Dear friends,
The reason I write to you in english is that I wish for this letter to reach as many countries as possible and there would probably be few able to read it if it were in icelandic.
I am working on a video-project and for the results to be of any value I will require help from people living all over the planet. Therefore I am sending this to you hoping that you read it and then send it to people you know in as many countries you find possible, and they forward it again and so on and so forth, until it has reached as many places it can.
I sincerely hope that chain-reaction will eventually result in at least one person in every part of the world writing back to me willing to help me by donating a couple of hours of their time and one video-casette for this humble project.
My request is explained in the following letter:

My name is María Hjálmtýsdóttir and I come from Iceland. I have a BA degree in anthropology and am currently teaching sociology as well as using my unpaid time for working on a video-project I have dreamt of making into reality for a long time.
At first I dreamed of travelling all over the planet to be able to ask people from every country my questions, but since that venture would probably leave my whole family in ruins I must reach out to my fellow earthlings to be able to execute my idea.
I will not explain in every detail what I have in mind in this letter, but I will most certainly explain it to those of you who wish to help me so generously.
To prevent any misunderstandings I will tell you that this is nothing bad, dirty or weird. It is a peaceful exploring of our common ideas, values and experiences. What I have in mind is making a video where a couple of people from different walks of life in as many countries possible, are asked the same questions about life and one special topic. Those will be explained in detail to those who participate.
This ofcourse will take a couple of hours of your time and you would have to send the un-edited video back to me for it to become a part of my project. Then your name will be put in the credit-list of the video. Since I am but a poor teacher-mother-of-two, I have nothing else to offer you exept my eternal gratitude and friendship. That is why I must rely on your good will and help.
If you are not interested or not able to help me, I sincerely hope that you will be so generous as to forwarding this letter to someone who might. Or perhaps you could be so kind as to help me get in contact by other means with people who live where internet-access is not available but might be willing to participate.
If you are interested and able to do me this inmense favour, please write to me at the following adress: maria151174@hotmail.com before jan. 2005. You may also write to me in spanish or french if that is easier for you.

Thank you for your time and best wishes from Iceland.
Sincerely,
María Hjálmtýsdóttir

Ps. Ofcourse I will send the finished product to those of you who participate in my project.