Author: Subha

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June 2012 CORDUSA News

 

Summer is in full swing and roses are in full bloom here in Portland. What a spectacular sight!  Hope you are all having a great summer so far too.

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This quarter we have a lot to talk about the CORD activities around the world.  I encourage you to read the annual report and quarterly reports by our CORD centers in India and Sri Lanka at http://www.cordusa.org to get the full perspective of the work that is going on.

CORD Sidhbari’smission is to EMPOWER! How is it that as of March 31st, 2012 CORD Sidhabari has spread its area of operation to 531 villages? By strengthening these village communities to be the agents of change through a variety of programs such as the Mahila Mandals. As of March 31st there are over 543 Mahila Mandals in more than 531 villages. Some highlights of the progress made within the Mahila Mandals include women rallying against the opening of an illegal wine shop, as well as a donation of RS.81,700 for various social causes such as marriage, illness treatment, and funerals. Mahila Mandals are also conducting Bala Vihar activities benefiting 3,103 children from ages 6-14.
CORD Siruvani is all about preventative health! Around 4,000 patients have undergone pap smears and blood cholesterol tests, as well as 500 patients completing their Hepatitis B vaccinations. Dental awareness continues to be a strong initiative of CORD Siruvani with more than 400 villages being screened for dental caries, oral cancer, and other problems.
As part of an awareness campaign, CORD Thamaraipakkam organized career guidance workshops for 10th and 11thgraders. Renowned personalities from a variety of fields gave motivating presentations and guidance to the students.  Computer training classes are also offered to a total of 1203 children. A 6-month course is offered on Microsoft Applications and Tally where students are given an exam at the end of the course and successful candidates are given certificates.
CORD Delauhidacreates awareness among young adolescent women.  The Yuvati mandal now has a membership of 128 young women. Through CORD, they are educated about the challenges faced by women at different levels of growth.
CORD Kaza, Chinmaya Vijaya girls orphanage, takes education to the next step.  CORD now engages private tutors who impart special coaching to our children who need to improve their grades in certain subjects.  This will help them clear their exams and be promoted to the next higher class.
CORD Lathikatashowers new growth. The lift irrigation point at Lohadar which has been non-operational for the past two years is now back in action due to CORD Lathikata’s intervention.  Because of this, around 20 acres of land will be brought under irrigation.
Many of you are aware of the recently concluded civil war in Sri Lanka. This has left hundreds of individuals devastated, homeless and often hopeless. The most vulnerable of these are the children, orphans who are innocent victims of this decade’s long conflict.
CORD Sri Lankahas been very active working with these destitute children, bringing emergency relief to the war hit areas. Now we are also actively involved in the rehabilitation and recovery of these innocent children’s lives.
We have an ongoing child sponsorship program which is $360 per year. This covers his/her ALP (Accelerated Learning Programs), providing uniforms and school kits, daily nutritious food including milk, medical check-ups, and vitamin and mineral supplements for the child.  Once a child is matched we will send you the detailed profile of the child and a yearly progress report. We hope that you will be inspired to help. Please contact me and I will be happy to help you.  CORD Sri Lanka is also able to organize fun activities over the weekends and counseling and motivational sessions to the students and their families.
Now let us talk about the happenings in our hemisphere.
CORDUSA Atlanta Chapter did a “Walk for CORD” and raised $5K. Within the past year, in addition to the CORD walk-a-thon, they organized blood donation drives, food drives, and various other community service projects. Encouraged by the enthusiastic support of its member families, CM Atlanta is now planning several exciting community service projects in future under the auspice of CORDUSA.
Hunger can take both a physical and emotional toll on those it inflicts. Beyond the physical effects, food insecurity wears away one’s self worth.  CORDUSA enthusiasts from Los Angeles have started a program called “Brown Bag Brigade” where each Saturday, they get together, make peanut butter sandwiches and pack them in brown bags filled with other foods like bananas, juice, nuts, chips etc and feed the homeless in a park near the ashram in Tustin.  We are also happy to report that Los Angeles Walk for CORD brought in $13.5K this year.
