ACT Kolkata – Blanket Distribution on Jan 14th

This gift is only for you

 

Dear friends,        

My heartiest pranaams to all of you reading this sharing, to all the volunteers of ACT, Mohanji, all the Masters, the omnipresent One…        

Dana celebrating in the ACT's way

 

14th of January was a very special day for me – while all my friends in my home country (Serbia) celebrated the New Year, I too was celebrating, but in a much more rewarding way. It was one of those ‘divine coincidences’ that our date of blanket distribution was fixed for exactly that day (the Sonarpur School was shut a day before, when we initially planned to conduct this event).        

Furthermore, while on my way to Sonarpur School (outskirts of Kolkata) I found out from Meenakshi that Jan 14th is the Hindu New Year as well! All of us were so excited realizing that we are starting New Year with such a nice act as ACT KOLKATA’s Blanket Distribution.        

Starting the year with outpour of love!

 

Meenakshi’s mother, who was visiting her from Delhi, joined us as well, along with our enthusiastic volunteers from ITC Sonar – Snigdha, Mr. Haldar & Javed. I must mention that from the day one we have been receiving great support from ITC Sonar. Mr. Sisir Acharya has done a great job with all the procurement issues.        

ACT Kolkata, Jan 14th - the team!

 

From the moment we reached the school everything was happening so smoothly. Kids were already waiting for us and very soon we had all our donations (blankets, notepads and pencil boxes) nicely arranged for the distribution – all the children were sitting in front of us so humble and well behaved.  The age group of children at this school is 5-20 years. They have a church as well where they have children from 1 – 3 years old. The school has 81 children and church has 25 children. In total, there were 106 children to whom we distributed the blankets and basic school stationary.Such poor surrounding and so much of love and care in the air – the reason for that is that school is free of cost for all 106 kids, run by limited funds of Dhankehet Manovikas Kendra, which sponsors books and uniforms for children and salaries for 5 teachers. Out of the total 106 children, 23 are with special needs and 25 crèche children – all were overjoyed with our presence and with the gifts. One of the teachers was deeply touched by our help and told us that the last time school has received ANY help was some 3-4 years back when blankets were donated. They couldn’t express all their happiness and gratitude for having us with them.        

ACT NOW - there are so many hearts to be touched

 

Expressing gratitude in a pure way of a child

 

Before we started our distribution, kids and their teachers have gifted us a nice performance –they sang 2 songs in English for us. It was so lovely. Hearts of all the volunteers melted… After that, each and every child has left signature on a chart paper which we hanged on a wall low enough that even 3-year-old ones could reach it. Little ones who can’t write as yet scrambled something with love (photos will tell this story more vividly). Later on teachers and volunteers signed as well.        

 This is going to be our New Year’s gift to Mohanji and Ammucare. No artist can create an art peace such as this wall of gratitude and love. One of the teachers wrote in her cute beginner’s English: “We are so happy for Ammuchare Charity Trust”. Two others wrote: “Happy New Year”, so overjoyed for having us with them.        

Used as a classroom...

 

 We took a quick round of the school and became speechless.        

 Photo images will tell you all about the classrooms and overall conditions in which these children study. However, nothing stops them from smiling and singing… nothing should stop us from doing the same… Moreover, nothing should stop us from increasing their happiness and helping them as much as we can.        

Thanking once again all the volunteers of ACT Kolkata, I look forward to many more nice initiatives like this one…        

 Love & light,        

Dana       

            Ammu, the mighty spirit force behind Ammucare       

When an angel beams the Light, all hearts rejoice

1 thought on “ACT Kolkata – Blanket Distribution on Jan 14th”

  1. Thank you Dana and the ACT Kolkata team.
    I was overjoyed to read your sharing.It indeed is heartening to see the conditions in which the children of Sonarpur school live and study. Thank you for representing the spirit of Ammu and bringing the touch of Light into their lives.
    At the end of the post, I have added one of the extraordinary photos of Ammu which Mohanji recently brought from India – I was kind of glued to the transcedentally blissful expression in her eyes which is there on all the photos.
    I am also pasting below an excerpt from one of Mohanji’s writings (more about it shall be revealed later…) about Ammu.
    May the intensity with which she radiates the Light be felt in all our ACTs of kindness.
    With love,
    Biba
    “Ammu was born on November 9th 1995 and she left her body on August 23rd 2000. In that short span of time, she touched the hearts of many. The strength and power of a soul can be ascertained when it continues to touch many lives through others, even after the exit from the physical body. Ammu’s life and death had a larger reason, which I slowly started realizing after that tragic day when a truck ran over her 4-year-old body and she left this realm, leaving an unbearable vacuum inside me. […]
    Ammu was an ocean of kindness and love. She loved every being and spread a lot of sun shine wherever she went. Everyone loved her.
    She had a special glow in her eyes, something extraordinary, transcendental and angel-like. Her behavior was often more mature than that of the grown-ups. Her purity, bubblyness and innocence made her extremely charismatic, and her genuine love towards all living beings impressed me deeply.
    I asked myself over and over again, what can I do to spread the same kind of sunshine where ever I go? I understood I am not a child. I have the body of an adult. People may not easily accept me, my thoughts and ideas, or get attracted to me, as much as they probably would get attracted to the innocence of a small child like Ammu. Moreover, I have always been quite introverted, by nature. Time posed a big dilemma, which on one hand reduced the intensity of my sorrow, but, on the other hand, challenged my future. There was a higher purpose to live for.[…]“

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