Article 21

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August - September 2013

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Saksham and Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti initiative

A 'WALK FOR SIGHT' IN CHANDANI CHOWK

In order to inspire and make people aware of the noble cause of ‘eye-donation’, Saksham and Dadhichi Dehdaan Samiti jointly conducted a ‘Walk for Sight’ in crowded Chandani Chowk area of Delhi on August 23. Leading film actor Shatrughan Sinha, BJP MP Smriti Irani, former cricketer Chetan Chauhan also joined the walk to educate the people on the initiative. Many visually challenged persons and a large number of people also attended it. The prime objective of the walk was to make people aware of the ‘corneal blindness’ and to motivate them for eye donation.

“My family, and I have pledged to donate our eyes and I would like to do this noble act a thousand more times if possible. I salute the RSS people and the initiative to awaken people towards eye donation. The appeal will resonate in every nook and corner of the city and will inspire thousands to be a part of this mission,” said Shatrughan Sinha. He said the highest number of visually challenged people in the world are in India, and that too in the areas of Uttar Pradesh, Poorvanchal, Delhi, etc.

Smriti Irani said, “I announce to donate my eyes and I also admire the commendable hard work being done by the RSS volunteers who contacted more than one lakh fifty thousand families in Delhi to spread the awareness about eye donation.” A similar appeal was made by Shri Chetan Chauhan, former Delhi BJP chief Dr Harsh Vardhan, Saksham president Dr Dayal Singh Panwar and others.

The walk began from famous Gauri Shankar Mandir of Chandni Chowk and moved towards Vivekanada Chowk, passing through Gurudwara Sheeshganj Sahib. From August 25 to September 1 an ‘eye donation’ week will be observed and efforts will be made to reach out to more and more people possible and inspire them for donating their eyes.

And the mountains echoed

Focus Youth For Seva volunteers are back from Uttarakhand and recount stories of optimism with which victims look forward to rebuilding their lives

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Twenty one volunteers, seven from Hyderabad and the rest from Bangalore and Chennai, divided themselves into four groups and visited different villages in Uttarakhand region battered by torrential rains and landslides. Everywhere they went, there were harsh reminders of destruction. Bridges had been washed away and rubble filled up what were once narrow pathways. These volunteers trekked long distances, sometimes running for their lives as they witnessed landslides and slept on damp floors in ruined homes.“We surveyed the situation in different villages to understand the long-term requirements,” says Swathi Ram, Hyderabad coordinator of Youth For Seva (YFS). They also provided relief material by distributing ‘family kits’ that included stoves, vessels and blankets (each kit is valued at Rs.14,000, purchased from fund collected towards relief work), but the larger task was to look at long-term measures. The education sector, the volunteers feel, requires immediate help. “Many village folks are eager to send their children to school, even if it means having to travel to neighbourhood towns or villages. Many schools have been washed away,” says Shobhit Mathur.

The team was delighted to learn that parents hadn’t given in to gender bias and wanted to educate their girls. “We met girls studying in high schools; we met parents wanting to see their girls self-sufficient. For that, schools have to be rebuilt in many areas,” Swathi points out. Volunteers met villagers who took the disaster in their stride, neither complaining nor blaming Nature for their predicament. “Some people wondered if Ganga wanted their fields and took it away; they wondered if they had done something to hurt Nature and this was Nature’s way of showing disapproval,” adds Swathi.The YFS team made it to Uttarakhand by chance this year. Each year, a contingent of volunteers from different cities plans a yatra. This year, they were deciding between Kanyakumari and North East. The devastating floods in Uttarakhand made them reconsider their plans. They set off to Uttarakhand on August 9 on a 10-day trip.The parent organisation, Seva International, was already in the State, and served as their field partners. In most places they visited, the volunteers were met with warmth. There was no bitterness, says Swathi. The interior villages, inaccessible by roads, faced no danger of becoming sites of disaster tourism.

There were stories of loss — of people, cattle and means of livelihood. Volunteers saw women, with children on their backs, trekking the slopes for food, water and cooking gas. “A cylinder costing Rs. 400 in the foothills is sold for Rs.1200 uphill. A kilogram of sugar is sold at Rs. 80. We felt guilty when they offered us tea; we knew what it cost them,” says Shobit.Sasidhar, who has travelled to many disaster zones including Bhuj after the earthquake in 2001, says the living conditions in Uttarakhand are by far the worst he has witnessed. “In other regions, there were roads. Here, three months after the floods, many areas remain unreachable. The region gets four to five hours of rainfall even now, which hampers relief work,” he says. For young volunteers Vikram and Rajasekhar, this trip was an opportunity to see compassionate people who came to Uttarakhand from different parts of the country. “You don’t need to be part of an organisation to reach out. We met a volunteer who had come all the way from Bangalore on his own; he had first visited a few areas to assess the damage, went back and bought relief material,” he says. “We met several such people doing voluntary work,” adds Rajasekhar.As the YFS group spoke to different stakeholders — homemakers, business people, students and women knitting woollen products to make a living — they saw an outpouring of compassion everywhere: A student had helped 200 people to safety making multiple trips on his two-wheeler; another villager carried a Hyderabadi who suffered a heart attack all the way to the foothills on his back to find medical aid. The Hyderabadi recouped and returned home safe. Shobhit, Swathi and the team are now focusing on the task at hand. “Apart from the education sector, we are thinking of ways to help with entrepreneurial skills. It is important to help people who’ve lost their means of livelihood,” says Swathi.

VANVASI VIKAS SAMITI LAKSHYA PROJECT (BHILAI)

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Vanvasi Vikas Samiti (VVS) is a social organization in Chattisgarh state working for tribal development. It is affiliated to Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. VVS has started project ‘Lakshya’ a coaching and guidance center in the year 2010 for janajati students who are aspiring for Civil Services. Shri Santosh Paranjape a devoted social worker of Kalyan Ashram took the initiative. It was a humble beginning. Slowly and gradually dynamic youths associated themselves with Lakshya project. They had a dream to have own building for the project. This include conference hall, class rooms, accommodation for faculties and students along with reading room &Image may be NSFW.
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reference library. With the help of local generous people and institutions this dream came true. On 27th July 2013 Chief Minister Shri Raman Singh inaugurated new building of Lakshya. President and Vice President of Vanvasi kalyan Ashram Shri Jagdeoram and Shri Kripa Prasad Singh were present on the auspicious occasion. Chief Minister appreciated the efforts of the organization. Jagdeoram expressed his wishes to the students and the institution. The institution ‘Sankalp’ of Delhi is helping since the inception of the project. At present, 25 students are preparing for UPSC exams. Two students successfully passed the preliminary exam this year.

NIRMAN: AN INSTRUMENT OF SOCIAL CHANGE

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“Project Nirman is a unique exemplary service activity by Vanvasi Vikas Samiti. This will be an instrument of social change by youths in future.” Prof G D Sharma expressed his thoughts on the occasion of felicitation programme of Project Nirman. He conveyed his best wishes to the successful students.

Vanvasi Vikas Samiti is a social voluntary organization working in Chattisgarh state. VVS is running Project Nirman at Bilaspur which is a free coaching centre for Janjati youths. Nirman provides coaching for competitive exams for youths who come from remote educationally backward villages. This project is being run for last three years. This year students of project Nirman appeared for Image may be NSFW.
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various exams and 55 students successfully get through the exams. Students secured jobs in the field of Banking, Railways, Police, Veterinary, Education and income tax services. Felicitation programme of successful students was organized on21 July, Sunday at Ram Mandir auditorium here. Beautiful dance on Ganesh Stuti was presented at the beginning of function. Successful students were felicitated by the chief guest Prof G D Sharma. Teachers Shri Brajendra Shukla, Shri Jayant Sarkar, Dr Ghanashyam, Dr Dhananjay Mishra and Shri Navin Relwani who provide free coaching were honoured by the chief guest. Students also offered their tribute to them on the eve of Guru Purnima.

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best wishes to the students and expressed his gratitude towards the teachers and team members of Project Nirman. On this occasion he presented brief account of activities of Vanvasi Kalayan Ashram. As a guest of honour Dr Santosh Uddeshya appreciated the efforts of Vanvasi Vikas Samiti. He assured to extend his hand of cooperation in the health care activities of Vanvasi Vikas Samiti in future. The programme was concluded by vote of thanks followed by National song Vande Mataram. Dr Rajkumar Sachadev, Shri Brajesh Shukla, Pradip Sharma, Asnamol Jha, Rajkumarji Gupta, Dr Rajbhanu, Anand Mahadik, Nilesh Chandravanshi, Subhash Gadhewal and other workers of the project worked hard to make the function grand. Students also participated in the organizing programme.

MY VISIT TO SEWA PROJECTS IN MANGALORE

- Vinay Nayak, USA

After attending shaka in the United States for the past decade, I had always wanted to see what it was like to attend shaka in India and get to know more about the Sewa projects in my native state of Karnataka. This year, from June 30th to July 3rd, I received the opportunity to visit an RSS based establishment and help out with two Sewa Bharati projects in Mangalore. On the Saturday afternoon ofJune 30th, I took a bus from the town of Udupi to the city of Mangalore to stay at an RSS base called Sanghaniketan. At Sanghaniketan, I met two local karyakartas, Pradeep ji and Sachin Bhat ji, who helped me with all of my activities in Mangalore. After settling down, I went to shaka at the Sanghaniketan hall and met many people. Interestingly, all of the activities were the same as conducted in a regular family shaka in the U.S. except for the prarthana and the method of communication (Kannada). Later on Sunday, I attended another shaka that consisted mostly of bachelors. That night after dinner, I befriended several college age students who resided at Sanghaniketan and struck conversation until after midnight.

The next day, after waking up to prayer at 5:30 in the morning, I attended another shaka at Sanghaniketan and met several important karyakartas in the Mangalore area. After shaka, I visited two schools run by Sewa Bharati: Chetana Child Development Centre and the Roman and Catherine Lobo School for the Blind. At the Chetana School, I learned more about students affected by Autism and Cerebral Palsy after discussing with several experts in the field. I also visited the Pediatric Physiotherapy unit and observed many physiotherapists helping out children with cerebral palsy. Soon afterwards, I visited the School for the Blind and met with two teachers who taught blind students in Braille. In the evening, after relaxing with friends for some time, many of the shaka karyakartas played three short rounds of cricket. After my first full day in Mangalore, I was thrilled after having an amazing day meeting many new people at the Sewa Bharati schools and making many new friends in India. On Monday, I had started off with the same morning routine of prayer and shaka as the day before. For breakfast, I went to Sachin ji’s house and met his whole family. Like any other cultured Hindu family, all the members of his family gave me a very warm welcome. A while later, I went back to Chetana school and visited several school teachers who taught elementary age students the subjects of Mathematics, English, and Computer Basics. To my luck, the teachers allowed me to aid the students who were mentally challenged. After a couple hours, I understood how difficult it was to teach even the most basic concepts in Math and English to third and four grade students. It was great to see how dedicated and passionate the teachers were to helping students overcome their difficulties and become better individuals in life. The following day, Sachin ji and I first visited the Blind School. Since this school was more formal than the Chetana School and followed the state curriculum, I was not able to directly interact with students and teachers but I was allowed to watch the teachers teach students various subjects ranging from Sciences and Technology to Poetry and Linguistics. At this school, the students were very proud and passionate of learning and aimed to perform their very best to excel in their academics. Later in the afternoon, I went back to the Chetana School and went to the school workshop for adult students where disabled students hand-made bags, envelopes, and many other items. Although the work seemed a bit mundane for regular people, it was an activity that bonded students very well. Many of the students got very excited to see visitors and several kept asking me if I would come back to work with them the next day. This day, I was able to not only see how happy these students were but also understand that even though they faced many difficulties, they were still able to overcome their hurdles and make it seem as if their life was perfect. Finally, on the last day of my five day stay at Mangalore, I made my last visit to the Chetana School. Although it was a quite sad since my stay in Mangalore was so short, I was glad to have met many wonderful people in RSS and Sewa Bharati who dedicated their lives to uplift humanity. It was a great opportunity to get to know more about the activities going on in the Mangalore area and spend time with students my age. Thus, after my short five day stay, I would recommend students and youth to volunteer for the Yuva for Sewa internship program if possible or at the very least spend time in their native area to do RSS and or Sewa work.

SEWA INTERNATIONAL GETS JEFFERSON AWARDS FOR PUBLIC SERVICE

Sewa International Houston was conferred with the prestigious Jefferson Awards for outstanding community service in a ceremony held at City Hall in Houston on August 13. Presented by Houston Mayor Annise Parker, this award recognizes Sewa’s monthly community service activities known as Sewa Local Events from July 2012. Sewa International, Houston has been offering its volunteers a chance to impact in their community and bring forth positive change.

Through Sewa Local Events, over 120 volunteers have committed their time serving various local organizations including the Houston Food Bank, Texas Children’s Hospital, Star of Hope Mission, Habitat for Humanity, and the Houston Zoo. Sewa also operates additional full-fledged programs including Refugee Empowerment, Family Services, and their internship opportunities.

Milk Bank for Vanvasi children by Sewa Bharati activists in Ranchi

FIGHTING MALNUTRITION WITH A DIFFERENCE

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Malnutrition has emerged as a major child killer in our country. It is more common in India than in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to UNICEF, one in every three malnourished children in the world lives in India and at least 44 per cent children are underweight. Malnutrition for young children has serious and long-term consequences, because it impedes motor, sensory, cognitive, social and emotional development. Their immune system remains weaker, leaving them more vulnerable to disease. For instance, they are five times more likely to die from diarrhea. Poor nutrition is also associated with nearly half of the deaths for children under five years (about 3.1 million) each year.Inadequate care of women and girls, especially during pregnancy, results in low- birth weight babies. Nearly 30 per cent of all newborns have a low birth weight, making them vulnerable to further malnutrition and disease. The future of rural India, where the highest concentration of poverty prevails, depends upon overcoming the challenges causing it. To counter the trend, the Government of India started many schemes under the banner of Integrated Child Development Services, but the picture on the ground is still disturbing.In this situation the Sewa Bharati activists in Ranchi started a unique initiative to fight malnutrition. Instead of offering any mid-day meal they provide cow milk to the children studying upto 5th standard. The work began in 2012 by forming a group of 17 women. Today, there are 170 women in this group and the number is growing everyday. Around 300 children studying in Saraswati Shishu Mandir at Jonha are provided around 100 mg milk everyday during the lunch break. They belong to 20 villages, mostly situated near the famous Jonha Fall. The milk is taken from a goushala run by Birsa Sewa Prakalpa. This group of women has pledged to feed milk to at least 1000 children by the end of this financial year.The idea of feeding milk to school children studying up to 5th standard clicked to Rashtriya Sewa Bharati joint general secretary Shri Gurusharan Prasad, when he visited Birsa Sewa Prakalp goushala last year. The entire milk of the goushala was then sold in the market. When he proposed to stop the sale of milk and provide it to the school children, the first question raised by the activists was how to meet the espenses of the goushala. But the remedy to the question was suggested by some activists only who proposed to involve some women of the city and collect some amount in the form of gousewa. Finally, the Vatsalya Dugdha Yojna was launched and the responsibility to take up the cause ahead was entrusted to Manjusha Deshpande, an activist. She has worked hard to develop 10 groups having ten members in each group.“In the beginning we focused on Satellite Colony of Ranchi and a good number of women joined us in the endeavour. Then women from many different colonies started joining us. The annual fee for this group has been fixed Rs 300. This amount is provided to the goushala, which provides milk for the children. Now we have owned up the expenses of the goushala and in turn the goushala has owned the responsibility of providing milk to the children without fail. The response is so overwhelming that the women from many other colonies including Rashmirathi Apartment, Ganesh Apartment, Tirupati Mansion, Himalaya Apartment, Nivaranpur Jaishree Apartment, Court Sarai Road, Haramu Housing Colony etc. are also joining the groups. “The biggest benefit of the scheme is that the goushala gets adequate money to meet its daily expenses and the children also get milk daily without fail,” says Manjusha Deshpande, convener of the Vatsalya Dugdha Yojna.“Malnutrition cannot be fought through lip service. It needs sound and sincere work on the ground. Since the level of malnutrition is very high in rural areas, we found it inappropriate to provide mid-day meal to the school children. There is no parallel of milk in fighting the deficiencies in human body. It is complete food, especially when it comes from a desi cow. That is why we have focused on it. All the cows in the goushala are of indigenous breed and the milk provided by them is rich with all necessary vitamins,” said Shri Gurusharan Prasad, adding that the scheme has proved a big hit and there are plans to start it at the state level.Apart from providing milk to the school children, the members of the Dugdha Yojna have also started providing lunch to the patients in Ranchi government hospital. They provide around 100 tiffins to prominently the child patients every day. “In the evening the tiffins are supplied to 100 families and they are collected at around 10 am every day along with rupees five per tiffin. The amount collected with the tiffin basically helps in meeting the expenses of the workers engaged in their transportation and distribution, etc. The amount is deposited in the Sewa Bharati account. “By and large both these projects are self-reliant. We hope to form a group of around 1000 women for this project also,” added Shri Gurusharan Prasad.“Though, we have not conducted any scientific study, anyone can see the good impact of the scheme in the form of improved health of all the children. Not only us, the parents of the kids too see this improvement,” added Manjusha Deshpande.At the time when the government efforts at fighting malnutrition are not drawing the desired results, this initiative by Sewa Bharati activists in Vanvasi region can prove to be an eye opener for the policymakers and other voluntary organisations, which are seriously fighting against malnutrition.

Through over 200 Mangal Dals, Basanti Behan revitalises forests and river tributaries in Uttarakhand

INVIGORATING THE NATURAL LIFELINES

Deforestation has caused huge damage to the ecosystem of Himalayan states. Not only city-dwellers, but also the villagers are suffering immensely. Obviously, any damage to forests first has adverse impact on the local water resources and livelihood of the villagers. That is why a large number of villages in Uttarakhand are facing acute water shortage, as many river tributaries are drying up. The villages in Kosi, Mansari Nala and Lod Valleys around Almora and Kausani had also faced the similar situation some years back. But a minor initiative of forest preservation by local women changed the picture of this entire region to the extent that not only the forests, but also the Kosi has been revived. The face behind this miracle is Basanti Behan of Lakshmi Ashram Kausani, who created over 200 women groups for this objective.

If you want to virtually see how a minor change in the mindset of people can fetch miraculous results, visit Almora, especially the Kosi, Mansari and Lod Valleys in Uttarakhand. The local women, who once contributed in forest-destruction, are now the proud forest protectors. It not only restored greenery here but also revitalised the Kosi River. The credit for changing this mindset goes to Basanti Behan who dedicated almost three decades of her life to this region.

Basanti Behan successfully mobilised over 2,500 local women by forming about 200 Mangal Dal. Each group has 10 to 15 women who not only refrain from causing any damage to the forest, but also stop others from doing it. The formation of such groups basically began with resolving the drinking water problem in the region in 2003. Basanti Behan points out that there were about 365 water resources in the region, which had started drying up due to unmindful deforestation. Even the water of Kosi had reduced drastically. The deforestation had turned green mountains nude. Gradually, the water crisis deepened so much in the year 2003 that Police had to guard the water resources. As a result the farmers stopped getting water for irrigation.

“The permanent solution to the crisis was large-scale tree plantation. We took the initiative. In the beginning, people were not ready to listen to us. I roamed villages for many weeks, but did not find any woman to speak to, as they all were in the forests. Some village elders then commented that ‘these women will not listen to even the District Magistrate or District Forest Officer if they prevent them from cutting trees.’ But I was undeterred. After many days I found a group of women returning from forests carrying wood on their heads. I spoke to them and persuaded to bring only as much wood as they really need. I also told them if they continue to destroy the trees, the Kosi too will dry and there will be no farming or forest products. Many women then confessed in front of me that they did not know the relation between the forest and the water and since there was a blind race to store more wood they had joined it,” says Basanti Behan while talking to Organiser.

With the limited support of some women, Basanti started forming several Mangal Dal. Each Dal took a pledge taking Kosi water in their hands that they will save the Kosi, green wood will neither be cut from the forest, nor would it be allowed to cut and they will protect the forest from fire. Later, the forest department also recognised their right to dry wood. Gradually, the women of other village also joined it.

The Mangal Dal then took some more initiatives. They started raiding the houses where woods were stored more than the requirements. They also planted thousands of trees. Gradually, the villagers started realising the significance of the movement. Today it has spread in more than 200 adjoining villages. They also formed some self-help groups, which strengthened their financial condition.

When the work basically began in 2003 there was a lot of antagonism towards the forest department. Any attempt at forest preservation was seen as ‘siding with the forest officials’. But Basanti convinced the villagers that the forests belonged to them and not to the Government alone, and that they too had a responsibility to protect them. Gradually, the villagers accepted this viewpoint.Image may be NSFW.
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The ecosystem responded magnificently to this initiative. Where there were sparse pine forests, now broad-leaved trees are coming back. The forest floor has saplings of rhododendron (buraansh), oak (banj), and myrica nagi (kaafal). All this is through natural regeneration. Seasonal springs now flow throughout the year. The springs at Rauliyan and at Kaphadi would dry up in the summer. For the last couple of years, they have been perennial.

The personal life of Basanti has been very tragic. Originally, hailing from Charma (Digra) village of Pithoragarh, she became a widow at the age of 14. Living the life of a child widow was a big challenge, but her father fully supported her. He was not ready for her second marriage. He realised that the first marriage was done under the pressure from the society, which proved a punishment to his daughter. Then Basanti came closer to the activities of Lakshmi Ashram, Kausani, and joined the social life. She then restarted her studies at the age of 34 and successfully completed matriculation. She is now a household name in the entire State, as many see her as an inspiration.

EYE CAMP BY VANVASI KALYAN KENDRA LOHARDAGA

Vanvasi Kalyan Kendra Lohardaga organised an eye camp on August 25. A total of 52 patients were operated on at the camp. Dr Deepak Lakra and Dr Sanjeev from the AIIMS, Ranchi, operated the patients. The Kendra organised two camps in this month and no fee was charged from the patients. Hospital expenses were supported by the Bhansali Trust, and SPL Trust. A medical van was also sponsored by IDRF, USA. Dr NP Singh and Dr Ramagya coordinated the entire programme.