CORDUSA Portland Chapterdid their 6th annual “Walk for CORD” and brought in $13.5K.  This year they offered “CORD Cafe & Spa” services.  The participants had lots of fun enjoying tea, snacks and channa jor garam while waiting for their massage and eyebrow treatments. All proceeds went to CORDUSA.  It was a fun and memorable event.
A new CORDUSA Chapter was established at University of Miami under Ansh Grover’s leadership.
CM Halton Regiondid a very successful CORD Sri Lanka fundraiser. They also visited Jaffna CORD site to discuss possibilities.
The Chicago CORD fundraiser banquet was organized by Chicago CHYKs and it brought in $80K net!  This money is raised specifically for the CORD Sidhbari training center. With its 27-year journey, so far Dr. Kshama Metre has nurtured a comprehensive rural development program in 550 villages of Himachal Pradesh. This work has been replicated since 2003 under the aegis of CORD in other parts of the country beginning with two sites in Odisha, two sites in Tamil Nadu and one orphanage in Andhra Pradesh. We are striving hard to expand this work so it may benefit many people, especially those who are beyond reach and in underserved rural areas of the country.  CORD is also focusing on training a batch of ‘foot-soldiers’ and ‘foot-commanders’ who are willing to serve rural India through this experiential learning program.  To build this center of excellence in experiential learning in holistic rural development, CORD will need to expand its training facility.  This one-time investment in construction of its vision center in Sidhbari, Himachal Pradesh will benefit many more from different walks of life like development professionals, volunteers, interns, government functionaries, NGOs, and program beneficiaries. By transforming such groups into resource people, we will expand the group of people who are willing to serve, learn and contribute in rural India.  The creation of this facility will require approximately $1.2M.
CHYKs from Pittsburghare doing something out of the ordinary. They decided to purchase bags from CORD’s Self Help groups for their CHYK camp!  Check out the picture of the bag on the cover!  If you have such camps coming up, this is a way to create something beautiful and help our Self Help groups. It’s a win-win situation!
The Junior CHYK service visit team is now at Sidhbari. I am sure they will have their exciting stories to report for our next newsletter. For more information about service visits, please visit http://www.cordusa.org/index.php/about-us/68-servicevisits, You can also view a video presentation compiled by participants at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hk5CFAKHqTw.  We usually have at least one service visit for High School students a year.  As these get filled fast, please sign up to receive the newsletters so that you can apply as soon as it is announced and avoid disappointments.
Inspired by the success of our Junior CHYKs service visits, CHYKs are organizing a service visitthis year under the leadership of Apurva Bhatt. They are going to CORD Kaza, Chinmaya Vijaya Orphanage in December and will be teaching the girls basic computer skills and English.  The dates are set on December 23rd to 31st. For more information, please go to http://www.cordusa.org/index.php/about-us/68-servicevisitsor send a mail to Apurva at chyk2012@cordusa.org
Over the last 3 years of its existence, CORDUSA has gotten numerous requests from donors to apply for Matching Grants.  We want to thank all those donors who help us maximize the impact of your donations. Many companies sponsor matching gift programs that contribute to their employees’ philanthropic interests.  Your company may be one of them. If your employer offers such a program, please request a matching gift form from your employer and send it, completed, signed and scanned to subha [at] cordusa.org.
I want to thank my two great helpers in putting together the newsletter, Paulomi Campbell and Shabana Dipchand. They make it fun and productive!
I am very excited about my summer trip to India, where I get to go visit Tamaraipakkam, Siruvani and Sidhbari! I will write about it on my next blog.
As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, I am just an email away…
Have a safe and fun summer…
Subha
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March 2012 CORDUSA News

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After the December newsletter went out, we announced the 2012 Summer Service visit in January.  This summer the children and the parent chaperones are going to CORD Sidhbari to volunteer for 2 weeks.  We were overwhelmed with the enthusiastic responses we received!  The slots got filled well before the deadline and now we are all set with 35 students and 6 parent chaperones for our July service visit.  We wish them a pleasant trip, and will hear about their experiences after they get back in August!  There were some disappointed students and parents who were not able to secure a spot this year.  But we’ll be sure to have another opportunity for them next year!

