September 20, 2024
Dear Hossein,
I was delighted to receive your latest communication as well as the photos and video from the summer camp and the university video. It was particularly inspiring to see so many camp activities and to learn from you that this all transpired on land owned by Congress 60. I was also amazed at the progress on construction of the university since the last video you sent. One can see from this latest video just how beautiful and functional this building will be when completed. It is far more spacious than I first imagined and will stand as a leading international center of learning about addiction and recovery.
I am glad you were pleased with the first except I sent of the draft introductory material of the research study article. I have made all the corrections you suggested in the draft and am including another excerpt attached for your review and comments. And thank you Ehsan for this extra work of translating these for us. I have drawn this information from years of our communication, but I want to make sure that all that I have written is both factually correct and current. My memory is not as good as it once was. Later today, I will write an email of mutual introduction between Ehsan and Dr. Sarapas so that they may communicate directly with each other regarding the study data. You were very wise in suggesting that Ehsan serve as a liaison and translator between Dr. Sarapas and the Congress 60 inspector of statistics.
Your other research studies are progressing rapidly, and I look forward to your updates on their findings. As these are published or presented, I want to make sure these are added to our Congress 60 bibliography, which we can post once these are added.
I wanted to share with you the following. I was recently asked, “What is the one thing you have learned from your work with Congress 60 in Iran that could improve the treatment of addiction in other countries?” Without thinking, my response was, “Don’t do just one thing” and then went on to explain Congress 60’s wholistic philosophy of treatment and recovery and how you have integrated a broad menu of activities that heal body, mind and spirit. I thought the “Don’t do just one thing” perfectly critiqued the historical split between medication support and psychosocial support and the way that these are combined and woven together into a life-transforming tapestry within Congress 60.
Please extend my warmest regards to your family and to all members of Congress 60.
Friends and brothers forever,
Bill