For Further Information Please Contact:

SEWA INTERNATIONAL BHARAT

49, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,

New Delhi – 110 002, Bharat (India)

Telephone +91-11-43007650 , 23684445

Email ID: sewainternationaldelhi@gmail.com

Website: http://www.sewainternational.org

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October 2013

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Sewa Sandesh team

wishes its readers and well wishers a happy and prosperous Deepawali.

Volunteers swung into action immediately after the cyclone hit Odisha, Andhra

UBSS TO ADOPT AFFECTED VILLAGES FOR REHABILITATION

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As the cyclone struck, it was the Sangh Volunteers who under the banner of Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti (UBSS) spontaneously came out of their homes to extend a hand of love and support to the people in distress. The cyclone with a gale speed of 200 km per hour and heavy rains ravaged Ganjam and affected 11 districts—bringing distruction and depression everywhere. Though the Government claimed they did an exemplary work by evacuating lakhs of people to safety before the cyclone could really struck, it was the Sangh Volunteers who did the actual work. At places like Paikabasa in Mayurbhanj district, 5,000 people were evacuated saving them from devastating flood. In rescue, relief or cleaning up of roads for communication, the Sangh Volunteers were on the forefront.Image may be NSFW.
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Spread over 5 critically affected districts, the Volunteers served cooked food to more than 4,000 people who would have gone hungry without Sangh intervention. Durgadevi and Dhabasila in Balasore district, Aryapalli, Gopalpur of Ganjam district were the places where swayamsevaks really did outstanding work. The Sangh Volunteers managed to take more than 5,000 people to safety before the deadly cyclone could struck, Volunteers they also provided shelter to about 7,000 people. More than 16 roads were cleared by these volunteers in the localities. Talking to Image may be NSFW.
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Organiser Shri Prakash Betala, president of Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti said, “UBSS started relief work in five districts including Ganjam after cyclone and flood. The UBBS is running four relief centres at Brahmapur, three centres at Gopalpur and a relief centre at Chhatrapur. Besides Ganjam UBSS has also started relief work in cyclone affected Puri District and flood affected Mayurbhanj, Balasoe and Bhdrak District.” “Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti will adopt some villages for rehabilitation,” he added.

SEWA PRAMUKH SUPERVISES UTTARAKHAND REHABILITATION WORK

Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh Shri Suhas Hiremath visited flood hitted Uttarakhand on September 3 to supervise and apprise personally the rehabilitation work being done by RSS under the banner of Uttaranchal Daivi Apada Peedit Sahayata Samiti (UDAPSS). In the second phase of the rehabilitation programme UDAPSS, has undertaken various programmes mainly in the field of education, health and self employment besides distribution of essential consumable goods. Till date three hostels at Guptakashi, Koticolony and Dehradun have been started accommodating 92 students from class 6 to Graduation. Their boarding, lodging, education and clothing are free.

Three primary medical centres have been started at Narayankoti, Nagjagai and Anderwari village of Ukhimath Tehsil where free medical aids are being provided to the villagers of disaster affected area. For self -employment of women, 3 ladies sewing training centres at Triyuginaryan, Chandrapuri, and Dadoli village of Ukhimath Tehsil have been inaugurated. Shri Hiremath visited all the three hostels, talked to students, addressed workers meeting at Guptakashi and gave various instructions to the activists. He also visited some of the worst affected spots and met some families affected during the disaster.

UK DOCTORS IN HEDGEWAR RUGNALAY, AURANGABAD

It has proven to be the biggest such effort so far. “The charitable organisation has been conducting similar free camps in Bharat for 11 years, and 750 poor patients have been operated upon. This year, the number of patients permanently cured of cleft lips and cleft palates were the highest,” told Hedgewar Rugnalay’s ENT head Bharat Deshmukh,as a team of Northern Cleft Foundation - UK assisted by Sewa International Bharat carried out cleft lip surgeries at Dr.Hedgewar Rugnalay in Aurangabad in October first fortnight. Led by George Tutturswamy, a doctor originally from Pondicherry and now living in Britain, the team included surgeons and other specialist support staff. The doctors paid for their own travel, as did all the others who were part of the team. The Hedgewar Hospital organised the to-and-fro travel expenses for the patients and their families and many poor patients from parts of the state who were unable to afford the expenses. Boarding and lodging expenses were also borne by the hospital. “This birth deformity is quite common, and occurs in one out of every 1,500 births. Though it costs only around Rs.50, 000 for the operation and other medical requirements, it is beyond the reach of the poor. This patient (Daulatbi) had to endure her cleft lip for 65 years before this opportunity suddenly came up,” Deshmukh explained. The team plans to return next year for similar camps in Aurangabad, Nashik and Nagpur.

Nestled in the pristine East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya Mawlynnong under Shillong district is the cleanest village of Asia

THE CLEANEST VILLAGE OF ASIA

Do you know the cleanest village in Asia is in India? It is at a distance of around 90 km from Shillong, and the road leading up to it has some of the most panoramic and breathtaking views in the country. Till over a decade ago Mawlynnog was practically unknown to tourists until Discover India Magazine accorded it the cleanest village status in 2005. Nestled in the pristine East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya the residents ofImage may be NSFW.
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this picturesque village along the Indo-Bangla border have learnt to live at harmony with mother Nature and might very well become an example that urban folk should emulate. As one walks around the narrow zig-zagging paths of the village one is astounded by the clean well maintained black tarmac and the spotless frontyards and sidewalks of the bamboo stilt houses. There are stylish bamboo dustbins everywhere and separate compost pits in various pockets of the village for organic and inorganic wastes. Polythene use is completely banned and so is smoking. There are public toilets which the villagers themselves maintain and everyone takes part in the ritual weeding, sweeping and cleaning of the gardens and roads which happens every evening. Even the children are taught from an early age to keep their surroundings clean and they don’t hesitate to pick up the odd piece of garbage on the road and put it in the bin.

The village is well supplied with an efficient localized water supply and sanitation system. Just outside the village on the passing river the amazing living roots bridge is situated which speaks out for the ingenuity of the people. It is over 200 years old and was constructed by tying the roots of two banyan trees and maneuvering them to get entangled in such a way as to create a passage over the stream. The sky view tower on the eastern side of the village is a tall structure built on the support of a tree with bamboos and gives a wonderful view of the Bangladesh plains. For the discerning traveler there are many unmapped trails that one can explore around the village full of little waterfalls and sacred forests abounding in flora and fauna. The guest houses in the village are basic tree houses built on top of stilts that almost jut out into the adjacent forest, staying in them is an experience in itself. There is a lot that urban society could learn from Mawlynnong and its environmentally conscious citizens.Image may be NSFW.
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The self sustaining models though rudimentary have very strong foundations and have more to do with behaviour and customs that the peoples have adhered to and upheld. With the increasing influx of tourists the challenge for Mawlynnog is to maintain its culture and also educate outsiders with their ways. Do you think modern cities in India can replicate what the citizens of Mawlynnong have done? With better technology and infrastructural support Indian cities can certainly take Mawlunnong’s concepts forward and create self-sustaining environment systems with minimal damage to the eco systems. All we need are more responsible and conscientious citizens who will take up the cause of the environment. Mawlynnong can be reached by road and it is roughly a three hour drive from Meghalaya’s capital, Shillong.

TECH FOR SEVA IN PUNE

Vijnana Bharati, in collaboration with Sewa Sahayog, Global Indian Scientists & Technocrats Foundation (GIST) and Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha (MKSSS) organised Tech for Seva, socio-technical conference on inclusive and sustainable social development on September 28- 29 in Pune. In the conference technological innovations and applications were presented and deliberated for addressing the core issues of health, environment, education and livelihood in Bharatiya society. The conference was divided into four parts—poster and paper presentations highlighting the success stories and problems to be addressed; expo - displaying relevant and appropriate technologies along with solutions manifested into reality; student competitions-mooting ideas to highlight the use of technology to solve social problems and networking dinner: dinner for exchange of ideas between NGOs, corporate and researchers. Dr Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of Automic Energy Commission who delivered the keynote address, said “the initiatives like ‘Tech for Seva’ will pave the way for more balanced policy initiatives by combining ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom- up’ approaches.” Chief Guest of the valedictory function noted scientist Dr Vijay Bhatkar said, ‘Tech for Seva’ has shown a very innovative way to find answers to many of the problems bothering our country.” In the curtain raiser event more than 400 student innovators from around 50 colleges in and around Pune participated in a competition to mark the beginning of ‘Tech for Seva’.

BHARATIYA COMMUNITY’S ROLE IN MALL RESCUE IN KENYA

In the aftermath of the four-day siege of a mall in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, the role played by the Bharatiya-origin community in the rescue operation has become clearer. Bharatiya-origin doctors treated the wounded in hospitals founded by Bharatiya and Sikh community groups, while a neighborhood watch group from the Bharatiya-origin community was among the first on the scene offering assistance to emergency services as armed forces tried to take control of Westgate mall from militants. Volunteers of Bharatiya origin provided tea and curry for soldiers and police at a makeshift triage center, while others dressed in black trash bags waited to carry out corpses as parts of the mall were secured, a report in The Times of London said. At least 67 people were killed in the attack. Kenyan media reported Thursday that 71 are missing. Manvinder Mann, a Kenyan of Bharatiya origin who has relatives in Ludhiana in Punjab, treated casualties as they arrived at M.P. Shah Hospital close to the mall. The hospital was co-founded by a Gujarati philanthropist, Meghji Pethraj Shah, who moved to Kenya when he was 15. At Guru Nanak hospital, which was founded by a Sikh community organization, 25 victims from the shootings received treatment. Three of them were of Bharatiya origin, said S.K. Bamra, the hospital’s matron. She added that they have been discharged after receiving counseling. The Times report said members of the Sikh and Hindu communities had buried 12 people, but they feared that up to 30 from their communities had been killed. (Inputs from Joanna Sugden)

Food For Thought:

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Only the timid and the weak leave things to destiny but the strong and the self-confident never bank on destiny or luck. - Lord Ram

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November 2013

MEDICAL AID TO FLOOD VICTIMS IN ODISHA

Medical aid was provided to the victims of floods by Utkal Bipanna Sahayata Samiti in association with the Sangh volunteers in remote village of Remuna, Nilgiri and Sadar blocks of Baleswar district. A total of 55 volunteers coordinated the health check up camps. The patients were provided medicines, necessary advice and precautions to be taken to avoid any ailment. The number of the beneficiaries of these health Camps included (under Remuna block) Haldia (144), Palsia (10), Makunda (21), Balipal (68), Pratpur (77), Raghunathpur (75), Ambikapur (52), Durgapur (50), (Nilgiri Block) Badhia (93), Gurakoili (78), Karanjia (28), Kathpal (35), Malad etc (133), Sulpat (101), Channua (199), Duburai (129), Gokulpur (79). (VSK, Odisha)

HEALTH CAMP FOR VANVASI PEOPLE IN DADRA NAGAR HAVELI

Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram organised a health camp for the people of Vanvasi villages of Dadra Nagar Haveli at Dudhani village on October 31. A total of 742 patients were examined at the camp and were provided suitable medicines. Shri Deepak Tipareji from Vadodara conducted the check-ups. The camp was inaugurated by Dr S Kumar of Selvasa. Prior to the camp a mass awareness campaign was conducted by a team of Arogya Rakshakas in remote villages requesting people take benefit of the camp. Dr Ganesh Varnekar, Dr Meenesh Kothari, Dr Manish Patel, Dr Sarita and Smt Heena Andher from Khanvel government hospital also joined the camp. Mahila Samiti of Selvasa had arranged medicines for the camp and for it they met many doctors and businessmen.

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Free cleft lip surgeries being carried out at the Dr. Hedgewar Hospital, Aurangabad, Maharashtra by a team of Northern Cleft Foundation UK, assisted by Sewa International Bharat Image may be NSFW.
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AROGYA BHARATI NATIONAL EXECUTIVE MEETING

Noted surgeon of Patna and social activist Dr Narendra Prasad has been elected new president of Arogya Bharati. The announcement to his election was made at the national executive meeting organised in Pathankote (Punjab) on October 20. He is founder trustee of Arogya Bharati and was working as national vice president.

Apart from Dr Narendra Prasad, Dr Raghvendra Kulkarni will be patron, Dr Sunil Ghate, working president, Dr Ramesh Gautam general secretary, Dr Ashok Kumar Varshneya organizing secretary, Dr Pravin Bhavsar and Dr Vijayalakshmi Deshmane vice presidents, Dr Tatyal joint secretary, Dr Madhusudan Deshpande treasurer, Shri Bhaskar Kulkarni, Dr Yogesh Chandra Mishra. Dr Amar Bahadur Ghakore, Vaidya Vijay Kulkarni, Dr Surendra Reddy and Dr Brijnarayan Singh, all members.

A total of 150 delegates from 26 Prants attended the national executive meeting. There were different sessions on healthy life style, publicity of indigenous medicines, Suryanamaskar, yoga etc. Healthy village is the pet project of Arogya Bharati and the work is going on in more than 250 villages of the country.

VANVASI WOMEN CONFERENCE BY KALYAN ASHRAM

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Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram organised a Vanvasi women convention in Bastar to celebrate 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. The Kalyan Ashram runs Rani Durgawati girls hostel for the last 30 years at Bhanpuri in Bastar, where the function was actually organised. The hostel houses 35 Vanvasi girls. Phoolkumari, incharge of the hostel, played a key role in mobilising Vanvasi women for the convention.

Kalyan Ashram vice president Shri Kripa Prasad Singh apprised the women of the message of Swami Vivekananda. He prominently discussed the role and importance of women in the Sanatan society and also the contribution to family and nation development. Smt Priya Mochaki and Smt Krishna Baghel of Mahila Panchayat also spoke on the occasion. The discussion was also held on women education, forest preservation and protection of girl child at the convention. Such a function was organised in Bastar after a long gap.

Bhatke Vimukta Vikas Parishad rehabilitates over one lakh nomads in Maharashtra

A UNIQUE EXPERIMENT FOR REHABILITATION OF NOMADIC COMMUNITIES

A person can be black, white, fat, thin or even physically challenged by birth, but not a criminal at all. It may not happen anywhere in the world, but happens in India. Though the British-enacted Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 was abolished way back in 1952, the police in many states still treat many nomadic communities criminal by birth. The life for Pardhis in Maharashtra has been the same since generations. Anywhere a crime is committed, the police come to Pardhi locality and take some Pardhis dragging like animals. Shri Girish Prabhune of Bhatke Vimukta Vikas Parishad stood against this inhuman practice in 1991 and played a key role in changing the mindset of police and rest of the society. He also rehabilitated over one lakh Pardhis by helping them getting ration cards, enrolling in voters list or getting education. It is the result of Shri Prabhune’s efforts that hundreds of Pardhis are now doing respectable jobs in the state.

Imagine, one sets up a small shop with his life’s savings, and is suddenly thrown into a police lock-up merely on suspicion. What would one do in that situation—probably would think of running away from the scene and lose everything. This is what was the routine life of Pardhis and many other nomadic communities in Maharashtra till one decade back. The reason these communities were branded as ‘habitual criminals’, in spite of their first-rate contribution to the society throughout history with their artisan and fighting skills. With the system out to haunt them rather than help, they were perpetually forced to lead a life of begging and crime. Since they had no home or land to call their own and their parents or family members may be in a lock-up, the children remained deprived of education.

The people of 22 nomadic communities in Maharashtra (about one crore population today) have been living the similar horrorific life since 1871 when the British Government notified them as ‘habitual criminals’. Though the Act was abolished in 1952, the public and administrative mindset continued to treat them ‘criminal’. If one wants to visualise the inhuman atrocities on these people he/she must read Paradhi, a Marathi book by Shri Girish Prabhune, who is sharing their sorrows and happiness and colliding with the authorities for their rights.Image may be NSFW.
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Bhatke Vimukta Vikas Parishad (BVVP) took up the challenge of transforming the lives of the nomadic communities in 1991. First a Yamgarwadi (hostel) was started in Sholapur district in 1993, where today about 400 students excel in education. Later, the similar work began in Anasarwada in Latur, Chinchwad in Pune and at some other places, where around 4,000 students from nomadic tribes are studying. “The biggest achievement of all the activities is that the social mindset towards the nomadic communities has changed and a kind of self-confidence and a glorious feeling has developed among these people towards their past associated with Shivaji, Rana Pratap, Prithivraj Chauhan,” says Shri Girish Prabhune adding that these people also played a key role in the battles against invaders like Mahmud Ghazni and Alauddin Khilji for defending the Somnath Temple in Gujarat. The presence of Vagadis (Pardhis) in about 40 villages near Somnath Temple proves it. But since the day they were branded as ‘criminals’ by British government they were pushed out from the mainstream and their entire social and family structure collapsed.

After 22 years sustained efforts by the BVVP, the media has now stopped mentioning the entire Pardhi community as criminals. Rather their plight is given extensive coverage today. The mentality of police personnel and officers too has changed to the extent that some policemen near Pune have started rehabilitating the nomadic communities. The credit for this amazing change also goes to Shri Girish Prabhune who during the BJP-Shiv Sena coalition government in 1990s persuaded the government to issue clear instructions to remove the list of criminal tribes installed in all police stations. It was only then the process of counting them in census, enrolling in voters’ lists and making their ration cards began. Till now over one lakh ration cards have been issued to them.

Since their regular source of earning from forest produce is becoming harder everyday and talents like singing, street plays, acrobatics, etc are also dying slowly, the only option left is to educate them, imbibe their children with good values and train them for the challenges of new life. This work has perfectly been done by Bhatke Vimukta Vikas Parishad. “Many of the girls studying in our hostels are now working as nurses, police officer, constable, etc in different parts of the State. Many boys are also working as constables and advocates and over 50 are working as government employees. There are two professors, while some are working as writers, teachers also,” adds Shri Prabhune. The Parishad has started another unique project, Punrutthan Samarasata Gurukulam, for reshaping their traditional skills at Chinchwad in 2006. “It is well known fact that Godolia Lohars are expert in iron work, Wadars have expertise in stone carving, some are expert in forest herbs and Otaris have marvelous knowledge in casting. Therefore, a special curriculum from 1st to 12th standard has been designed to teach them Ayurveda, technology, farming, Govigyan, art, culture, dance, singing, music, science and four languages—Marathi, Sanskrit, Hindi and English right from 1st standard. About 200 Pardhi students and 100 from other nomadic communities like Wadar, Kekadi, Gadia Lohar, Ghishadi, Laman are being imparted education there. This project has earned laurels from one and all.

It is to be noted that in order to keep the 22 notified tribes away from the mainstream society the British government, after 1871, had started creating their special settlements (open jails) from Karachi to Hyderabad. A total of 52 settlements were then created where they were housed along with their family members. The population of nomads in Marathwada (bordering Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh) is higher because the largest settlement was created in Sholapur district only with more than one lakh nomads.

The BVVP has prominently focused on Pardhis, because this community was the most neglected. Since because of roaming nature many boys and girls cannot study in regular schools, the BVVP took the school itself to them. With this thought a highly flexible schooling system was devised and now such schools are being run at many places.

The experiment by BVVP has set an example for rehabilitation of nomadic communities all over the country. As prisoners of traditions and neglected since generations, these brave people have suffered the most. It is the collective responsibility of all to help them live a dignified life.

FREEDOM FIGHTER OF MIZORAM MR. DARTHAWMA FELICITATED

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Pu Darthawma a freedom fighter of Mizoram was felicitated on 31st October 2013 at Lunglei, Mizoram. Felicitation Program was jointly organized by ‘Heritage Foundation,” Guwahati’ and “Young Mizo Association”, Sub Hqr. Lunglei.

Pu Darthwma (92 years old) was felicitated for his contribution in the Indian freedom struggle. He was a war prisoner in the Second World War at Singapore. He joined Indian National Army ( Azad Hind Fauj) responding to clarion call of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. Pu Darthawma fought bravely on the battle of Burma. He had bullet injury. Recognizing his valuable contribution Heritage Foundation honored him with a citation and suitable award.

Appreciating the role of Pu Darthawma Chief Guest of the function Pu V Sapchhunga IAS, DC Lunglei said that , “ who ever sacrifices life for national cause is a National Hero for us. We are proud of him.” Shri Hurui Zeliang, Deputy Secretary of Naga Hoho was Guest of Honor expressed his happiness about the initiative taken by Heritage Foundation. He said, “We have to bring the people into lime light who worked for our country and society like Pu Darthawma. These stories are golden pages of our history.” A special song was composed on the life of Pu Darthawma by Pu Lalthengliana (Thankura) was presented on the occasion. Everybody appreciated the patriotic Mizo song.Image may be NSFW.
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Shri Jaleshwer Bramha, Chairman of Program in his speech expressed that the towering personality like Pu Darthawma will guide the youth in future also. He also expressed confidence that the youths of the country will come out with the solution to overcome the present problems due to self centered nature of the society. He conveyed his best wishes for healthy and happy life for Pu Darthawma. Major Gourav Bharadwaj of 28 Assam Raffles who attended the function as Guest of Honor expressed his opinion and said that the dedication and sacrifices of Mr. Darthwma will inspire the coming generation.

Accepting the honor, Pu Darthawma expressed his gratitude towards the organizer for honoring him. R Lal Biaktlunga son of Pu Darthawma expressed happiness on behalf of family members about the social appreciation of his father.

The other dignitaries present in the audience like Padmashree Mr. Lalthangfala Sailo President, Mizoram Academy of Letters Hqrs. Aizwal, Mr. Chhuanvawra Vice President, Mizoram Academy of Letters Hqrs. Aizwal and Mr. Lalthengliana (Thankura) a renowned artist were also honored on the occasion by offering different traditional articles. Dr T K Sarma renowned ophthalmic surgeon, Shri Mahbir Prasad Mundhara from Guwahati were also present.

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Binod Kumar Jain, Secretary of Heritage Foundation expressed his confidence that the youths of the country will not forget the sacrifice of known and unknown freedom fighters. He thanked Young Mizo Association, Sub Hqr, Lunglei for extending all sort of cooperation. He also expressed special thanks to the learned audience present on the occasion. Function was concluded with the National Antham followed by refreshment.

