Be the Cause – Page 202 – Make a Difference

February is a month of love

February is a month of love. Just ask cupid, Hallmark incorporated, and any volunteer you know. To celebrate this month, we did exactly what those in love do: act selflessly, give generously and do good. They say that service is love made visibleâ€¦ and what better way to celebrate this month, then to serve with complete dedication.

After collecting, packing and shipping over 3,000 stuffed animals to Sri Lanka for Tsunami Relief Aid, we began to realize the awesome power that this â€˜Loveâ€™ beholds. It can turn any of our lives around, makes us do things we would never dream of, and forces us to give away our entire lives. In that experience, poets say there is more joy than dreamed of.

Within that power, I also realized the potential of like-minded committed individuals. Some of us were in South Africa, then some went on to Kenya, one left for India and our website was redesigned, the Tsunami stuffed animal drive was organized, and more people began to care for the earth. I am not sure how it all comes together, but then Iâ€™m not sure if I have ever known. I wonder if the world is really changing, or if it is just my view thatâ€™s changed.

With the spirit of compassion close to our hearts, we embark on new journeys. Our first Compassion Cell in Los Angeles County will happen on Good Friday. We now have volunteers registering from all places near and far. We begin planning for the Fourth Annual Walk for Hope. The only magic to all this is that same Love. It is beyond time and location. It is everywhere within us, and everywhere around us. The possibilities of that power are still infinite.

With never enough words to express my gratitude to all of you for making our love somehow become visible.

Love,
Sukh

Honest From the Heart

Posted on 2/21/2005

It has been a hot and tiresome last 2 weeks. I would say more mentally tiring then physically. Although I would like to write on a more positive note, I want to convey what it is that I am feeling. So here goeas…… People say it is a good deed to serve others, to provide that helping hand that loving touch. I have been serving to the best of my ability for 3 weeks now and I am now tired. I cannot even begin to imagine how some of the people here are continuing to work on relief and rehab efforts for the last 2 months with not even a single day off!!

I visited Nagippattinam which is 6 hours south of Chennai. It is one of the head centers of NGO coordination work in conjunction with the Indian government. It was also one of the hardest hit areas. I cannot even begin to describe the damage I have seen. Entire towns wiped out, bridges broken, rivers flowing in places where once there was land. So I will not try to describe, but at some time I will post some pictures. My work here has mostly consisted in helping with medical camps and seeing patients. I also help put together ration kits for families. A ration kit consists of basic food for a month.. rice, oil, daal(lentils), spices. We made ration kits for 9,000 families who had “fallen through the cracks” of all the relief efforts. Other then that I am a support person for Bhoomika Trust in office work for tsunami related projects, which is an obstacle in itself at times.

Bhoomika Trust is an amazing NGO. Their main objective is to link needs with availability. They basically direct and link up people and NGO’s, whether it is linking projects, funds, volunteers or info. It has been a great honor working with such a reputable NGO who does not hurridly jump on the bandwagon to help victims. Instead they patiently wait, gather all info from either sending a Bhoomika volunteer or a reliable source, and then coordinate efforts to send relief. And it is all done within a very reasonable time period, due to their hardwork and dedication. ( They identified left out families, verified info, recieved approval of funds for the project, had truck loads of food delievered, organized volunteers to make the kits, made the kits for 9,000 families, and had them deleivered to various area all within a week!!!) I am very lucky to have worked with such an NGO in such a short period.

So my friends, as my brain is fatigued. I will end here. Until next time.

Love Karuna