Issue 118 - April 07, 2019
Inspirational Note...
In 2017 a Satsang held in the divine presence at Padova, Italy. A devotee seeks guidance on mobilising more volunteers for the Seva being carried out for 20 years.
 
And here is what Swami said:
 
With one candle, you can light another and, with another candle, you can light one more. Therefore, those whom you have taught these values, having benefited, must teach them to others. One candle will only last so long, but the light can become eternal if it continues to light others. Those who have learnt, benefited and imbibed these values over the 20 years must be the source of this light to others. If you have really made a difference to their lives, through these teachings, they will definitely come to help.
 
Many of them may not be aware of this opportunity of spreading the light, so reach out to those whom you can to make them aware of it. Those who have really found benefit and a lot of meaning in what they have learnt, will definitely be there to support others. Instead of just looking at your group and your people who started the work and continued it, look for those who benefited from it and are willing to help others. Recollect those who have come to you and said, “We have benefited; we feel good about it.” Reach out to them. That is the right way. Your students will become your teacher volunteers. You must go to many places, not just here. They have been thinking about it, but they have not executed it yet. Go ahead and do that; it will help.
 Service Updates
Blood Drive at Damodar City Centre, Suva, Fiji
Be a Hero, Save Three Lives!
The youth of Sai Prema Foundation (Fiji) embarked on yet another journey to collect some much needed “liquid love” – Blood! The youth teamed up with the Fiji National Blood Services who are part of the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services, and conducted a day long blood drive on Saturday, March 16, 2019, at Damodar City Centre, a busy suburban shopping centre located in Suva.

The “Be a Hero - Central” campaign successfully collected 35 pints of blood on this day. These 35 pints of “fresh blood” will be used to potentially save up to 105 patients as just one pint can save up to three lives!
The Biggest ‘Health On Wheels’
Medical Camp Ever
On Saturday, March 9, 2019, volunteers, health professionals and members of Sai Prema Foundation Fiji set out early in the morning for a free ‘Health on Wheels’ medical camp in Naivicula District School in rural Tailevu, Fiji Islands.
 
This school was located at least 10 kilometres inland from the main Kings Road. The nearest hospital, Korovou Hospital was almost one hour away from this school, so accessibility to healthcare facilities was a challenge for the villagers living in Naivicula.
Singapore Seva Update for March 2019
1 Youth Children’s Dental Screening

A dental screening was organised for children with developmental delays at the Fei Yue Early Intervention Centre for Children in Singapore on March 31, 2019. The morning began with volunteers arriving early to set up the equipment, decorate the room and put out fun costumes and props for the children and their families to use when taking pictures. When the children arrived with their parents, the youth immediately broke out into huge smiles.

Elderly Outing

Poor health and mental illness isolate Singapore’s elderly from society, making social isolationism a serious threat to the well-being of Singapore’s elderly population. On March 16, 2019, the youth from One Youth decided to bring 15 elderly residents from SWAMI Home out for a visit to the Singapore Zoo. The motivations for bringing out the elderly were simple: help combat social isolationism that the elderly are facing, while allowing them to exercise themselves both mentally and physically.

1 Youth Chinese New Year Hospice Visit

The Youth visited the palliative care ward at TTSH over the Chinese New Year period to spend some time with the elderly who are terminally ill and in the last chapter of their lives. One of the volunteers brought her guitar and they offered festive songs during this season, hoping to bring some joy and love to these patients. One of the patients broke down and thanked the youth for their love. Unlike most of the other patients, this elderly man was all alone. In that moment, the youth truly felt God’s presence. They thank God for the opportunity to experience such a pure human connection with another being!
Australia Seva Update for March 2019
New South Wales (Murwillumbah):

Mums and Bubs Morning Tea

The main purpose of this ongoing morning tea is to provide the local indigenous mothers a place they can come to, with their children and where they feel welcome and supported.

School Breakfast Programme

The daily breakfast programme is continuing at the local Murwillumbah High School. The youth are serving approximately 40 students every day with a nice wholesome breakfast. The teachers and students of the school are still coming forth to engage themselves in this Seva . A total of 800 students were served in the month of March!

Weekly Fruit and Vegetable Hampers

The hamper programme is continuing every week. 16 families on average receive a free food hamper per week. The volunteers drive up to the Gold Coast once a week to collect the food items. Everyone gathers at the Heart of Love Centre Ashram once the food has been brought back, and the packing begins. Students from the local Murwillumbah High School also come to engage themselves in this service. In the month of March, 64 hampers were distributed to local needy families!
Melbourne
In March, the local Health in Kind team had the Divine Mother and Child session in the west of Melbourne with refugee mothers and children looked after by VICSEG.

( http://www.vicsegnewfutures.org.au/ ). They had three General Practitioners (GP), a social worker, two dentists and two dental student volunteers. This day they trialled having the two dentists working side by side and were able to see more patients as a result. Eight patients were seen. The presentation delivered by the GPs and social worker gained so much interest from the mothers that they asked for copies of the presentation so that they could show this to their family members at home! The doctors also performed a couple of consultations. The families were given packs of fresh vegetables to take home as well.
Queensland
The team conducted health awareness, medical and dental checks. Talks were presented on hygiene and oral health to two classes of around 25 students each. Dental packs and roll on deodorants were given to all the boys. This was quite an interactive session, boys showed much interest and requested them to speak on drugs and alcohol, hormonal changes and moods. The plan is to continue these health awareness sessions each term and cover more classes. Medical and dental screening checks were completed for five boys. A scrumptious lunch was provided afterwards to all the students.
Western Australia
Each Sunday afternoon, volunteers form the Sunshine Welfare Action Mission (SWAMI) Australia, conduct values based classes called 'Heart of Love - Life Skills and Self-Confidence Program' in the community for kids and youth. A lot of these kids and youth come from difficult economic and family backgrounds. On average, there are ten kids and youth each week who attend the program. Many kids attending the program are of Indigenous Australian background.
 
The focus is placed on particular values. In March, lessons were based on the following values: Enthusiasm, Leadership, Compassion, Friendship, Integrity and Punctuality.  Games and activities like building paper planes and tall marshmallow towers, performing skits and dramas were all used for conveying the essence of the themes for each day.
 
In addition, on one of the sessions, five families including three children were seen by a Doctor who helped raise health awareness and helped families with any health concerns they had. After each session, all the children and their families were served hot and delicious lunches with much love by our catering team! 
Pooja Sai Ashram School Programme Update
This March, youth from P ooja Sai Ashram continued their biweekly Balvikas education. This is a routine programme where the youth gather children from the Ashram to join the Bal Vikas class. The class focuses on human values, Rudram and English Lessons. The session starts with Morning prayers. Afterwards, the youth arrange classes for each topic. Initially, it was difficult to gather the children and make them concentrate on the lesson. After several trials and errors, the youth incorporated games to the topics. This led to a much greater engagement with the children! In the end, the youth hope the classes will continue on and will have more children involved.