SEWA LASER SHOW IN COLUMBUS, OH

Sewa International USA successfully hosted laser documentary “Laser Light Magic” on the life of Swami Vivekananda at Columbus, which was very well received by audience including kids and teens. This also introduced the SEWA to the Columbus Community with a bang. Around 500 people witnessed the show in the Grand Capitol theatre at Riffe center in heart of Columbus downtown. Sewa got whole hearted support from Jain Temple, Gurudwara, other temples and also from cultural associations like Gujarati mandal, Maharastra Mandal, Malayalee Association etc. Many eminent personalities, Vedanta scholars also supported the event.

ABHINANDAN TO DENVER SEWA CHAPTER

Colorado was severely affected by the devastating flood which started on Sep 11th and 12th. Colorado HSS and Sewa Team decided to help the people who were badly affected. They visitied evacuation centers and flood relief camps held in Silver Creek and Niwot High Schools and helped people to serve the food and their staying arrangements. They also visited Twin Peaks Mall (FEMA Flood relief center) Mountain View and 9th Ave area Houses to clean up thier basement, remove mud etc and spent around 10 to 12 days to serve the needy people.The efforts of HSS and Sewa teams were appreciated by those who were helped by them and others.

For Further Information Please Contact:

SEWA INTERNATIONAL BHARAT

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December 2013

BALA SAHEB DESHPANDE BIRTH CENTENARY CELEBRATION BEGINS IN DELHI

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Birth centenary celebration of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram founder Balasaheb Deshpande formally began in Delhi onDecember 22. A formal inaugural function was held at Maharaja Agrasen Engineering College, Rohini. RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sah Sampark Pramukh Shri Ram Madhav and Kalyan Ashram Akhil Bharatiya Sah Mahila Pramukh Smt Ranjana Karandikar were present on the occasion. Former Police Commissinor of Delhi, Shri Radheshyam Gupta presided over the function. Noted industrialist Shri Ramkumar Basia and social activists Smt Savita Gupta and Smt Seema Relan were also present.

Shri Ram Madhav stressed the need to bridge the gap between the Vanvasis and the people living in cities. He said at the time when the cultural values are fast vanishing from the cities, the Vanvasis have preserved and nourished them. He also highlighted that how the innocent Vanvasis were exploited by some foreign elements. He said the so-called civilised people are only ruining the environment in the name of development, but the Vanvasis are honestly preserving them.Image may be NSFW.
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Smt Ranjana Karandikar highlighted the journey of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and especially how Balasaheb Deshpande created the huge network at the ground. Apart from the speeches, some cultural activities were also displayed at the function. The function concluded with the singing of Vandemataram.The birth centenary is being celebrated in two phases. In the first phase there was large scale tree plantation during the last one year and now in the second phase health camps are being organised all over the Vanvasi areas. Special focus is being made on village contact.

OVER 2000 AROGYA RAKSHAKS ATTEND AROGYA CHETNA SHIVIR IN GUWAHATI

In a first of its kind event in north-eastern region, Sewa Bharati Purbanchal organised Arogya Chetna Shivir in Guwahati from November 8 to 10. More than 2000 Arogya Rakshaks working in 1700 villages of north-eastern states joined the Shivir and pledged to speed up the work in all the villages of the region. Today, about 5000 Arogya Rakshaks are rendering primary health services in remote villages of the region. The event was the outcome of six months preparations.

The camp began by lighting the traditional lamp by noted Satradhikar Shri Shri Janardhandev Goswami. RSS Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi, Deputy Principal of Guwahati Medical College Dr Umesh Sharma and Principal of Guwahati Ayurvedic College Dr Dhaneshwar Kalita were also present on the occasion. Dr Dilip Sarkar presided over the inaugural ceremony, while RSS Kshetra Pracharak Shri Ulhas Kulkarni delivered the keynote address.

Shri Janardhandev Goswami spoke about the challenges before the society and the role of youth in facing those challenges. Dr Umesh Sharma and Dr Dhaneshwar Kalita stressed on the health awareness and apprised the Arogya Mitras how to work more effectively. After the inaugural session, Arogya Bharati organising secretary Dr Ashok Varshneya spoke about the message of Swami Vivekananda to the youth. Dr Pushpa Singh stressed the need of awakening women power. At the concluding session Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi guided the Arogya Rakshaks how to spread the work and also make it more effective.

The procession taken out on November 10 moved the people of the city. Many senior leaders of the Rashtriya Sewa Bharati including Dr Narendra Desai, Shri Sundar Lakshaman, Shri K Lakshman Malya, Shri Gurusharan Prasad and Shri Shyam Parande ofSewa International Bharat were also present at the Shivir. The concluding session was addressed by RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh Shri Suhasrao Hiremath.

SWAYAMSEVAKS READ A NEWS, DO A GOOD

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‘When will I get a tricycle?’ a poignant article in a Hindi daily for a physically challenged boy Rohan triggered the Dehradun swayamsevaks to help him. Under the guidance of Kripashankar, Samyukta Kshetra Prachar Pramukh, a tricycle was handed over to Rohan at Vishwa Samvad Kendra Dehradun onDecember 2. Boundless joy was seen on the face of Rohan when he received the tricycle. Vibhag Pracharak Shri Buvan, Mahanagar Pracharak Shri Chandrasekar, and other Sangh leaders were also present on the occasion. On seeing her son getting a new dimension to his life because of the RSS swayamsevaks, Rohan’s mother's eyes welled up.

INDIAN SENIOR CITIZENS FORUM (ISCF)

As an initiative Sewa International Australia celebrated Diwali and the festive season at its annual function on 16th November at Melbourne. Coordinator ISCF, Krishan Auplish welcomed the distinguished guests including Anna Burke, Federal Member for Chisolm, Hong Lim, State Member for Clayton, Mayor of Monash City, Cr Geoff Lake . Nearly 70 senior members of the Forum were present at the event. Rakesh Auplish presented a synopsis of the various activities of Sewa International since 2000. The function also featured cultural programs like Bharatnatyam.

RESTORING DIGNITY TO HUMAN LIFE

Once an award winning chef, 32-year old Narayanan Krishnan of Madurai has served meals to over 19 lakh mentally disabled, sick, old and homeless destitutes living on roads, under bridges or crannies between the temples.

Out of country’s total 21,906,769 disabled population about three lakh of them are mentally disabled. Large number of them are found living uncared on roadsides without clothes, food, and in highly unhygienic conditions. Madurai-based Narayanan Krishnan left the lucrative job of a chef in Switzerland and started serving the mentally disabled, old, sick and homeless destitute living or dying on roadsides in his hometown Madurai. His life mission totally changed when he saw a mentally disabled eating his own waste out of hunger. He started serving meals to such people utilising his own personal savings in 2002, and till now has served meals to around 19 lakh destitutes. Interestingly, he himself cooks and serves the meals. Not only this, he also learnt hair cutting when the local barbers refused to shave such people. It is an outstanding example of restoring dignity to the human life.Image may be NSFW.
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Tonnes of cooked food go waste in the parties whether hosted in hotels, banquets or parks of the cities almost every day. On the other hand, lakhs of people go to bed without food everyday. The condition of those who are mentally disabled is very miserable, as they are not aware of their basic needs—when to eat, what to eat. This thought changed the life mission of Madurai based Narayanan Krishnan to such an extent that he turned down the offer of a chef’s job in Switzerland and started serving this most neglected section of the society living and dying on the roads in Madurai.

Since 2002, Narayanan has served millions of meals, three times a day — breakfast, lunch and dinner — to the mentally ill, destitute and abandoned in the city. Now he has set-up Akshaya Home in Madurai and housed more than 450 mentally disabled people after rescuing them from the roads. It is a complete home equipped with modern kitchen, hospital and entertainment facilities. Narayanan personally devotes time for preparing and serving the meals. The gratitude and happiness seen on the faces of the inmates after taking the meals cannot be expressed in words.

Apart from feeding, Narayanan also provides quality medical care to all the residents with the help of doctors. Periodically, dental camps are also conducted to improve the personal hygiene. If any of the residents falls sick, he or she is immediately is taken for emergency care. The Trust also gives special care to beneficiaries who are very sick bringing back to normal life. “Since I personally know all the beneficiaries since the last 12 years, I spend almost 18 hours a day interacting and mingling with them. They get a secured feeling,” says Narayanan.

At the age of 19, with a degree in hand, Krishnan was selected to be a chef in a five star hotel of Switzerland. A single moment changed his life; seeing a man eating his own waste out of hunger. This made him realise how much we take for granted and how much we waste (even if it is unintentional), by throwing parties at banquet halls to honour people. So much food is wasted. Hundreds of people come, but only a handful eats the food.

When Narayanan decided to quit his dream job to serve such people, it was a little harder for his middle class parents to understand completely until the day he took his parents to show them why he was giving up his dream. A man on the street looked up at Narayanan’s parents and boldly said, “We are able to get three meals a day because of your son.” Touched by that man’s words, Narayanan’s mother said to him, “My dear son, you feed all these people, I will feed you till I am alive.”

In 2003, Krishnan founded Akshaya Trust. Akshaya means never-ending. That is exactly what he and his team of volunteers provide for the homeless– never ending aid. Over 12 years, he has been able to serve almost 1.9 million hot meals to the elderly and the mentally disabled—non-stop without any break, come rain or shine. Since the mentally sick people are not aware of their needs, they are found on the roads in very miserable condition—long hair, dirty clothes, lying in dirt and highly unhygienic condition. In 2005, Narayanan approached a team of barbers of Madurai to help give haircuts to such homeless people, but without any success, he took matters into his own hands, “I went to a hair cutting training school for six months, learnt hair cutting and till then has done thousands of haircuts for people.”

Before setting-up of Akshaya Home, Narayanan and his team travelled to great lengths to serve the meals. “We travelled 35 miles for breakfast, 35 miles for lunch and 35 miles for dinner.” Even now Krishnan’s day begins at 4 am. He and his team roam in a donated ambulance in the city and find the homeless poor souls under bridges, crannies between the city’s temples.

Another outstanding achievement of Narayanan is that some of the mentally disabled who were till just 6 months ago on the streets without hope or dignity, are today able to lead a life that has some semblance of normalcy. Some help in preparations of meals, while some have been trained to clean the dining hall, set the tables, clean-up after the meals, washing the clothes, housekeeping or look after the garden. Even the last rites are performed with full respect and honour. It is important because many of such people die on the roads and sometime last rites are not performed for days until the dead body starts decomposing and somebody complain to the police of foul smell. The inmates are also engaged in craft works and in indoor games. The quantum of happiness and satisfaction on their faces cannot be expressed in words. Surely, there can be no better rehabilitation of these people as has been done by Krishnan. The love and affection he shows while serving these people is outstanding.

Gandhiji had said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Narayanan Krishnan truly imbibed these words and set a precedent for all of us to follow.

WORKSHOP ON LIFE SKILL MANAGEMENT BY CHETNA

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Amid reports of growing crimes against women and also emerging new threats, Chetna, a unit of Bharatiya Stree Shakti, organised a workshop in Delhi on November 21 to prepare the women to face the new challenges of life. According to Dr Indu Aneja, president of Chetna and a leading psychologist, the prime objective of the workshop was to explore the self within oneself and understand the environment better. The life skills were broadly divided into three general categories—social skills, thinking skills and emotional skills.The workshop explained the abilities for adoptive and positive behaviour that enables individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. “Life skills empower adolescents for livelihood and to face their daily challenges. Effective acquisition of life skills can influence the way one feels about once self and others, and can enhance one’s productivity, efficiency, self esteem and self confidence. Life skills can also provide the space to improve interpersonal relations,” explained Dr Aneja in her introductory remarks. She also talked about life skills, self-awareness and empathy, creative thinking and critical thinking, Decision making and problem solving, effective communication and interpersonal relationship, coping with emotions and stress and facilitation skills and training methodologies through different activities and examples.

NARAYANAN KRISHNAN HONOURED WITH PROF. YASHWANTRAO KELKAR AWARD

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Shri Narayanan Krishnan of Akshaya Trust Madurai has been awarded with Prof. Yashwantrao Kelkar Yuva Puraskar 2013. This award is given to recognise his outstanding work in helping the helpless, homeless, sick, mentally ill and destitute by providing healthy food, care and opportunity to rehabilitate to restore human dignity. The award comprises of Rs 50,000 cash, certificate and a memento. He was felicitated with the Award in a special function at the National Council of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad held on November 30 in Varanasi.

This award is given in the memory of the late Prof. Yashwantrao Kelkar, whose contribution was like a foundation stone to build up and flourish ABVP, the world’s largest students' organisation. This award is being given since 1991. This is a collaborative activity of ‘ABVP’ and ‘Vidyarthi Nidhi Trust’, both committed for the cause of uplift of education and students.’ The idea behind this award is to encourage young social workers, engaged in various social welfare activities and to offer them a platform, thereby to motivate other youth for social work as well as to express gratitude to the young social workers. Narayanan Krishnan was recognised as one of the World’s Top Ten Heroes of 2010 by CNN.

For Further Information Please Contact:

SEWA INTERNATIONAL BHARAT

49, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,

New Delhi – 110 002, Bharat (India)

Telephone +91-11-43007650 , 23684445

Email ID: sewainternationaldelhi@gmail.com

Website: http://www.sewainternational.org

Blog: http://www.sewasandesh.blogspot.com

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January 2014

COMPUTER TRAINING CENTER "SEWA PATH" INAUGURATED IN UKHIMATH, RUDRAPRAYAG

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After the completion of first phase of relief work in Uttarakhand, Sewa International Bharat, carried out an intensive survey in the affected villages and realized that there are good number of educated and degree-holder youths living in these villages of Uttarakhand. But most of them are not utilizing their education and unable to play any role in the upliftment of their family and society. They are lacking in computer skills, confidence, presentation etc. Considering this, it was decided to develop their personality by adding some value and making them more useful for the family and society. Sewa International and its team had been involved in relief activities since June 2013. Shri Manver Singh Rawat, a local social worker has been appointed by SIB as a full-timer to build up better relations with people for successful run of rehabilitation projects.Image may be NSFW.
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keeping this in mind, a computer training center named “Sewa Path” was inaugurated in the main market of Ukhimath, Rudraprayag district on Makar Sankranti day, 14^th January 2014. Hawan was performed in the presence of local peoples. As chief guest, Shri Manwar Singh Pawar, (Principal, Inter College, Ukhimath) inaugurated the center and explained its utility to the audience. Shri Devendra Padiyar, an active local social worker was also present on the occasion and addressed the youth.

So far, five computers have been installed in the center. A well qualified and experienced computer teacher, Kavita Rana is appointed to guide students. Presently, 23 students are enrolled at the center. More students are still approching to join the center. The target is to start 4 batches per day till the end of this month.

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To attract more and more interested youths, a very nominal fee Rs.50/- per month is charged which is almost one fifth of normal rates. For an easy start, basic courses like Basic, MS office, internet and typing are being taught at the center. In the future, the professional courses like Photoshop, Corel Draw, Pagemaker, Tally etc will be added in the course to make them more competent for jobs. The certificate will be awarded to the students in the end of the course after examinations. SIB has engaged local computer suppliers, furniture-makers, electricians etc. in the establishment of center to provide them more opportunity for business and earnings.

Sewa International Bharat is also planning to start two more computer centers in other blocks of Rudraprayag district by the end of March.

A mationalist tribute to a nationalist social leader

THE LEGEND CALLED BALASAHEB DESHPANDE

-Virag Pachpore

The late Ramakant Keshav alias Balasaheb Deshpande, founder of Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, was a top ranker legendary personality in modern Bharat. Born in a traditional Brahmin family on December 26, 1913 at Amaravati in Vidarbha, he became an RSS swayamsevak in his teen age and received indelible impressions in patriotism, discipline and Hindutva. A graduate from Hislop College, Nagpur, Balasaheb was appointed by the then Ravi Shankar Shukla Government to work in tribal dominated Jashpur area as ‘Regional Officer’ of the ‘Tribal Development Scheme’. In this area, Christian missionaries were those days converting the simple tribal people to their religion by using all means fair and foul. The entire education system was controlled by these missionaries there. No other agency was allowed to work without the permission of the missionaries. Balasaheb opened 100 government schools in 1948 in just one go in the tribal areas to counter the missionaries work, overruling all objections and difficulties. Surprised at this achievement, Thakkar Bappa visitedJashpur and as a token of appreciation, gave him Rs 251/- as prize for his accomplishment. But the goverenment machinery was not in a mood to give free hand to Balasaheb in his mission in Jashpur. Shri Guruji advised him to give up the government job and start an independent mission for the welfare of the tribal brethrens. The Christian missionaries had been working in Bharat since 1793 with a mission to convert the people here to Christianity. These missionaries concentrated in Bastar, Chhota Nagpur, Assam and North-eastern areas and other tribal areas of the country. Balasaheb vowed to change this situation and with a firm resolve he resigned from government job and started the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in 1951. He was assisted by Morubhau Ketkar, a senior Pracharak of RSS on the instructions of Shri Guruji. The Jashpur principality and its royal family always supported the activities of Kalyan Ashram. The work was two-fold: To bring back those tribals who were converted to Christianity by fraud, allurement or some other means and to inculcate in them a strong sense of belonging to the Bharatiya culture and religion. At the same time, the Niyogi Commission, appointed by the Madhya Pradesh Government exposed the anti- national character of these Christian missions and their missionaries. Balasaheb accepted the challenge of the tribal areas and with his undaunted courage, untiring zeal and uncompromising commitment plunged into the mission of his life. Education was his basic instrument to reach to the tribal people and once he made a place for himself, he served them treating them as his ‘god’. He gave them love and affection which they wanted very much and in turn realised the highest satisfaction of his life- both mundane and spiritual. Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram is a mission of national renaissance. It has been the most difficult and daunting task. Balasaheb pioneered this seemingly difficult mission and achieved success. The late Ramakant Keshav alias Balasaheb Deshpande, founder of Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, was a top ranker legendary personality in modern Bharat. Born in a traditional Brahmin family on December 26, 1913 at Amaravati in Vidarbha, he became an RSS swayamsevak in his teen age and received indelible impressions in patriotism, discipline and Hindutva. A graduate from Hislop College, Nagpur, Balasaheb was appointed by the then Ravi Shankar Shukla Government to work in tribal dominated Jashpur area as ‘Regional Officer’ of the ‘Tribal Development Scheme’. In this area, Christian missionaries were those days converting the simple tribal people to their religion by using all means fair and foul. The entire education system was controlled by these missionaries there. No other agency was allowed to work without the permission of the missionaries. Balasaheb opened 100 government schools in 1948 in just one go in the tribal areas to counter the missionaries work, overruling all objections and difficulties. Surprised at this achievement, Thakkar Bappa visitedJashpur and as a token of appreciation, gave him Rs 251/- as prize for his accomplishment. But the goverenment machinery was not in a mood to give free hand to Balasaheb in his mission in Jashpur. Shri Guruji advised him to give up the government job and start an independent mission for the welfare of the tribal brethrens. The Christian missionaries had been working in Bharat since 1793 with a mission to convert the people here to Christianity. These missionaries concentrated in Bastar, Chhota Nagpur, Assam and North-eastern areas and other tribal areas of the country. Balasaheb vowed to change this situation and with a firm resolve he resigned from government job and started the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram in 1951. He was assisted by Morubhau Ketkar, a senior Pracharak of RSS on the instructions of Shri Guruji. The Jashpur principality and its royal family always supported the activities of Kalyan Ashram. The work was two-fold: To bring back those tribals who were converted to Christianity by fraud, allurement or some other means and to inculcate in them a strong sense of belonging to the Bharatiya culture and religion. At the same time, the Niyogi Commission, appointed by the Madhya Pradesh Government exposed the anti- national character of these Christian missions and their missionaries. Balasaheb accepted the challenge of the tribal areas and with his undaunted courage, untiring zeal and uncompromising commitment plunged into the mission of his life. Education was his basic instrument to reach to the tribal people and once he made a place for himself, he served them treating them as his ‘god’. He gave them love and affection which they wanted very much and in turn realised the highest satisfaction of his life- both mundane and spiritual. Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram is a mission of national renaissance. It has been the most difficult and daunting task. Balasaheb pioneered this seemingly difficult mission and achieved success.

A nationalist tribute to a nationalist social leader

THE LEGEND CALLED BALASAHEB DESHPANDE

-Virag Pachpore

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A NEW DESTINATION,A NEW HOSPITAL AND A NEW CHALLENGE

Qualifying as an Operating Department Practitioner back in 2005 I could never have imagined that eight years later

I would be preparing a theatre ready for a list of paediatric cleft lip and palate patients in a hospital in the Maharashtra region of India.Image may be NSFW.
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As the recipient of the 2013 Hilda Winifred Mears Award I was able to travel with the Northern Cleft Foundation’s team as they journeyed to the Dr Hedgewar Hospital in Aurangabad to perform life changing surgery on those who would otherwise be unable to access this form of speciality treatment.

The Northern Cleft Foundation (NCF) is a UK based charity founded in 2001 by Dr George Teturswamy, a consultant anaesthetist from Blackburn. The NCF charity has previously visited a number of cities in India to perform their charitable work including Mysore, Hyderabad, Irinjalakuda and Nagpur. In 2012 the NCF were introduced to an organisation called SEWA UK, a humanitarian charity of Indian origin, and successful links were formed that resulted in Aurangabad being the next destination for the Northern Cleft Foundation. Excited anticipation seemed to be the mood amongst the team as we ﬂew out of the UK. Although many had been on previous trips before with the NCF this was a new destination, a new hospital and a new challenge. I had started a new job at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester only four weeks prior to this trip so had recent experience of working in a new environment however I didn’t know what to expect at the Dr Hedgewar Hospital and neither did the team.

