Sewa International’s Boston chapter conducted its annual fundraiser at the Littleton High School by way of a maiden dance competition on November 13, 2016. With over 700 attendees, 17 participating dance schools and 40 competitive entries, the 2016 fundraiser was a grand success. A total of $33,500 raised will be used in 2017 for Sewa International’s community service projects.

This dance for Sewa program was organized to promote volunteerism and create an awakening among the masses of people to serve those in need. When the event was initially envisioned, there was a search for a name that truly reflected the ideology of Sewa International. Since this was a dance competition and all the participants were competing with the real goal of raising funds for the needy, Sewa volunteers felt that the real winner was the art of dance. So we decided to name it “Nrityameva Jayatey” said Shiva Ramakrishnan, a volunteer of Sewa International. The event received overwhelming support from the community. The message of Sewa International’s all-year programs and good-cause has started to resonate with the community to the extent that many attendees and participants cancelled other commitments to commit to Sewa’s cause and attended the event.

The program began with a melodious rendition of the invocation mantra. Sewa's youth volunteers Mehul Shrivastava and Devansh Apte welcomed the chief guest Shri Anil Shah, the audience, participating dance schools and the Judges. Shri Anil Shah, Founder and CEO of MRCC Software, spoke about the importance of community service and thanked Sewa volunteers for their efforts to serve the underprivileged. He encouraged the audience to contribute more of their time and resources for community service. The dance competition which was organized based on dancer’s age group and dance forms (Classical, Folk and Bollywood) was then kicked off with the 6-9 year’s age group going first. Group exhibit performances by Kolam Dance Academy and Nidhi Tabla group, dance performances by Devanjali Senthil Garg, Sreeja Puthumana, and Varshini Arumugham invited roaring applause from the audience. Shri Girish Mehta, founder of ICC and member of the national advisory board of Sewa International, distributed prizes to winners of the 6-9 year’s age group. Dancers in the 10-13 year’s age group then mesmerized the audience with their performances. . The emcee for this part of the program was Ms. Shalini Kashayap. Shri Hemal Rathode, founder of Amrit Sabha – an adult day care center in Northborough and advisor in the  Sewa Boston team, while distributing the prizes to the winners of this group talked about how children in that age can make a difference in the community by their activism. Shri Preetesh Shrivastava and Ms. Yogita Miharia, emcees during the final segment of the program, enthralled the audience with their wit, humor and a strong message to get involved with Sewa. On the significance of volunteerism, Shri Preetesh explained how Sewa volunteers symbolize divine’s hands through which the divinity takes care of the needy. The competitions ended with high octane dance performances by the participants in the adult age group. This was followed by a prize distribution ceremony for above 13 years category which was presided by Dr. Java Joshi, founder of the Academy of Creative Arts. While awarding prizes to the winners, Dr. Joshi encouraged them to actively participate in the community service projects.

Sewa volunteer Dr. Sarva Kurella and Yoga Shikshika of Sewa Mrs. Samita Apte gave a presentation on various projects of Sewa such as Feeding the Hungry, Refugee Empowerment, Sponsor A Child, Arogya Mitra, Family services, and Namami Gange.  Along with the dance competition, Sewa also hosted Rangoli and Henna competitions and several people participated in them.

If women’s empowerment had another name, Nrityameva Jayatey would fit the bill rightfully! The panel of 13 judges and 6 advisers included 18 women. The program ended with a vote of thanks by Sewa volunteer Dr. Pramod Pandey who expressed gratitude to every attendee and participant in Nrityameva Jayatey for supporting Sewa’s cause, for without them, Sewa could not have achieved its goal for this fundraiser. Dr. Pandey also mentioned that Sewa Boston will fondly look forward to greeting each one of them in future events and invited them to become active members of the Sewa Boston team.

Pictures of the event are available at: https://photos.google.com

Sewa International is a 501(c)(3) Hindu faith-based nonprofit charity organization. Sewa International in the USA has 38 chapters in 22 states.Sewa is a word in Sanskrit language and translates to service above self - essentially Selfless Efforts for Welfare of All. Sewa International in the USA (started in 2003) is inspired by the international Sewa movement that began in India in 1989. Internationally, the Sewa movement is active in 21 countries

DEEP PRAJWALAN BY CHIEF GUEST MR & MRS REDDY Seen with Dy Consul Mr D V Singh, Mr. Pratap Singh- Sewa

On November 11, 2016, the Atlanta chapter of SEWA USA held its annual fundraising gala banquet at Tadka Banquet Hall in  Alpharetta. The event was attended by about 300 guests. Mr. and Mrs. T R  Reddy, founder and owner of Powerline Inc. of Augusta, graced the event as its chief guests.  Honorable D.V. Singh Deputy Consul of Consulate of India. Atlanta along with many other dignitaries of Atlanta attended the event.