A new year always brings new challenges. It offers a new start – a determination to change one’s diet, give up a bad habit or take up a difficult new activity! New Year draws a line in the sand, one that many relish for the chance to start afresh.  For us, it is time to look back and assess our progress.
Last year in review. In 2011, various centers did fundraising for CORD USA and brought in $201K!!  This is up from 2010’s number $143K.  We want to recognize the efforts of these centers in bringing awareness and funds for the less fortunate ones.  A big thank you to (numbers rounded off to 100’s):
New Jersey, Philadelphia & Bridgewater – $51,000
Ann Arbor – $40,000
Chicago – $1,700 (Marathon) $20,000 (Empowering through Music)
Los Angeles – $17,800
Boston – $15,000
Minneapolis – $13,200
Portland – $12,500
Miami – $12,000
Columbus – 8,500
Kansas City – $3,600
Austin – $2,900 (Kite festival)
Atlanta – $2,400
Buffalo – $1,000
This has only been possible because of your continuous support and commitment to CORDUSA. Let’s keep it up!  You can review last year’s list and numbers here.
I mentioned in my last newsletter about the “Chinmaya Inspiration Yatra” led by Acharya Vivek Gupta.  One of the places they visited was CORD Siruvani.  Moved by the quiet work that is relentlessly going on there, CHYK Toronto did a one of a kind CHYK Retreat in February, “Starving for Service” conducted by Swamini Sivapriyananda and Acharya Vivek, where participants fasted for 40 hours at Chinmaya Dhara (Niagara Falls, Ontario) as a means of conserving their physical and mental energy and directing this towards greater societal development in the villages of Siruvani in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. They raised $14,000!!  
Service is Vedanta in action, we are continuing to make a difference in the local communities in USA.
Pranji Lodhia, my co-Board of Director at CORDUSA, presented about CORD during the India Development Coalition of America (IDCA) conference at Milipitas.  India West did a write up about the conference and about CORD, please see India West news.

CORD USA Princeton chapter under Chinmaya Vrindavan is partnering with World Cares to help local communities affected by disasters like Hurricane Irene. Lisa Orloff, the founder and Executive Director of the World Cares center did a training seminar on understanding and implementing disaster relief and recovery efforts for CORD USA, Princeton chapter on October 16, 2011. For more information on the World Cares organization, visit www.worldcares.org

CORDUSA DC chapter in Virginia began a monthly drive to help cook and serve food at the homeless shelter in their community. It was priceless to see the smiles on the faces of our children when they engaged in this noble service of spreading warmth and love to those who need it the most. The joys and rewards of Seva are contained in itself and these pictures hold proof of that timeless Truth.  View pictures here.

CORDUSA Princeton Chapter did a winter coat and clothes drive in December.  Items were donated to TASK – Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. 
Learning is a process we do on an everyday basis, one way to feel it is by experiencing. Chinmaya Bala Vihar, Little Rock, AR, collected food and other items and donated them to the Arkansas Food bank.

CORDUSA Portland chapter, collected food, worked as volunteers for more than 150 hours as well as donated $1000 to the Oregon Food Bank. The Food Bank describes that with its purchasing power, it is able to get the equivalent of $ 8 of food for every $1 that is donated.
Did you know that Los Angeles Downtown has the most homeless people in US?  Los Angeles Chinmaya Bala Vihar did homeless feeding and a Christmas toy drive to put their Bala Vihar teachings into action.  Children took the initiative of making a difference in a child’s life during the holiday season by collecting a toy from every child in their Bala Vihar and donating it to the Fire Station, which in turn will be given to the needy children, who cannot afford a toy.
Now let us touch on the news from our CORD centers in India and Sri Lanka –

CORD Deuladiha extends its arms even further. During the last quarter, CORD Deuladiha has set up four new Mahila Mandals which increased the membership base from 856 households to 935 households, four new Self-Help groups and two new Yuvati Mandals! Way to go!  Read more…

CORD Kaza brings home the gold! In the last quarter, the children were encouraged to participate in an Inter School Sports Competition where all the gold medals were won by the children of Chinmaya Vijaya in Long Jump, High Jump, 100M and 400M running competitions!  Read more….

