Sai tale from Arkansas, USA: Harmony and Health for Poor People

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Sai tale from Arkansas

 

 

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Sai’s Mission in Arkansas, USA: Harmony and Health for Poor People

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serendipity

or any other logical explanations are totally illogical when we look

back and remember the sequence of events, writes Dr. Sunny Anand from

Arkansas referring to Bhagawan’s unseen hand that was operational in

executing a service activity initiated in His name. How often we are

aware and how often we acknowledge the Divine for such simple but

obvious providence from the Greater Heaven that makes our mission

moving. Read on the story of HARMONY, “Healing Arkansas’ Most Needyâ€, a humble ministry of Divine Love for humanity. Read on a narrative from Dr. Dr. Kanwaljeet Singh Anand of the U.S.

Dr.

Kanwaljeet Singh Anand is a doctor of repute from the United States,

Professor of Pediatrics, Anesthesiology, Pharmacology &

Neurobiology. He did his doctoral degree from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial

Medical College, University of Indore, Indore and to a PhD from Jesus

College, University of Oxford, UK. Currently Dr. Ananad is the, Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute Pain

Neurobiology Laboratory.

 

On

Sept. 5, 1957, the city of Little Rock, Arkansas became infamous as an

example of racial violence and intolerance, communal strife and

injustice, economic exploitation and inequality, when widespread riots

erupted after the desegregation of Black and White Americans in

government-funded public schools, in particular the Central High

School. Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to

prevent Black students from enrolling at Central High School, which was

an all-White school, in direct defiance of the 1954 Supreme Court

decision that made segregation in public schools illegal. President

Dwight D. Eisenhower, as the chief law enforcement officer of USA, knew

he had to act boldly. He placed the Arkansas National Guard under

federal control and sent 1,000 U.S. Army paratroopers from the 101st

Airborne Division to assist them in restoring law and order in Little

Rock, Arkansas. Even after the election of President Bill Clinton from

Arkansas in 1992, the city of Little Rock continued to carry the dirty

mark on its reputation – as a center of racism, discrimination, and

bigotry!

But the Divine Grace of our Beloved Swami

has manifested in a unique way to finally erase this black mark from

the beautiful face of this city. Very few people may truly realize the

far-reaching influence of our Beloved Swami’s Love in the lives of

people all over the world. The current sequence of events was set in

motion when Swami directed His instrument, Dato’ Jega Jegathesan to

visit Little Rock in March 2006. In honor of his visit, the Sri Sathya

Sai Baba Center of Little Rock coordinated several local community

groups and organizations to arrange a lecture and panel discussion at

the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, inaugurated by the City

Mayor Jim Dailey. To a hall packed with >400 people, Brother

Jegathesan spoke about the “Role of Religion and Ethnicity in Building

a Caring Community and the Nationâ€, and challenged everyone to join

together in providing free health care to the poor and uninsured

Arkansans.

 

Immediately

after his visit, the Sathya Sai Baba Center invited medical volunteers

from various groups to start working on a plan for providing

free-of-charge medical care. A coordinator of the Arkansas Inter-Faith

Alliance, Rev. Joyce Hardy, introduced this group to another group of

volunteers who were inspired by the Volunteers in Medicine Institute

(VIMI) based in Vermont, USA. Funds provided by the United Methodist

Conference of Arkansas were utilized to cover the travel-related

expenses of hosting a VIMI representative for a series of public forums

on how to start a free clinic. Through the efforts of the Arkansas

Inter-Faith Alliance these groups coalesced and started working

together on this project from April, 2006.

 

On July 25, 2006, Central Arkansas Volunteers in Medicine Clinic (CAVIMC) was incorporated and

decided to conduct its business as “Harmony Health Clinicâ€. This name

is meant to represent the harmony and interconnectedness between a

healthy mind, body, and spirit, as well as the diversity of individuals

who founded the Clinic and those benefiting from its services.

“Harmony†is also an acronym, inspired by Swami, which stands for “Healing Arkansas’ Most Needyâ€.

 

Swami’s Grace was evident from the very beginning of this project.

Whenever any need arose, somehow the people or resources required to

fulfill that need would appear. Serendipity or coincidence or other

“logical†explanations are totally illogical when we look back and

remember the sequence of events. There can be no other explanation but

the constant, direct, moment-to-moment divine interventions that made

this project possible, or made it progress at warp speed. Bureaucratic

delays disappeared!!! Certification of tax-free status from the

Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which normally takes 6-8 months

minimum, was obtained in 6-8 weeks (in June 2007). Somehow,

miraculously, a detailed Business Plan was prepared by July 2007, a

fundraising campaign was completed in September 2007 with 100%

participation from all Board Members, and an interactive website) was

launched in October 2007!!! By November 2007, we had located a site

for the clinic and our proposal was approved unanimously by the Board

Members of the Little Rock Housing Authority (LRHA).

