SAI SEVA IN THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE.

[Guest guest]

SAI SEVA IN THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA

In the last issue we carried a feature article on hurricane Katrina – “Hurricane

Katrina – Are There Any Lessons To Be Learnt?” There we talked in brief about

the disaster's effects and how hurricanes are formed, and then elaborated on

what Swami has to say on such Natural disasters and also through an example of

the Madhurantakam temple we brought out how God's Grace can mitigate an enraged

Nature. To refer to it, go here.

We could not bring you any accounts of Sai Seva in the Katrina affected regions

then. So we are very happy to present you now an account of the service that

was carried out by the Young Adults (YAs) from the North Central Region of USA.

Katrina hurricane necessitated a mammoth relief response from the US government

and international aid agencies. What could Sai Youth do in this situation? To

have a greater impact, they decided to concentrate their activities on a

particular town - Tylertown in Mississippi - where the needs were considerable.

Quickly, the core group of YAs – 21 of them from 10 cities of USA - networked

and a coordinating team was formed a week after the catastrophe. The next two

weeks they assessed likely needs, planned transportation and organised the aid

from various Sai Centres to be dropped–off at a central point. Sai Devotees

from 7 cities came forward to contribute their bit to the work of YAs. The main

areas of concern were supplies of food to about 50 families; trees needed

clearing and roofs needed repairing.

We must mention that the YAs spent as much time or more in planning as in

execution. And that’s precisely the reason why it was so very nicely organised

and the recipients of the Seva were immensely pleased. Below we give you

glimpses of the kind of service that went on through a sample of their

pictorial journey, but if you want to see the full account, download the

powerpoint presentation here.

 

 

They all came together at a church in Tylertown on September 30th 2005 with a shipment of supplies.

 

It then took 24 hours to unload and sort the items into packages for personal use.

 

The items were distributed at the church and also to people's homes for the

housebound and elderly (above and to the left).

 

Tree clearance was also undertaken.

 

 

 

And roof repair work.

The Team

Faced with such an appalling scale of disaster these young people were inspired

by Swami to simply do what they could. They are only a small representation of

the outpouring of Seva that was undertaken by different Sai Groups, Sai Centres

and Sai devotees individually in the aftermath of the Katrina and Rita.

Indeed having made the necessary visits and assessments the same team is

returning to three other rural areas at the time of Swami's Birthday to

continue this 'American Grama Seva'. A medical team visit is being organised as

well.

 

The response has been touching. Seeing the Young Adults spirit of service, the

Pastor of Lee's church (where the distribution was actually carried out) said

with tears in his eyes,

'I cannot believe so many of you have traveled 800 miles to bring along 6,000

lbs. of food supplies, I feel that you have brought Jesus with you, even if you

came with empty hands we would have been thrilled with your Love and

Compassion'.

As mentioned earlier, this is a glimpse of the Seva done by Young Adults, the

full account is in a nicely done power presentation which you can download

here.

There is a lot of inspiring Seva happening, we will bring you more in this

section in the next issue.

Jai Sai Ram!

- Heart2Heart Team.

We would like to thank the Young Adults and as well as the Region President of

North Central Region for sharing this information with us.

(Sharing With Sai Love) Ram.Chugani)Ram ChuganiKobe, Japanrgcjp

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