CORD Lathikata inaugurates a new building! A building comprising of a dining hall, five residential rooms and a kitchen was inaugurated on October 5, 2011 with a paduka pooja of Pujya Gurudev. Swami Kevalananda presided over this auspicious occasion and blessed CORD Lathikata with continued dedication in its mission to serve the tribal people of the area.  Read more….

CORD Siruvani promotes preventive medicine. Over 1,000 patients between October through December were given Hepatitis B vaccination, pap smears, as well as information on life-style modifications for high cholesterol and other preventable diseases. Special eye camps in collaboration with the Eye Foundation and Sankara Eye Center treated over 250 patients, with some receiving cataract surgeries as well as other interventions. Dental screenings and treatment camps continue to provide excellent care to the patients. Read more….

CORD Thamaraipakkam visits CORD Siruvani! During the visit, members of CORD Thamaraipakkam met with several members of CORD Siruvani to learn about their procedures and activities. CORD Thamaraipakkam met with the Farmers’ Club and discussed about forming cluster groups such as: paddy groups, sugarcane groups etc, in order to share agricultural knowledge amongst farmers.  Read more….

CORD Sri Lanka takes education to the next level. They facilitated a two-day workshop conducted by Swami Ramakrishnananda and Brahmacharini Mahima Chaitanya with a participation of 605 teachers! The emphasis of this workshop was the Chinmaya Vision Program (CVP) which focuses on four key areas of child development: physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual. Read more….
I was in India in January and I collected some interesting tidbits during my visit which I want to share with you all…

I was in Hyderabad, I had the good fortune to see some handicraft work done by rural women under Hyderabad Chinmaya Seva Trust, which got my attention.  Exploring further, I came across the tireless work that is being done by Brahmacharini Sulabha Chaitanya, quietly empowering the local women through threads and needles.  Please read more here.

In order to help with the livelihood opportunities for young girls from rural Andhra Pradesh, “Chinmaya Swasti” is offering a Special Health Care Assistants training program where the trainees will be able to attend to the needs of elderly, the sick, physically challenged people apart from post-operative and neonatal requirements. The training is for three months including practical training of two months in a recognized hospital. To find out the ways you can help, please see here.
Big thanks to Paulomi Campbell and Shabana Dipchand 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
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December 2011 CORDUSA News

Hope you are all having a great time decorating your home to bring holiday cheer!

We, at CORDUSA also did some holiday decorations. We redesigned our web site! Please check out the new design at  http://www.cordusa.org.

CORDUSA New website

In fact, I started redesigning the site as a distraction, to get my mind away from some disturbing news. I thought dipping my hands deep into mindless technology would be the easiest way to keep it occupied. However, as the design evolved I was able to keep my mind positive and was very thankful that I was able to turn my worries and anxieties into something creative. Please do visit the website and let me know how I can make it better.

Let us start our information blog with our activities during October – December in USA.


 This quarter, there were 5 walkathons conducted, raising a total sum of over $80K! Thanks to our Tri State (New Jersey, Philadelphia & Bridgewater), Columbus, Buffalo, Boston & Minneapolis centers! Keep up the wonderful work! Click on the links above to   see the pictures.

What is the true spirit of giving? How can service to the community transform our lives as well as others?  Austin based CHYKs (Chinmaya Yuva Kendra) learned this valuable lesson during their camp on October 1st. As part of their Seva, they cleaned up the Montopolis Greenbelt as part of   their camp. Please check out the pictures and see how much fun they had!

CORDUSA, Princeton Chapter did a school supplies drive for the Auten Road Intermediate School, NJ in September. “Your example of caring and sharing will hopefully promote a spirit of community cohesiveness and responsibility in the many students you have helped,” wrote the social worker who received the supplies on behalf of the school.

