness.With the addition of the Olympics to an already tight schedule,  all the players will test their endurance but Nadal,  who has had some health issues the past couple of years, will need to be especially careful to pace himself appropriately.

For the women,  the New Year will begin much as it ended last year: Serena Williams recent foot injury and the lack of match practice (not since the U.S. Open 2011) will make things difficult for her.  But there are at least six other potential winners in Melbourne who could also simultaneously be crowned as the new number 1: Wozniacki, Kvitova, Azarenka, Sharapova, Stosur or Radwasnka. Unfortunately, Petkovic,  one of our great German hopes had to cancel due to a back injury.  I hope all the other players are able to have an injury free start to the season.

I’m looking forward to two exciting weeks, seeing how well prepared the players are for the season and for the Summer Olympics. The anticipation has even inspired a promise to myself to get out on the court and hit the ball around a bit more than I did last year.

On the personal side, I got a lot of great opportunities to share some memorable times with family and friends, like our vacation in Canada, our visit to Germany, Andre’s induction to the Hall of Fame and introducing a new addition to our family, a Yorkshire Terrier named Yankee. Best of all, Andre and I are so appreciative of being able to share so many special moments with our children and for the fact that all those close to our hearts are healthy. Wishing all of you a happy holiday filled with success, health, peace and happiness for the new year.

That being said, 2011 was definitely Djokovic’s year, who stacked up a record of 69 wins in his 73 matches. Among the 10 titles are the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, in which he played undeniably outstanding tennis on highest level. However, at the tournaments in Basel and London his spectacular but grueling season definitely had a noticeable effect on his game.

Though Nadal won the French Open against Federer, his only three tournament wins were limited to clay, certainly his best surface, and towards the year end, and a long and intense tour, he was also showing signs of fatigue.

The upcoming break should help the Top 4 players, including Murray, who had a fantastic Fall but is currently injured, to regain their strength for the 2012. In 6 weeks, it starts all over again with the Australian Open and I can imagine that Federer’s three tournament titles at year-end will give him some confidence for the upcoming season – also, by the way, an Olympic year. I am looking forward to seeing if Djokovic will be able to continue to perform at such a high level and maintain his top position. I am also curious to see if the Top 4 will continue to dominate the finals.

The Ladies‘ Grand-Slam winner list in 2011 tells the story of year which the lacked a dominating presence on the WTA tour: There were four different winners, three of them claiming the title for the first time. Li Na made tennis history at the French Open by being the first Asian champion in history. Her triumph was definitely one of the highlights of the year.

The Czech Petra Kvitova is definitely one of the year’s exciting newcomers with six tournament titles, including Wimbledon and the WTA Championships in Istabul. Also Samantha Stosur won her first big title at the US Open after defeating Serena Williams in straight sets. It would be great for women’s tennis if Serena Williams continues to find her way back to form in 2012 as well.

Another great story was Sabine Lisicki. She won two tournaments in Birminham and Dallas, reached the semifinals in Wimbledon and worked her way up in the rankings in a short time from rank 218 to rank 15. A great achievement for the German player who could also feel pride in the accomplishments of compatriots like Petkovic, who is the first German player in some time to rank in the Top 10, Görges and Kerber, semi-finalist at the US Open, who also showed great improvement and already have me looking forward to the upcoming season.

I was sorry to hear about the former number 1 Justine Henin, who had to withdraw from a great career with seven Grand-Slam titles for good due to a persistent elbow injury. Her talent and personality will be missed on the tour. Although Wozniacki ended the season as number 1 for the second time, her first Grand-Slam title still eluded her this year. So it remains to be seen if the women’s tennis will again produce a season with a broad top field and thus many winners. In any case we can hopefully look forward to another season with outstanding tennis and the additional highlight – the Olympic Games in London.