Presidential award for Volunteerism to Youths

The celebrations started with welcome note by Vikas Arora, Atlanta Chapter coordinator and followed by Deep Prajwalan along with our esteemed guests. After an auspicious start to the proceedings, the chief guests shared a few pearls of wisdom about their personal motivations for supporting Sewa and the stellar service it performs. Mr. Pratap Singh Chauhan, President of Sewa Atlanta Chapter, shared his intention of educating 10,000 children by 2020, a very admirable goal which was met with tremendous applause. The importance of imbibing SEWA  bhavana was shared by Mr. Reddy and it struck a chord with everyone in the audience. Honorable D.V. Singh shared with the listeners, his association with numerous events SEWA Atlanta has been conducting ever since he started working with the Indian Consulate in Atlanta.

Sewa Humanitarian of Year Award Presented to Mrs. Sarita & Mr Ankur Rana of Knowledge Momentum

Deepa Luthra and Sai Santosh emceed the event with effervescent wit. After the chief guests shared their words of wisdom, the emcees introduced SEWA interns from SEWA Get Inspired, and SEWA Run events who won the President’s Award for exemplary contribution to society. They were honored with certificates presented to them by Mr. and Mrs. T R  Reddy. After recognizing the interns’ excellent contribution towards SEWA’s activities, Vivek Srivastav was invited to give a presentation on his work for the Bhutanese Empowerment Program. He enthralled the audience with facts and figures on the impressive inroads SEWA has made in the Bhutanese community towards education, health, family services etc.

Sewa Volunteer Vivek Srivastva- Presenting Sewa's accomplishments in 2016

SEWA has always been committed to promote excellence in education amongst the Bhutanese community. Towards this goal, two Bhutanese students, Umesh Mongor and Padam Koirala were presented with scholarships for achieving excellent GPA’s in high school.

Sewa Scholarship to Bhutanese high school Students for Graduating with excellent GPAs

SEWA has recently increased its focus on Family Services for providing a support to victims of domestic abuse. Mr. Yogesh Thapliyal gave an engrossing presentation on the progress SEWA has made in the past year in this area. Another significant program run by SEWA is the Sponsor A Child program where SEWA, with its own network, and with the help of other co-operating institutions helps donors sponsor education, lodging, school and axillary expenses of under privileged children. Sarita Rana and Mayuri Singh delivered an informative presentation on the success SEWA has had in this area in the past year. The conclusion of the presentation was chosen as the appropriate time to honor Ankur Rana and Sarita Rana’s initiative, Knowledge Momentum Inc. Through their organization, Mr. and Mrs. Rana have sponsored the education of 73 girls. Mr. and Mrs. Ankur Rana were presented with Sewa Humanitarian of the Year Award by Atlanta’s philanthropist Dhiru Shah.  Anil Dhamani’s contribution towards sponsoring 100 children for 2017 was recognized and applauded greatly by the audience.

Sewa Volunteer Yogesh Thapliya- Presenation on Family Services

One of the recent SEWA initiatives has been working with grassroots level small and mid-range farmers. Milind Thakre gave an engaging presentation on the progress SEWA has made on that front. This was the last presentation of the evening. Dr. Prasad Garimala, an oncologist and avid supporter of Sewa, gave vote of thanks to all the dignitaries attending the event, and thanked the audience for their contributions towards SEWA’s efforts.

Full house

After Dr. Garimala’s wonderful vote of thanks, the audience was entertained by artistic Indian and Western dances by four different troupes. Dinner was served during the dance performances, and the audience enjoyed scrumptious food while enjoying the tremendous display put on by artists. The dances concluded by 10:00 pm and the floor was thrown open for everyone to enjoy.

Lambert High School Dance Group Lush

The gala dinner was a massive success, far exceeding the expectations of the SEWA volunteers who had worked for many days before the event to ensure its success. SEWA succeeded in raising $78,000. This was largely possible due to generous donations from our sponsors, great and small who showed their big heart. SEWA Atlanta team is excited to continue spreading happiness around the world.

