Author: Subha

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Wish you all a Blessed Gurudev Jayanti!

The encouragement and support that we receive continue to inspire us. The biggest proof is that GreatNonprofits; the leading provider of user reviews about nonprofit organizations, has again named http://greatnonprofits.org/org/cord-usa-1
us a Top-Rated 2014 Nonprofit for the 3rd consecutive year! It is that time again.  Please help us keep our streak alive by getting a 2015 @GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Award. You can help by writing a review of your experience with us at

Our CORD USA-CHYK (Chinmaya Yuva Kendra) West partnership team has been very busy this year.  We have setup an online store where you can purchase various items with all the proceeds going to support CORD USA.  Buy beautiful all-purpose greeting cards and support our cause! All the proceeds from greeting card sales will go to CORD USA! Please see: http://www.chykwest.com/shop/

Here is a note from a satisfied customer, “There is nothing better than receiving a card in the mail. A CORDUSA greeting card is even better because you’re sending a beautiful story, even if you write nothing at all! Because of this, I didn’t think twice about purchasing my CORDUSA greeting cards- It’s a win-win for everyone.  Moreover, actually purchasing the cards was the smoothest process, thanks to the CHYK West Online Shop. It was so simple! The cards are beautiful, unique, and each illustrates a story”. ~Reena P.

CORD USA is excited about their upcoming Summer Service visits for High School students to participate in a service visit to India. This summer, they will be going to CORD Siruvani in Tamil Nadu and CORD Sidhbari in Himachal Pradesh.  We will share their adventures in our next blog.

February 20 was World Day of Social Justice (WDSJ). GlobeMed had two events at Boston College in connection with this. The first was on Wednesday, February 18th. The event was titled “Conversations on Social Justice,” which featured a panel of students sharing their experiences working in areas of social injustice and how their experiences in those areas have shaped their lives. The second event took place on Friday, February 20. On this day, GlobeMed had a table in the lobby of one of the main dining halls at Boston College. They shared facts about themselves, CORD, social justice, the Millennium Development Goals from the UN, sanitation, and India.

Wonderful work by our partners!  On March 24th, GlobeMed BC arranged an Indian Dinner night to raise funds for their upcoming trip.  GROW Internship trips are an essential aspect of our partnership because it ensures the implementation of GlobeMed-CORDUSA projects. GlobeMed interns get an opportunity to explore community development and learn from an established grassroots organization;  this allows us to collaborate face to face, which keeps our partnership strong.

The fundraiser “Penny Wars” for the Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment Program run by CORD USA kicked off on February 28th. It has so far been a success. We will go over the details in our next blog.

Seven volunteers from the University of California, San Diego went to work for a fortnight at CORD Siruvani. The team was led and organized by Parthu Kalva, the CORD USA lead at UCSD.  They, along with the local CORD team worked on 5 specific areas – Environment, Women’s Health, Tobacco & Substance Abuse Awareness, English Education, and Open Drainage. The team visited around 8 schools several times to bring the programs to the children and to the various villages there.

April 3-5, 2015 – Niagara Falls, Ontario,  Acharya Vivek Gupta lead “Spotlight for Siruvani”, a fundraiser camp to raise funds for CORD Siruvani.  He has been leading awareness and fundraising programs for CORD Siruvani for the last 4 years.

In 2012 The Chinmaya Inspiration I Yatris raised $15,000

In 2014 The Chinmaya Inspiration II Yatris raised $20,000

In 2015 The Chinmaya Inspiration III Yatris raised $25,000, all for CORD Siruvani for their new facility.  Thank you, Vivekji and his team!

Will bake for CORD!  Sanjana, a middle schooler, who owns “Frosted World” and bakes cakes
tirelessly to earn funds for CORD, raised $2,670 for the year, which is about 175% of her target of $1500, and she still has a few months left! She is displaying her 3-tier peacock cake here… We are very proud of you Sanjana!

CORD USA-Portland volunteers were hard at work on April 11th at the Oregon Food Bank. They worked there in 2 shifts. A total of 75 volunteers bagged 6104 pounds of frozen Squash. That is 5086 meals!!  Thanks for your interest in volunteering at OFB!  Volunteers improve people’s lives, bringing joy and hope to countless families and individuals who experience hunger. At OFB, volunteers from all walks of life come together to have fun and help build a better community. It’s inspiring!