 

When Dato’ Jegathesan returned to Little Rock, he was amazed to see the

progress!! He spoke at an Open House for Volunteers on March 6th that

was inaugurated by Arkansas’ Lt. Gov. Bill Halter and Congressman Dr.

Victor Snyder. After this function, were confident that the clinic

could be opened by early summer, but then Bhagawan showed us who is in

charge. Legal problems struck and the lease for the property was

delayed further and further!! Month after month passed without any

resolution of the legal battles…. Finally, when all the volunteers

gave up and surrendered their efforts to His Grace, everything fell

into place and a rent-free lease for the clinic facility was signed on

July 2nd 2008.

 

Later, in hindsight, we all realize how this delay had been a GREAT

BLESSING in disguise. A hailstorm occurred in May, which revealed

major damage to the roof and multiple water leaks, such that the

Housing Authority was forced to repair the roof at their cost. Another

“accident†occurred when a construction crew was digging behind the

property and damaged the water pipe leading to the office building. At

that time, we discovered that a ½ inch water pipe was adequate for an

office building, but was grossly insufficient for the clinic’s needs.

Again the Housing Authority agreed to replace the entire water supply

with a 1 inch pipe!!! Not even in our dreams could we have thought

about needing a larger pipe for the water supply!!!

 

As soon as Young Adults from the Sai Organization heard about the news

of this clinic, they wanted to come and serve! Despite having a heavy

workload, they would drive to Little Rock from far off places like

Memphis, Nashville (in Tennessee), Huntsville (in Alabama), and other

places to join with the local YA’s and perform this seva of love. These

youth spent their entire weekends working hard from morning till

night…. they were completely immersed in sharing their Love for Swami,

singing bhajans, chanting mantras, cheerfully cooperating and helping

each other, while accomplishing a HUGE amount of work!! Tasks in the

pre-lunch session included cleaning the parking lot from mud and dry

leaves, moving the lawn, killing the weeds, painting lines in the

parking lot, painting the curbside, outer walls of the building and

outside stairs. Two or three people were constantly working to pressure

wash the entire building, outside stairs, metal ceilings of the

entrance, and the 200 ft handicapped ramp. Another team worked inside

the building to strip the wallpaper, masking tape all handle bars and

edges, got rid of all nails, filled the holes with plaster and then

scraped it with fine sand paper. At this stage, all the youth joined in

a spiritual graffiti competition!!

 

They

drew holy symbols and wrote Sai quotations so that when the walls were

painted, these messages would be permanently embedded in the structure

and continue emanating powerful spiritual vibrations. Painting of the

walls was done with two layers of primer and then a final coat of

colored paint, using the Parthi theme colors with light blue, pink,

white and yellow for the outside and inside walls. By the end of each

day, with tired muscles aching with pain, all volunteers shared stories

of Divine Grace, laughed a lot at the antics of our Sai Krishna, or

simply sat back quietly grateful for His Presence in our lives.

 

Miraculous events have continued to happen. Just when we thought that

opening a free-of-cost Pharmacy may be too expensive, the

Attorney-General of Arkansas called us and gave us an unsolicited

cheque of $45,497.20!!! Just when we were thinking about where to get

furniture and equipment for the clinic, a physician who had closed down

her medical practice called and said she wants to donate all her clinic

equipment and furniture!!! Just when we needed to send out a

fundraising email to 2000 potential donors, an IT professional showed

up with a software program written exactly for that purpose!!! The

number of times that our Beloved Swami has come through with His Divine

Intervention JUST AT THE RIGHT TIME cannot be counted. His Presence is

felt by all who come to participate in this activity. At the same

time, a powerful message of Unity goes out into the local community,

because we have Sai devotees working with Baptists, Catholics, Muslims,

Hindus, Sikhs, Jews and other faiths; people speaking English, Spanish,

Hindi, or Chinese – all amalgamated into the language of Love; people

from rich or poor classes, with black, brown, or white skin, with

different professions and disciplines – all working towards One Goal.

 

At this time the facility is almost ready. The Harmony Health Clinic

will offer Primary Medical Care, Dental Care, Pharmacy services,

Diagnostic services, Referral services, and Health Education to all

those who cannot afford health insurance or get it from the

government. We are scheduled to open the clinic on December 4th,

2008. No big fanfare, no inauguration ceremony, no attention-seeking

event is planned; we will just say a brief prayer and open our doors to

start this humble ministry of LOVE. We know that SWAMI will be there

to treat and be treated, to serve and to receive, to cry and to wipe

away the tears, to share and to care in every possible way, because He

is in ALL and He indeed is all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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