Photography by Viral Kothari

Sept 20, Tuesday - Sewa International announced launch of “Family Services”  program in New England and as part of family services program organized a 20 hour yoga workshop between September 11th and 20th at Amrit Sabha Adult Day Care Center in Northborough. The workshop is designed by S-Vyasa Yoga University in Bengaluru, India based on 30 years of research to help people manage diabetes with yoga using a holistic approach. These kinds of workshops are being conducted all across USA by Sewa International for last few years. Seven persons participated in the workshop.

The workshop included Yoga postures, stretches, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, stress management through Yoga and meditation.  Workshop also included lectures from doctors and specialist on diabetes, stress management, diet. The participants were also asked to monitor their sugar levels throughout the workshop and all of them reported improved results at the end of the workshop.

The concluding ceremony was attended by several Sewa volunteers in the area. Chief guest on the occasion was Mr. Hemal Rathod, owner of Amrit Sabha, who presented certificates to the participants and congratulated them for their achievement.

All the participants were extremely satisfied with the way the program was organized and the results they experienced in such a short period of time. Each participant had a wonderful experience and all of them reported their blood sugar level dropped in the range of 10-40 points in 10 days.  

The program was concluded with Mr. Raju Datla, chapter coordinator, offering vote of thanks. He congratulated the participants for the successful completion of the program and encouraged them to get involved with Sewa’s mission to help humanity in distress. He also thanked Dr. Sarva Uppaluri, Dr. Shubhada Javlekar, Dr. Sapna Sawant, Dr. Nitin Trivedi, and Clinical Dietitian Sneh Jaisingh for their valuable contribution, and Mrs & Mr Rathod for providing the facility Amrit Shaba for the workshop. The Projects coordinator Mrs. Samita Apte, who is a trained yoga therapist, was the instructor of the program. The workshop was extremely successful and the participants are looking forward to keeping up with the practice and come back for a follow up in 4 weeks. Sewa will continue to conduct such workshops throughout Massachusetts in coming months and years. Sewa conducts these workshops free but charges a deposit of $150 which is refunded once participants complete all the sessions. For those who want to know more about Yoga for Diabetes workshop or want to volunteer, please email us at boston@sewausa.org  or contact Samita Apte at 978-399-4837.

Sewa USA is 501 (c) (3) Hindu faith-based non-profit, charitable organizations. All donations are tax-deductible (Tax Id# 20-0638718). Sewa serves humanity regardless of race, religion, color, gender or nationality.

SEWA USA- Chicago, successfully organised their annual fund raising, Dandiya-Garba event, on 9/17/2016. With an attendance of more than 1100 enthusiastic audience, the night was an absolute hit. It took a dedicated effort of more than 40 volunteers to manage and see through this event to its entirity. 

Highlights: 

• 1100+ attendees
• 5 Vendor Booths
• 4 hours of funfilled dancing on Rohit Parikh's Band 
• 6 different variety of snacks offered for purchase 

Congraulations to all the volunteers ..

Sewa USA- Chicago Chapter successfully conducted the 1st Sewa day event on September 12th from 8pm-9.30pm at Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) located in Schaumburg, lL. The event was attended by 43 volunteers (28 adults + 15 youth)

54 boxes containing 11,664 meals which will feed 32 kids for a year was packed by the group. FMSC food is supplied to over 70 countries across the world.

Kudos to the youth volunteers who participated on a week night and an applause to all adult volunteers in carving out some time from their busy schedule.

Sewa International USA conducted a day long  Bhutanese Heritage Camp for high school students of Bhutanese Community in Atlanta on September 10th at Chinmaya Niketan, Norcross, GA. This event was offered for free as a service to the community, this camp was the new initiative planned this year under the Bhutanese Empowerment program of Sewa International in Atlanta and other cities in the US.

 

Dr. Manhar Ji Lighting the lamp and Inaugurating the Program

The purpose of the Bhutanese Heritage Camp was to provide a forum for discussion of some important topics related to Bhutanese and Nepalese culture, history, challenges within the community and also talk about personality development, leadership and instil pride and a sense of identity in the community youths.

Leadership workshop: Discussions on History, Identity, and Culture 

Mayor Edward Ted Terry lively talk about Clarkston town history and diversity in the community

Local government officials, educators, students from Emory and Georgia Tech Enrolled in Law and PhD programs helped with participation and in conducting the sessions. Speakers were invited from various fields and a panel discussion was hosted for kids. 

 

Siddeshwar Ji and Yashwant Ji - Ice Breaker Games

 

Fun and Games organised By Tarun and Abhiram

 Singing & dancing

Local leaders and community members participated in the program. Several high school students’ organized leadership workshop and also participated in Ice breaker games, Singing and dancing. 