CORD USA Minneapolis is having their Annual CORD Walk at Chinmaya Mission Chaska on May 10.  They are providing free lunch and T-shirts after the walk to celebrate Gurudev’s Birth centenary year. The walk is from 11:30 A.M – 1 P.M on a regular Balavihar day. If you are in that area, please participate and support it!

Chinmayaranyam is an experience by itself.  Inspired by Swami Chinmayananda, the volunteers and staff work in a very impoverished area feeding, educating and providing services that support very disadvantaged sections of society for the last 3 decades.  You can support this cause in many ways.  Please reach out to me if you would like to learn more about these programs.

Let me give you a number of sponsorship options for the program at Chinmayaranyam, in Andhra Praddesh.

1 – Satya Kama Mandir – A residence facility for poor children who are provided food, shelter and clothing; along with free education. (Maintenance in the hostel)

• Poor children home maintenance fund – about $ 250 supports a week.
• Support one child completely for 10 years -$5500.

2 – Free Schooling at Hari Har Vidyalaya.

• Free education fund – $200.
• Support one child’s entire education for 10 years-$3000

3 – Annadanam at Ashram (lunch) – $100 for a day. This is for children as well as adults; particularly elderly people from the surrounding area. For many of the older people they often go there to eat their only meal of the day.

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As 2014 has come and gone we wanted to share with you all that transpired with CORDUSA last year. In the year 2014, the children across Chinmaya Mission Centers in North America  conducted 14 CORD USA Fundraisers and raised $124,000!  There are 4 active University chapters of CORD USA interacting with different CORD centers.  A number of children went above and beyond this; offering their own graduation, collections, Arangetram and artistic performance gifts to support our cause. You can get more detailed information about these events through our website

and Facebook page.

The GreatNonprofits, the leading provider of user reviews about nonprofit organizations announced that CORD USA, Inc. has been honored with a prestigious 2014 Top-Rated award.  We are proud to receive this award for the top-rated non-profit award third consecutive year!

To see the impact of CORDUSA’s efforts manifested in work at the various CORD centers across India and Sri Lanka, please see the funds distribution page.  Our programs and activities have been inspired and formulated based on dynamic and vibrant interactions with thousands of villagers as well as our local programs in the USA giving than “a hand up, not a handout”.

Administratively, we have kept any costs under strict control with 0% overhead in running CORDUSA. The money that all of you raise will go to the needy in its entirety. We are very appreciative of the centers that continue to raise awareness and funds and invite you to join to support a great cause.

Since the inception of CORDUSA, we have sent many groups of high school students for service visits to our CORD facilities in India. They stay and work at these centers, and return from their trips inspired by CORD’s work in action. With the core values CORD has permanently etched in their hearts, they are inspired to become our next generation of ambassadors who will continue to raise the hopes and funds for the recipients.

We just completed our Winter service visits to CORD Deuladiha (Odisha) and CORD Tamaraipakkam (Tamil Nadu).  Here is an excerpt from the chaperones who took the students:

“During the service visit the students were able to see first hand what CORD does in India. Before their visit, they had an abstract idea of CORD through fundraisers and presentations. Through this visit, they were able to witness the tremendous work done by CORD at the grassroots level. Their love and friendship knew no language barrier and despite not knowing the local language, all the kids 
were filled with joy.

Most students saw what it meant to live without minimal comforts and great opportunities that we take for granted. However, they also saw how the same happiness is found amidst very meager circumstances that they see in much more prosperous surroundings. They came back with excitement about meeting children, adolescents, women as well as farmers hard at work.

It was exciting for the volunteers to see the impact of their activities. Some impacts was immediately evident upon completing the physical tasks like the village clean up, pit digging, toilet construction, etc,. Our kids also were excited that they were able to pass on awareness of cleanliness, education, hygiene, self-empowerment, and career choices. They found this less tangible impact equally inspiring. They were also filled with gratitude and recognized that they gained more than they gave and learned more than they taught during this visit.

They came away with memories for a lifetime and many friendships that will last a lifetime too!”