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The reception we received in Aurangabad was fantastic; we were even recipients of an unexpected presentation by the medical director and representatives from The Dr Hedgewar Hospital as we arrived at the airport. The warm and friendly welcome was to set the tone for the entire trip. Day one and a 5:45am wakeup call by our hotel reception was followed by a short bus journey through Aurangabad which brought us to the Dr Hedgewar Hospital. The hospital was founded in 1989 on land donated by the Maharashtra government. It began with seven doctors and a philosophy to re-establish values in medical practice including honesty, teamwork, service orientation and care with cure. Through an impressive program of non -government funded development it now has over 45 doctors and eight operating theatres as well as facilitating numerous community projects enabling the hospitals objectives of providing quality and affordable healthcare with a focus on the poor and to work as an instrument of social change to be achieved. The Northern Cleft Foundation had the honour of being one of the ﬁrst teams to work in some of the hospitals new operating theatres and as such we had a short inauguration ceremony to official open them. The previous evening’s discussions regarding the numbers and types of patients expected, the equipment which would be available and the theatre environment itself was now to be revealed!Image may be NSFW.
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I was allocated to theatre two along with an experienced paediatric anaesthetic consultant. As a multi skilled practitioner keen to maintain my skills in both scrub and anaesthestics the exposure to paediatric anaesthesia on this trip would undoubtedly beneﬁt my continuing professional development. I was aware that I had an opportunity to increase my knowledge and skills in this specialised area by working alongside many experienced clinicians and practitioners. The NCF is a consultant led team who are keen to share their expertise with the local clinicians and staff as well as the surgical and anaesthetic trainees who make the trip. I was relieved on day one to see that the anaesthetic machine in theatre was similar to those we have in the UK and not the old Boyles machines that had been present on previous trips. There was the ﬂ urry of activity as we all assumed our roles in preparing the theatres for the lists. The local theatre nurses had prepared some pre packed bags of syringes and venﬂ ons etc and made biurets and ﬂ uids readily available. There was also an emergency tray in each theatre with a bag and valve mask and some emergency drugs. The preparation of a safe perioperative environment has always been important in the delivery of a high standard of patient care but I reﬂ ected especially so in those environments that are new and unfamiliar to you. The standard of care the Northern Cleft Foundation team delivers is the same high standard as delivered in the UK, it was important not to send for our ﬁ rst patient until everyone in the Image may be NSFW.
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team was ready and the theatre environment safely prepared. We had a small delay to our list as we waited for an oxygen cylinder to be brought to theatre. The local nurses pointed out that we had a pipeline supply but we explained as is our practice in the UK we required an oxygen cylinder supply as a backup for safety reasons. This also gave us time to put up an improvised count sheet on the theatre wall as there wasn’t a swab board in theatre. These and other small differences in practices led to friendly discussions and exchanges of ideas over the course of the week as we worked together in partnership with the local nursing staff. The local scrub nurses were very keen and enthusiastic to learn as much as they could. They were very interested in the sharps pads that we had brought with us and readily adopted them along with the swab count, using the count sheets we had put together. There were even attempts by the local nurses to teach us to count to ﬁ ve in Hindi. Nothing was too much trouble for the local team as requests for equipment and supplies were enthusiastically facilitated wherever possible. A few brief power failures and a minor problem with an autoclave were soon overcome as everyone pulled together. Alongside increasing my knowledge and skills in paediatric anaesthesia one of the areas of practice that this trip has had an impact on is resource management. Utilising resources appropriately has become increasingly important within the NHS in recent years and this experience in India deﬁ nitely reinforced this point. With limited resources available we all were careful to utilise everything and waste nothing. From an anaesthetic perspective the trip generated plenty of challenges for the team. We had patients with varying degrees of cleft deformity ranging in ages from three months to 57 years. We also came across patients with Pierre Robin syndrome, a patient with Goldenhar syndrome and one young patient with Treacher Collins Syndrome, all cases requiring expert airway management. In terms of difﬁ cult intubation kit we had a number of different laryngoscope blades available including Macintosh, Miller and a McCoy. We also had the usual bougies and airway adjunts along with a glidescope which we had on standby for all potentially difﬁ cult cases and of course we had expertise. The patient with Treacher Collins came to us in theatre two and I had every bit of kit that I thought we might need along with three consultant anaesthetists and three anaesthetic registrars. A mac 2 blade, a stylet and that expertise made for a smooth intubation.

Over the course of the week we successfully operated on 86 patients utilising three theatres, often worked 12 hours a day. It was hard work but incredibly rewarding and the teamwork was exceptional. I learnt a great deal from all those I worked with. Patient care is at the heart of everything we do as healthcare professionals wherever in the world that care is delivered. I would deﬁ nitely recommend utilising the skills we have as theatre practitioners to participate in voluntary work overseas. The Hilda Winifred Mears Award made this trip possible for me and I am very grateful to the AfPP for their support.Image may be NSFW.
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I feel privileged to have worked with such an incredible team alongside our dedicated friends at the Dr Hedgewar Hospital. The partnership between the Northern Cleft Foundation and the Hospital, together with the support of SEWA UK, looks set to continue to develop and ﬂ ourish for many years to come. Hopefully the success of this ﬁ rst trip by the Northern Cleft Foundation to Aurangabad will lead towards developing a cleft lip and palate service in the area and helping the many patients who would otherwise have difﬁ culty accessing such a specialised area of care.

Claire Phillips ODP

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester.

Claire Phillips ODP

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, ManchesterClaire Phillips ODP

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, ManchesterClaire Phillips ODPThe Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester

Solapur based Udyogvardhini’s Chandrika Chauhan grooms 400 women

entrepreneurs; makes around 15,000 women self-reliant

HOUSEWIFE GROOMING WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS

undefinedTrapped in troubles from all sides Smt Chandrika Chauhan had decided to migrate from Solapur with her family in 1993, as she did not have meals to feed her family and all sources of income had dried. At a fine morning she cleaned her old sewing machine and took up tailoring work from neighbours. That activity has now turned into a big movement joined by thousands of women in and around Solapur city. Not only saving the families of around 1,000 women who were at the verge of disintegration, through counselling and also rehabilitating even the unwed mothers, Smt Chauhan has also made many visually challenged girls self-reliant. Chitrakoot Shilpi Nanaji Deshmukh is her inspiration, who in 1997 turned down her request to join the Samaj Shilpi Yojna and directed her to start women empowerment work in Solapur. The name Udyogvardhini was also given by Nanaji. Since then she did not look back and is moving forward setting new milestones in women empowerment. Affectionately called ‘Bhabhi’ among the women of her group, she always avoid acting as a leader, rather joins all the activities whether kitchen, counselling, tailoring or other activities as a ground worker. When asked how she started the work she says: “Though I had started the work in 1996, I started expanding the work in different localities in 1997. Since I have also worked as a corporator in Solapur Municipal Corporation for some time I was aware of the problems of women. Later I dedicated myself to Udyogvardhini connecting women in distress with any of the activity of Udyogvardhini.”

Today Udyogvardhini mainly runs three kinds of activities—catering, counselling and old age home. It is firm not to start its own industry on large scale, rather develops individual entrepreneurs. Undoubtedly women, both in rural and urban areas, do not get sufficient money for investment, because even the family members do not trust them for investment. That is why Smt Chauhan suggests minimum Rs 500 and maximum Rs 10,000 investment by women for starting any activity. Majority of the women who are now doing good business had started their activity with this meager investment only.

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The activities started for self-reliance include Beauty Parlour, Bhaakri Making, Book Binding, Catering Service, Fire Wood Seller, House Maid Placement, Small Grocery Shop, Tailoring Shop, Vegetable Seller, Groundnut Chatni Making, Manufacturing Units, FMCG Products, Gift Items, Handicrafts, etc. Apart from it the training is imparted for chalk making, cookery class, incense sticks making, hand paper making, hand work on dress materials, rangoli workshop, adult literacy programme, self-help group orientation, two-wheeler driving, etc.

“Majority of the women visiting us come with some or the other trouble. In that condition telling them to first get training and arrange money for investment is impractical. The hunger cannot be satisfied with speeches. First we discuss with them their real family condition. I personally talk to each and every individual at least for an hour to understand their condition—what she knows and what she can do. If she can contribute in catering, she is connected to that work at any of the three places. We everyday prepare the meals for at least 2,000 people. Those who know tailoring work are told to prepare any such item. They are paid even for this evaluation work,” Smt Chauhan points out. The old age home has proved to be a boon for the destitute women. The interesting experiment done by Udyogvardhini is for empowerment of visually challenged girls. The government provides them some help till the age of 18. But the girls, who do not have families, face many hardships at that age. Such girls are accommodated in the old age home. This has been named as Mangal Drishti Bhavan—‘Mangal’ is for old age people and ‘Drishti’ for blind girls. All girls are first taught to carry out the house hold work including preparing meals, cleaning floors, cleaning utensils, etc. Their lodging and boarding is free and they normally earn about Rs 3,000 per month. Eight of such girls have now been married off. Even now they come from their houses for work.

The women who can work independently are allowed to work with Udyogvardhini only for two years and then they are motivated to start their own work thus making them ‘owner’ and not the ‘worker’. They are fully trained in all activities like taking raw material, preparing items, marketing, billing, taking orders, supplying material and even filing tax returns. Udyogvardhini enjoys taking up new challenges. Lok Mangal Group which owns a chain of retail outlets and Malls in Solapur organises mass weddings in the city every year. “We provide them at least one lakh chapattis on every occasion. Like vegetables, chapattis cannot be prepared in advance. But we have the manpower to provide the chapattis in the shortest duration. We have the record of preparing one lakh chapattis in 22 hours. We are doing it since 2009,” Smt Chauhan says. Udyogvardhini has emerged as a hope for the women in distress. Its team is efficient enough to extend all possible help required by an individual. It boosted the confidence level of the average women to the extent that they now export their products to developed countries like the USA and UK.

LARGEST SOLAR COOKING SESSION

As many as 3,484 children from over 80 schools participated in the largest solar cooking initiative Suryakumbh in Uttan village near Bhayander, Mumbai on January 4. The event has qualified as an entry to the Guinness Book of World Records. The emergence of renewable sources of energy as an answer to the imminent exhaustion of conventional energy sources pushed a Bhayander NGO, Keshav Srushti, to start with the most influential members of society, children.

“We provided each child with his own solar cooker to assemble and, later, take home to share the knowledge with his family and friends. This activity will help them understand the importance of solar energy and also how it works,” said Satish Sinnarkar, vice-president of Keshav Srushti, who claims they got more applications than the number they had allotted for the activity. The earlier record was set last year at Jalna in Maharashtra, where 2,200 students took part in a solar cooking session. The children were amazed by the construction and working of these solar cookers and were surprisingly well informed.

For Further Information Please Contact:

SEWA INTERNATIONAL BHARAT

49, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,

New Delhi – 110 002, Bharat (India)

Telephone +91-11-43007650, 23684445

Email ID: sewainternationaldelhi@gmail.com

Website: http://www.sewainternational.org

Blog: http://www.sewasandesh.blogspot.com

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February 2014

Birth centenary celebration of Balasaheb Deshpande

BALASAHEB DESHPANDE WAS A SAMAJ SHILPI

—Dattatreya Hosabale

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“Balasaheb Deshpande was a Samaj Shilpi, who not only served the Vanvasis, but also united them with complete honesty and integrity. He brought many nationalist and dedicated Vanvasi leaders like Hipson Roy, Anderson Mawari, NC Zeliang, Workle Dindopugh, etc to the Kalyan Ashram fold,” said RSS Sahsarkaryavah Shri Dattetreya Hosabale, while speaking at a function organised in Pune on January 19 to celebrate birth centenary of Kalyan Ashram founder Balasaheb Deshpande.

Kalyan Ashram vice president Shri Kripa Prasad Singh, noted businessman Shri Krishan Kumar Goel, Shri Fatehchandra Ranka, national award winner Smt Thamatai Pawar, Balasaheb Deshpande’s daughter Shobha Ghate, Kalyan Ashram State president Dr Mali and dignitaries like Dr Ramesh Kawadia, Shri Khichare, Shri Bapu Ghatpande and Shri Pandurang Bhandkar were also present on the occasion.

Shri Dattatreya further said that on the invitation of Deshpandeji, Rani Maa Gaidinlu attended the Kalyan Ashram’s first Akhil Bharatiya Mahila Sammelan in Bhilai as chief guest. She was so much impressed with the Kalyan Ashram’s work that she became a part and parcel of it. She then helped in starting the Kalyan Ashram work in the remote areas of Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman Nicobar islands.

ANOTHER FUNCTION IN SATNA

The birth centenary of Kalyan Ashram founder Balasaheb Deshpande was held at Satna Stadium also. Noted saint Mahamandaleshwar Swami Akhileshwara-nanda was the chief guest. Tribal Welfare Minister in Government of Madhya Pradesh Shri Gyan Singh Gond, vice president of Kalyan Ashram Shri Kripa Prasad Singh, Prant Sanghachalak Shri Shankar Prasad and Swami Manglanandaji from Prayag were also present on the occasion. Swami Akhileshwarananda described Balasaheb Deshpande as a visionary, thinker and ideologue who bridged the gap between the Vanvasis and the rest of the society. Shri Gyan Singh Gaur applauded the Kalyan Ashram work.

Shri Kripa Prasad Singh called upon the workers to expand the work in all 374 districts of the country. He appealed to the young graduates, post graduates, doctors and engineers to donate time for the cause. He said Kalyan Ashram runs a total of 16,221 projects across the country. He pointed out that the Kalyan Ashram activists planted 14,97,600 saplings from June 15 to September 15, 2013 and the pictures and message of Swami Viveknanda were taken to 42 lakh houses.

UTTARAKHAND REHABILITATION PROJECT:

A PROGRESS REPORT

Rehabilitation project in Uttarakhand was launched on the auspicious occasion of Sankranti festival on 14^th Jan 2014 by inaugurating the Computer training class at Ukhimath, Rudraprayag district. This activity is sort of a prelude to the project of “empowering community to organize and manage sustainable entrepreneurship models through agriculture”. The computer training centre, as expected, is attracting good number of youth from various surrounding villages and these contacts are being developed to reach out to some of the neighbouring villages. This centre has been sponsored by Sewa USA.

The activity in the first fortnight after the inauguration has been a bit slow because of the climatic conditions, being extreme cold on one hand while on the other it rained occasionally, retarding the pace of activity.

However, the initial preparatory activity is proceeding and the project team of SI is mapping out the areas and villages that are in bad need of empowerment through agriculture. Following are the villages which have been listed and are being contacted-

Agastyamuni Block-

Raydi
Falai
Silli
Chaka
Haat
Arkhund
Bhatwari

Ukhimath Block-

Udaipur
Ransi
Pathali
Mukku
Ushada
Saari

Most of these villages have not been approached by any organization or NGO for rehabilitation except for some of the abovementioned villages in the Agastyamuni Block wherein Care India is carrying on the house construction activity for the villagers.

The team could establish contact in 3 villages till 31^st January and other villages are being contacted.

On the other front, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, the primary agricultural guidance centre for Rudraprayag district, has been contacted through G. B. Pant University for Agricultural Technology. Scientists from this University would be guiding and assisting the agriculture related activity including training and orientation of the farmers in the district.

Efforts for opening another computer training centre were also done and the search for hiring a suitable venue was carried out in Phata village as well as Chandrapuri village. This centre will be supported by Sewa Australia.

An amount of Rs.3 Lacs has been donated to Suryatanaya Sewa Samiti, Uttarkashi for relief activity, part of Uttarakhand relief and rehabilitation project.

Survey for construction of two school buildings in two towns have been carried out in association with Vidya Bharati. Both the schools were totally washed out to the extent that the ground also was washed away. In both the places Vidya Bharati has acquired plots for the construction of the building and Sewa International will build the class room complex. Sewa UK has committed to construct the school building in one of the towns while we are searching for a donor for funding the construction of the other.

Preparation for buying a Mobile Medical van was also carried out during the fortnight and fund for buying the Medical van have been disbursed to UDAPSS. The Medical Van would be operated by newly established Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission, Dehradun and will cover quite a good number of villages which do not have primary medical facilities available. This Medical unit has been sponsored by Sewa Canada International.

MAKING BODY DONATION A MOVEMENT

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At the time when lakhs of people die every year in the country in want of organ transplant, one million wait for cornea transplantation and about 30 to 35 young medical professionals are forced to study on one cadaver only, senior advocate of Delhi Shri Alok Kumar has taken a step to change this scenario. Through Dadhichi Deh Dan Samiti, he has so far provided 83 human bodies and 365 pair eyes to different Government Medical Colleges of Delhi. With the help of like-minded people and organisations he has now pledged to wipeout the entire waiting list for cornea transplantation in Delhi within 3 years.

DO you know around five lakh people die in our country every year because of non-availability of organs and two lakh of them die of liver disease only? Equally, about 50,000 die from heart disease and out of 1.5 lakh people waiting for kidney transplantation hardly 5,000 get one. Not only this about one million people suffer from corneal blindness and await transplantation. The reality is that just 0.08 persons Per Million Population (PMP) donate organs in our country. This is an incredibly insignificant number as compared to the organ donation statistics around the world. There is one more fact. Four medical students need a cadaver to complete their studies, but today 30 to 35 students have to study on one cadaver only.

On the other hand the countries like USA, UK, Germany, Netherlands, etc have seen the organ donations double per million population averaging between 10-30 PMP. Other countries like Singapore, Belgium and Spain have seen the rate of donations double averaging between 20-40 PMP. This all indicate to the speed that we have to move for body or organ donation. In such a situation the efforts of Shri Alok Kumar seem to be making a big impact in the lives of both, those who are waiting for organ transplantation and the young medicos who need cadavers for understanding the human body for advancing science.

“The seed of this initiative basically germinated during 1974-75 when I was a Sangh Pracharak in Amritsar. I frequently visited the Medical College there. The very first exhibit in the anatomy museum there was of a retired Head of the Department, who had written in his ‘will’ that ‘all my life I have been teaching my students on other persons’ bodies. Now, I wish that after my death my body is donated to this place’. I wrote to Dr Harsh Vardhan, who was then in Kanpur Medical College, about the wonderful idea of body donation. He wrote me back enthusiastically endorsing the idea. Later, the Emergency was imposed and we both were engaged in other things,” recalls Alokji while sharing his experience on February 10, 2014 in Delhi.

In 1994, when the Transplantation of the Human Organs Act was passed, Alokji and some of his friends decided to donate their bodies. They did it by registering their wills with the Sub Registrar. “My wife was in the court as a witness. On that day I had a wonderful experience. Sub Registrar was sitting on his seat. He called my name and I walked five-six steps towards him. In those steps I, in my mind, visualised as if I am dead. I saw my dead body and the friends, family members assembled there. Some of them were weeping, sobbing and some were satisfied that now they could work in politics free of me. And then I visualised a medical college van coming and taking my body away. The will was registered. Next morning as I just sat out, the meaning of it unfolded before me. I saw my dead body being taken away. But I am not the body. I am different form. Who am I? And then the answer came to me Main shuddha, buddha mukta atma hoon. I am not the body I am spirit and soul,” Alokji added.

Alokji believes that body donation is a spiritual work. He shared one more interesting experience: “When Yamuna inundated, I was assigned for the relief work that year. Naturally, it kept everybody busy 24 hours. I caught some infection in my eyes and they swelled. Everyday my father would ask me to go to a doctor and every day I would tell him that I have no time. One day he said, Alok! ‘you have donated your eyes’? I said, ‘off course’. ‘They have to be given for transplantation’? I said, ‘Yes’. Is it not that you are a mere trustee of your eyes now? ‘Yes’. ‘Is it not your duty to keep them good and usable’? That was the second idea that I got. In fact, we are just trustees of our bodies.”

Around 1997, when Nanaji Deshmukh expressed the wish to register him for body donation that the Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti came into existence. Alokji recalls: “When I was doing the documentation for Nanaji’s will, he said he is a Pracharak and remains on tours, what if death came outside Delhi. I said that will be the God’s will, as we cannot operate outside Delhi. Nanaji was very anxious on my answer. He thought for some time and called for cheque book. He made a cheque of Rs 11,000 in our favour and said ‘I am paying you the expenses. Now wherever I die, you have to arrange for bringing my body to Delhi and give to the AIIMS. This is how Nanaji became the Samiti’s first body donor. Later, when Nanaji left his body at Chitrakoot, it was brought to Delhi and donated to the AIIMS.” Other prominent body donors include two former MLAs, Bodhraji and DK Jain, and former BMS national president Rajkrishna Bhakt.

The Samiti accepts the pledge for body or organ donation only in a prescribed form having signatures either of a close family member or the person of the donor’s choice. It also asks the donor to donate at least a sum of Rs 150. “Like 16 samskars in our culture, we have made body donation also a samskar. Every year we hold a festival of body donors, in which the donors come with their witnesses. We executive their will and give them identity card and certificate. The event prominently has four presentations—one by a person who has donated the body in his family that year, second the person who pledges for body donation, third a top person from spiritual field, and four a top person from medical field. The whole exercise firms up an understanding in the donor and his family that this donation is a pious obligation,” Alokji adds.

So far, 83 whole bodies have been donated to Maulana Azad Medical College, AIIMS, Nehru Homeopathy College, University College of Medical Sciences, Hamdard Medical College, etc. The eyes were prominently donated to Gurunanak Eye Centre. “We have resolved that within three years we would wipe out the waiting list for eye transplantation in Delhi. The RSS Delhi Prant has also decided to take it as a common endeavour with us,” he points out.Image may be NSFW.
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The initiative has received the blessings of many big personalities like RSS Sanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat who attended a function in Patna. Didi Maa Sadhvi Ritambhara, on 80 birth anniversary of her guru, decided to gift 80 pledge forms for body donation. But the number of forms that were actually given was 126. Around 3,500 people including VHP patron Ashok Singhal, senior leader Acharya Giriraj Kishor, former Dy CM of Bihar Sushil Modi are now registered with the Samiti for body donation.

When asked how the bodies are collected after death, Alokji says: “When the death takes place all that the family members have to do is to call our helpline number. The entire subsequent arrangements are made by us, which include coordinating with the family, arranging a vehicle to collect the eyes or body ensuring that the body is delivered to a medical college in time.”

Changing the mindset is the biggest challenge in such cases. Replying the queries of some mediapersons, who asked how one would get salvation if the body is not cremated, Didi Maa said Shastras prescribe methods for it. One can do his pindadaan in his lifetime. If somebody does it and his body is not cremated then non-cremation is not an abstraction to body donation. “Former RSS chief Rajju Bhaiya once pointed out that the Ayurveda has proper methods of studying the human body. It even provides for the instruments by which it is cut and the way it is to be studied. It shows that body donation has been a long practice in our country,” points out Alokji.

The Samiti works in the National Capital Region only. Some people in Patna, Pune and Mumbai have formed separate units. “It is the work which needs timely action. If the eyes are not taken within four hours they become useless. Equally, if the other organs are not taken in time they cannot be transplanted. That is why we cannot operate outside Delhi,” concluded Alokji. When we see the human organ rackets flourishing in different parts of the country, this initiative shows the way.

