<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+May 22 2004, 11:19 PM-->QUOTE(Viren @ May 22 2004, 11:19 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> In past week 17, additional farmers have committed suicide in AP while our neta babu nexus are dragging their feet. 3000 have already done so in the prior administration. This is outrageous. I've checked around and found that there are no NGO types helping out in this area.
Are there any charities around that can help here? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I would say a golden opportunity for idrf to step in.
Reason being if you read their website,
It calls itself a secular charity
WTF should an ostensibly hindu charity call itself a secular charity
unless to appease muslims and xtians
Next 10% of the schools fed by Akshayapatra are Urdu medium schools
In karnataka, hindu temple money goes to madrasas and hindu charity money
goes to feed future jihadis
After the ingratitude shown by islamic bangladesh, spending hindu money on charity to abrahamists is counter-productive
If these Urdu medium students are getting to sing Hare Krishna bhajans in exchange for food ( copying xtian missionary inculturation tactics ) that is OK
but per my reading of the website, it is simply a case of foolish kafirs feeding future jihadis
I once sent a long email about this to akshayapatra, but did not receive a reply
Next, Abject poverty is absent in bangalore whereas abject poverty is widespread in Orissa, hence foodrelief.org gives more bang for the buck from a hindu standpoint
UP ? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
A legacy from BRF, "Up" is a simple way of marking a thread to be "recently updated" and thus bringing it up to the top of the stack lest it fade away into oblivion.
PS: IF should use a different word to 'touch' files.. perhaps, "ooper" (hindi) <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->
x-post
----
Subject:appeal from Francois Gautier
Dear friends,
For my forthcoming US Tour, conferences + exhibition on the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, we need tragic stories of Kashmiri Pandits, preferably with photos or videos. Material should be adressed to the coordinator of the exhibion, Mayank Shekhar, at fact_usa@yahoo.com. his tel numbers
are: 612-332-0952, cel phone is (919) 740-7129.
please pass the word around to all your KP friends
Some news about FACT:
1) Preparations for US 2005 tour
2) KP exhibtion in Luxemburg, Holland and Belgium end of November
3) 2d exibition project on "Foreigners who made India their own" (Annie Besant and Sister Nivedita for the moment), started by Prof OP Kejariwal, who just retired as Chairman Nehru Memorial Museum (a good man nevertheless !)
4) Aurangzeb exhibitions to be initiated soon by Professor Bhatnagar, Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies
5) FACT to produce a film on the life of Adi Shankara (negociations are on the way)
6) FACT associated with Sri Sri Center Center for Media studies, Bangalore, the first 'Indian' and spiritualized school of journalism in India and the world.
We still need donors for sponsoring deserving students to study in this school (see full appeal below), so far we have only received 4 scholarships (one student = 1000 $). Donations in Indian rupees should be made in the name of SSRVM and sent to Francois Gautier,
Dean SSCMS, 19 A,
39A cross, 11th Main,
4th T Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560041, India;
for donating in $, you can contact "Mr nilendu srivastava" <"
target=_blank>nilendu_us@yahoo.com> , who is in Boston, for donating tax free
money to SSCMS iin the US.
Thks all for your support, India needs you
Francois Gautier
Convener FACT
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Dear ALL,
As you know, the Gujarat flood situation has made affected thousands of people who have lost their homes and livelihood.
The situation requires support from all of you so that the affected people can return back to their normal lives.
Please find encloses an appeal from Sewa International for this noble cause. As you all know, Sewa is an organisation that has very low administrative expenses and nearly all of the funds donated go straight to the people who should benefit. We urge all of you to support the Sewa appeal and to kindly forward this email to as many people as you can.
Vatsalya Gram is one of the many innovative initiatives of Param Shakti Peeth. It is a unique alternative to orphanages and women's homes. This pioneering project is the brainchild of one of the most prominent citizens of modern India, Sadhvi Ritambhara. She is also the moving force behind this conceptâs realization and has dedicated her life for the survival, health and well-being of abducted, abused, repudiated and abandoned children and women enabling them to rebuild productive lives of dignity and purpose, striving always to respect their values.
Vatsalya Gram was established in May, 2003 in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. It comprises of a lush sprawl of 43 acres on the Vrindavan-Mathura Road. Plans are under way to build two additional Vatsalya Grams at Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh and Solan in Himachal Pradesh.
Manikanta, abandoned on the streets, was begging from morning to night in Lalbaugh. Later, he was taken to Chennai to work in a country liquor shop. The shopkeeper read a newspaper article about `Nele' and brought the child to its doors. Today, Nele is Manikanta's home. He is in school, in 4th standard.