CORD USA is happy to bring you opportunity to work in two very dynamic Centers this upcoming Summer: CORD Sidhbari, in Himachal Pradesh and CORD Siruvani in Tamil Nadu. The Sidhbari service visit is scheduled from July 5th to July 18th, 2015. The Siruvani visit is scheduled from July
12th to July 25th, 2015.  Stay tuned for the online application!

The service visits are fueled by enthusiastic students and adult chaperones. We are eager to work with committed adult chaperones who are interested in guiding our bright youth whom they can lead by example. Any adult personifying the Chinmaya Mission values and willing to guide the Chinmaya students in those values is heartily welcomed to apply. The chaperone does not need to be the parent of a current student volunteer.

These service visits are extraordinary opportunities to serve others and experience the joy of service.  We are looking for volunteers, students and chaperones; who value  these objectives and will enthusiastically engage in all related  service activities without reservations.

Online applications will be open very soon at http://www.cordusa.org
Once the application is submitted, one of the service visit coordinators with be in touch with you to guide you through the screening and evaluation process.  Watch out for announcements coming out in the next weeks!

Big thanks to Teji Kanakamedala and Kapil Varma for their help with this newsletter!

As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, I am just an email away…

Subha Varma Pathial
CORDUSA Inc.
Tax ID – 27-0540459
Toll free number: (866) 580-5508
Fax: (866) 580-5508
http://www.cordusa.org
http://www.facebook.com/cordusa
https://www.cordusa.org/
http://twitter.com/#!/cordusa

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Service Visit applications are pouring in!  If you haven’t already, you might want to look online to see if you are eligible.  You might meet the two children pictured here, I met them at Deuladiha last May.

GlobeMed Boston College (BC) partners led a panel at MIT during the Grassroots Initiatives for Global Health Summit on February 8th. In the panel, the four students discussed the importance of partnership; the upcoming GROW Internship, and shared some of the amazing projects of CORD Siruvani. Other leaders in global health were present and collaborated with the GROW team on the topics of cultural awareness and sanitation advancements.  In March our Globemed-BC partners finished selling t-shirts for the Boston Marathon and made $3,294!! Congratulations Maggie and her team!

CORDUSA-Miami held their 2014 “Walk for CORD” fundraiser on February 16th at Miami’s Metro Zoo with nearly 200 attendees. Everyone loved their CORD T-shirts. Miami CHYKS (youth groups) facilitated the registration. While leading their group of walkers color coded by beads through the zoo, they were giving them fun facts along the way and quizzed them at the end. It was a unique and exciting experience for all.TV Asia reported on the event. They raised close to $4.5K from this event so far, and are still counting. Congratulations to Sunita Nandwani and her team!

On March 20th CORDUSA launched AmazonSmile campaign. Shop at AmazonSmile and Amazon will donate an extra $5 to CORDUSA. Click on this link to get started:http://smile.amazon.com/ch/27-0540459

PLEASE SHARE and bring money to CORDUSA, your favorite Charity!

Chinmaya Dhara in Niagara Falls held a fundraiser camp “Stepsto Siruvani” from March 21st to 23rd to raise funds for CORD Siruvani’s new center. This was spearheaded by Acharya Vivek Gupta and some young adults (Ages 18-35) across the country. The camp was priced at just $51 with a request for participants to raise a minimum of $201 per person.

CORDUSA-University of California, San Diego (UCSD) is one of the University Chapters of CORD USA. They primarily focus their efforts on CORD Siruvani, and are planning their second visit in September. Here is the link to their blog.

Another University Chapter, CORDUSA -American University (AU) needs your help to take five members on a 1.5-month service trip to CORDUSA’s project site in Tamaraipakkam, Tamil Nadu. They have a May 15thdeadline to raise funds. All are International Development majors at AU and members of the AU Chapter of CORDUSA. See the link for more details.