THE ART OF GIVING: A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR WAY

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A rare combination of philanthropy, spirituality, revolutionary ideas and social entrepreneurial skills to provide space even for the man languishing in the lowest strata of the social order makes Achyuta Samanta a trend setter of different kind.Samanta, who had the feel of being poor without his father’s hand on his head since the age of four, strength of shouldering agonies causes by the untimely death of his father, never ever shied away from putting a brave face to console his widowed mother, while still bleeding deep inside his heart. Samantha withstood the vagaries of circumstances to rise tall enough to dwarf everyone rich and influential, not by material richness, but by ethical values of life.Setting up KIIT- a world class university all by himself with less than Rs. 5000 in his pocket is now history. It is no less a miracle to create an architectural marvel, spreading across 25 sq. kilometers of land in 20 wi-fi state-of-the art campuses, but it was not what he wanted to make. It was his experience that made him to think for millions of poverty-striken children. He dreamt of a world where poverty would not stand as an obstacle to one’s education. In his efforts, he created a slice of heaven on earth, christened it as Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), for fifteen thousand neglected and underprivileged tribal children living far away from civilized world, as he strongly believes: Poverty creates illeterary, literary removed poverty.Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) organised a mega guardian’s meet on Sunday February 2, 2014 with more than 50,000 parents and guardians of tribal students of the institution attending the meeting.Assembly of such large number of triabls representing 62 tribes and 1 primitive tribals communities from Odisha and Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Assam, is one of its kind.While expressing gratitude to KIIT and KISS founder Achyuta Samantha for securing the future of their children by providing free education at par with top public schools, the parents also stressed the need for government support to better the institution that has more than 20,000 tribal children in its fold. A guardian committee is be formed to appeal to the government on problems faced by KISS.

BIHAR PRANT SEWA SANGAM IN PATNA

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“SEWA is the supreme duty of a man. Majority of the people live for their individual needs, but those who are sensitive live for others too. Sewa is the manifestation of God,” said RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sah Sewa Pramukh Shri Ajit Mahapatra. He was speaking at Bihar Prant’s first Sewa Sangam organised at Shakha Maidan of Patna on February 2. Around 300 sewa organisations of Bihar attended the Sewa Sangam.

Speaking at the inaugural session, Rashtriya Sewa Bharati (RSB) joint secretary Shri Gurusharan Prasad said an atmosphere of untrust is generating all over the country and the sewa sector too is not untouched from it. There are about 50,000 registered sewa organisations and most of them are rendering valuable services. There is a dire need to strengthen coordination among them so that they can work more effectively.

Kshetra Pracharak Shri Swant Ranjan said sewa cannot be a business. He said the blind

alley of the western model has led to many misconceptions. Representatives of many service organisations including Shri Ashok Priyamvad from Vikas Bharati Siwan, Smt Jyoti from Jyoti Kalyan Kendra, Shri Sudama from Gram Vikas Manch, etc also shared their experiences. Uttar Poorva Kshetra Sanghachalak Shri Siddhinath, RSB organising secretary Shri Sunderlakshman, Smt Rama Popali of the RSB also spoke on the occasion.

Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti function in Delhi

TIME TO THINK BEYOND SELFISHNESS

—Sadhvi Ritambhara

“THERE is no better deed than donating the body organs. No religion can call such a holy act as sin. Instead of living for ourselves, we should live for others and it is time to think beyond the selfishness,” said founder of Vatsalya Gram Didi Maa Sadhvi Ritambhara in Delhi on February 2. She was speaking at a function organised by Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti. Didi Maa also declared to donate her body organs after death.

Dr Meena Thakur, who donated the body of her husband after the last year’s event, said: “Don’t curse darkness, light a candle. Whenever, I think that my husband’s body organs have been useful to someone, I feel very proud. She said donation of body organ is the only way to make our soul eternal.” Divya Arya, editor of Jangyan said even after the life ends, we can continue to doing good works. She said Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti is a motivation for her.

Shri Alok Kumar, president of Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti said the only motive of the organisation is to create awareness among the people about body donation. He said in India due to the religious and old conception people don’t like to do such donations but they don’t know that through this process they will give life to somebody.

Shri Harsh Malhotra, general secretary of the Samiti said through the organisation, they have almost helped 1,000 people till date. Last year 74 people came forward to donate their body organs and they hope the number would increase every year. Prof MC Mishra, director of AIIMS, spoke about the benefits of body organs donation.

The Samiti is working for the cause of body donation for humanity in Delhi/ NCR for 24 years and till date it has provided 82 bodies to the Anatomy Departments of Government Medical Colleges in Delhi for research. The Samiti has also helped with donation of eyes to 338 persons and bones to one person for transplantation. Dr Vijay Anand Gupta and Dr Nityanand Agasthi were also present on the occasion.

For Further Information Please Contact:

SEWA INTERNATIONAL BHARAT

49, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,

New Delhi – 110 002, Bharat (India)

Telephone +91-11-43007650, 23684445

Email ID: sewainternationaldelhi@gmail.com

Website: http://www.sewainternational.org

Blog: http://www.sewasandesh.blogspot.com

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March 2014

TRAINING CAMP FOR GRAM VIKAS WORKERS IN SURAT

A two-day training camp for the workers of Gram Vikas was organised in Surat from February. About 300 workers from different states participated in the camp and shared their experience. RSS Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi addressed the workers on second day of the camp. He said when we think of individual development we try to achieve the goal on our own strength, but when it comes to the development of our own villages we depend upon the Governments or other agencies. “If we have to raise the status of our society we must take steps ourselves. When we move a step, the rest of the people would follow us. The RSS wants that the villagers should develop their respective villages themselves and they should abandon the habit of always depending upon the Government,” he said.

AROGYA BHARATI TO WORK FOR POSITIVE HEALTH IN A VILLAGE

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Arogya Bharati, the premier organisation dedicated to the sphere of health in rural areas, has come up with a new initiative to spread positive health in rural India. “We have been working on ‘Swastha Gram Yojana’ from 7 years in a village in Gujarat. Results of our efforts in that village are very encouraging. We have demonstrated a positive impact on many health parameters. Hence we now want to replicate the experiment across number of villages in different parts of our country,” said Dr Hitesh Jani, HoD at Gujarat Ayurveda University in Jamnagar and convener of ‘Swastha Gram Yojana’.“We have developed a 10 point programme to be followed under the ‘Swastha Gram Yojana’, which includes environmental protection, clean drinking water, developing collective thinking about the health issues in the village and promoting discussion over such issues, developing ‘Health Card’ scheme for health monitoring, cleanliness drive, de-addiction etc. We are also in the process of enhancing the programme with the help of institutions and individuals who have worked in the area of rural health,” Dr. Jani added.

He said there is a vast gap between the health facilities in cities and the rural area which makes the task of rural welfare tougher. While working on the area, we realised that the scenario can be altered by creating awareness about positive health in the rural area. If we can create an environment where people will be motivated to follow a positively healthy lifestyle and they could be provided with guidance from experts in the field of health, health conditions of an area say a village can be altered within a stipulated time frame. Once we came to this conclusion, we started to experiment it at the Surya village in Jamnagar district of Gujarat and 7 years down the line we can easily see that this works, he said.

Association of Indian Physicians of Northern Ohio

Humanitarian Services Committee

Report on Medical Yatra -2014

@ Gandevi, Guj. Jan. 22-28, 2014

Jointly Organized by

Rotary Club of Gandevi,
American Association of Indian Physicians of North Ohio (AIPNO),
Gandevi Seva samaj of North America
Gandevi Taluka Seva Trust
SEWA-USA international

Rotary Club of Gandevi, American Association of Indian Physicians of North Ohio, Gandevi Seva Samaj of North America and Gandevi Taluka Seva Trust jointly organized Medical Yatra in Gandevi and surrounding villages from January 22nd to 28th. A brief summary of the camp and beneficiaries is given below.

Educate/Train, Prevent, Save the Lives!

Medical Yatra was comprised of Six General Medical Camps-Screening Clinics at six different locations namely Bigari, Gandevi, Kharel, Gadat, Kesali and Amalsad followed by Specialty Camp for Cancer, Diabetes, Heart and Thyroid at Gandevi on 26th to 28th January 2014. In all General camp locations we had mobile Pharmacy to distribute free medicines, blood collection facility for testing, dental facility, CPR training to General population, blood pressure and blood glucose testing, and poster presentation for awareness for healthy life style and preventing diseases. All patients suspected of Cancer, Diabetes, Heart diseases and thyroid disorders were called again in Specialty Camp at Gandevi Canning Factory for further evaluation, investigations and treatment planning. We had Sanjeevani Rath from Gujarat Cancer Research Institute with mammography, sonography and PAP Smear testing facility in the van. We also had mobile pharmacy and blood collection facility at all General Camp locations and Gandevi Specialty Camp location.

Group of 25 Medical Professionals and paramedics from AIPNO, USA came on Thursday 23rd January from Dharampur. After a brief meeting, they formed two teams. Following

Screening clinics were organized for Super Specialty Camp Jan 26-27-28

Date	Team #1	No. of Patients	Team #2	No. of Patients
Jan. 23	Sarvajanik H.School Bigari	186	C.J. High School,Gandevi	237
Jan.24	Naik High School,Kharel	85	Ambika High School, Gadat	261
Jan.25	H.D. Sarvajanik High School,Amalsad	391	N.B.Patel High School, Kesali	244
Jan.27	Ram Mandir, Bardoli	370

Patients who are suspected of Cancer, Coronary problems, Diabetes and Thyroid disorders were advised to come to Specialty Camp at Canning Factory location in Gandevi on 26th, 27th and 28th January .Patients who were examined on 23rd in General Medical Camp came on 26th, patients from 24th came on 27th and patients from 25th and 27th came for Specialty camp on 28th January respectively.

For Specialty Camp we had Medical Experts from USA, England, Mumbai, Amdavad, Vadodara and Surat. All these Medical professionals worked very hard and gave free services for this noble cause. Patients with following medical conditions took advantage of the specialty camp at Gandevi.

Super Specialty Camp @ Canning Factory

	No.of Patients
Jan.26	189
Jan.27	198
Jan.28	181

Mammogram, sonography, calcium deficiency and PAP smear testing were performed;

		Detected Positive
Prior to Yatra @ BAPS Hospital, Surat	151	7
Jan.26-Gandevi-S.Rath	9	2
Jan.27-Gandevi-S.Rath	29	2
Jan.28-Gandevi-S.Rath	35	4

Patients with following Medical conditions were identified and efforts are being made by Rotary Club of Gandevi to treat these patients at no cost to them.

Medical Condition No. of Patients

CancerCervical Cancers 9

Cancer of Uterus 4

Mouth, head & Neck 10

Other cancers 20 43

Diabetes

Patients - Diabetic 677

Heart

For Bypass surgery 5

Valve disorders 6

For Angiography 29

For Echo & Stress studies 39

Other conditions 13 92

Thyroid

Patients already on treatment 34

Patients who needed treatment 3

Patients seen during general camp 23

Prescribed medicines were given to patients for immediate treatment of certain conditions free of charge. We set up a mobile pharmacy with medicines donated by pharmaceutical companies, medical stores and medical practitioners.

Many patients needed further investigations and treatment and the arrangement is being made to refer them to various major hospitals.

IMPORTANT to NOTE:

Investigations activities started in early part of January and shall continue the follow up activities until June-July, 2014. Gandevi Rotarians and NGOs have been committed to give each and every patient utmost satisfaction.

Vocational Training Program

The most important component of this Medical Yatra was to train and educate Local Medical professionals, bring awareness regarding these deadly diseases amongst rural and tribal communities in and around Gandevi and to take preventive measures for improving quality of life. To achieve these goals following activities were planned and successfully executed.

On Thursday January 23rd 2014, a seminar was organized at New Civil Hospital Surat. Similar seminar was also organized on Friday, January 24th at G.M.E.R.S Medical College, Valsad. The following expert professionals from AIPNO shared their experience leading to CME program.

Dr Adi Mehta, Cleveland Clinic, USA (Endocrinologist) Dr Sethu Reddy, Cleveland Clinic, USA (Endocrinologist)

Dr Martin Wiseman, Hillcrest-Cleveland Clinic,USA (Cardiologist) Dr Pushkar Khande,St.Vincent Charity Hospital, USA (Resident) Dr Mahesh Varia, University of N. Carolina,USA (Oncologist), Dr Indu Varia,Duke University, USA (Psychiatrist).

Total 32 doctors and lecturers of Civil Hospital at Surat and 62 at Valsad attended the seminar.

Academic meeting of AIPNO Super Specialist with Local Medical Practitioners

A meeting of local medical physicians of Gandevi and super specialist doctors of AIPNO was organized at Gangeshwar Mahadev Temple Hall on Sunday 26th January 2014 to discuss latest advancement for diagnosis and management of patients suffering from most deadly diseases like Cancer, heart disorders, and diabetes. Total forty three professionals attended the seminar.

Training of Government Paramedical staff Health program of Rural area is managed through Gandevi Taluka Primary Health Department. Gandevi Taluka has one block office, six primary Health Centers, two community health centers and two urban health centers. They have team of nursing staff and ASHA workers, who visits all people in villages to provide health care.There is also Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) of Government comprising of Anganwadi workers in every villages, who work for child and mother care program. There is also Nutrition wing of ICDS, who work to combat malnutrition amongst children. A seminar was arranged to train these paramedical government staff on January 27th in Koli Samaj Bhuvan Gandevi. Total of more than 650 staff attended the seminar. The seminar was addressed by Doctors from Civil Hospital Ahmedabad, and local Non-Government organization- Action Research in Community Health. This was one of the best way to impart training for rural health. Awareness Program for General Public A seminar was organized on Saturday January 25th, 2014 for General Public in Koli Samaj Bhuvan, Gandevi. Lectures by noted Nutritionist and Chair-person Indian Diabetic Association, Dr Niranjana Shah and her team were very informative to control diabetic and heart problems by proper diet. Mrs.Salome Samuel (Nutrition expert) and Mrs Nazin Husain (Dietician) also gave important information on diet. They also highlighted the role of Yoga to improve the quality life. This was one of the best seminars attended by more than 275 citizens of Gandevi and surrounding villages. Dr Adi Mehta, Consulting Endocrinologist from AIPNO, USA touched upon very important points for healthy life style in very hilarious way. We are sure that this seminar will change the life style of many to control diabetes and heart problems.

CPR Training

Dave Diffendal-Rotarian and others arranged CPR training with ‘Hands On” training for Nurses, Paramedics and general public est. 1,000 persons benefited from this half an hour training to save lives. So many places we left mannequins to continue the CPR training year around.

Public Awareness Campaign by street performance A team of Gujarati Movie Artist from Ahmedabad was invited to give street performance program called “BHAVAI”. They performed Bhavai at ten different villages during late evening and night few days before the General Medical camp. A village at Medical Camp site and the village near each site were decided for the Bhavai for awareness and attract more patients to take advantage of the Medical Camp. This performance was unique and designed to convey messages on cleanliness, avoid bad habits of drinking alcohol, tobacco chewing etc with comedy in local language. Video recording was prepared on local streets to cover major aspects of personal hygiene such as washing hands before meal, brushing teeth, keep streets clean, disadvantage of plastic usage, oral cancer due to tobacco chewing etc. This video was projected at different villages along with Bhavai. This was an eye opening event in Gandevi Taluka. We had large number of patients turn out who are suffering from Diabetes and this in turn end up with Heart and kidney problems. Most of the patients were economically poor and hail from rural areas of Gandevi. They were treated at no cost to them. Uncontrolled eating habits, consumption of country liquor and tobacco, uncontrolled use of plastics and polluted environment are the root cause of these deadly diseases. We could convey the message to prevent diseases and to remain healthy by seminars and awareness programs.

For this project we received help from many persons and organizations. We thank all people who helped us putting their time, talents and/or financial resources (SEWA-USA and others)or rendering honorary professional services for this noble cause. We also appreciate the hard work of one and all who helped directly or indirectly to make this Medical Yatra-2014 a grand success.

Prepared by:

Mohan Patel, Parimal Naik & Ramesh Shah

SEWA MELBOURNE FUNDRAISING EVENT

In response to the appeal made by Sewa International Bharat for fundraising towards a computer center in Uttarakhand, Sewa (Melbourne) arranged a fund raising event on Sunday, the 23rd February at Annual Street Festival of Clayton. Funds were raised through two activities i.e., hand painting (Hena) with the help of female Sewa volunteers and sale of cold drinks with the help of male Sewa volunteers. Sewa also participated in Annual Australia Clean Up Day on 2nd March, attended by Mayor, Monash City Council and local Councillor.

HEALTH LINE FOR SPECIALIST MEDICAL ADVICE

INDIA Health Line (IHL), a unique social service in socio-medical field, was launched in Hyderabad on February 16 in the presence of eminent medicos and representatives of medical fraternity. The Health Line will have a National Call Centre to attend to patients calls who, after seeing the neighbouring general practitioners, want to consult specialists for further advice and necessary treatment.Launching the Health Line renowned cancer surgeon and VHP working president Dr Pravin Togadia said there are many half-treated diseases only because patients after primary examination by the doctor do not approach specialist doctors as advised. It is mainly due to poverty, fear of increased medical expenses if any serious disease is detected and sometimes even ignorance. “To avoid this, India Health Line aims at connecting Medical Fraternity with the needy patients. Doctors are a part of this great nation and the society. They always want to help. So for nation's sake thousands of specialist doctors like Cancer Surgeons, Neuro Surgeons, Cardiologists, Gynecologists, Nephrologists, Urologists and many other specialist doctors have got associated with IHL.They will see the patients per appointment arranged by IHL and advice further. To streamline further, thousands of Pathology Labs, X Ray / MRI / CT Scan Centers, Chemists Shops, Hospitals / Day Care Centers, Ambulances / Blood Banks have come ahead to be a part of this socially important initiative to help the needy patients and save valuable human working hours of the nation and of course to save manylives,” Dr Togadia said.

THE ART OF GIVING A SOCIAL ENTERPRENEUR WAY

There are many young Indians who dream of being employer to many rather than being employee. However, after facing all hardships throughout life even to fulfill basic needs, creating a cluster of world class institutions, generating employable human resource and at the same time, providing education, shelter, training and food to more than 20000 tribal kids is a social revolution in itself. This has become a key instrument in curbing conversions and fighting menace of naxalism by a single handed initiative of Dr Achyuta Samanta.

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Samanta, who had the feel of being poor without his father’s hand on his head since the age of four, strength of shouldering agonies caused by the untimely death of his father, never ever shied away from putting a brave face to console his widowed mother, while still bleeding deep inside his heart. Samantha withstood the vagaries of circumstances to rise tall enough to dwarf everyone rich and influential, not by material richness, but by ethical values of life.

Setting up KIIT- a world class university all by himself with less than Rs. 5000 in his pocket is now history. It is no less a miracle to create an architectural marvel, spreading across 25 sq. kilometers of land in 20 wi-fi state-of-the art campuses, but it was not what he wanted to make. It was his experience that made him to think for millions of poverty-striken children. He dreamt of a world where poverty would not stand as an obstacle to one’s education. In his efforts, he created a slice of heaven on earth, christened it as Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), for fifteen thousand neglected and underprivileged tribal children living far away from out civilized world, as he strongly believes: Poverty creates illeterary, literary removes poverty.

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) organised a mega guardian’s meet on Sunday February 2, 2014 with more than 50,000 parents and guardians of tribal students of the institution attending the meeting.

Assembly of such large number of triabls representing 62 tribes and 1 primitive tribal communities from Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Assam, is one of its kind.

While expressing gratitude to KIIT and KISS founder Achuta Samantha for securing the future of their children by providing free education at par with top public schools, the parents also stressed the need for government support to better the institution that has more than 20,000 tribal children in its fold. A guardian committee is to be formed to appeal to the government on problems faced by KISS.

KISS AT A GLANCE

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, with an humble beginning in 1993 with 125 children, has become the largest residential institute for the tribals in the world, providing Accommodation, food, Healthcare, Education from Kindergarten to Post Graduation, vocational training and all other basic amenities of life absolutely free with a job after completion of education. Today KISS has:-

Current Strength-15,083 children 60 per cent boys and 40 per cent girls as on June, 2011.
Land Area - 80 acres
Built-up Area - 8,00,000 sqft.
Students enrolled from 62 tribes of Orissa including 13 primitive Tribes.
Students from adjoining States
5% reserved seats in different professional courses of KIIT University.
Library in 15,000 sq.ft. building with over 20,000 titles

A DAY FILLED WITH THE WONDER OF SCIENCE

— Malini Hoizal

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I thought it was one of the regular opportunities. The event was – Visit Indian Institute of Science with children. The description stated that the volunteers were required to take care of school children visiting IISc.

On the day of the event I reached the rendezvous point, met our YFS point of contact, Mr. Lakshmikanth and was in for a wonderful surprise. Indian Institute of Science was actually celebrating its Founder’s Day and had organized an Open Day in conjunction with the same!

The Open Day is a day when IISc opens its doors to the public, to Explore, Experience, and Enjoy the wonders of scientific and technological innovations, experiments, research and a whole lot of other things.

We were formed in groups of 25 children and 4-5 adults. Our group included children from Rajarajeshwari Nagar with their enthusiastic and cheerful teacher. Armed with a map of the humungous, gigantic campus, an eager group and a curious mind we proceeded toward our targets – the departments that would offer something interesting. We were blown away by the Glass-blowing demo and learnt about the different types of glasses and their uses. Each of us gaped when a glass tube was heated, blown, twisted and finally turned into a swan. Wow! What an experience!

We thought nothing else could top this experience. But wait, we were yet to visit the Civil Engineering Department. The Ground Penetration Radar won the children’s interest hands down. Everyone was allowed to move the radar on the soil surface and experience its operations. And the best part was when they “treasure-hunted” the chocolates “hidden” below the surface. Each department had its own fun way of demonstrating their work and had innovative ways to facilitate learning. We played fun games, watched Math movies, learnt about different types of rocks, saw a piece of a meteorite, did a nature walk, tried our hands at a few experiments and had a blast.

On the whole, it was an amazing experience that would remain as part of some fond memories. And guess what made it fun? Seeing all the demos, experiments, posters, the campus and the displays through the eyes of the school children we accompanied!