Princeton also went through “WorldCares”  http://www.worldcares.org/ training and started working with them on the Hurricane Irene relief work.

A few high school students at Minneapolis started the project of making fleece blankets to sell at the Chinmaya Mission Minneapolis Diwali Mela, and they wanted the sales proceeds to be donated to CORDUSA! What a wonderful way to contribute! Those super soft, extra warm blankets sold out in no time!

Our Washington DC Chapter did an “Operation Gratitude” run during Halloween. Children shared their Halloween bounty with U.S military soldiers overseas, thereby expressing gratitude for their service. These acts of caring help us instill in our children the values of giving and sharing.

As for our upcoming adventures…


 We will have our annual service visit in June 2012. This is an opportunity for high school students enrolled in the Chinmaya Bala Vihars to travel to India and volunteer their time serving the under-served. Next year’s visit will be to CORD Sidhbari. More information will be available soon. Stay tuned!

As we speak, Acharya Vivek Gupta of Niagara Falls is getting ready to lead a group of CHYKs on a Yatra, and part of their trip will take them to CORD Siruvani. We are very eager to hear more about their visit and certainly will keep you posted as well!

Thank you Shabana again for helping me pull the following information together…

News from CORD INDIA & CORD SRI LANKA


CORD Thamaraipakkam trains to gain. They conducted a 21 day ‘Basic skill Training on jute bags and other fancy Jute articles’ for self help group members and young women from nearby villages. Next time you visit India, instead of buying designer bags, why not support their cause and go eco-friendly? We’ll be helping a lot of families this way. Think about it. >>Read the full report

CORD Siruvani promotes healthy teeth. More than 400 villagers were screened for dental caries, oral cancer and other problems. The villagers were also explained the effects of tobacco chewing and smoking. They were given packs of toothpaste, toothbrush and mouthwash and shown the correct method of brushing teeth. >>Read the full report

CORD Sidhbari continues to grow! They have identified 770 Village Volunteer Resource Persons (VVRP) on different issues pertaining to sanitation, domestic violence, female feticide, HIV/AIDS, adolescent girls, Bal
Vihar, single women and disabilities in 28 selected Panchayats. They are continuously working on training VVRPs in order to better serve the community. >>Read the full report

Ever wonder where our rice comes from? CORD Deuladiha is working on training farmers and rice growers to be more efficient in producing rice to guard them from scarcity during drought season. >>Read the full report

CORD Lathikata goes green! They recently held a “Vana Mahotshav” celebration where they planted more than three hundred seedlings in school premises! They also conducted a quiz for 100 school children along with an awareness program on the importance of the forest and its protection. >>Read the full report

CORD Kaza improves the standard of education for children. While CORD Kaza (Chinmaya Vijaya Orphanage) continues to provide all the basic necessities and training for the children, they are now sending the children off campus for formal schooling. >>Read the full report

The former President of India, Hon. Abdul Kalam, sponsored   a lunch for all the children at Chinmaya Vijaya on the occasion of his birthday.

After the Tsunami in Sri Lanka, women have been widowed or displaced from their homes. CORD Sri Lanka helps such women get back on their feet by actively facilitating self-help groups and by implementing a program with the bank of Ceylon whereby the women can have access to loans. >>Read the full report

Let us continue spreading holiday cheer….


Sree Sankara Balashramam, an orphanage in Kerala state, was started in 1978 by His Holiness, Kanchi Kamakodi Peethadipathi, Jayendra Saraswati Swamikal. In 1988, during a visit of Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda in Trivandrum for Jnaana yagna, he had a chance to visit the Balashramam. At that time the working condition of the Ashram was not optimal. Observing this, Gurudev’s heart melted and he took necessary actions to resuscitate the noble vision. This was followed by the handing over of Sree Sankara Balashramam to Chinmaya Mission, Trivandrum. We bring you a few pictures from the Balashramam.