CORD Deuladiha fuels farming techniques! Under theRastriya Krushi Vikas Yojan (RKVY) scheme, 29 farmers have received subsidized farming materials, including fertilizer, seeds, and pesticides. Additionally, the Chinmaya Divyajoti Farmers’ Club of the Sarei village has begun ground nut cultivation training under the direction of CORD. The implementation of the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Line Transplantation (LT) in farming communities has yielded 50 additional hectares of land for paddy cultivation relative to the previous year, and crop-cutting demonstrations have been realized by farmers’ clubs in various regions. Read more…

CORD Lathikata goes green! Farmers are engaging in a program called Swabalambi Krishi that promotes sustainable and environmentally friendly methods of crop cultivation through the use of readily available technologies and natural resources. CORD has recently implemented six organic farming awareness programs, which have benefited hundreds of people. The use of such resources as bio-fertilizer and vermin compost is becoming more prevalent in Indian farms. Not only do such organic methods reduce chemical contamination and illness in plants, animals, and individuals, but they also eliminate the cost of investment in artificial pesticides and fertilizer.  Read more…

CORD Sidhbari goes international.  Twenty-seven students and two professors from Kelly School of Business (KSB), Indiana University visited CORD Training Centre Sidhbari under its Globase India program. The students worked on five different projects i.e. Rural Careers (Farm Sector), Vermin-Compost promotion (Farm Sector), Talent Acquisition, Impact study on CORD’s Social Justice Program and CORD Community Marketing strategies. They conducted in depth research, teleconferences/Skype calls and documentation with recommendations for past four months before their actual site visit from March 10th to March 15th 2014. This has greatly helped CORD Sidhbari in the scaling of different programs.  Read more…

CORD Siruvani brings awareness to mental health.Thennamanallar Vennila Mahila Mandal conducted a theme based awareness program in October 2013. Around 500 women participated in the program that was held at Rajalakshmi Kalyana Mandapam. Various topics were presented including self-defense, preservation of the environment and global warning. The program was a grand success.  Read more…

CORD Thamaraipakkam empowers the differently abled. Two major events were held at Athupakkam in connection with community-based rehabilitation for people living with disabilities. On Gandhi Jayanthi Day, 20 people living with disabilities received valuable equipment to make their life easier and more meaningful. They received donated items such as custom-made footwear and crutches.  Read more…

You remember our BREP (Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment Program) call to action, “Penny Wars!”.  It was coordinated by a set of enthusiastic CHYKs.  I have the following report from Padma Mana about this program –

‘’The Penny Wars was initially envisioned at the Youth Empowerment Program in Piercy, CA in the summer of 2013. The culmination of 31 eager students, 4 compassionate residential acharyas andGurudev’s grace, brought out many sparks of creativity in terms of service projects and fundraisers for Chinmaya Mission West. The Penny Wars was one such idea which came about to support CORD USA.

The framework of the initiative was simple; it would be a competitive fundraiser implemented at Balavihar sessions across the continent. Students would compete with students from other classes for raising the most money, mostly in the form of change. CHYKs would facilitate the fundraiser with the help of their boards in order to help the movement gain momentum and provide a contagious excitement for the cause.

For the program’s first roll-out this year, 5 centers across the US were able to implement it successfully. Several other CM West centers also responded positively about hosting the initiative next year. Nevertheless, between Ann Arbor, Austin, Bentonville, Dallas, and Portland, a total of $8,556 was raised! All the proceeds will go towards the Bhutanese Refugee Outreach Program (BREP), an initiative of CORD USA.

BREP by CORD USA is an effort to help Bhutanese refugee communities maintain their heritage while integrating into their new surroundings in the US and Canada, after fleeing political turmoil in their homeland of Southern Bhutan. BREP efforts with adults include addressing issues like health, education, awareness, and financial independence. Efforts with children include cultural integration through Balavihar, helping with school work & college entrance exams. Overall, CORD USA hopes to better understand the issues and needs of each community and empower them thereafter.

CHYK involvement was pivotal in the operation of the Penny Wars for BREP. CHYKs from each of the centers organized the logistics, publicity, and finances at their respective center. They served by communicating with the board and the Mission family about the fundraiser, making announcements at Balavihar sessions and raising awareness in other ways. They were responsible for the collection jars of each class, and encouraged healthy competition among the children in order to raise as much as possible towards the good cause.

They also found themselves in the midst of the enthusiasm at their centers. Juhi Amodwala, an Austin CHYK, mentioned that “All the classes got pretty excited especially because the class that raised the most money would get a pizza party. There was an overwhelming response from especially the younger classes that got competitive. The fundraiser was a great way to get the message about the Bhutanese community to mission members, while involving students in a fun activity!”