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July2015

BHARAT PLEDGES $1 BN AID TO QUAKE-RAVAGED NEPAL

Bharat pledged an assistance of $1 billion to the quake-ravaged Nepal for its massive re-construction programme. The announcement was made by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during the International Donors' Conference in Kathmandu on June 22.

Led by Bharat and China, global donors pledged over $3.5 billion as aid to Nepal, meeting half of the $6.7 billion needed to rebuild the nation, as Nepalese Prime Minister vowed "full transparency'' and ''zero-tolerance'' to corruption in disbursing the relief money to the victims. Pledging the aid, Swaraj asserted Bharat would strongly stand behind the Nepalese Government, which is seeking to "wipe the tears" of every Nepalese citizen.

"EKAL VIDYALAYA FOUNDATION" COMMITS RS. 2 CRORES FOR NEPAL VICTIMS

Shyamji Gupta, Founder-Chairman of "Ekal-India" happened to be in Nepal when the earthquake struck and so he personally initiated the relief efforts after witnessing the tragedy first-hand that unfolded. As of April'2015, Ekal had 1,500 schools operating in Nepal's rural areas. Ekal, was not only familiar with its people, its culture and life's necessities, but also, had well-established rapport with the local governments. As the news of destruction hit the world, 'Ekal Organization' under the leadership of Ravidev ji Gupta sprang into action to start coordinating rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts with its selfless volunteering force of 1,600 Nepali regulars. Within days, Ekal's own survey indicated that 626 Ekal-Villages were affected, 365 Ekal teacher's housings were destroyed and over 250 Ekal schools were badly damaged. In earthquake ravaged regions, Ekal extended help irrespective of caste, region and creed etc. Essential food items and medicines, 9743 tarpaulin, and 11,500 blankets were distributed which benefitted approximately 5,000 families in 400 villages. The team of Doctors treated 500 patients in 'Sindupalchowk' district and 400 patients in 'Lalitpur' district for wounds, gastric problems, psychiatric interventions and orthopedic injuries. According to Subhashji Gupta, past President and current Advisor to Ekal-USA, total commitment of Ekal in Nepal is likely to exceed Rs. 2 Crores.

ROOFTOP POWER PLANT IN CHITRAKOOT

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Krishna Devi Vanvasi Awasiya Vidyalaya is a residential school for Vanvasi girls at Majhgawan in Chitrakoot region of Madhya Pradesh. The school and its hostel is supported by Deendayal Research Institute (DRI). The school has few buildings in the campus which are used as classrooms and hostels with an electricity connection from the grid, which is highly unstable. Power cuts are for more than 12 to 15 hours daily and mainly in the evenings.

Frequent power cuts caused problem in the study of Vanvasi girls staying in the hostel. School was struggling to provide clean light to students as diesel generator was getting expensive day-by-day. When it came to the attention of Sewa International, a detailed survey was conducted. The survey found that the total electricity load including lights, fans and computers was about 1.2kw. About 24sq.m. free space was identified on the roof of the administration building. A 2 KWp solar power plant was installed on the available roof space of the school with 5 hours battery backup. The total project cost was Rs.4,02,380, out of which MNRE gave a subsidy worth Rs.1,20,714. The Sewa international arranged the remaining funds of Rs.2,81,666 through donation from NRIs in USA. From the date of its installation in 2013, the system has been supporting 17 fans, 32 CFL lights 3 TVs and 2 computers. The girls now have uninterrupted power supply in the evening to study.

MASS MARRIAGE IN SILIGURI BY KALYAN ASHRAM

Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram recently organised mass marriage at Salibari near Siliguri in North Bengal where 101 couples got married. All the couples came along with their relatives, family members and the villagers. All the rituals were conducted with complete sanctity. After rituals, the couples visited temple and had blessings of the elders. Such functions were also organised in Guwahati where 19 couples got married. The people working in tea garden of Assam, Tripura and West Bengal live under poverty. In such situation organising wedding ceremony becomes difficult for them. Therefore, many youth prefer the short cut i.e. Gandharva Vivah for wedding. But in this process they get cut from the society.

FREE MEAL TO HOSPITAL PATIENTS BY SEWA BHARATI ERNAKULAM

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Ernakulam unit of Sewa Bharati has started serving mid-day meal to the patients at Government General Hospital in Kochi from July 1. Noted Physician Dr Sachidananda Kamath inaugurated the initiative. The food will be served daily from 7 am onwards. Sewa Bharati has been providing free meals for many years in Kerala. In Kasaragod, it is actively involved in the scheme, which has received huge public applause. RSS Kochi Mahanagar Karyavah Shri Rajesh Chandran, Bauddhik Pramukh Shri Abhinu Suresh, Sewa Bharati coordinator Shri PS Manikantan, Nagar Sanghachalak Shri Lakshminarayanan, and other local functionaries attended the function.

Solar Mini-Grid Project in Jharkhand

ILLUMINATING THE LIVES OF VANVASIS

Darmi and Nawadih Villages in Rehala region of Jharkhand consist of 114 households with a population of around 600, mostly depending on farming. Water supply for cultivation has been a big issue. Existing source of power supply is national grid, but the villagers hardly get power for an hour in a day, and that too under very low voltage. People still depend on kerosene, an additional burden to the economy.

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Solar Mini-Grid solution was offered by Crux Power Pvt Ltd, Bhubaneshwar, after the villagers agreed to provide adequate land for Solar Module installation and to take the maintenance part of the project. Considering a basic need for household a centralised Mini-Grid system of 34.5KWp capacity was designed with a minimum power supply (total of 6 hours including morning and evening time) to each household. The provision was made so that each household pays Rs 100 in a month for maintenance and smooth functioning of the project. A village level committee was formed to look after the project.

As a result the villagers now get uninterrupted power supply for minimum 6 hours in a day. Each household gets 150W peak load power supply. A water purification system with storage capacity of 6,.000 liters cater to drinking water needs. It has increased the study hours of students. It has provided scope for further economic activities for small entrepreneurs.

SEWA BASTI TURNED INTO AN IDEAL GRAM

Sewa Bharati workers near Sikandara in Agra have turned a Sewa Basti into an ideal village. RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sewa Pramukh Shri Suhasrao hiremath visited the Basti on July 17 to meet the people. The work in the Basti is being carried out under the leadership of a retired police officer Shri Ashok Bhatnagar. The villagers including the parents of the children who attend the Bal Sanskar Kendra informed Shri Hiremath not even a single child of the Basti went to school about eight years back. Now majority of the children go to school. A temple has also been constructed in the Basti where regular puja is held. A mobile library has also been set up. Shri Hiremath said a person becomes great y getting good samskars and having sound mind and intellect. The Sewa Bharati is trying to change the mindest of the people through such activities. Kshetra Sewa Pramukh Shri Gangaram, mahanagar Sewa Pramukh Shri Ashok Sharma also accompanied the workers.

SWAYAMSEVAKS CLEAN THE PREMISES AND LAKE OF 800 YEAR OLD GOURI GANGADHARESHWARA TEMPLE

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Second time in the same week, RSS swayamsevaks of Kolar in Karnataka cleaned the premises and temple lake of historic 800 year old Sri Gouri Gangadhareshwara Temple in Kolar on July 5. As a part of Sewa Sanghik, they along with other voluntary organisations including scouts and guides took the initiative of cleaning the Temple lake. The temple was built during Chola Empire. The lake was badly polluted.

SOLAR POWER IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH

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RIWATCH is a community based research organisation working at Roing in Lower Dibang Valley District of Arunachal Pradesh. Even till date this District is highly dependent on electric supply from Assam. People face complete power cut for days or weeks throughout the year. The work of RIWATCH involves study of people, their life style, their physical appearances, customs, technology, their music, dance ceremonies and rituals. It attracts many researchers across the world during various parts of the year. With the unreliable source of power it was getting very difficult for RIWATCH to continue its core activities. RIWATCH campus has 31 CFL lights, 5 street lights, 14 fans, 8 computers, and 3 TVs. After preliminary survey it was decided to construct a Canopy Based 3KWp Solar Project in its campus to support the critical load of around 2 KW. The plant was designed with a provision of expanding it to 5 KW. The total project cost was Rs. 6,08,375 from which MNRE contributed Rs 1,82,512 as subsidy. Sewa International’s Clean Tech Initiative contributed remaining Rs 4,25,863.

The success of this project became a role model in Lower Dibang Valley and surrounding districts. Many government officials have visited the campus to understand the modalities of the project. Now the district administration and a local school are planning to adopt roof top solar power plant motivated by the RIWATCH project.

SANJEEVANI IN YOUR KITCHEN

Quite often the solution is far easier than even imagined. More than a dozen infants died in Government hospitals within a single week a few months back in Dharmapuri District of Tamil Nadu. The cause was found as malnutrition. Recently, the volunteers of Ekal Vidyalaya movement found that simple home remedies improve the health level of pregnant mothers and new born infants. It happened like this; 1,011 women in hamlets where Ekal Vidyalaya work were administered a combination of herbal home remedies and Ayurveda-Siddha medicines under the guidance of experts in the respective systems. The nutrition level of 846 of them (84 per cent) improved. This successful attempt at fighting malnutrition was conducted in Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts of Tamil Nadu too. The Ekal Movement pressed into service the Arogya Foundation of India.

SWAYAMSEVAKS IN THE LANDSLIDE RELIEF OPERATION IN DARJEELING

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A series of landslides triggered by overnight heavy rain left at least 50 people dead, 23 missing and more than 500 displaced in West Bengal’s Darjeeling District on July 1. The landslides at 25 places in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong sub-divisions also washed away portions of highways, including a bridge, cutting off the road link to the region. 22 deaths occurred in Mirik, where 13 people were also reported missing. The remaining 17 died in Kalimpong, Lava, Sukhia and Gorubathan areas. Twenty persons were reported injured and 15 missing at 8 Mile and 11 Mile areas in Kalimpong. About 300 people shifted to relief camps organised by the administration. Union Minister of State Shri Kiren Rijiju and MP Shri SS Ahluwalia visited the affected areas. The Sangh volunteers rushed to the affected areas as they got the news of landslide. About 60 workers under the banner of Uttar Bang Sewa Bharati joined the relief activity. They provided eatable items, milk powder, biscuits, water, tarpaulin, blankets, clothes, rice, flour, etc to the victims. Bastuhara Sahayata Samiti from Kolkata also dispatched relief material. A team of doctors from Siliguri under the leadership of Dr Mani Lama also rushed to the spot.

Titbits

Service rendered to the community by a Dalit girl has brought laurels to her and Isayankulam. Sushri P. Thayammal (28) of Isayankulam, a village in Srivaikuntam taluk in Thuthukudi district (Tamilnadu, Bharat), was presented with the Woman Exemplar Programme - 2015 Award of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) which carries Rs. 3 lakh and a medal by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in New Delhi on April 6, 2015. Thayammal, a fatherless woman who hails from a poor family, is involved in providing free coaching for rural students to ensure better academic performance. She is one of the seven children of the family and the first to have earned a Master’s degree in Commerce. She developed a skill for teaching after overcoming hurdles as a slow learner. Her father, a farm labourer, was struck dead by lightning while at work on October 21 last year. She began coaching children at an anganwadi centre opposite her house. Now she coaches 30 students from class six to eight in the evening. . She has persuaded 35 children, identified as school dropouts in 2007-08, to continue their education. She also offers free coaching to those appearing for competitive examinations besides helping villagers fill up applications for government assistance. Her brothers are working in stone quarries.

Whenever 67 - year old Shri Katnam Bala Gangadhara Tilak, ventures out in his car, he is on the lookout for tar mixed gravel dumped on roadsides. Tilak's mission is to collect the unclaimed tar and gravel and fill potholes elsewhere. Tilak is a resident of Hydershakote near Rajendranagar, Hyderabad (Telengana, Bharat). Starting his day at nine in the morning, he travels along different routes and scouts for potholes. (His score: 1,125 potholes!) The moment, he spots one, he immediately stops his car and puts up two red flags to alert road users. Using a crowbar, spade, broomsticks and tar mixed gravel, he then takes up the task of filling the pothole, even as passersby watch him puzzled. After retiring as a senior section engineer from South Central Railway (SCR), Vijayawada, he got a designer engineer's job at Infotech Company, Manikonda. While going to office, he was a witness to few road accidents. Several youngsters were crushed to death under the wheels of heavy vehicles after their motorcycles skidded off the road due to a crater. Such situations do not allow him to concentrate on his job. He spends over Rs.500 towards fuel expenses every day. Impressed with Tilak's initiative, GHMC Commissioner M.T. Krishna Babu lauded him for contributing for the society's development. He directed officials concerned to arrange a vehicle with required material to assist Tilak to take up patch up works effectively

It is quite easy to locate Dr. K.Ramaswamy’s small clinic tucked away in an old building along the Kulasekaranathar Kovil Street of Thenkasi, a municipality in Thirunelveli District (Tamilnadu, Bharat). A mere mention of “ten rupee doctor” will do. For the last 33 years he treats ailments of the people of the town and several villages around by charging just Rs 10 as consultation fee. Early during the period, it was just Re 1. The hike is for paying the salaries of his assistants, the kind hearted doctor informs. This MBBS doctor, a skin specialist, had settled down in this town after serving in government hospitals in many towns. He married off his only daughter and having few needs, Ramaswamy and his wife Bhagavathi have chosen to lead a frugal life serving the needy.

(Courtesy: Panchaamritam)

Food For Thought:

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"All birds find shelter during a rain. But Eagle avoids rain by flying above the clouds."

- DR. A.P.J. Abdul kalam

For Further Information Please Contact:

SEWA INTERNATIONAL BHARAT

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New Delhi – 110 002, Bharat (India)

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August 2015

SANGH VOLUNTEERS IN THE LANDSLIDE RELIEF OPERATION IN DARJEELING

A series of landslides triggered by overnight heavy rain left at least 50 people dead, 23 missing and more than 500 displaced in West Bengal’s Darjeeling District on July 1. The landslides at 25 places in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong sub-divisions also washed away portions of highways, including a bridge, cutting off the road link to the region. 22 deaths occurred in Mirik, where 13 people were also reported missing. The remaining 17 died in Kalimpong, Lava, Sukhia and Gorubathan areas. Twenty persons were reported injured and 15 missing at 8 Mile and 11 Mile areas in Kalimpong. About 300 people shifted to relief camps organised by the administration. Union Minister of State Shri Kiren Rijiju and MP Shri SS Ahluwalia visited the affected areas. The Sangh Volunteers rushed to the affected areas as they got the news of landslide. About 60 workers under the banner of Uttar Bang Sewa Bharati joined the relief activity. They provided eatable items, milk powder, biscuits, water, tarpaulin, blankets, clothes, rice, flour, etc to the victims. Bastuhara Sahayata Samiti from Kolkata also dispatched relief material. A team of doctors from Siliguri under the leadership of Dr Mani Lama also rushed to the spot.

SCHOOL KIT DISTRIBUTION PROGRAMME IN NEPAL

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Nepal Earthquake caused massive damage to 500K houses & 7000 schools, which meant that innumerable school kids(~1 million) lost their study/school materials also in the rubble. On his visit to Nepal, Shri Shyam Parande, International Coordinator, Sewa International found that the need of School Kits was much more than anticipated and it could really help kick-start education process in the country. It was thus decided to almost double the existing lot to a total of "65,000" school kits, of which now 34,000 kits need to be procured and sent to Nepal .A press conference to announce the same was hosted in Nepal Reporters Club on Aug 5. SI's partner organisation HSS Nepal's District Coordinators(pracharaks) have been working in close contact with Nepal Government's LDO/CDOs in order to select schools in the remote and least accessible areas which have been most affected and need most assistance. SI has received hundreds of applications from affected schools requesting School Kits drive to be conducted. Its Nepal team is working overtime to painstakingly ensure that school kits reach to most needy kids in affected areas only. To ensure that, SI has decided to only supply kits to the schools who provide it with the list of most deserving(low income) students. School kits assembling process at Bhairwah has received unprecedented support from local community where students from nearby schools have been coming over in the evening everyday to help with the mammoth task of assembling 31000 kits.
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School Kit Drive reaches Gorkha district, one of the most quake-affected regions of Nepal with the help of SI's partner organization, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh NEPAL. Students of Sai Global School, Bhairwah, were seen engaged enthusiastically in the back-breaking work of assembling school kits, displaying in a true sense of how sewa must be performed. Completely self-less and without expectation of any returns, only for the benefit for the quake-affected brethren. Kudos to their sewa spirit!!

SEWA INTERNATIONAL ORGANISES YUVA FOR SEVA PROGRAMME

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Sewa International's Yuva For Sewa program intern, Amruta Houde, just completed her 2 months(June-July) internship in the North-East India. She truly had a transforming effect on the people in N-E, especially adolescent girls(12-18 years) for whom she conducted mental and physical health awareness programs.

Born & brought up abroad and with all the luxuries bestowed on her, she really had no real connection with the miseries that are common place in India. But, she still felt her responsibility & commitment to contribute to her nation's growth by helping the most vulnerable. She continues her journey to Uttarakhand where similar programs will be conducted for adolescent girls.

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Clik here to view.Sewa International Design& Development Center is being supported by Ministry of Textiles, Govt of India. The modern tailoring and cutting machines were inaugurated by local Member of Parliament Shri Vinod Bhai Chavda in the presence of Shri Ramesh Bhai Mehta, Chairman Sewa International and Shri Sanjay Hegde, Treasurer Sewa International on 24th June in Jiapar, Kutch, Gujarat.

VHP PRESENTS SCHOOL UNIFORM AND BOOKS TO PAK HINDU REFUGEES

Delhi unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has been in forefront of extending help to the Hindu refugees from Pakistan. Bhagini Nivedita Sewa Nyas, a VHP inspired Trust, provided school uniform and books to 150 such students on July 24. Speaking on the occasion general secretary of the Trust Shri Mahavir Prasad Gupta expressed happiness that no matter it took many years, the children of Pak Hindus are now able to go to school. These children have been staying in Delhi for the last five years but were not able to seek admission in the schools. But now they can study. Some VHP volunteers have been teaching to them for some time. Janakpuri unit of Bharat Vikas Parishad provided stationary to the children. Shri Ishkumar Chadha, Shri Bhushanlal Parashar, Shri Brahmdatt Bhardwaj, Shri Ashwini Kumar and Shri Ramdhan were also present on the occasion.

FOCUS ON COMPREHENSIVE VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT

A total of 921 delegates from 338 villages attend two day Gram Vikas Varga at Bagalkote, north Karnataka
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The two-day Gram Vikas Sangam was organised at Bagalkote in north Karnataka from August 15 to 16. A total of 921 delegates from 338 villages of north Karnataka attended the camp. The unique conclave was organised by Gram Vikas Vibhag, RSS north Karnataka. RSS Akhil Bharatiya Vyavastha Pramukh Shri Mangesh Bhende addressed the workers at the concluding ceremony. Kshetra Pracharak Shri Shyam Kumar was also present. On August 15, the camp for comprehensive rural development was inaugurated by veteran organic farmer Shri Tammannappa Budni. At 7.45 am, the National Flag was hoisted, participants offered salutes to the tricolour. RSS Akhil Bharatiya Gram Vikas Pramukh Dr Dinesh and Prant Sanghachalak Prof Khageshan Pattanashetty spoke on the occasion. Various sessions were organised for entrepreneurs Training session, success stories on rural development, videos of sewa activities, inspiring social projects, few personalities who are successfully heading rural development projects, special initiatives like ‘my village, my dream’ were introduced to the participants.

Titbits

Meet Shri Ishwar Singh Bargah, 48, of Bhilai, Durg district (Chhattisgarh, Bharat). After having worked as a gardener in a Society that runs educational institutions in Bhilai, Ishwar rose to become the Principal of another college being run by the same group - setting an example for people coming from lower and underprivileged sections of the society. 48-year-old Ishwar now has a doctorate in education. Ishwar’s journey of endurance began at the age of 19, when after finishing school education in Ghutiya village and Baithalpur, he came to Bhilai in 1985 looking for a job to support his family. He lived with extended family and joined a salesman job in a cloth store at a pay of Rs 150 per month, through which he managed to apply for BA. Almost two months later, with his uncle's connection in Kalyan College in Bhilai, he started working there as a gardener, then as parking stand keeper, and then as supervisor of ongoing construction work of the college building, on daily wages. Alongside, he continued to study and graduated in BA in 1989. Ishwar then joined in the college as a craft teacher. He used to work during night hours as watchman in the college to attend classes during day time. Considering his capabilities enough for teaching, college authorities appointed him as an assistant professor in the college which is run by Chhattisgarh Kalyan Shiksha Samiti. While continuing his job in the same college, he also completed MEd, BPEd and MPhil there. And later he was recommended by Samiti members for their newly set up college, the Chhattisgarh Kalyan Shiksha Mahavidyalaya in Aheri where he joined as principal on deputation in 2005

A private tourist bus with 37 passengers from Ernakulam (in Kerala) to Tirupathi (in Andhra Pradesh) met with an accident near Ambur, Vellore District, on August 26 morning. Swayamsevaks of RSS immediately plunged in rescue work; they co-ordinated efforts to reach their relatives of the accident hit; they augmented quick medical help in addition to other services. A small boy died in that accident. Around 15 persons were admitted in Ambur General Hospital and 21 injured persons were admitted in Vellore General Hospital. Around 50 Swayamsevaks were in the relief work at Ambur and Vellore GH. Shri Raman, Vibhag Pracharak organised the relief work. Shri Rajendran, RSS Kshetra Karyavah, Shree Jagadeesan, Sah Jilla Sanghachalak and activists of Hindu organisations also met the injured persons consoled them.

From Ahmednagar district it comes the story of another 'Mountain Man', who like the more famous Dashrath Manjhi, took on the task of cutting hills to build roads. Shri Rajaram Bhapkar, 84, a former teacher at Gundegaon village in Ahmednagar district (Maharashtra, Bharat) has cut through seven hills in last 57 years to make 40-km roads. "At the time of Independence, there was not even a 'paywat' (walking trail) connecting Gundegaon to adjoining village," Bhapkar, who has studied till seventh standard, said. When Bhapkar was working at Kolegaon; people from his villages had to cross three villages to reach there. Bhapkar remembers asking government authorities to build a road cutting across the 700 meter high Santosha hill. With no help forthcoming, he embarked on a journey of grit and determination, which 57 years later would result in seven roads, altogether 40km long, linking his village to the adjoining villages. Earlier, the route to Kolegaon via Deulgaon was 29 km long. The distance became just 10 km after Bhapkar, through sheer grit, cut through the hill and made a kuchcha road. He paid wages from his pocket to those who accompanied him in the road work. "In 1968 not even a cycle could pass through the earlier walking trail. Now, big vehicles ply on this road," a villager said. Bhapkar completed the road in 1997. He said he spent his entire post retirement earning and pension to fund the road work. Besides working with spade and shovel, he also hired heavy duty excavator machines for expediting the road work.

