“Surely, all of us who
know Sarvodaya in the United States can meet and exceed these goals.
Your support means more trained teachers, empowered women and skilled
young adults.”
The Joy of Giving
“Shisir, we need to find some money to support a new girl we have in our
house,”
Mrs. Neetha Ariyaratne said as I greeted her last week. I was curious.
“Who?”
“You know, there is a 12 year old. A few months back her father, mother,
two younger brothers and her grandmother were hacked to death by some
people in a land dispute,” she said. “This girl survived, despite some
major injuries,” Mrs. Ariyaratne added. “After some time in hospital she
is now under our protection. Since she is the only material witness on
the case, the government has provided police officers for her security.
Now that she is recovering well, I wanted to help her attend a good
boarding school, so she can continue her study. I was thinking of the
school where my daughters went.”
But you know, it’s little expensive to send her to a boarding school,”
she added.
Still shocked at the tragic story of the girl, I asked, “How much would
it cost?”
“Maybe around $100 a month.”
“I am sure we could find somebody to help,” I tried to reassure her.
Mrs. Ariyaratne is at the forefront of compassionate care that Sarvodaya
provides to hundreds of children, young adults, people with disabilities
and elders throughout Sri Lanka. Finding support for Ma-Sevana,
Sarvodaya’s home for sexually abused, pregnant girls and teenage
mothers, is only part of her task. For years she has labored to help
hundreds of children who need loving care in 12 Sarvodaya orphanages.
But obviously, she does not do it alone.
Her pay? The smiles and satisfaction one witnesses in Sarvodaya’s
care. Confidence in empowered tsunami survivors or rural villagers who
have found strength in their own abilities to change their lives. That
feeling can be infectious. It is the joy of giving and sharing.
As we celebrate this season of giving, we thank you for your continuing
support of tsunami survivors who have found homes; communities which
have learned to trust their own power, and children who have found
caring homes where they can live, learn and grow.
All of these need continuous help. In addition, Sarvodaya USA is moving
away from project- focused development to supporting holistic
empowerment programs. While projects can be wonderful in their own
right, they can only rarely be pieced together to provide the
infrastructure for continuity. To endure, programs must encompass the
comprehensive needs of village communities based on the spiritual, moral
and cultural foundations that the Sarvodaya Movement emphasizes.
People who are poor and underprivileged require more than a road or a
school; they also need ways and means to be connected to others who are
improving the quality of life of their community.
In 2007, we began our partnership with the Matara district on the south
coast of Sri Lanka. Our support helped Sarvodaya’s district level staff
and volunteers provide invaluable training to villagers in capacity
building. They participated in shramadana work camps to build roads and
pre-schools, improve health services, and help mothers and children
learn leadership skills.
If you could witness those skills in action, you would be impressed!
Like me, you would never forget the sight of 7- and 8-year old children
proposing their group’s strategic plan to an entire village, or the
sound of newly confident women describing the nutrition program they
want to start.
Together, we need to collect $30,000 per year to continue the Matara
effort. Surely, all of us who know Sarvodaya in the United States can
meet and exceed that goal. Your support means more trained teachers,
empowered women and skilled young adults.
As Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne said at a program in Connecticut in October,
“The end goal in all of this does not lie in fed families and
resolved conflicts. It is much more. We have to change the way we think;
transform our consciousness. We have done so much but that’s not enough.
We have to think about the whole world; not just the economic and
developmental situation of a few people."
This process of transformation requires your support. We ask that you
consider sharing what you have and what you can.
May you have wonderful holidays,
Shisir Khanal
Executive Director
P.S. You can make a tax-deductible contribution
through our website now (Click
Here To Donate). Please help us reach
the goal—for the 12 year old girl that Mrs. Ariyaratne wants to send to
a good school, for young mothers, hundreds of children who yearn for a
full life…and village people who work for a better future.
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In Memory of a
Long-Time Friend of Sarvodaya,
Sarvodaya USA Announces the Gordon McCormick Peace Development Fund
Former Sarvodaya USA Board Chairman Gordon McCormick passed away in
early November after a long battle with multiple myeloma. He had
lived with the disease long after he was diagnosed, and counted the
inspiration of Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne and Sarvodaya among the reasons
for his survival.
In honor of Gordon's dedication to global peace, Sarvodaya USA
announces the establishment of the Gordon McCormick Peace
Development Fund.
We
welcome your participation.
Learn how you can support the fund. |
| In Brief |
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Sarvodaya Founder Receives Highest Sri Lankan Honor
Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne,
founder of Sarvodaya Movement, received Sri Lankaabhimanya (Pride of
Sri Lanka), the country’s highest honor.
The Sri
Lankabhimanya honor is the highest civil award conferred upon those
who have rendered exceptionally outstanding and most distinguished
service to the nation.
Read more |
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