The fundraiser not only excited the children and involved the CHYKs, but spread awareness to parents and adults. In Ann Arbor, Shubhum Siddhar said that,

“The kids were enthusiastic, but the adults were also engaged once they learned about these efforts.”

It is thus no surprise that Sridhar Karra, a CHYK of Dallas, felt the strength of the strong ties of the Mission family- “It was great to see them come together to help the Bhutanese community here. Healthy competition and an innovative method of raising funds made for a memorable and effective fundraiser.”

Another fruit of Gurudev’s grace through this fundraiser was the cross-cultural awareness brought about by the initiative. Kapil Varma, 13-year-old student of Portland Balavihar, organized for the local Bhutanese representative to speak on BREP to the other students. Everyone learned more about the Bhutanese refugees, and Balavihar students were especially keen to help.

At CM Bentonville, the initiative added to the fuel of the year. After several CHYKs attended their first CHYK camp and then hosted the CHYK West Regional Planning Conference, the fundraiser provided even more momentum to the high standards of the year. Balavihar students were very pumped for the fundraiser and are excited to compete again next year.

As all five centers expressed, the Penny Wars was a successfully run fundraiser. With momentum building for the coming years, and with Gurudev’s grace, more can be done for the BREP through CORD USA.’’

Big thanks to Paulomi Campbell, Shabana Dipchand,Arista Jhanjee, Samihita Bhat and Kapil Varma for their help with the newsletter!

As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, I am just an email away…

Thank you!

Subha Varma Pathial

CORDUSA Inc.

Tax ID – 27-0540459

Toll free number: (866) 580-5508

Fax: (866) 580-5508

Changing Lives…

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Last December, I traveled to Sri Lanka and spent a few days with Mrs. Gowrie Mahenthiran, CORD Sri Lanka’s Director, and her team. It was an amazing trip! I was able to experience first-hand the kind of work that CORD Sri Lanka was able to do and has been trying to accomplish. You’ll hear more about that later. First, let’s focus on the news around the world.

You all heard about BREP program by CORD USA.  As a result of long standing political turmoil in their homeland, Bhutanese refugees had to take refuge in other countries. CORD USA’s Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment Program is an effort to help Bhutanese communities maintain their heritage and integrate into their new surroundings successfully. Efforts include helping adults with issues like health, education, awareness, and financial independence. Efforts with children include Balavihar, school & college entrance exams. Overall, we hope to understand the issues and needs of each community and empower them thereafter. 

CHYK-CORD USA initiative kicked off a BREP fundraiser called “Penny Wars” in December. I know our Portland Balavihar group is still enthusiastically participating in that program, and our “Penny Wars” lead Kapil was able to make contact with Bhutanese Refugee spokesperson Som Subedi of Portland, and is making arrangements for Som to come and speak to Portland Balavihar.  I am sure all over in other Balavihars across the Americas, there are many excited children doing the same.

The Balavihar children of Chinmaya Mission Vancouver have done something remarkable and unique.

They sang selected Shlokasfrom the Bhagawad Gita and explained the connection to acts of charity, serving and rejoicing in the welfare of others. They raised $370 CAD for BREP (Bhutanese Refugee Empowerment Program).

Congratulations Vancouver Balavihar!

CORD USA started their Globemed Partnership with Boston Collegeat the beginning of this academic year.

Founded by students in 2007, the GlobeMed network engages over 1,500 undergraduates at 50 university-based chapters throughout the U.S. Each chapter is partnered one-to-one with a grassroots health organization in one of 19 countries throughout Africa, Asia, North America, and South America. Fundraising and on-site efforts at each chapter contribute to one or more of six key areas of impact: maternal health, water, sanitation & hygiene, nutrition, income generation, communicable disease prevention, and capacity building. Through their involvement today, Globemed students and partners commit to a life of leadership in global health and social justice.

I have been working with Dr. Meera Krishna (CORD Siruvani Project Director), Sahil Angelo and Maggie Bennett (Co-Presidents of Globemed at Boston College)on specific projects partnering Globemed and CORD Siruvani. I also enjoyed meeting with the Boston College Globemed team.  5 lucky interns have been selected to visit and work at CORD Siruvani this summer. 

Congratulations to Maggie and her team!

