Selfless Seva - Article by Dr. Hiramalini Seshadri

[Guest guest]

global activities carried out in the name of Sri Sathya Sai Baba can be divided

into Educare, Medicare and Sociocare. EDUCARE: Education enables one make a

living; while educare enables one attain the highest in life. Educare helps one

realise that one is not separate, but part of creation, which is in turn part of

the Creator; and what is more, so is one’s neighbour. Baba’s educare programme

which began in the sixties in India through the Bal Vikas project has now

reached 180 countries. Three time Thai parliamentarian and ex-NASA scientist,

Dr. ART-ong Jumsai, is a pioneer who has dedicated his life to educare; and

thanks to Dr Jumsai and likeminded devotees, today there are Institutes of

Sathya Sai Education (ISSE) in all continents. The Institutes train teachers in

Educare and carry out research on the impact of Sathya Sai Education in the

world. There are 52 Sathya Sai schools globally. MEDICARE: Sai Centres abroad

have been running many free clinics and medical

camps for over two decades. A coordinated medicare programme has been launched

recently under the auspices of the Sai International Medical Committee to reach

Sai Ideal Health Care everywhere. The activities include Ongoing Healthcare

Delivery, Disaster Relief, Medical Camps and Health Care Services, Disease

Prevention and Health Education. In the Far East, Africa, Latin America and

South Asia, in partnership with private hospitals, which offer free theatre and

ward services, regular medical and surgical services have been available for the

needy. An ideal hospice for the terminally ill is functioning in Sri Lanka. In a

major step forward, Sai Organisations are also tying up with governments in the

implementation of National Health Programmes; for example, in Kenya the Sai

Organisation distributes insecticide-treated mosquito nets to populations at

risk of malaria no matter how remote and inaccessible the terrain; and this

unique Sai Net programme has generated global

interest. In the USA and other developed nations, Sai Medicare targets those who

are not insured and have no access to healthcare. In appreciation, the Mayor of

St Louis, proclaimed the 11th of September as ‘Sri Sathya Sai Baba Day’, last

year. SOCIOCARE: Sociocare programmes done by Sai Organisations in various

nations are just too many to enumerate. However the water management project

being implemented by the African Institute of Sathya Sai Education (TAISSE)

merits mention. The Experts Group Meeting of water experts convened in 2001 by

the UN-Habitat, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Sweden

International Water Institute at Johannesburg was taken up by the Human Values

approach to water management suggested by Victor Kanu of TAISSE. In fact,

TAISSE was contracted by UN-Habitat to implement Value Based Water Education in

six African countries. Water education is a combination of water literacy —

knowledge about water sources, and, Value Based

Perception — where water is viewed as a precious resource to be used responsibly

for the the greater common good. Waterbodies are viewed as gifts given in trust

to us to be safeguarded and passed down to future generations who are to

inherit the earth after our time. By 2004, the project was completed so

successfully that UN-Habitat has now requested TAISSE to implement a Value

Based Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education in 12 African countries. Taking a

leaf out of Baba’s Anantapur Water Project, devotees at Ndola, Zambia, have also

started a small water project. Thanks to it, five poor townships and

water-starved for centuries, have potable water today. Latin America is another

region where powerful Sai sociocare projects are on. The Director of a prison at

Sensuntepeque, El Salvador, was so touched by the Sai Study Circle meetings in

the prison, that he volunteered to do the Sathya Sai Human Values Diploma

Course. In Beunos Aires, an ideal home for street

children exists with a typical Sai twist to the tale. They used to live in a

makeshift cramped place. While gardening one day, the kids found 12 kilos of

pure gold in a flowerpot. Their street instincts told them to go for the gold

and run away; but after all the EHV they had been taught, they simply could

not. They notified the elders who notified the police and finally the courts

declared that the gold belonged to the boys. With that money, a lovely home was

built. What is absolutely amazing is this: most volunteers participating in the

Sai educare, medicare or sociocare projects abroad have not even seen Baba; but

they are all full of love for this gentle eighty-year-old who lives in India,

whom they refer to as the Avatar of the age. What is more, they are able to

sense and feel his love for them across oceans and continents; and they are

transmuted as it were. Of all the wondrous things Sri Sathya Sai Baba has

created over the years, this transformation of hearts the

world over remains his greatest miracle. Copyright Express Network Private

Ltd. Links to articles from newspapers, journals, magazines related to

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