Founder of Chinmaya Niketan Dr Raghu Grandige concluded the ceremony

Group Photo

The program was a full day 9am to 5pm program. Initially 44 kids registered for the program but only 22 kids, 19 high school students and 3 college students could attend. Kids from Hindu, Buddhist and Christian faith participated in this program.

 Overall this program presented an excellent opportunity for kids to voice their opinion about Bhutanese culture, challenges in school and families, discussion about identity.

About Sewa

   The mission of Sewa International, a 501(c)(3) Hindu faith-based non-profit charity is to promote selfless service through its chapters in cities and towns across the United States.

To know more about Sewa International, please visit www.sewa-usa.org or find us on Facebook at Sewa International USA- Atlanta and join us in the good work.

This is 4th year for Sewa Chicago GIC  summer internship program. In all 33 High school and collage students participated. Internship was conducted at 3 Chicago suburb locations  i.e. Naperville, Schaumburg and Lake county for a duration of 8 weeks. Each group was headed by a Coach and a college intern as Team Lead.

The project was to conduct research on causes for Diabetes, its alarming increase, conventional treatment, holistic treatment options, understanding Sewa's SDM ( Stop Diabetes Movement ) program and marketing/making presentations to local community groups.

Interns did an awesome job doing research, learning from Doctors whom they invited, did survey on social media, studied SDM program, interacted with past SDM camp participants, made a short video on Dos and Don'ts on prevention and made presentations to local community groups ( from 20 people to 250 people audience !) e.g. Mayor's office, Temples, Church, Senior groups, Fitness centers, Yoga studios, Hospital, cultural organizations...etc. 

 On August 14th we had a concluding day event which was attended by over 110 people. Interns made presentation on  their 8 weeks of learning and shared their experiences. It was an eye opener for the audience to see their innovation in several areas, depth of  research, thinking out of the box and confidence with which they presented. The interns were presented  Sewa certificate.

 We would like to thank tremendous efforts put in by Team Leads ( Avni Patel, Abby Mohan ) and Coaches ( Kruti ji Patel, Mangal ji Nagarkar and Manish ji Joshi ) for guiding their group.

 Link to the photos : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9kX8qzyafz2TU1yLUprOXJ2b0U

We will be happy to share our experience, if any Sewa chapter would like to conduct such an internship. 

Atlanta Celebrated Holi, the  colorful Hindu festival which has people across the world digging their hands deep into heaps of colored powder, smearing friends, family and strangers with it, and filled with fun, music and masti, on Saturday, March 26 2016 at Pinckneyville park Norcross GA where a record number of about 3000 people gathered in-spite of bad weather. 

“Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” The Sewa Team 

Counsul General of India Mr. D V Singh addressing the attendees at SEWA Holi 

Sewa International USA-Atlanta has been organizing this festival at the same park since 2005.  Since last 11 years the gathering grew from 50+ to 3000+ people. Sewa International USA runs on the philosophy of, “Vasudhaiva kumtumbakam” where it is believed that the world is ONE family. Through this festival Sewa bring every culture, every religion, and every faith under one umbrella to celebrate the festival.  This year Sewa partnered with other prominent organizations of Atlanta viz. IFA ,HSS, VHPA, Ekal Vidayala, Siddhi Vinayak Temple, Shiv Mandir, Rajasthan Association of Atlanta, Greater Atlanta Panjabi Society, Shiv Yog, Art of living, Isha, Indian Awareness Foundation, AIM for Seva etc to bring the community to celebrate this vibrant festival together under one roof. 

A record number of about 3000 people attended SEWA Holi 2016 despite of bad weather  

The morning on Saturday, March 26th 2016, was cloudy. While the weather report showed that it would be 65F, it started raining. The volunteers, who were prepping the ground for Holi, were a bit worried as it is an open event and it was a bit cold outside. The event started at 10 am with very few people walking into the park. However, by noon crowd started pouring in.  DJ Yani (Shyam Brahmbhatt) kept the crowd on their toes with old and new hit dance numbers. Dance performances by NetIP, Northview high school dance team and others added energy to the event.  The rain amid the celebration could not stop the enthusiastic crowd from having fun and they kept dancing with more energy. The team of sevikas (ladies volunteers)   prepared delicious home food. “We feel so fortunate to be cooking and serving homemade food to the attendees" said Madhavi Gunasekaran the food coordinator for Sewa Holi for last two years. IFA team successfully managed the parking. All the parking lots were full and additional parking lot across from the park was used for the overflow. IFA team distributed free T shirts to the crowd.  HSS, VHPA volunteers helped with Setup and logistics, Our Dholi Jazz's awesome performance engaged the crowd in an amazing way.  The official photographer for the event Kiran Mudigonda did an awesome job clicking all the colors of this wonderful event that declares the arrival of spring.

