CHICAGO: With 32 chapters in 22 States across USA, the name stands for service- SEWA ( Selfless Efforts for Welfare of All) is now poised to do one better in the coming year by expanding its base and areas of service to the community at large.
Anil Deshpande, Vice President Development SEWA International, said that one of the focal points of activities is to get more and more youth involved so that the organization remains energized all the time. Talking to Indian media here, he said that Yuwa for SEWA is one such project that involves second generation Indians here in community oriented activities.
He mentioned that many a young volunteer had gone abroad including some to India, for SEWA activities under Yuwa for Sewa program. This is on top of ongoing locally beneficial activities like Adopt a Highway, Provide food to local shelters, Meals on Wheels, Community Parks’ Cleanup etc. The youth also helps SEWA International raise funds for its various projects.
Deshpande said that one such project that Chicago chapter along with other chapters in different parts of USA has picked up is to help settle Bhutanese refugees. “Thousands of Bhutanese who had fled to Tibet and are now virtually Stateless are given asylum in many a Western country including USA.
In Chicago alone, there are 3500 Bhutanese refugees who need to get their home and hearth. We are actively involved in assisting them to get settled here and our youth teams are a good help to us,” he said.
Some of the projects that SEWA International was involved and rendered help pertained to education, health, women empowerment, rural and tribal welfare. It was also in the forefront when natural disasters struck in any part of the world. For instance, it raised funds for floods in Pakistan and Bihar, Japanese Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and Haiti earthquake. SEWA has no geographical barriers when picking up a community project. Its volunteers have worked in different countries besides India – Sri Lanka, Kenya, Guyana and of course USA.
Deshpande said that all organizations oriented towards community services need funds for their activities and SEWA International is not an exception. It did successfully organize fund raisers in the past and this year it has one more such event slated for Saturday September 29. It is Shri Krishnay Vyjayanti – a dance ballet in Hindi by Prabhat Kala of India. The program will be at Jain Temple auditorium in Bartlett and will start at 5 pm sharp, Deshpadne added.
He said the Ballet touches upon the life of Lord Krishna right from birth, raising in Gokul to rendering memorable sermon to Arjun on the battlefield of Kurukshtetra. The ballet lasts a little over two hours. It is a big task to depict every aspect of Krishna’s life in the two-hour time frame. Still the group has done an excellent job maintaining a high level of acting and choreography blended with songs in classical tunes sung by famous singers like Vani Jairam and Yesudas and composed by maestro Padmashree Pandit Vijaya Raghav Rao. The ballet presentation by Prabhat Kala group in cities in USA so far has drawn rave reviews from those attending it.
Ramesh Soparawala
India Post News Service