CORDUSA-American University, Washington D.C., led by Puja Balachander, is making great progress. CORDUSA-AU received official recognition as a student organization in October! They have already had their first meeting and event. The event was a panel on the topic of rural development in India and youth efficacy in this realm. It was very well attended and included representatives of the Indian Embassy, IREX, and the Association for India’s Development. CORDUSA-AU’s general meeting also generated a lot of interest. In addition CORDUSA-AU participated in an International Awareness week from November 11th-15^th hosted by the American University. I met with CORDUSA enthusiasts over Skype during the event.  We enjoyed the session despite some technical difficulties with Skype.

Congratulations Puja and her team!

CORDUSA – University of California, San Diego is nearing the end of its third quarter at the University of California, San Diego. Three of CORDUSA@UCSD members volunteered at CORD Siruvani from Dec. 16th-Dec. 30th, 2013. Parthu Kalva, who leads this effort at UCSD, is still gathering his notes, so we will publish the details soon in our Facebook page.

In San Diego, CORDUSA@UCSD are currently exploring partnerships with local non-profit organizations in order to further their exposure to local, community-based work. This year, they will seek to obtain funds for their research and projects through fundraising and global health grants, as well through the sponsorship by both private and public bodies throughout the United States.

Congratulations Parthu and his team!

Let us look at CORD news from India and Sri Lanka.

Agriculture flourishes at CORD Tamaraipakkam. Community development workers are receiving training to plant vegetable gardens and are promoting the use of these gardens in Magalir Mandrams (MM) and Self Help Groups (SHG). Smt. Manjula, a member of the Chinmaya Venkateshwara SHG in Velliyur, has created a garden and harvested a good crop of many useful vegetables. Another agricultural initiative was spearheaded by Ms. Amritha Preetham of Anna University, Chennai. At the invitation of CORD, she conducted presentations on a new drip irrigation scheme for Chinmaya Farmers’ Clubs in three villages. As a National Agriculture Development Project of the Government of India, the scheme is fully subsidized, and is expected to increase yields of vegetables and cash crops. Many farmers seem willing and ready to take advantage of the system.

Actions for Awareness! CORD Siruvani supported a theme-based awareness program carried out in Coimbatore by Thennamanallur Vennila Mahila Mandal with the backing of Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK). 500 women, including the members of the 19 Mahila Mandals of CORD Siruvani, participated in the event, as did boys from various Youth Clubs. Speeches were given on as self-defense, environmental preservation, and global warming, and some of the meeting participants put on dancing and singing presentations! Several items made by Self Help Groups were sold, and Chinmaya Mission books were gifted to all program guests.

CORD Kaza is SNAPping away! 20 students of Chinmaya Vijaya were selected for SNAP (Springs New Analytical Program). SNAP teaches the same class syllabus in an analytical way by dividing each topic into three levels – the first level concentrates on the matter of the textbook, the second level gives the extension of the topic and the third level gives importance to the creativity of the students. This makes the students feel very comfortable with the subject and gain extra knowledge. As a result, students are not only limited to pursuing IIT but have their options open to: Medical, Civil Services and other exams.

CORD Sri Lanka opens their eyes. LHCHA (Lanka Health Care Hospitals & Academy) and CORD Sri Lanka held an eye care medical camp for over 100 women and children in Jaffna wherein a team of 11 optometrists conducted several tests on: visual fields, color definition and refraction. About 40 were diagnosed for treatment for their eye defects. “…The result of this camp will bring light in the lives of hundreds of people suffering from eye diseases,” commented an optometrist.

CORD Lathikatacontinues its mission to provide affordable and holistic health care through the Swabalambi Swasthya initiative. Swami Kevalananda is project director of this program, which has treated a total of 390 people thus far. Since the focus is treat the whole individual using holistic treatments, experts from the areas of allopathic medicine, Ayurveda, acupressure, and naturopathy medicine are consulted on a regular basis. Examples of treatments that are used include, yoga, pranayama and medicinal plants. Individuals are also educated on nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation.

CORD Deuladihais all about youth empowerment! During this quarter 13 new Yuvati Samoohs (Adolescent Girls Group) formed in the village of Santeibhanja with a total of 138 members.. Opportunities such as tailor training were provided to the girls not only to develop this skill, but also as a way to generate income. Two new youth clubs also formed with a total of 7 in the surrounding villages. Through these groups, youth are responsible for cleaning their village area and giving back to the village in general.