You might have spotted differently-abled people seeking alms. But have you ever come across any such person using the money so generated for charity? Meet Shri R Selvaraj (73) of Karaikudi (Tamilnadu, Bharat) who begs for a living but gainfully utilises the money by buying stationery for disadvantaged school students in the neighbourhood. Since 2006, after he gave up his job as a cycle mechanic, Selvaraj has been rendering this service by begging. “I’ve been helping disadvantaged students from 1968 after I witnessed children from poor families struggling to get educated due to financial problems”, says Selvaraj. He, however, adds that he never appealed to anyone after telling them that he has helping students. “Though I board buses with difficultly, I do it for the children. If a student wants a bag, I try to get it and surprise him or her with it. When I do such an act, it gives me immense satisfaction,” said Selvaraj, an Economics graduate. Through social media and by talking to people, he has got some benefactors. One such person from Chennai has been sending Rs 500 every month without fail for the last two years after learning about Selvaraj’s service. Swayamsevaks of Chennai, active in social media, have in a big way appreciated (1) The Editor of The New Indian Express, Chennai (2) Reporter Vignesh who thoughtfully did the Selvaraj story (3) the kind-hearted Selvaraj and (4) the nameless benefactor of Chennai. This, to spread the good word, encourage the media to come out with more such good news and enthusing readers to respond to good news to begin with.(Courtesy: Panchaamritam)

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September 2015

SWAYAMSEWAKS ORGANISE MEDICAL CAMP IN SEWA BASTIS

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RSS Swayamsewaks of Vidyapeeth Nagar at Banashankari in Bengaluru organised a medical camp in which the swayamsewaks distributed deworming medicines to the residents of Manjunath Colony near Channammanakere Acchukattu. The event was organised as a part of the Sewa Sanghik. After distribution of medicines, the swayamsewaks organised Rakshabandhan programme at the colony. Noted physician Dr Shashidhar inaugurated the camp.

TRANCHE OF $500,000 FOR SYRIANS

Bharat on September 7 gave the first tranche of $500,000 for Syrians in distress and displaced from their homes. The Bharatiya ambassador to Jordan gave the money to the Jordanian government which is coordinating relief for the Syrian refugees. Bharat has promised $2 million for humanitarian assistance to Syrians in March. Like most of the world, Bharat too was jolted by the reports of large numbers of Syrian refugees fleeing their war-torn country to Europe, their plight brought home forcefully with the picture of 3-year-old Aylan Kurdi's body washed up on a Turkish shore. The war shows no signs of coming to an end, with Assad and the opposition including ISIS and sundry Al Qaeda-affiliated groups continuing a brutal and bloody conflict.

EKAL VISION 2025

In order to expand the organisation up to grass roots level, the Ekal Abhiyan Trust (ABT) has formulated Vision 2025. The number of SVK in sanch of 30 villages would now be 3, instead of 1.

Brand Ekal would be propagated and CSR funds would be tapped. Arogya and Gramotthan projects would be provided added impetus and focus. Apart from it working together with the Government would be encouraged, by providing policy inputs and implementation support to Government programmes in Ekal sectors and areas of operations.

RELAXING NORMS FOR MINORITY REFUGEES

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The recent ordinance passed by the Modi Government for Hindus and other minority refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh is a revolutionary step in the right direction. When the plight of Muslim refugees has shot to limelight due to the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe, Bharat has done its part to come to the aid of minority refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh. In a recent ordinance passed on September 7, 2015, the Central Government decided to allow minority refugees from Bangladesh and Pakistan to stay in Bharat on humanitarian grounds even after expiry of their visas. According to the statement issued by the Home Ministry, the Government has decided to exempt Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities who have entered Bharat on or before December 31, 2014, in respect of their entry and stay in Bharat without proper documents or after the expiry of relevant documents. The decision has been taken under Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and Foreigners Act, 1946. There are reports that a number of Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to minority communities in those countries, such as Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists, took shelter in Bharat due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution.

They have entered Bharat either without any valid documents, including passport and other travel document, or with valid documents but the validity of such document has expired. There has been no exact numbers of such minority refugees from these countries but official figures say that around two lakh Hindu and Sikh refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan are presently living in Bharat. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi Government came to power in May last year, several steps including issuance of Long Term Visa (LTV) for these refugees have been initiated. Nearly 19,000 refugees have been given long-term visas in Madhya Pradesh, around 11,000 in Rajasthan and 4,000 in Gujarat. In November last year, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had approved a number of steps to ease grant of citizenship to such refugees which included manual acceptance of applications for citizenship, consideration of an affidavit filed before the authority in return for citizenship renunciation certificate and permission to the children of such refugees, who entered India, on the basis of their parents’ passport, to apply for Bharatiya citizenship without a passport.

In April this year, the Union Home Ministry rolled out an online system for LTV applications and for their processing by various security agencies. The decision was taken to address the difficulty being faced by Hindus and Sikhs of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who had come with the intention of settling permanently in Bharat. Currently, 400 Pakistani Hindu refugee settlements are there in north-western Bharatiya cities, like Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jaipur. Similarly, Hindu refugees from Bangladesh have taken shelters in eastern Bharatiya province of West Bengal and also in some north-eastern provinces. Many organisations welcomed this ordinance as approximately one crore Bengali Hindu refugees in Assam and West Bengal from Bangladesh will be benefited. Their stay in Bharat will not be treated henceforth as illegal. Now they would not be treated as ‘D’ voters anymore. As the previous government has done nothing for the Hindu refugees, the present government is living up to its promises by taking this landmark decision.

JHANDEWALAN TEMPLE JOINS CLEAN YAMUNA DRIVE

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Joining the Clean Yamuna Drive, the Badri Bhagat Jhandewalan Temple Society and the devotees have made it a routine to organise cleaning and doing puja of river Yamuna on first Sunday of every month. On September 6 the cleaning and puja was performed at Shri Shyam Ghat in Jagatpura Village in Wazirabad. The temple society provides free conveyance to the devotees joining the drive. After the cleaning, first the aarati of Yamunaji is performed then the aarati of Jhandewala Mata is done.

APPRISING CHILDREN OF RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE

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Saraswati Shishu Bal Mandir (Paharganj) run by Samarth Shiksha Samiti Delhi, celebrated Shri Krishna Janma-sthami with a difference. The school organised a big function at Talkatora Stadium on September 2. The event was named as ‘Sri Krishna Ananta Sagar’. The light and sound show on the life of Meerabai was hugely appreciated. Chief Guest on the occasion was Union Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Dr Mahesh Sharma and Member of Parliament Smt Meenakshi Lekhi. National secretary of Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas Shri Atul Kothari, national general secretary of Vidya Bharati Dr Lalit Bihari Goswami and president of Samarth Shiksha Samiti Shri Pravinkant were also present. The event successfully displayed the devotion of Meerabai to Sri Krishna. The prime objective of the event was to apprise the students of the rich cultural heritage of the country.

CONGREGATION OF MUSLIM GAU PALAKS

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Blasting the general perception about association of Muslims with the slaughter of cow and its progeny, the Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM) has added a feather of success in its cap by organising the first ever national conclave of Muslim cow protectors. Held at Friozpur Zirka Anaj Mandi in Haryana’s Mewat region on September 13, this unique congregation was attended by over 10,000 Muslim gau palaks from all over the country. This was historic gathering and beyond our expectations, said MRM’s National Convener Mohd. Afzal. The MRM has been preparing for such an event since last one year. Mewat is a Muslim dominated area of Haryana known for cow slaughter cases and subsequent violence on several occasions during the Congress regime in the past.

Senior RSS member and MRM patron Indresh Kumar, Haryana Chief Minister Manoharlal Khattar, and Chairman of All Bharat Imam Council Maulana Umer Iliyasi were conspicuous by their presence. Besides, MRM National Convener Mohd Afzal, Co-conveners Latif Magdum, Abbas Ali Bohara, Dr Imran Chaudhary, Convener of Cow Protection Cell Mohd Faiz Khan, Renuka Sharma, Tanveer Ahmed, Organising Convener Girish Juyal and others were also present.

Declare cow as national animal—MRM

The MRM has demanded the Centre to declare cow as national animal and is also moving international community as part of its efforts to elevate cows to a global status. The MRM will also be touring the country to spread awareness among Muslims that "cow slaughter was created as a divisive issue by the British and then perpetuated in post-Independence by the Congress, Left and pseudo-secularists" to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims, said Mohd Faiz Khan, Convener of MRM Cow Protection Cell. A CD and a book was also launched on the occasion. On this occasion the MRM felicitated over 80 Muslim gau palaks from different parts of the country at the hands of Indresh Kumar and Chief Minister Manoharlal Khattar. An exhibition on the subject was the star attraction of the programme.

The event titled as Akhil Bharatiya Muslim Gau Palak Sammelan was held to attract the nationalist Muslim cow breeders and herders who follow the directions of Islam as enshrined in the Islamic scriptures including the holy Quran, said Mohd Faiz Khan. He added that the holy book does not sanction sacrifice of cow as Islamic religious duty. Slaughter or sacrifice of cow has never found any sanction in the religion neither it has been the necessary part of religion, he added. Addressing the 10,000 strong gathering of Muslim gau palaks MRM patron Indresh Kumar said that Islam or the holy Quran never allowed slaughter of cow as religious ritual. Had it been so, there would have been instances of cow sacrifice at the holy Kaaba in Mecca, he said adding that in the past 1,400 years history of Islam there was not a single incident of cow sacrifice. On the contrary, the Prophet had time and again stated that cow milk and ghee are good for health while the beef is not good for human consumption, he added.

Describing this event as a grand success, Indresh Kumar said that the Muslims from states of Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Gujarat, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, besides Islamic scholars attended the conclave. He said that the MRM would continue with its mass awareness and education programme on cow protection. Cow slaughter has been the most contentious issue and cause of communal violence in Bharat. “Those who advocate in favour of cow slaughter are not nationalists, nor secular, they are anti-people and anti-democracy”, he added. Chief Minister Manoharlal Khattar congratulated MRM for organising such a great event and exposing the myth that Muslims were responsible for cow slaughter in Bharat. Describing Mewat as one of the famous regions for cow breeding, the Chief Minister said that time has come to wipe out the blot that Mewat was notoriously known for cow slaughter and communal clashes. He said that he received good support for the Bill on cow protection and breeding from Mewat region. This legislation has been in discussion in the entire country, he said.

Titbits

It is a moment of rare honour for Bharatiya conservationists Sukhram Baiga, Ujiyaro Bai and Gopal Mandal, who have been invited to address the 5-day XIV World Forestry Congress in Durban beginning on September 7. They were invited by Timber Watch, a South African NGO working on forest conservation with the help of local communities. The efforts of Ujiyaro Bai and her fellow villagers from Pondi have successfully saved forests in Dindori (Madhya Pradesh, Bharat) from forest fires and illegal wood contractors. The community organisation-Rural Development Society-has about 15 hectares of community mangrove forests in about seven villages, This has developed generated various options of traditional livelihoods like fishing and honey collection. According to Gopal, nearly 350 persons have been diverted from the tiger habitat to these community mangrove forests.This has not only reduced incidents of man-tiger conflicts but also controlled human pressures in tiger habitat, thereby helping in big cat conservation. “For generations Baiga tribe has been co-existing with tigers. Today, both Baigas and tigers are endangered. Both need the jungles to survive. Yet in this battle for survival why are only tigers allowed to flourish and Baigas left to perish as victims of displacement from their native jungles,” Ujiyaro asks. “Our age old co-existence with big cats has been endangered,” said Sukhram, adding, “Our lives, livelihood, culture and ethos are all rooted in the jungles.”Ujiyaro, who belongs to the Baiga tribe, started her fight to save forests, seven years back.

Amit Vaidya, a Gujarati, was born and brought up in the US, with a Ph.D. in economics; he was diagnosed with first stage gastric cancer when he was 27. He went in for “aggressive chemo radiation” in New York. Two years later he went into remission. Doctors told Amit that his life too was just a matter of time. “I started planning my funeral”, says Amit. Soon he planned a trip to India. He lived in Delhi with a friend when he was told about alternative therapies. The treatment at a hospital in Gujarat was disciplined with yoga, meditation and he was made to drink a mix of desi cow milk, curd, ghee and gobar, go-mutra (panchagavya). Scans showed that the cancer “had not spread”. Another 40 days in the hospital, and reports showed the cancer had decreased. Wanting to continue the therapy, Amit stayed with a farmer, who opened his house to Amit. “I continued the therapy and after months was able to walk. Over time, walks became jogs, jogs became runs and I started finding joy in my mind. The villagers had time for me, which was the best gift I got, especially when I needed time to heal.” After 18 months Amit claims he is cancer free and decided on planning to live his life instead of planning a funeral. He now talks to people about his journey and that healing is possible. He spends time with cancer patients. He started an NGO called Healing Vaidya (healingvaidya.org.). He does not plan on going back to the US as “this country has given me much. I have learnt that people here don’t value what it can offer.” Amit has written a book ‘Holy Cancer – How A Cow Saved My Life’,

Shri Bharat Gupta from Satna, Madhya Pradesh, posted this on mygov.orgwebsite: “Nowadays awareness of cleanliness is high among people, particularly the Railway users, thanks to Swatch Bharat campaign. Passengers look for a dust bin in compartment. If they do not find one, they keep all the waste heaped neatly in a corner. They don’t litter all over.” On reading this I was very happy. (Courtesy: Panchaamritam)

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October 2015

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Sewa Sandesh team

wishes its readers and well wishers a happy and prosperous Deepawali.

SEWA DAY 2015: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF VOLUNTEERING CELEBRATED ACROSS USA

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The Indian-American and Hindu-American communities between September 11 and October 4 celebrated “Sewa Day” – a day of pure service - with a variety of community service projects at over 20 locations across the USA. Hundreds of volunteers from Sewa International US and partner organizations including professional bodies, associations, linguistic, temple, spiritual, social and cultural organizations came together for a day of community service and worked on a variety of projects to make a difference in their communities. Sewa Day was also celebrated in UK, Canada, Australia, Guyana, and Sri Lanka.Image may be NSFW.
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Projects were organized based on three guiding principles: 1. Serve to relieve hardship to humanity, 2. Bring a little joy to the needy, and 3. Increase environmental awareness. Youth and children enthusiastically participated as volunteers too.

At Boston, MA, volunteers cooked dinner for 200 people at the Cor Unum Meal Center - a nonprofit that provides nutritious meals in a safe environment to needy families. In Charlotte, NC, volunteers removed roadside trash and debris as part of the county’s adopt-a-city street program, and also cleaned up the local temple.

Volunteers in Cleveland, OH, Sewa cleaned up the Weiss Field Metro Park. In Columbus, OH, volunteers organized group games and a cultural program for the Bhutanese refugee community, and, distributed school bags and food.

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In Philadelphia, PA, volunteers participated in a food drive and helped manage parking at a local festival. Volunteers in Delaware cleaned their neighborhood temple including shrine upkeep, maintaining the parking lot, washing windows and collecting garbage.

In the Detroit Metro area, MI, volunteers performed weeding, mulching, landscaping, repair, and restoration work at the Bharatiya Temple in Troy. In the DC area, volunteers provided food for residents at Cornerstone Shelter in Reston.

Three Sewa Day events were held in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area, TX. Youth volunteers helped out at Frisco with a community organization devoted to local service projects, with acts of love and socialization with a sisterhood of moms. A free medical camp was organized for the Bhutanese refugee families in Dallas in which three doctors and 16 volunteers participated and over 40 patients benefited. Sewa volunteers also served at Plano City's cultural exchange program showcasing Japanese art and culture.Image may be NSFW.
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In Houston, TX, 50 volunteers picked up trash and debris from Galveston beach as part of the Texas adopt-a-beach initiative. In San Antonio, TX, volunteers vacuumed, cleaned doors and windows, and washed the blinds at their local mandir.

In Denver, CO, volunteers cleaned up the Brighton temple hall, yard, kitchen and deities. Volunteers from Portland, OR and Seattle, WA cleaned up trails and vegetation and participated in upkeep and preservation activity at the Vedanta Society’s spiritual retreat.

In one of three events in Bay Area, CA, over 35 volunteers worked three hours at Ed Levin Park Milpitas to collect more than 25 bags of garbage comprising of soda cans, bottles, litter, plastic cups, and paper cups. Mr. Jose Esteves, the Mayor of Milpitas, inaugurated the event and delivered a motivating opening speech. Volunteers from San Ramon packed and distributed vegetarian food to the homeless at People’s Park in
Berkeley, CA. In Cupertino, volunteers cleaned up the Calabazas Park.

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Volunteers in Irvine, CA cleaned up Corona Beach at Corona Del Mar as part of the statewid

e California Coastal Cleanup Day initiative. In San Diego, CA, 85 volunteers contributed 170 service hours and cleaned over 15,000 pounds of plums and potatoes to be distributed to families facing hunger throughout San Diego County, thus providing the equivalent work of 19 full time staff.

NOT CARING FOR THEMSELVES, THEY CARED FOR OTHERS

In the morning of September 12 when people in Petlawad under Jhabua District of Madhya Pradesh were still trying to wake-up, a blast rocked a godown near a bus stand. Even before the people could understand something, another blast turned the nearby shops and house into rubbles scattering human bodies and blood everywhere. The swayamsevaks at Shagun Garden in Bamniyan Road had reached the house of a swayamsevak after morning Shakha and they had just picked up the tea cups, they heard a more powerful blast. They ran out and saw a big dust storm. They rushed towards the spot. When the dust cleared they saw scattered dead bodies and also some injured people crying. Within minutes about 50 more swayamsevaks rushed to the spot and joined the rescue operation. Swayamsevaks started sending injured to the hospital on motorcycles of the passers-by. But seeing the number of injured high, they arranged for four wheelers from the colony and sent the injured to hospital in the shortest possible duration. Since some people were buried in the rubbles, they called JCB machines and tractors and started finding out the injured. Some teams were also sent to hospital. They started identifying dead bodies and consoling their family members. Some tried to control the spectators. They also donated blood at the hospital and arranged woods and other required materials for cremation. 12 swayamsevaks were also killed in the blast which claimed 88 lives.

INTEGRAL HUMANISM IS PRACTICAL MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT

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A marvelous oil painting of Nanaji Deshmukh, made by leading painter Sardar RM Singh, was inaugurated by Haryana Governor Shri Kaptan Singh Solanki in Delhi on October 11. The occasion was 99th birth anniversary of Nanaji. A seminar on Integral Humanism and Self Reliance was also organised on the occasion.

Speaking at the seminar Swadeshi ideologue Shri P Murlidhar Rao expressed concern that Bharat, the country blessed with the largest quantity of fertile land in the world, imports foodgrains and pulses for several years. “Bharat is the largest consumer of pulses. If we continue to import them our self-dependency and self-reliance will be endangered. Therefore, it is direly needed that Bharat increases the production of pulses. Similar is the condition with the edible oils. If we have to materialise the thinking of Deendayalji and strengthen our self-reliance we will have to give priority to the small scale industries. We can learn much from the experiments conducted in Chitrakoot by Nanaji,” he said.

Shri Kaptan Singh Solanki stressed the need to utilise the birth centenaries of Deendayalji and Nanaji for educating the masses for self-reliance. He said Integral Humanism is not an alternative thinking; it is an eternal view for the benefit of the humanity. He called Nanaji as a leader, statesman and founder. That is why he is Rashtrarishi. He materialised the views of Deendayalji and showed the world that it is a practical model of development.

3 – DAY ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF VANAVASI KALYAN ASHRAM HELD IN NAGPUR

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Began on October 2nd, the 3-day annual national conference of Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram concluded on 4th October 2015 at Dr. Hedgewar Smarak Samiti Premises, Reshimbag in Nagpur.

Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra inaugurated the valedictory ceremony.

On October 4th, the concluding session was attended by Union Ministers of State Sudarshan Bhagat and Hansraj Ahir, Akhil Bharatiya Seva Pramukh of RSS Suhasrao Hiremath, President of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram Jagdeoram Uraon,, Dr. Kanna Madavi, Industrialist Ashok Goyal, Vice-Presidents of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram Nilima Patte and Shri. Kripaprasad Singh and Dr. Sharadchandji Salphale.

The guests were welcomed amidst the enthusiastic dance performance by the artists from the tribal community. The programme proceeded with the lamp lighting ceremony accompanied with a prayer that was sung by the people from Arunachal Pradesh. Vishnukantji, Rastriya Sanyukta Mahamantri, introduced the dignitaries to the audience.

Addressing the gathering Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis praised the work being done by Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, which has been working for 63 years among the tribal people. He said that the millennium development goal is incomplete without the sustainable development and that is perfectly portrayed by the tribal people, where they live in harmony with the nature and conserve it at the same time. When evil powers were busy breaking the society, Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram was in the forefront to reestablish the faith of the tribal people in their own land. He also stated that Maharshtra Govt. has initiated various social upliftment schemes for the Janjati community.

He also remembered the struggle of tribal freedom fighters and remembered the freedom fighter Babarao Shermake, from Chandrapur district of Vidarbha region, who at the young age fought against the British. The Govt. has also started the work of Ashramshala, which will provide the opportunity of education in the region’s ranked one schools to the 25000 children from the Janjati communities. They will also start the work of providing hygienic food to the vanvasi kids under Akshay Patra Yojana, so that the medical parameters in the kids will start to get better. He also stated that, the Govt. has strong committment for the development of tribal community and bringing them into the mainstream development using skills development projects.

