Himalayan Progress

Hariharananda Tapovanam (Himalayas)
August 26, 2004

Beloved Friends and Supporters of the Hariharananda Mission,

Om namo narayanaya. God bless you all. I pray this finds you in deep absorption in God's Eternal Joy.

Thanks to all your kind donations, we have been able to get our charitable and educational work off to a beautiful start in the Himalayas. Here is a first report of what we have accomplished so far:

1. Organized mass feeding of poor children in Haridwar and Uttarkashi on several holy days (such as Baba's birthday, for instance)

2. Established the "Hariharananda Nari Kalyana Kendra": a vocational and spiritual training center for poor girls in Haridwar. Open 6 days a week, we teach them sewing, cutting, embroidery, knitting, reading and writing, devotional singing, prayers, as well as provide moral and spiritual lessons. Poor girls in India suffer a particularly cruel fate, as their lack of education and dowry prevent them from getting married, which is a social anathema in this country. Many of these unfortunate girls end up begging on the streets or resort to prostitution in order to survive. By providing them with a basic education, building up their confidence, and training them in marketable skills, we greatly increase their chances of securing a good marriage and a brighter future.
God willing, we plan on opening a second center for girls in another section of Haridwar soon.

3. Continued and expanded the "Hariharananda Bala Vikas Kendras" in the remote Champawat district: those are literacy and spiritual coaching centers for mountain children (boys and girls) age 5-16.

4. Secured a building for our future primary school in Phungar Village. The location is ideal, as it is only 3 kilometers from the town of Champawat, and within walking distance of over a dozen mountain villages.
As we were too late to open in time for the academic year and the building still requires extensive repairs and refurbishing, we offer this year free coaching classes in all academic subjects, as well as moral and spiritual training. We started on Monday July 26 by inviting our neighbors' children to come after their regular school: 5 students came. Word of mouth spread the news like wildfire. By Tuesday we had 11 students. Wednesday 25 came, Thursday 46, and by the end of the first week, over 60 little scholars were attending our daily classes (which we now split in two shifts of 30 students each).

We receive an interesting mix of children: from completely illiterate semi-savage urchins who hardly known the use of soap and water and have never had a decent meal (the father is invariably a near-comatose drunkard), to decently well educated children who can read, write and compute. But all have in a common an amazing passion for learning and a fascination for schools. The poor farmers of the area are very grateful to us and often bring us some vegetables and fruits from their meager resources.

After the end of the monsoon we will start refurbishing and repairing the building, and try to acquire two small plots of land alongside the building and make it into a playground.

5. We are currently opening a spiritual/vocational center for girls in the same building in Phungar Village, modeled after the Haridwar center.

That is all the news for this first report. My heart is overflowing with gratitude and love for you all, as we were able to accomplish so much in so short a time and start bringing our dream into reality thanks to your generous and selfless support. God bless you always and take you to the Highest Joy now and for ever more. As Swami Chidanandaji (the great disciple of Swami Sivananda) said, "Live only to serve. There is no greater fulfillment in life."

Thank you very much. I will give you further news in a couple of months. God bless you all.

Humble,
Swami Sarveshwarananda