Sewa Atlanta President Mr. Pratap Singh welcoming Mr. D V Singh.

The IFA Team handled the parking responsibility very efficiently. Thank you!! 

The Chief Guest of the event was Consular General of India, Mr. DV Singh who graced the event with his daughter and her friends. In his address to the attendees Mr. Singh conveyed best wishes for Holi and said he is so glad to see the community celebrating together in such large number. Mr. Pratap Singh Chauhan, president of Sewa Atlanta Chapter, thanked Mr. DV Singh and said he was so happy to see people enjoying the event.

 

Happy & Colored faces. Sewa Holi 2016 – A family friendly event 

Atlanta youth having lot of fun and masti at Sewa Holi 2016 

The jubilant SEWA Holi 2016 Team after another successful event of the year. There are more to come.

Sewa International thanks all the collaborating organizations and the community for their participation and support in making Holi 2016 a big success and fun filled event. There was a huge following on Facebook, post event, with many mentions of “The largest color festival of Georgia”.

India Awareness Foundation, Sewa International USA and supporting organizations presented the Documentary film of “History of Yoga” and Lecture on “Yoga and Indian Civilization –its continuity and change” by Ramji Om and Dr Deepika Kothari on March 25, 2016 at Chinmaya Niketan, 5511 Williams Rd, Norcross, GA 30093.This event was offered as free service for people to connect with Roots of Yoga and its rich heritage. This event was hosted by IAF and Sewa International in Atlanta and other cities of the US. 

 

 Dhirendra Shah ji addressing the film makers 

Close to 200 people attend the event 

 

 People Registering for DVD’s 

In the present times Yoga has established itself as an effective alternative therapy across the world. Modern Masters are improvising and selling it with different brand names and even patenting them. It has become increasingly difficult to find authentic knowledge about Yoga; therefore it was decided to document the History and Philosophy of Yoga on film media. This is the first ever film in the world on History of Yoga.

 The film HOY starts with Yoga of Patanjali as a unique technique for experiencing the mastery over senses and modifications of the mind. Patanjali is not the inventor of Yoga. The documentary also talks about the origination of yoga.

    History is traced from the times of Harappa civilization. The story moves to explore the elements of Yoga in the times of Vedic, Jain, Buddhist periods and other doctrines. It takes you through the delightful journey of 3000 years of developmental history of Yoga up to the medieval ages.

    Here the HathYogic practitioners show an intense human desire to conquer disease, aging and death through the Hathyogic practices. The film ends in 19th century where modern science acknowledges the potential of yoga in a new light.

    To know more about the documentary film please check the link  

@ http://vishuddhifilms.com/index.html 

 

The Director, Ramji Om and Producer cum co-director Dr Deepika Kothari also took an opportunity to answer questions related to “history of Yoga” film screening and on Yoga and Indian Civilization.

Special thanks to IAF, Chinmaya Niketan, Aim for Seva and VHPA for their additional contribution in facilitating and logistics.

Sewa (pronounced 'say wah') is a word in the Sanskrit language that translates to service above self, or memorably, Selfless Efforts for Welfare of All. The mission of Sewa International, a 501(c)(3) Hindu faith-based non-profit charity is to promote selfless service through its chapters in cities and towns across the United States.

To know more about Sewa International, please visit www.sewa-usa.org or find us on Facebook at Sewa International USA- Atlanta and join us in the good work.

Friendship Village is a continuing care retirement community in Schaumburg, IL. They organized “Easter Egg Hunt & Visit with the Easter Bunny” for residents, associates, children and grandchildren on Saturday, March 19 from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm.

Friendship Village requested SEWA to assist them in accomplishing below activities on time and with perfection:

• Hiding  eggs
  
•  Crafts
  
•  Egg hunt patrol
  
•   Set up
  
•   Clean up
  

Volunteers were requested to reach Friendship Village by noon and stay until event is over and cleanup is done.  Six adults and seven teens volunteered for the event. This was a wonderful experience for everyone specially our kids. Friendship Village representatives were very pleased with the enthusiasm and commitment of our volunteers.

Our group of volunteers helped Friendship Village to peacefully manage crowd of around 150 people