Now let us get back to my adventures in Sri Lanka.  When I landed at Colombo airport, Gowrieji and

her team was there to receive me, we made our way to Ramboda with a quick lunch in the van.

In Ramboda, we went and visited Chinmaya Mission’s Hanuman temple.  It is a beautiful temple in a scenic area.  From the temple top, you get an astounding view of the Ramboda falls and its surroundings.  I was totally lost in the natural beauty of Sri Lanka and the photographer in me was in total bliss!

After a while, we met with the Self Help Groups (SHG) at Ramboda, and were able to look through their products and give them some suggestions. On our way out, we stopped to visit a few other SHGs and I was very impressed with the bread factory they had with a whole array of breads, with nothing but a brick oven to make it all in!  No timers or temperature controls!

After a night in Ramboda, we went on a 7 hour trip to Jaffna.  The CORD Jaffna office was a small but self-contained place with a small kitchen and the basic living facilities. CORD Jaffna is looking to move this facility into the main highway to get better access to the city and more visibility.

The CORD Jaffna center offers tuition for underprivileged children. There I gave the Jaffna staff a quick training about Skype and how to operate that, as I wanted to get our CHYKs to start helping these children with their English and Math through Skype at some point.

The need for wellness counseling for the war-torn families was immediate and urgent. We visited Shanthiham, an NGO which offers health and wellness counseling and discussed ways CORD Sri Lanka can offer their services to our beneficiaries.

On our way we stopped at Ariyalai Chavakachcheri, visiting their school and the SHGs.  Their homes were shelled down and broken into pieces. They still live in these ramshackle partially destroyed structures, or small make-shift shacks they have cobbled together in the middle of that rubble, as there is nowhere else to go.  Gowrieji and her team has trained some of the SHGs to make liquid hand-soap as it has been a mandate in Sri Lanka for all restaurants to provide that. 

We also stopped by and watched ladies making mats using locally grown long grass called “Sampu” grass.  The mats looked beautiful.

The next day we went on to Killinochi and stopped at the Sri Lankan branch of the German Training Institute.  The officer there was very helpful and explained to us how we can facilitate our beneficiaries to get training from this institute.  CORD Sri Lanka does not have an office in Killinochi, which seemed to be the major stumbling block for getting training help for the beneficiaries.  I gave a personal donation to Gowrieji to start a fund for “Killinochi building” for CORD Sri Lanka.  I was planning to come back to USA and explain the situation to all of our well wishers of CORD USA to start a fundraising specifically for this. 

Little did I know at the time that right after I left, the wonderful Yatris who visited with Swami Ishwaranandaji, from Los Angeles, raised the funds needed for this project in one quick meeting there!  I can’t thank Swamiji and the team enough for this inspired giving.

We then made our way to the school in Paranthan, where major Rehabilitation programs are being carried out. A visit to the CORD sponsored Thambirasapuram Junior School where nearly 100 children are provided with a mid-day nutritious meal, extra after-school tuition classes for English, Math, and Social sciences, Tamil, History and Religion.  The children enthusiastically received us and entertained us with their song and dance.  It was so heart warming to see them laughing and playing.  We inaugurated their new children’s club there and went out to see an SHG working on coconut husk based products by hand.  It was one of the Tsunami hit areas and the salt water damaged all crops there.  Even after 10 years, the damage is still visible!  I was in awe at the sheer power of nature.

I left Sri Lanka with a lot of memories and pictures and with a lot of love and respect for the hard work Gowrieji and her team is doing there.   More photos at http://www.facebook.com/cordusa

I know everyone is eagerly waiting for the announcement of our CORD USA service visits.  We will be announcing it in March.  Service visits will be in December. Stay tuned!

Big thanks to Paulomi Campbell, Shabana Dipchand, Arista Jhanjee and Kapil Varma for their help with the newsletter!

As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, I am just an email away…

Thank you!
Subha Varma Pathial
CORDUSA Inc.
Tax ID – 27-0540459
Toll free number: (866) 580-5508
Fax: (866) 580-5508

Changing Lives…

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