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A nonprofit charitable organization operating in India and the United States |
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Federal Tax ID #: 74-3020693 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt Copyright © 2002-2007 Bhaktivedanta International Charities Inc.
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In our previous newsletter we showed you pictures and a video of the children of Randiya and the weekly food distribution we conduct in that village. For the new year we thought it would be nice to give these children a small gift that they could really relate to, something that would allow them to just be children for a day.
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Randiya is a very poor rural village located around 20 km away from our main Ashram in Orissa. The village consists of people from the adivasi (tribal) community. Around two years ago, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram opened a relief center here and began regular distribution of free meals to more than 300 children of the village. Since that time we have been able to distribute over 44,000 meals to these wonderful children. (Video Inside)
Another village has been added to our food relief program in Orissa. The village of Ugalpur is located around 6 kilometers outside of Bhadrak. Here are a few photos of the children from this village and the recent food distribution. We have also included a three minute video clip at the top of the page.
This month we have begun food distribution in a new village, Bagurai Leprosy Colony, located a few kilometers outside of Bhadrak, in Orissa. As the name implies, most of the children in the village have parents affected by leprosy. This makes it even harder for their families to earn money, and take care of the children properly. We are trying to provide a little help in the form of spiritual food, so that the children can at least receive a few nourishing meals.
The last few months have been a time of increased activity for us. In September, a renewal of monsoon rains led to severe flooding throughout Orissa, leaving more than 1.5 million people homeless in the state. Every year Orissa seems to bear the brunt of monsoon flooding in India, but this year it was even more so, with miles and miles of land submerged under water.
Recently the Bhaktivedanta Ashram opened a new rural relief center in Randiya, approximately 20 km away from our main Ashram in Orissa. With cooperation from the local villagers, a small piece of land was given to us for establishing a permanent relief center in the village. The village consists of people from the very poor adivasi (tribal) community. More than 300 children in the village attend regular programs at the new center.
Last week devotees in California donated a small piece of land in Chennai to be used for a new project, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram Community Center, which will be located in Taramani near the back gate of the Indian Institute of Technology. The community center will contain a 1300 square foot annadana hall on the ground floor where we plan to feed 300 needy children from the Taramani area every day.
Our team of volunteers in Tamil Nadu have been extremely busy over the last few months working tirelessly to help as many people as possible recover following the disaster. Besides feeding thousands of people, we have also distributed over 1,000 blankets to families affected by the disaster. The emergency situation is now slowly returning to normal and we will begin focusing on more long term help for the children affected by this disaster.
In response to the recent tsunami, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram has sent a team of volunteers to Tamil Nadu to carry out relief work to help the victims. Due to the long term effects of this disaster, the Bhaktivedanta Ashram has opened a permanent relief center in Chennai so that relief activities can continue even after the immediate media attention dies down.
This month we have completed a new annadana hall at our Ashram in Bhadrak, Orissa where we are conducting the Nitya Annadana Seva program for daily feeding needy children with spiritual food. Below you can see some of the pictures of the hall from the beginning stages up to completion.
