KHALSA AID NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT NOW!!

NEWS FLASH!    I have just received word that Khalsa Aid is starting a programme to get food to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa where 10,000,000 people are threatened with starvation!  ****************************************************** Once in a while, an organisation is found that is worthy of our total support.  Such an organisation is Khalsa Aid.  The whole Panth can be very proud of Khalsa Aid.  Their main project is aiding the poor Sikhs of Punjab, especially the families of our honoured shaheeds and of those Sikhs in jail or person for only-the-police-know-what reasons.  They are engaging the children of rural Punjab in their PURE (Punjab Rural Underprivileged Empowerment) Programme that aims at educating children in both secular subjects and Gurbani while engaging the whole family in the hope of curbing drug and alcohol abuse among Sikhs there.  I URGE ALL MY READERS TO HELP KHALSA AID IN EVERY WAY YOU CAN.  Volunteer.  Donate your daswandh.  Say ardas.  Every Sikh can do something.   Khalsa Aid helps poor Sikhs in Punjab, and that is not all they do, either.  They are visible Sikhs doing worldwide sewa for other groups needing our help.  Volunteers went to Haiti to help those devastated by the earthquake there;  they still maintain a long-term presence there, providing food and clean water to the still-desperate Haitians.  I am very proud that my friend Harpreet Singh Mann of Toronto is among those who have volunteered in Haiti.  As noted at the top, I have just gotten word minutes ago as I write of a major project being launched in the Horn of Africa to feed the people of that drought-stricken region. Currently, Khalsa Aid is working at the Libyan border providing clean drinking water for the refugees streaming ocross the desert fleeing the fighting in that country.    Take a look at this video. Please take a look at their website at Khalsa Aid and if you are able, make a donation.  Every little bit helps.   And If you want the experience of a lifetime, volunteer.  Here is their latest newsletter.

Update Focus Punjab – Shaheed Parivaars Focus Punjab – Shaheed Parivaars: Since the Focus Punjab project was extended to include the monthly welfare support for the Sikh families who have lost their sons and fathers to the violent and destructive period from mid 1980's to mid 1990's. (http://www.ensaaf.org/publications/)  Khalsa Aid has been inundated with urgent requests for support. Although we have a fulltime employee in Punjab, who coordinates the allocation of support for Shaheed Parivaars, we regularly send volunteers to oversee and support the projects. Although the state sponsored massacres (Operation Woodrose) during the 1980s to 1990s in Punjab were turbulent and horrific, we cannot and should not forget those who are still suffering from the consequences. Following a needs and means assessment, Khalsa Aid is providing monthly support to these affected families, who are more commonly known as Shaheed Parivaars. KA Volunteers Kiratraj Singh and Karam Kaur earlier this month travelled to Punjab, and were understandably overwhelmed with what they saw: To control your tears while Mata ji and Pita Ji and their families relive the events of 1984 and tell us about their Shaheed Singhs is indescribable..These Mothers are the Jewels of our Panth, they sacrificed so much for the Panth, but why don’t we care about them? "We have met countless families of Shaheed Singh’s and its absolutely heartbreaking to see the level of poverty which these families are STILL living in!”          Karam Kaur Khalsa Aid is eternally grateful to the Sangat, as through the support of the Sangat we were able to provide Rs. 3 Lakh to Major Dalbir Singh, Dharmi Fauji. We had earlier shown to the Sangat what the conditions this family was living in, their house was decrepit and dilapidated and did not provide even shelter from the elements. Now he and his family can finally live in a house with full shelter. Karam and Kiratraj were shocked after visiting Shaheed Satnaam Singh Cheena family and seeing with their own eyes the level of poverty his widow and son were living in. Monetary support was provided, including the start of monthly welfare support and unlimited support for his son education. If any member of the Sangat wishes to see our projects, or meet a sponsored family in Punjab, we are happy to provide transport and facilitate the visit. Donate via SMS/Text: Please text SEVA13 £5 to 70070 to donate £5 (your credit or phone bill will be debited by £5) Please continue to support Khalsa Aid, so we can continue to do Seva and increase the global awareness of Sikhs. Khalsa Aid: Khalsa Aid is the first cross border humanitarian organisation based on the Sikh principles of Sarbat Da Bhalla and Vand Kay Chakna. Khalsa Aid is dependent on the generosity of the Sangat to carry out such vital Seva.  We are extremely grateful to the Sangat for supporting our global aid projects over the past 12 years since our launch. To donate monthly or to make a one off donation, please click on the following link:http://www.justgiving.com/khalsaaid or please visit www.khalsaaid.org for more information about the work we continue to do. Join our Mailing list http://www.khalsaaid.org/lists/?p=subscribe To receive updates on our projects as well as volunteering opportunities. Khalsa Aid UK Registered Charity (#1080374) Main Office: +44 (0) 1753 567 457