Nele is the home for children abandoned to the care of streets to beg, pick rags and do other menial work. It takes them into its bosom, nurses them to good health and mind and initiates them into man-making education. Many such street children picked up by Nele are today role models. They bag prizes in competitions.
Saraswati, just eight, had acute hearing impairment. Her ability to learn was so low that even special schools would not admit her. She joined Aruna Chetna. Today she has blossomed into a creative girl, excelling in dance and art. Groomed as a teaching assistant, she is now in vocational training division in Aruna Chetna itself.
Started in the year 1987, Aruna Chetna takes care of children like Saraswati and others suffering disabilities like cerebral palsy, mental retardation, hearing impairment, partial visual impairment, behavioural and emotional disorders. There are over 160 such impaired children today in Aruna Chetna.
Aruna Chetna has dedicated and experienced teachers who provide comprehensive services to the affected children including physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, academic education, self-management, vocational training, sports, music, dance, dramatics, drawing and painting and yoga.
PPrasanna' is a counselling initiative for mental health. Expert counselling is costly in this area and the poor can hardly afford it. So, qualified doctors from NIMHANS are networked as volunteers to counsel the needy. More than 1000 mental cases, 700 family issues, and 500 rehabilitation efforts were successfully handled by Prasanna.
The head of Prasanna, Dr Mrs Pankaja, was awarded `Vidyaratna' in 1998. Various public service outfits like Lions, Rotary, Inner Wheel and others have honoured Prasanna. Nele, Aruna Chetna and Prasanna are just illustrations, different manifestations, of the same mission, the Hindu Seva Pratishtana in Bangalore.
The work of Pratishtana is not limited to these initiatives, but extends to a vast area. Protection of environment is a key concern of Pratishtana. It launched a movement to `Save the Western Ghats' led by Anant Hegde who works with the Pratishtana.
It has instituted a task force to document the bio-resources of various villages in Sagar, Thirthahally and Hosanagara taluks in Karnataka - a far-reaching work.
It has special concern for women and conducts massive programmes mobilising them on the cultural plane. It conducts Deepa Pujas in which thousands participate every year. It organised a Matru Sangama in which 45,000 women from executives and professionals to ordinary slum dwellers resided together.
It also works vigorously to eradicate untouchability and alcoholism. Conceived and executed by Ajit Kumar, a dynamic RSS worker, 25 years ago, the Hindu Seva Pratishtana has over the years grown into a huge, high quality public service mission.
He died young, but thanks to his far-sight, the Pratishtana work has grown exponentially.
As he conceived this mission, Ajit Kumar did not think of building a huge corpus of funds. Instead, he built a team of dedicated volunteers and instituted a system of identifying, training and sustaining more of them.
The idea of public service is generally understood as raising, accumulating and spending funds. Sometimes it is even trivialised as a task, which can be accomplished by just money.
More often than not, skill in fund raising is considered more important to engage in public service. But Ajit Kumar was different. He believed that motivated men, motivated by the urge to serve the motherland through the service of the needy, are more critical than money.
<b>He proved right. Thanks to his vision, today in the Pratishtana there are over 3000 whole-time volunteers - yes 3000! They are called `Sevavratis', that is, those who have taken a vow for service. They are competent in different fields, well-trained and motivated by high levels of compassion linking the service they deliver to the idea of man-making and nation-building.</b>
A Sevavrati' takes oath to give full time to the Pratishtana for three years. But, there are `Sevavratis' who are working for over 15 years. In addition there are thousands of equally dedicated workers who work only part time.
This huge stock of trained, sincere and committed workers constitutes the real asset of the Pratishtana, not the moderate financial numbers disclosed in its balance sheet.
<b>
But the story of Pratishtana is still not complete. It is a mission whose service enriches the soul of the needy who receive its help, and not trade off its service for change of faith, God, or culture of the recipient.</b>
Those missions that offer relief to the needy in exchange for the recipient being persuaded to disown his or her faith or God or culture are also celebrated as great social service missions.
<b>But, the Pratishtana is different, because its services have no aim or intent other than building a mighty and prosperous India. This is real national service, man-making and nation-building service, which Swami Vivekananda repeatedly commended to the youth of India.</b>
The Hindu Seva Pratishtana that serves the acutely needy is actually transforming into a movement in Karnataka. This illustrious mission is entering its Silver Jubilee Year on February 25, 2006.
Writer's email: comment@gurumurthy.net
7 Jan 2006
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->