Who killed Mahatma Gandhi?

When asked what his message to the world was, the Mahaatma is said to have replied : “my life is my message”. A life characterized by austerity, control, discipline in service of a higher ideal.
Today all those who oppose and negate such a spiritual ideal, which is the substance and meaning behind traditional Indian culture, are the killers of Gandhi’s legacy.

http://nandakumarchandran.sulekha.com/blog/post/2006/04/the-real-killers-of-mahaatma-gandhi.htm

Thank you

Thank you to an anonymous donor for contributing the needed amount for Mr Baint. Please also tell your friends about this blog so that they will also have the opportunity to help needy people in the holy city of Vrindavan and get their blessings.

Thank you

Thank you to Sara Berggren, Sweden, for sponsoring Gomvati and her two small children for 6 months. We are happy to inform you that we have received US$120 for this sponsorship.

We are still needing a donor to finish the fundraising for Mr Baint, who needs an operation on his leg so that he can walk and will not be in so much pain that he can hardly sleep or sit in his small roadside stall where he sells sweets and other small items. We have so far raised $481 for him and need another $439 to make this operation possible. Please help change this man's life and end the ten years of suffering that he has faced after being hit by a car.

Thank you

Thank you to anonymous, USA, who donated $100 for Mr Baint. We now need to raise $439 before we can send him for this life giving operation.

We also had a kind sponsor who has paid for two little girls with cerebal pausy to have physiotherapy (mentioned in an earlier thank you note) before we even had a chance to get them on the blog!



Top, Gomvati and her children before getting assistance. Bottom, Gomvati and her baby after receiving food, milk and food from Sandipani Muni School for 3 months.

Thank you also to the sponsors of Gomvati. She is doing well and, as you can see from the before and after photos, her baby is looking much more plump and healthy now that he has been receiving milk and good food for 3 months. Gomvati was featured on this blog on September 30, 2008. Unfortunately, her sponsor is having financial difficulties and we need a new sponsor for US$20 for the next few months to help her cover milk and rent - she has no husband, no family support and no way to support her two young children.
For more information, or to contribute, contact rupa@fflvrindavan.org
Thank you.

Thank you

Thank you to The McMillan family, USA for donating US$100 to help Mr Baint. We are now needing US$539 for his treatment.

Education : Background & Perspective

If one were to identify the single most important achievement in the field of education by the government in the post-Independence era, it would have to be putting a school within reach of almost every child.

THE BIG QUESTIONS

Of course, a school within reach is not the end - it is only the beginning. The significant questions are:

• Does the socio-economic situation make it possible for that child to actually go to school?

• Is what happens there attractive and relevant enough to keep that child in school for at least seven years?

• In these seven years, does the child gain anything of significance and value in her life?

While there is an increasingly apparent focus on these issues, both in government and in civil society, the answers to these questions are at present an alarming but definite NO.

Consider these facts:

• In 1993, enrollment in Class Five was 54.63 per cent of enrollment in Class One.

• Drop-out rates are officially admitted to be as high as 35 per cent.

• Most independent tests of achievement levels continue to show dismally low levels of achievement in the basic literacy skills.

The access to education that the girl-child has is another area of concern.

• It is estimated that for every 100 girls that enroll in school in rural India, 40 will reach class IV, 18 will reach class VIII, nine will reach class IX, and only one will make it to class XII.

• Though the national rates of female and male literacy show a decreasing difference, states like Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal still have several districts where female literacy is less than 30 per cent.

http://infochangeindia.org/200310045936/Education/Backgrounder/Education-Background-Perspective.html

Thank you + appeal

Thank you to Sriman Narain Das, USA, who has donated $25 for Deepchandra. Thank you also to anonymous, UK for donating $100 for him. We are still urgently needing the US$639 for Mr Baint (see blog post 2 January, 2009). Next on the list we have a needy family who need help to get physiotherapy for their two disabled daughters and a woman who has a bleeding ear drum....the list goes on. Please help us to get treatment for these needy people.