Let us introduce you to, Varun, an eight year old, with aortic valve stenosis (narrowing of the Aortic valve in the heart). His parents are very poor and he has just undergone Balloon Valvuloplasty with the help of Rs. 50,000 that CORD Siruvani managed to get as donations. They require funds up to Rs.10,000 for his regular hospital visits, reviews and medications at concessional rates in Kuppuswamy Naidu Hospital.

Also, please meet Naseera Begum, an 11 year old girl from Assam, and now resides in Thennamanallur, the village where CORD Siruvani operates from. Naseera has a very aggressive, malignant bone cancer (osteosarcoma ) in her right leg which requires immediate surgery and chemotherapy to save or prolong her life. The biopsy and MRI have already cost Rs 11,000 at a subsidized rate in New Ganga Hospital which CORD Siruvani managed to raise from donations. Another Rs. 100,000 is needed for chemotherapy followed by surgery.

If you would like to brighten your holidays further, please consider helping these two children. You can make your donations online to CORD Siruvani,  so that these funds will be used for Varun and Naseera.

You always knew that volunteering is the right thing to do, but have you given it enough thought as to why it is key and why volunteering is good for your career? Please see Nicole Williams’s blog, she has very good insight into this matter.

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

Happy Holidays!
Subha

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September 2011 CORDUSA News

Dr. Meera Krishna “The Village Doctor” – The Hindu

Hello there!

There is a lot happening with CORDUSA, and we want to bring it all to you. Here is my first trial through the blog. I would appreciate your feedback on this.

A big thanks to Shabana Dipchand for helping me with it.
Let us start with CORDUSA news from our US of A!

In July, Pujya Guruji sent an update regarding CORDUSA and it was followed by a survey which was sent to all centers.

I am very happy to report the results and suggestions of the survey below.  Certainly, there are several other activities we are doing under our Mission centers and we will continue to work on collecting the information and presenting it to you.

Local humanitarian projects done at the centers (descending order)
Feeding the homeless
Distributing blankets and/or coats in winter
Providing help to elderly
Mentoring/ tutoring children in the community
Helping Bhutanese refugees
Collecting and distributing school supplies
Distributing sandwich bags
Offering professional services
Creating holiday baskets

The fundraising activities for CORD at the centers (descending order)
Walk-for-CORD
Readathon
Cultural Event
Member 90th Birthday gift collection
Annual kite festival

Suggestions
Request for Poster Panels for CORDUSA activity display purposes
Need regular meeting of all the leads across the US centers for CORD USA to share ideas.

We will work on implementing the suggestions and collecting relevant information.  Now, let us take a bird’s eye view of CORDUSA events over the last months…

  • The children in Virginia’s Summer Camp 2011 participated in “Love in Action”, a series of seva activities.  They reached out to the needy through a sandwich drive (June 24th); toiletries drive (July 8th) and a card drive for sick children in Ronald McDonald House in Washington D.C (July 1st).
  • In June, we organized a service visit to Sidhbari, please read about it on our facebook page and on blog!
  • Miami, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Atlanta, Portland and Ann Arbor were in the list of centers that conducted a “Walk for CORD” this year Jan-Sept.  See more on our events page.  We will also send out our progress report at the end of the year.
  • Chinmaya Mission Chicago conducted two fundraisers for CORD.

We are very glad to be part of this movement, everything you do to raise awareness and funds helps the needy

As for what is coming up, October is a very busy month!

  • CM Minneapolis is preparing for their Walk for CORD on October 1st.
  • CHYK Austin is conducting a  seva retreat entitled “The Joy of Service“,  where spirituality joins hands with service on October 1st.
  • Chinmaya Halton is doing a fundraiser  for CORD Sri Lanka on October 1st.

Now, we will look at a few highlights from CORD Centers in India and Sri Lanka.  All quarterly reports are up on our website, on the “News and Events” page.  Here, I can only touch on some of the highlights from some of the CORD centers.  Please see the full report for more information, because there is a lot of great work happening and it is hard to list them all in a blog!