Shri. Sudarshan Bhagat, Union Minister of State said that he being a student of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram’s Chhatravas felt that it was a proud moment for him to be present amongst the people who are working with a vision for the betterment of the tribal people. The people gathered on the occasion from various parts of the country gave the feeling that a small version of India is seated in front of me. He praised Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram for their contribution in making the Janjati community able and self-sufficient reaching out to them in the interior regions of the country. He applauded the work which is being done through various hostels of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram for the education of children of tribal community. He even said that we need to get tribal community in the mainstream development as early as possible and Govt. is trying its best to fulfill the requirements. He thanked Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram for giving him an opportunity to interact with the people and share his experiences.

Shri. Suhasrao Hiremath, Akhil Bharatiya Seva Pramukh of RSS, said that the work of preserving the values in the age of fast changing world is being done by the tribal community in a very effective manner. He also said that seeing the work of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, the youth of India will be inspired to in the very moment he begins to know them closely. He also made a point to mention that even when the tribal people were treated poorly they still have preserved the mainstream values and the culture in their own unique manner and are still doing so with the same enthusiasm.

Dr. Kanna Madavi, praised the work being done by Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram for the upliftment of the tribal people and even made it a point to mention what experiences he had in his life being a person from Janjati community. He further said that the society must stop unnecessarily sympathizing with the tribal people and treat them as one of them.

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Mr. Ashok Goyal, eminent businessman on the occasion said that Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram is doing the work of reinstalling the faith within the tribal community and praised the work that is being done by all the representatives. He stated that the work taken up is an Ishwariya Karya and whoever thought of the question as to how the future of the Janjati be improved must be bowed before. With such activities of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, social fabric will be strengthened.

In this three day conference 1469 males and 288 females representing 236 Akhil Janjati Bharat took active participation. A total of 1757 people across the country along with Andaman Nicobar and Nepal, were present for the event.

The ceremony started with the presidential speech of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram’s Shri. Jagdeoram Uraon. Ekal Geet was presented by Meeraji and Acchamaji on this occasion. The vote of thanks was given by the National Vice-President of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram Smt. Nilima Patte and the event concluded with the national song, Vande Mataram.

LANDSLIDE RELIEF WORK IN SRILANKA

Landslide in Lillisland estate of central province of Srilanka occurred on September 25 claiming around 7 people dead. Many houses swept away by the forceful soil and rainwater. 20 families were evacuated from their houses. Now they are staying in common small building in a nearby estate. Around 50 other families are living with fear. Athourities alarmed them to move away from that place.
Swayamsevaks in nearby estate rushed to the spot immediately after the landslide. They removed dead bodies in that heavy rainy time. They also distributed food meterials to the affected people.

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MedScapeIndia Award

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The Fourth MedScapeIndia Award for Recognizing Excellence in Healthcare has been conferred on Swami Vivekananda Medical Mission on 17.10.2015 in Mumbai in a proud and grand programme.
The award has been bestowed on the Mission in the category of Excellence In Rural Health. These awards were instituted in 2007 by Aryan Medical and Educational Trust to honor medical fraternity. The Trust is based in Mumbai, a non-profit charitable and Registered NGO pledged to make communities across urban and rural India self-dependent. The awards, are an initiative to recognize the heroism of those who have displayed courage and inspired many in their fight against disease and disability.
The Mission President, Dr. P. Narayanan Nair, Secretary Adv. K.A. Asokan received the award on behalf of the Mission in Mumbai.

Titbits

Many may not know that 15 lakh Indian soldiers fought in the World War I (1914-1918). Of them , 74,000 sacrificed their lives and 9,200 were honoured with gallantry awards. (Pradhan Mantri,Mann Ki Baat, April 25, 2015).

Over 30 lakh families have surrendered their LPG subsidy, and not just the rich. Most are from the lower middle and middle classes like retired teachers, pensioners. This is nothing but proof of that a silent revolution is on. (Pradhan Mantri, Mann Ki Baat, September 20, 2015).

Shri Bharat Gupta from Satna, Madhya Pradesh, posted this on mygov.orgwebsite: “Nowadays awareness of cleanliness is high among people, particularly the Railway users, thanks to Swatch Bharat campaign. Passengers look for a dust bin in compartment. If they do not find one, they keep all the waste heaped neatly in a corner. They don’t litter all over.” On reading this I was very happy. (Pradhan Mantri, Mann Ki Baat, October 3, 2014).

PM's mann ki baat leads to rise in khadi sales Barely 10 days since Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi urged people to buy khadi in his 'Mann ki Baat' address on radio, Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan in Connaught Place has witnessed a massive jump in sales. "There has been an 88% increase since the PM spoke about buying khadi on September 20," says Naresh Pal, deputy chief executive officer and manager at the store. The PM's call did strike a chord. "Our sales are booming owing to a younger crowd that wants to experiment, and keeping this in mind we have also brought about a change in our line of products. Earlier 30% of the products in the store were readymade but now this has been increased to 70%," says Pal.

For Further Information Please Contact:

SEWA INTERNATIONAL BHARAT

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SEWA INTERNATIONAL BHARAT (SIB)

TAMIL NADU FLOOD RELIEF APPEAL

Sewa International appeals to the benevolent donors to be generous to provide relief to the Tamil Nadu Rain affected. Your timely contribution will save many and provide relief to thousands.

The deep depression over the Bay of Bengal has brought heavy and continuous rains and devastated the South Indian State, Tamil Nadu, and many parts of the city of Chennai. The state is battling one of the worst floods in history. Several districts are submerged, leaving a trail of death and destruction. The toll in the devastating floods has reached over 190. More than 2500 villages are badly affected and 60 percent of the capital city Chennai is under water. Thousands of families are still stranded and awaiting help in their homes across the state.

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The weather department has warned of heavy rainfall for Tamil Nadu, especially over the northern districts of Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram. Sewa International Bharat, hereby, requests and appeals one and all to help and support the victims of the unprecedented rain. It has been termed as the heaviest in over 100 years. By the time this appeal is issued, the numbers are rising. Need immediate help to support the families.

Sewa International has resolved to serve the people of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Our past interventions during recent disasters in Nepal, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand have impacted thousands of lives! For more information, please visit: http://www.sewainternational.org

We need your support to spread the word and multiply the impact. The funds raised here will go towards Relief Packages and Rehab work in Tamil Nadu.

Please help us to support the affected families !

Appealing again to contribute generously.

Regards,

Sewa International

49, Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg,
New Delhi -110002, India
Tel:+91 11 43007650, 23517373
Email: sewainternationaldelhi@gmail.com

Sewa International is registered under FCRA and also has Income Tax exemption under IT Act 80G for domestic donors.

For Online Donations,

Indian accounts: http://sewainternational.org/donation/

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Account details:
  For Foreign Donations-
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Account No.- 10080533326
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State Bank of India
Branch Code-             9371
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IFS Code - SBIN0009371

  Account details:
  For Local Donations-
  Sewa International
Account No.- 10080533304
Jhandewala Extn Branch(Delhi)
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Branch Code - 9371
Swift Code-     SBININBB550
IFS Code - SBIN0009371

It is mandatory for every donor to inform his/her identity like name address, contact number & mail id; and the cause towards which this is being donated like “Tamil Nadu Flood Relief”.

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December 2015

SEWA INTERNATIONAL OPENS FIRST SCHOOL IN U'KHAND

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Sewa International inaugurated its first school in a remote village, Chhinka, in district Chamoli (Uttarakhand) on December 5, 2015. It is a co-ed school with 148 students receiving education till 8th class.

The old school was badly damaged during Uttarakhand floods in 2013 and needed to be re-built. After inspection of the damaged site in 2013-2014, its new construction was sponsored by the benevolent donors of Sewa International UK.

The occasion was graced by Harish Bhudia, Executive Director, Sewa UK, and Lalit Goswami, All India General Secretary, Vidya Bharati, along with many other dignitaries including ADM (Chamoli), District Education Officer etc., who all were full of praise and gratitude for the noble effort. About 300 people attended the function.

RSS EXTENDS AID FOR DROUGHT HIT PEOPLE IN MAHARASHTRA

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has come forward to find out ground level relief measures for drought hit people in Maharashtra. In association with some organizations which work in the field of water conservation RSS plans to build barrages as well as widening, deepening and rejuvenation of rivers in 12 districts of Maharashtra. Briefing media on steps taken to give relief for drought hit people in Maharashtra, RSS Western Region Sewa Pramukh Dr. Upendra Kulkarni told that with an estimated amount of Rs 7 crore RSS along with 23 different NGO's are about to launch relief programmes for drought affected areas & people in various districts of state.

According to the RSS Maharashtra Unit meeting which held earlier this month, the state is facing water scarcity as the monsoon this year was below 50 percent due to which the crops in Vidarbha, Marathwada and Western Maharashtra are damaged on large scale. The estimated amount for relief work would be collected from corporate houses based on CSR method and individual philanthropic donors.

SEWA USA DELIVERS 150 HANDMADE SCARVES, BLANKETS TO WOMEN’S SHELTERS

On the occasion of Diwali, Sewa USA delivered 150 hand-knit scarves and baby blankets to Chicago-based women's shelters. Sixty people from 15 states participated in the drive by knitting and mailing in their handmade items. Participants included knitting novices as well as experts and ranged from the ages of 10 to 75. In some families, mothers and grandmothers used this project as an opportunity to teach their children the art of knitting and crochet.

The scarves and blankets were delivered to Chicago's South Suburban Family Shelter (SSFS) and Connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC). These organizations serve victims of domestic violence by providing counseling, legal services, and emergency shelter.

"These women have been through so much suffering, and our aim is to bring warmth to their lives - both literally and figuratively," said Aparna Soni, coordinator of Knit for Sewa.

"Diwali is a time of year when we try to bring the light of love and service into our own lives, as well as the lives of others," said Sreevidya Radhakrishna, coordinator of Knit for Sewa.

SWAYAMSEVAKS RESCUE FLOOD VICTIMS IN CHENNAI

Recent heavy rains lashed Chennai city throwing normal life out of gear. The city saw severe water logging and people wading through knee deep water. RSS swayamsevaks in their respective areas carried out the relief activities. In Villiwakkam, Annai Satya Nagar, food packets were distributed to the victims. The swayamsevaks carried out the relief activity at MKB Nagar Vyasarpadi, North Chennai. They cleared the street lamp post which had fallen down and blocked the main road, thus helping in clearing the traffic. The swayamsevaks prepared and distributed food to around 400 people in Arundathi Nagar, Mettupalayam, Perambur Bhag.

SPORTS MEET OF BHARATIYA SHIKSHA SAMITI J&K

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Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti J&K organised 27th State sports Meet Athletics 2015 at Zoravar Singh Sports Stadium Reasi. About 120 athletes from 5 zones comprising 16 schools of Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti namely Kishtwar, Bhaderwah, Doda, Ramban, Udhampur, Kathua, Basholi, Samba & Jammu participated in the event. The prize distribution function was presided over by Shri Ramlal Sharma, working president of Bharatiya Shiksha Samiti J&K. The chief guest on the occasion was Shri Hari Krishan Nazar, SP Deputy commandant IRP-1 J&K Police. Jammu zone won the overall championship by securing 162 points, Udhampur remained 2nd with 106 points and Doda at 3rd place with 93 points. The best athlete was Sonia Verma from BVM Hira Nagar who won the gold medal.

SIDDHINATH SINGH NEW PRESIDENT OF RASHTRIYA SEWA BHARATI

Shri Siddhinath Singh, Bihar Kshetra Sanghachalak of RSS and an engineer by education, is the new national president of Rashtriya Sewa Bharati. He replaced Shri Suryaprakash Tonk, who completed his term as president. Shri Tonk will continue to devote his time for Rashtriya Sewa Bharati as a Trustee. The election to new office bearers took place in Kanyakumari on November 30. All senior office bearers were present at the meeting. Apart from it, Shri Yashpal Gupta was appointed new Treasurer. He replaced Shri KL Mallya whose term also ended. Shri Yashpal Gupta is Sah Zilla Sanghachalak of RSS in East Delhi. Shri KL Mallya will also continue to devote his time for Rashtriya Sewa Bharati as a Trustee.

PROTECT THE INDIGENOUS BREEDS OF COWS: SHANKARLAL

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A Gau Sevak Milan was organised in Chennai to highlight and realise the usefulness of indigenous breeds of cow for organic farming and health issues. Addressing the gathering RSS Akhil Bharatiya Gau Seva Pramukh Shri Shankarlal said protection of the cow is must for economic, spiritual and physical well being. Prant Pramukh of Kisan Sangh Shri Gopi and Gau Seva Pramuk of Uttar Tamil Nadu Shri Kalyan Singh were also present.

Stressing the uniqueness of native regional breeds, to name a few, Gir of Gujarat, Sahiwal of Haryana, Red Sindi of Punjab, Rathi of Rajasthan, Ongole of Andhra Pradesh, Kandhari of Maharasthra, Nimari and Malvi of Madhya Pradesh, Amritmahal and Kallihar of Karnataka, Kangeyam, Umblacherry and Baraguru of Tamil Nadu and Kasargod, Vechur breeds from Kerala, etc. they are natural habitat of the vernacular eco-system adapted to the respective areas, weather and climate. The indigenous regional breed, for example, the Rajasthani breed can survive extreme cold of (minus) -8 degrees up to a sunny day of +49 degrees without any man-made support systems.

“Today we are left with only 37 indigenous breeds wherein once we had 110 unique breeds. We had about 48 crore of cow population before Independence but today only around 6 crore indigenous breeds of cows are left. There are also references in Quran and Bible scripture which speak the importance of the cow”, he cited.

EDUCATION IN MOTHER TONGUE DEVELOPS BETTER UNDERSTANDING - MOHAN BHAGWAT

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“Learning is a process that takes place in a school as well as at home. If children get an opportunity to learn in their own mother tongue, it helps them develop better understanding,” said RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat while speaking at the silver jubilee function of Saraswati Shishu Sansthan in Raipur on November 24. More than 3,000 students, drawn from various schools, demonstrated their yoga skills during the function held at city's Outdoor Stadium.

He said Bharatiyas should have knowledge of ‘Rashtra Bhasha’ as it keeps the nation united. “Hindi is a language that keeps nation united. Everyone should have knowledge of Hindi,” he said adding that it is also necessary to learn other foreign languages as well in order to keep Bharat ahead in the global arena. "Education is not just for earning a livelihood. Education not only makes a person self-reliant but also entrust a responsibility on the person to work for the society", he added.

The Sarsanghachalak expressed satisfaction that the students produced by Saraswati Shishu Mandirs have proved to be successful in developing the generation which is committed to the nation. “Apart from urban areas, there are schools in rural and Vanvasi areas imparting quality education. But this work should not stop here. The Vidya Bharati should ensure its contribution in social development with a bigger goal,” he said.

It is to be noted that today over 12,000 schools are being run by Saraswati Shiksha Sansthan in Chhattisgarh alone. Presiding over the function Shri Chhagan Mundra, chairman of Chhattisgarh Financial Development Corporation, said Saraswati Shishu Mandirs have been successful in playing a very big role in national development. In the age of burgeoning cost education the Saraswati Shishu Mandirs are imparting the best education, he said. Some senior workers of the Vidya Bharati were also felicitated on this occasion.

ICAR JOINS HANDS WITH SEWA BHARATI TO EDUCATE FARMERS

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The ICAR Research in Meghalaya joined hands with the Sewa Bharati Meghalaya to educate the farmers. A joint project—Mera Gaon, Mera Gaurav (My Village, My Pride) was formally launched at Marngar on November 24. It was attended by over 150 farmers from five villages—Nalapara-Joigang, Lalumpam, Purangang, Borgang, Nongagang of Marngar at Nongpo in Ri Bhoi District. A team of scientists from ICAR has adopted these villages for successful dissemination of improved technologies under MGMG scheme in association with the Sewa Bharati.

Prant Seva Pramukh Shri Surendra Talkhedkar highlighted the importance of the programme. Dr AK Mohanty, Principal Scientist, ICAR Research Complex, Umiam spelt out the action plan of ICAR under MGMG programme and emphasised on 3C and 1S (Community participation, Commodity based village development and Custom hiring based development and Sustainability) for improving the agricultural status of the villages. He asked the farmers to go for zero tillage mustard/lentil or field pea cultivation in rice fallow for increasing the oilseed and pulse production in the State. Shri Pravin Sewale and Shri Gaurang Rai from Seva Bharati also spoke on the occasion.

About 3 quintal seeds of different winter vegetable crops like cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, capsicum, garden pea, carrot, radish etc. , oil seed crop like mustard and pulses crops like lentil and field pea were distributed among the farmers and demonstration on the vegetable nursery raising technology and zero tillage mustard/lentil cultivation were conducted.

THE 10 YEAR OLD WHO SAVED THE LIVES OF 850 PASSENGERS

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'I was not scared. I have seen trains every day of my life. I only wanted to stop the train.'

Siddesh Manjunath, who averted a major rail mishap, speaks to A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com

On March 15, the Harihara-Chitradurga passenger train was passing through Avaregere village in Davangere district, Karnataka. The locomotive driver saw a young boy running towards the train on the track waving a red cloth vigorously. The driver applied the brakes and stopped the train.

The boy, Siddesh Manjunath, 10, may have saved the lives of about 850 passengers on that train.

Siddesh told Rediff.com that after breakfast he decided to go to his father's tea shop. To get there he had to cross the railway track.

When he neared the track, he had to wait as there was a train passing by. "I regularly cross the track here and I am familiar with the sound that the train makes on the tracks. I noticed that the train was louder than it normally was."

"After it passed I examined the tracks and saw a big gap on one track. I ran to my father's shop which is nearby."

His father Manjunath along with a few villagers came back with Siddhesh to check the track.

They all agreed that it was a risky gap and were discussing what to do.

While they were talking among themselves they heard the sound of another train approaching. One of the villagers suggested that they should wave a red cloth to try and stop the train.

"It was luck that I was wearing a red T-shirt that day," Siddhesh tells Rediff.com "I immediately took it out and started running towards the train."

"I waved the T-shirt vigorously and held it high while I ran. I was not scared. I have seen trains every day of my life. I only wanted to stop the train."

"My father and the other villagers were running behind me. The locomotive driver saw us and stopped the train," he adds.

"I am very happy with my only son, he has made us proud," says Manjunath who has studied only up to Class 5, but would like his son to get a proper education.

Last week, the Karnataka government presented Siddhesh a bravery award on Children's Day.

Titbits

Living up to her name that means light of the world, Noor Jahan has been spreading light in at least 500 homes in Bairi Dariyaon in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh, Bharat) and its neighbouring villages for the last 10 years. A mother of seven who became a widow 25 years ago, Noor Jahan came in contact with Shramik Bharti, an NGO teaching people about the power of solar energy. An inspired Noor Jahan proposed to distribute solar lanterns in 50 houses of her village. “I convinced people to use solar lamps as they were cheaper and safer,” she recalled. The next hurdle was how to charge these lamps. Noor Jahan formed a group that helped her set up a solar power centre equipped with solar panels. She began to rent out the lanterns for Rs 100 per month. Every evening, villagers come to collect a charged lantern and return it in the morning. From the money that she earns, Noor Jehan deposits Rs 1,700 in the centre for maintenance. (When Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the nation about her good work in his radio programme ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on November 29, 2015, it came as a pleasant surprise for 55-year-old Noor Jahan).

A group of like-minded loco pilots in Chennai Central railway station (Tamilnadu, Bharat) felt a need for an organisation to help the hundreds of destitute and orphaned people who make railway stations their home — sometimes even without food and proper clothing. D Kulararasan, a loco pilot and one of the founders of the organisation, Good Samaritan Saviours, says, years back, when he got off the locomotive he saw a weak and malnourished woman lying on Platform No 1. She had raging fever and was unable to move. “I contacted an NGO, they came and helped rehabilitate her”. That was before his group was formed. “We contribute Rs 200 every month. We spend the money for rehabilitating the destitute. We help NGOs to take care of the people we rescue,” explains G Rajapandian, one of the members of the organisation. Started in 2004, the group has helped over 125 destitute and orphaned people at railway stations last year. “We began with hardly 10 people, but now we have over 50 loco-pilots in the organisation. People who see a destitute person at railway stations across Chennai and other cities give us a call,” adds G Rajapandian, another member. “We work 102 hours a fortnight running locomotives, and hardly get time for such things. In case we need to attend to destitute people, whoever gets a two-hour break does what’s needed. The pilot leaves after two hours and hands over to the next pilot who gets his break,” he says. Many of the rescued people have been reunited with their families.

Shri P Manimaran (29), a coolie and Class VIII dropout from Thalayampallam village located 10 km from Tiruvannamalai town (Tamilnadu, Bharat), was presented the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disability on December 3, 2015 by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Manimaran donated his entire cash award of ₹ one lakh for helping leprosy patients who were affected during the recent floods in Cuddalore and Chennai. He said, “Leprosy patients left stranded in knee-deep water were at high risk as maggots infection starts to spread easily and luckily with the help of the cash given by the government we were able to rescue over 350 patients in these two districts”. Manimaran, who started social work since he was 13 by rehabilitating destitute in and around his village, has now reportedly adopted 338 leprosy patients, helped close to 50,000 leprosy patients, helped 1,800 mentally- challenged of which 170 are now in rehabilitation centres across 18 districts of the State. Manimaran is also known for cremating unclaimed bodies. Till date, he claims to have buried 138 unidentified bodies. Interestingly, Manimaran has volunteered to provide educational aids for 500 physically- challenged children and said that he had to sell some of his properties to support this.

Shri Dilip Singh Malaviya, a mason by profession and resident of Bhojpura village in Sehore district (Madhya Pradesh, Bharat) has built toilets in 100 houses in his village without demanding wages. Till just three months back all the villagers including Sarpanch Surendra Singh were constrained to defecate in the open. They used to go to a forest a km away for the purpose. Women particularly were put to great difficulty. No more that unhygienic habit there. Dilip singh’s wife Binda began opposing this habit. At first Dilip did not pay much attention to her grievance. But when she stood firm in her demand, Dilip arranged funds and in 7 days built a toilet. Then he resolved to put up a fight against open defecation in his village. He discussed the issue with the Sarpanch and the village development committee. They too took the matter seriously but they had reservations about getting government funds for it. Meanwhile, at a meeting of the villagers, Dilip volunteered with his proposal that if the villagers arranged building material for the toilets, he would build them for free. They accepted and he did as he had said. (Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 15th ‘man ki baat’ radio broadcast on December 27 made a mention of Dilip Singh’s good work)- Courtesy: Panchaamritam

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