MORE ON HOW TO HELP HAITI

This is my new profile picture:

I just received this e-mail from the Facebook group, Sikh Sewa:

Subject:  HAITI Needs YOU: Please Volunteer or Donate for the UNITED SIKHS Haiti Quake Relief Appeal


UNITED SIKHS FACEBOOK GROUP:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=252615071581&ref=ts


HAITI Needs YOU: Please Volunteer or Donate for the UNITED SIKHS Haiti Quake Relief Appeal

Poster on: http://www.facebook.com/l/f68de;sikhseva.blogspot.com/2010/01/haiti-needs-you.html

You have seen the devastation of Haiti on TV. Now please switch on to their needs. The UNITED SIKHS team , headed by Lt Col Gurbachan Singh and 4 volunteers including doctors, has arrived in Haiti through the neighbouring islands. They have found that looting and devastation is painful to describe. They have set up a base camp and and wish to set up a langgar service (hot community meal) and distribute food and medical supplies urgently.

See the UNITED SIKHS appeal poster attached . Please put it up an your local Gurdwara or community centre.
We need your help.

If you can volunteer in Haiti please Join UNITED SIKHS at http://www.facebook.com/l/f68de;www.untedsikhs.org/join and you will receive an automatic email acknowledgment with a link to a health history form and a volunteer application form for field projects. Kindly fill both forms and email them to volunteer@unitedsikhs.org asap.

If you would like to donate , you may do so online at http://www.facebook.com/l/f68de;www.unitedsikhs.org/join

, or post a cheque, payable to UNITED SIKHS, to us at PO BOX 43799 8SS


We also urge you to put up the attached poster at your workplace and gurdwara and help in fundraising this Sunday . Take the initiative to collect the donations and post them to us with the donors details so we may issue a receipt.
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To reply to this message, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox%2Freadmessage.php&t=1311657788220&mid=1bd7e78G2ae25711G3c4adf4G0

(Mai again.  Maybe it's just my tired, old eyes, but I can't read the poster.  Click on this one for a larger version, not as pretty, but at least I can read it.)

HELP THE PEOPLE OF HAITI

By this time, we have all heard about the horrible results of the earthquake in Haiti.  Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.   To add to the usual tragedy of a large earthquake, in this case most of the country's top doctors have been trapped and are possibly dead in a collapsed hospital.  On top of that, there are many fires burning.  A prison collapsed and many prisoners died;  others escaped to terrorise the already traumatized citizens.  Soon, untended wounds will become infected, disease will start spreading because of lack of basic hygiene and clean water - and the doctors and medicine have been destroyed.  Only help from outside - from us - can save these people. 

This is just one picture.  To see more, please go to The Daily Mail.

The Sikh spirit of sewa in each of us wants to do something.  Few of us can actually go there, but most of us can contribute a few dollars or rupees or pounds or euros.  It is important to contribute wisely.  Already there are many scams on the Internet.  Please do not give to any organisation or group not known to you.

I have not yet found any Sikh organisations, so I will post two known to all of us as reputable international agencies.

First is the International Committee of the Red Cross.  Go here to donate to them.

Another possibility is UNICEF.  To donate to UNICEF, go here.

Both of these are worldwide;  you can donate from anywhere.

For a list of reputable organisations in the USA, please go to Sikh Philosophy Network

We Sikhs belief in helping all people in distress.  Let us show that we do more than lip-service to this.