Inspired by Mohanji, Rowena from the Philippines shares her experiences of some of the service activities she’s carrying out with her team members, bringing love, friendship, and happiness to many children in her community.
By Rowena Conlu, Philippines
Being able to know and meet these little angels allowed me to witness God’s transforming power of love!
Our meditation group found Danica, a 12-year-old girl who is affected by cerebral palsy and meningitis, living in the coastal area of Cogon. She is the third in a family of eight children. Her mother died of a heart ailment in 2017. The father is a fisherman. When the group found her, she was skin and bones, dying of malnutrition. Darry, the father was lost in despair because of the death of his wife. Immediately, the group supported her family with food supplies for three of the younger children. Danica was on a liquid diet, so we got her a blender. Being a widow myself, I felt in my heart the hardship a single parent goes through, mentally and emotionally. I also connected Danica to a doctor friend who kindly committed to checking up on her every week, and supplied her with vitamins as well. We also supported the father by giving him work in our hotel as a groundsman.
I was new to the Mohanji family at the time I met Danica, and I was doing some seva activities in a few places where possible. In 2019, I also started a kids/teen yoga and meditation programme. It was my dream to share this consciousness to the kids, for them to have a better life in the future. So being in contact with Danica’s family, I asked Darlyn her younger sister, to ask her friends if they would like to learn yoga.
This became the first group of Mohanji teens/kids. Danica’s siblings and some of her friends joined the yoga sessions. At that time, I started practising Mohanji’s teachings about non-doership, living a life of surrender to God, selflessness, love, kindness, and compassion. I believe this is the perfect example of the transforming power of love. Danica thrives not only with good nutrition but by the love, support, and hope that was given to her family. We are all a part of the pure universal energy and that is what Danica feels when we are around her.
The group of 10 kids I started with has now grown to 35. The numbers increase every week, and we are serving two areas here in Roxas City. Children from the coastal areas and also from the main city join us for our sessions regularly. It gives me a lot of joy to be able to help so many people in my community.
Mohanji teens/ kids
‘Meditation Garden’ is what we call our group. We are a group of meditation students using Mohanji’s guided meditations that we found online. It’s been almost two years since we started feeding those who needed support and introducing yoga and meditation in almost all areas here in our province. Once I asked myself, “How are these activities going to be effective to people if we do not go back and encourage them to do the sessions regularly?”
It was February 2019 when a thought came to mind, ‘What if I gather the kids here in my place every week and teach them yoga and meditation, and give them vegetarian snacks?’
So I sent Darlyn a message, she is Danica’s sister, the person with a disability our group was looking after, near a coastal area. One Sunday, Darlyn gathered her friends and siblings and attended my first yoga and meditation session. We did some light yoga stretching, breathing techniques, and a short silence as an introduction and had healthy snacks afterwards. Then, I asked them to write down their experiences in a journal so that I could monitor their progress.
Then the next week, another 5 kids from the same area joined us to do the same activities. On the third week, Mataji invited five kids from another underprivileged area in the city, and every week the numbers are increasing. At the start, I thought the children were coming because they like the food since most of them are from poor families. But there are days when they hardly finish the food. And as I observe them, what I realised was, what they love in our meetings where the hugs, the conversations, and the games we play with them, because the parents hardly have time with their kids, so they feel unloved.
It’s been a year already, and now these kids have developed mindfulness through yoga; their behaviour has changed for the better. Even the ways they dress has changed, they are always clean and smell good, and are ready to learn new things. They have learnt to share with the other kids as well as we take them for our seva activities in different communities. Now we are introducing them slowly to chakras, some of Mohanji’s teachings like ahimsa, selflessness, etc. They love wearing their Mohanji t-shirts and wish to meet Mohanji in person. I gave each child a framed picture of Mohanji as a gift and shared with them that they can always talk to him because he is like a Father to them. He is someone who loves them, cares for them, and only wants the best for them. Now, even some of the mothers are joining the kids every Sunday for our sessions.
I am very grateful for the beautiful opportunities to help these children and their families. It’s wonderful to see how love can transform so many lives.
|| JAI BRAHMARISHI MOHANJI||
Edited & Published by – Testimonials Team, 21st May 2020
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