To note just a couple of recent examples of tremendous generosity, at the end of September,  the Cash Gala,  sponsored by Cash Medien AG,  collected EUR 27,000 on behalf of the Foundation. And now,  everyone involved with our organization is honored to hear that our team in Hamburg will be presented with the Marion Dönhoff-advancement award which includes a EUR 20,000 prize. The Marion Dönhoff award acknowledges people and organizations who act to improve international understanding and reconciliation.

Receiving this award from Marion Dönhoff foundation,  which has done a great deal to promote peace and cooperation around the world,  greatly encourages us in our efforts for children, who particularly suffer from the consequences of war, expulsion and violence. It is very clear in the daily work at the foundation that children’s mental health is a fundamental building block for peaceful social coexistence and the ability to integrate within a multicultural society.

On behalf of the foundation, I would sincerely like to thank the jury and their chair, Mr. Theo Sommer and the founders, the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT, the ZEIT-foundation ebelin, Mr. Gerd Bucerius and the Marion Dönhoff foundation.

Since I unfortunately will not be able to attend the award ceremony, I also wish to take the opportunity here to thank all readers of DIE ZEIT, who nominated us for the award. Both donations from Cash Medien AG as well as from the Marion Dönhoff award helps us not only to make a difference in lives of the children we treat but hopefully also raises awareness of the psychological impact that violence can have on a society and its children.

The holiday season is here and thus the time of hope and giving. We see the needs of so many refugee children in our daily work, and so we have written a wish list on behalf of the children to our friends and supporters.

Fulfill even one wish and you can change a child’s future!

Every gift helps the children from our projects – and if you specify your name and address in your payment, we will send you a gift certificate that you can use or give to friends and family!

OUR CHRISTMAS WISHES:

Gift for our children in Gulu, Uganda

In Gulu, Uganda, the prevailing belief is that people with mental disorders are possessed by evil spirits. War traumatized former child soldiers are therefore often shunned and excluded from their communities. In order to help them reintegrate into society, we offer therapy in our outpatient clinic in Gulu and also travel to the surrounding refugee camps:

“runabout”

Gasoline for a month in the refugee camps, mobile psychotherapy costs 100 €.

“listener”

Three hours into our outpatient psychotherapy costs 20 € a month.

Year package: Give a child a long-term healing perspective and make a donation for one year 12 x 20 € – 240 €, we can enable a child 36 hours of therapy!

Gift for our children in Gjakova, Kosovo

Even ten years after the war in Kosovo officially ended, prejudice, hatred and violence between the multiple ethnic groups is still prevalent, which makes a peaceful coexistence impossible. Our project in Kosovo is therefore very important for the children of the region and has won several awards from the mayor of the city. Specifically, the project “Therapy in School” and the annual multi-ethnic camps “Youth Building Bridges” have now become a regular institution in Gjakova:

“Therapy in School”

With 500 €, we can fund a psychologist for a month.

Year package: Donate for a year – 12 x € 500 – € 6,000 – and we can employ a psychologist in primary schools in and around Gjakova.

Gift for our children in Hamburg, Germany

In our newly established foundation based in Hamburg, we operate the Outpatient Clinic for Refugee Children and their families. Doctors and therapists give children new hope through psychotherapy. In art therapy, they are given the opportunity to express their feelings and nonverbal expression:

“Picasso”

A years supply of pens, brushes, paints and clay for art therapy for each child costs 200 €.

“psychologist”

The fee for a psychologist is 3,500 € a month.

Gift for our children in Asmara, Eritrea

In 2008 we opened our first kindergarten in the slums of Asmara, Eritrea. The inhabitants of the slums speak with pride of the building where 300 children are now cared for. The marked poverty of living conditions in the area, and high percentage (over 20%) of children younger than six years old makes our work there critical to the well being of the community!

“Toys”

Treatment material costs for each child for a year is 10 €.

“bookworm”

A picture book for story time, costs 15 €.

Please donate using the form below or in Germany or Europe at the official Children for Tomorrow website:

http://childrenfortomorrow.de/index.php?article_id=31

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