I want to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Meera Krishna whose selfless service was acknowledged by the national newspaper, The Hindu. Please see The Hindu : Life & Style / Metroplus : The village doctor

CORD DEULADIHA is promoting the conservation of medicinal herbs: Rauwolfia Serpetina which is popularly known as Pagal ki Dawa has been disappearing from the forests due to excessive exploitation. These herbs are especially helpful in the treatment of blood pressure, stress and  hypertension. CORD Deuladiha is working on getting local farmers trained in planting these herbs to conserve them for our future.

CORD Deuladiha’s empowering of women continues:  A new Mahila Mandal with forty tribal women was formed in the village of Tamanga. CORD Deuladiha now has 23 Mahila Mandals which brings it to 868 members.

As a result of their self-help-group, watermelon brings additional Rs. 48 lakhs to villages.  The cultivation of watermelon took a giant leap this summer! The watermelons were transported to and sold in distant places, yielding at least Rs. 48 lakhs  benefiting around 200 households.

CORD KAZA blossoms young minds. Aside from studying the regular curriculum, Chinmaya Vijaya children are also celebrating festivals such as: Guru Purnima, Independence Day, Krishna Janmashtami and many more. This is indeed a great way to keep our culture and tradition alive!

CORD LATHIKATA is getting Tech Savvy:  The 4th batch of the Computer Literacy Program kicks off once again! Eighteen youths from Lathikata and a nearby village have been admitted to a three month’s computer course which will be conducted by a software professional for three hours daily, five days a week.

They also did a Special  TREEt for Guruji’s birthday:  CORD distributed varieties of Neem, Karanja, Guava, Papaya, Lemon, Ashoka, Amla etc.  for plantation in the orchards of the villagers in Lohadar & Budhikudar. Simultaneously, they also conducted an awareness program emphasizing on the education of young children, negative effects of alcohol and the process of preparation of herbal medicines.

As part of their work on fighting social injustice, CORD Lathikata organized a signature campaign on April 8, 2011 in support of Anna Hazare’s fast  for the enactment of  the ‘Jan Lokpal Bill’ and staged a one-day Dharana at the main market of Lathikata.
CORD SIDHABARI is booming. As of March 2011, CORD has facilitated 1,547 self-help groups and it doesn’t stop there. CORD Sidhabari is now working with 1,311 self-help groups composed of 17,520 members. Way to go!
They take a strong stride in curing anemia.  CORD Sidhabari arranged for the testing of Hemoglobin levels in 358 girls. Among them 70% were diagnosed with anemia. As a result, they were given iron supplements and were advised on a new diet which includes jaggery, gram and peanuts.
CORD SIRUVANI celebrates World Anti-Tobacco day. On May 31, 2011, CORD Siruvani visited various areas and showed the villagers cds about tobacco cessation. They are also constantly raising awareness on the hazards of tobacco use and options available to stop tobacco.
CORD THAMARAIPAKKAM is encouraging students to wake up! Choosing a career has never been easy especially for youth today. Thanks to CORD Thamaraipakkam’s Vizhithidu workshop which means ‘Wake Up’ in Tamil, seventeen experts in different fields such as law, teaching, armed services and more addressed 150 students guiding and inspiring them on different career opportunities.
To cool off the hot summer, CORD Thamaraipakkam hosted a children’s COOL camp which is a four day non-residential camp for rural children. Around 350 students learned about spirituality and patriotism through interactive sessions, folk arts, games etc.

CORD SRI LANKA is expanding its outreach to provide counseling and carry out visualization sessions among disillusioned men, women and children of Jaffna, Killinochi and Batticaloa to set aside past wounds and re-start their lives.

Around 600 women in various parts of Jaffna and Killinochi were coached to form Self-Help Groups (SHG); the SHGs have now formed Mahalir Mandram (MM) groups. They have been empowered to rebuild their family lives.

These are just glimpses of the news from India and Srilanka CORD centers.  Please get more information and full report from our News and Events page – http://www.cordusa.org/index.php/events-calendar

You will be able to get more updates from our webpage (www.cordusa.org) as well as our facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/cordusa).  As always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, I am just an email away…

Thank you!
Subha