Issue 71 - May 13, 2018
Inspirational Note...
In Croatia 2016, Swami guided a devotee who wanted to do Swami's work with these words:

All those who yearn to serve Me will definitely get an opportunity – but, to serve anyone, not only Me, you need both ability and purity. Purity without ability is useless in serving Me and ability without purity is dangerous. Take, for instance, when you are in a hospital and need a surgeon to operate. A doctor wanting to operate is not enough; he needs the skills to operate, too, otherwise, think of the fate of the patient – instead of helping, he may end up harming. 

Therefore, once you develop your abilities and are ready as My instrument, I will pick you up at the right time. Until then, think of Me in each person you meet and serve Me in whatever little way you can. Serving Me does not mean only serving in the institutions built by Me, under My name. All the good that is there in the world belongs to God. A kind word to someone; patiently listening to somebody; being there for people in time of despair and distress; helping them with what little things you can – all these are ways to serve Me.

Do not limit yourself to only certain institutions, or certain places – you can serve Me everywhere, in every way. I know that you already serve; for instance, if nothing else, you are a very good listener and will listen to all your friends and other people and help them to pour out their hearts. Whether or not you have any other knowledge or any other skill, this is something valuable you can do to serve. The problem starts when you start speaking and others have to listen. As long as you listen, you serve.
Service Updates
Youth Activities In India April 2018
Educative-cum-Fun Summer Camp for Children from Nekarnagar Slum in Hubbali
The summer camp for the little angels had a lot of fun elements with a variety of indoor and outdoor games. The children also learned skills and had fun with memory games. Videos were shown to emphasise the importance of human values. Drawing, elocution and other competitions were held. Health and hygiene sessions were conducted to drive home the message of cleanliness....
A 10-Day Grand Summer Camp
for Doddabele Village Children
Happiness that one receives in making others happy, alone is permanent and cherished! The Doddabele Annapoorna team, which has been conducting summer camps every year at Doddabele village (off Mysore Road in Bengaluru), planned one this year as well...
Dental Hygiene for Motlur Village
The Annapoorna team visited a remote village called Motlur, about 10 km from Chikkaballapur. The school children from this village have been served with nutritious breakfast since 2015. Besides, Annapoorna has also installed a water filter at the school to provide clean drinking water to the children....
Government Higher Primary School, Dodda Banaswadi, Bangalore gets Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water Purifier through Annapoorna Supported by Micro Focus Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Annapoorna has regularly been serving nutritious breakfast for the children at the Government Higher Primary School, Dodda Banaswadi in Bangalore since 2015. There has been a need for clean drinking water for the students and staff at the school. One of the possibilities was to install a reverse osmosis (RO) water purifier connected to the water supply point at the school.
Summer Camp for the Annapoorna Children at Vinayaknagar
Just as the academic session for the Vinayaknagar centre near Mysore Road in Bengaluru wrapped up; Annapoorna, similar to the previous years, grabbed the opportunity to conduct a fun filled yet fruitful three-day summer workshop for the little angels.
Selfless Seva in Lagos
A group of dedicated youth from Nigeria is setting up an example for selfless service. The inspiration they get deep within is converted into an act of providing breakfast for children studying in Ereko Methodist Primary School in Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria. In addition to regular primary students, this school also caters for children with special needs such as learning disabled, hearing impaired and intellectually challenged...
Royal Dove Creche and Nursery
The Breakfast Seva at the Royal Dove Creche and Nursery in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria feeds 120 children twice a week (and three times on special occasions), every Monday and Friday. Generally, the youth distribute packets that contain bread, fruits and an egg as these foods are both nutritious and rich in energy. These children belong to the local community around the locality of Lekki and cannot usually afford more than one meal a day. They look forward to the service and accept their love with utmost gratitude.  
Women’s Empowerment Programme
Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, a true champion of empowerment of women, founded in the 1970s in India, His first educational institution – a women’s college in a remote town named Anantapur in South Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with a great vision of creating women of high moral standards with strong intellectual, spiritual and physical capabilities. It was Baba who inspired the alumni of His educational institutions currently living in the Middle East to work towards the empowerment of women in the region.
Thank God It’s Friday
When on one side people wait eagerly for the weekend to spend their most precious time with their beloved ones, there are these youths who look forward to the weekends to go out and help their fellow brethren who toil under the hot sun just to put some bread on their plates.

This group of selfless Sevaks go out in search of construction sites and labour camps where men work in very hot weather conditions .
Super Saturday Seva
Saturdays are extremely special for the whole group of youth volunteers, for, they divide themselves into groups of three; each to serve three different construction sites in the region. Close to 600 labourers experience the love of these groups of dedicated youth committed to the cause of spreading joy and happiness around.
Transformation
Completion of a Broken Dream
“Take one step towards Me, and I shall take hundred steps towards You”, declared Baba many a time. It is one thing to hear this from Bhagawan , but it's another​ feeling altogether when one experiences this emphatic Divine assurance first-hand.

The Sai Youth Leaders of Middle East sat down on a weekend of January 2017 to brainstorm ideas on potential Seva opportunities that we can undertake as a group in the region. After several rounds of discussion, we realised that there was one major hurdle ahead of us. After all, Bhagawan didn't make things so simple for us. His tests are always His tastes. We were left totally clueless on our way ahead with one pressing issue with respect to our Seva activities.