Issue 66 - April 08, 2018
Inspirational Note...
At a 2015 Satsang in Italy, Swami gave this loving guidance:

 "...when you travel towards God and you are growing spiritually, certain destinations will come. First, humility will come. Then, love for everyone will come. Then, a sense of sacrifice will come, to sacrifice everything for others’ sake. The final destination is peace and bliss. It starts with humility and ends with peace. Therefore, you must continuously ask yourself whether these destinations are coming or not. Self-confidence comes first, which is like the foundation. Self-sacrifice is the walls. Self-satisfaction is the roof. That which resides inside is Self-realization.

First, you will develop tremendous humility that comes to you with the faith that God is the doer of everything. Self-confidence is confidence in your Divine Self. So, the first destination is this confidence that will bring humility. As you progress, you must check for yourself, whether these stations are coming or not. If these destinations are not coming on the way, it means either the train is not moving or you are on the wrong train.
Service Updates
Annapoorna Update India
Annapoorna Collaboration
First American India (FAI) Employees' Day Out with Annapoorna Children
April 6, 2018

The senior leadership and employees from First American (FAI) India, Hyderabad visited the government school at Bowenpally and interacted with the school children during the Annapoorna Breakfast Service session. Birthdays of April-born children were..
A Word of Encouragement Goes a Long Way
April 2, 2018
Annapoorna met Mr. Sudipto Sen Gupta and Mr. Sriram Kumar from Fanuc India Private Limited. The company has been supporting Annapoorna's social cause to ...
Annapoorna and IFIM B School Combine Efforts for Course on Integrated Rural Development (IRD)
March 29, 2018
Bangalore
IRD programme, ideated by Annapoorna, is a unique way of engaging college students in community service, especially in villages, in order to give the students a first-hand experience of working with rural communities...
Annapoorna Breakfast Programme
Annapoorna Breakfast Programme Continues Expansion in T elangana
March 29, 2018

Annapoorna's free daily breakfast programme for needy school children continued to expand in Telangana, with the launch of breakfast service at one more school located in Jalalpur village,  Nizamabad  district. About 260 children studying in the school received vegetable upma on the inaugural day of the programme.
Annapoorna’s New Centre at
Ambattur in Chennai
March 27, 2018

Annapoorna has started serving breakfast to 425 children in Thiruvengadam Nagar Educational Society School in Ambattur, Chennai which is a Rotary-aided school. Join hands in serving the children until no child goes to school hungry ever!
Annapoorna's Clean Drinking Water Drive
March 22, 2018
Annapoorna, apart from serving the regular nutritious breakfast to rural school children, also helps the villages with other essential needs, of which providing the villagers with free clean drinking water is a basic need.
 
After learning that the various villages' water was infested with high fluoride content, inorganic minerals (making the water hard) and such, Annapoorna decided to help the villages with clean drinking water. So far, 12 villages have been installed with reverse osmosis plants to provide each family with 20 litres of clean safe drinking water daily, thereby helping around 20,000 villagers. Thus far, about ten other villages' schools have been provided with water filters to ensure clean drinking water for the school children. A recent media report mentions that around 76 million Indian villagers do not have access to clean drinking water. Thus, the road ahead has a lot of distance to cover.
Annapoorna in Hubbali

Thanks to the prompt help and guidance from the Block Education Office (BEO), Annapoorna will be starting its flagship breakfast programme in Government School No 6 in Hubbali.
Colours of Life
March 2, 2018

It is the Festival of Colours! A festival that children love and look forward to! Annapoorna volunteers from JP Nagar in Bengaluru took this opportunity to celebrate and make the day memorable for children. Fifteen employees from Oracle, despite being on a working day, surprised the 50 Annapoorna children in the morning with Holi colours. After a sumptuous Annapoorna breakfast, the children jumped and played in excitement with the organic colours, making everyone's day literally colourful!
Seva Activities at Colombo
Breakfast Seva
"No child should go to school on an empty stomach."

Keeping in mind these divine words stated by our Lord many a time, the youth of Colombo vowed to hold breakfast Seva on the first Thursday of every month and continuing this stream of Seva , the students of the Harvard School in Pettah were served a meal with love once again this month.
Plant a Tree and Save the World
A group of very enthusiastic youth has initiated a noble task of planting 3000 trees along the Kandy – Colombo Highway to make Sri Lanka a more green and beautiful country. This will help to protect the ozone layer and to reduce greenhouse gases to make it a better place for both humans and animals.
Seva Activities at Educare, Kirankulam
Medical Screening

A medical screening was arranged at the Educare Centre in Kirankulam on Saturday March 10, 2018. The screening was originally planned as a half day programme but, it became a whole day programme as the dedicated doctors that were involved were very keen to carry out a thorough medical screening on each and every student who attended.
Academic Activities
Tuition classes in mathematics are offered integrating human values based on Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s teachings. Twenty students from these classes sat for the GCE O/L examinations in the month of December 2017 and happily all of them were successful.
Cultural Activites
With Swami’s Divine Grace, they were able to hold weekly Bhajan and practices, Vedam classes, Bharatha Natyam classes promoting culture and leadership training, perform Mathru Pooja and engage in community service.
Breakfast Seva in Lagos
The volunteers from two units in Lagos offered their most humble Pranams at the Divine Lotus Feet of their beloved Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba as they carried out Breakfast Seva activities for the months of February and March 2018.
Ereko Methodist Primary School

In addition to regular primary students, this school also caters to children with special needs such as learning disabled, hearing impaired and intellectually challenged. The total strength of the students in the school is 259 which includes 59 children with special needs.
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), on every Monday and Friday. They distribute packets that contain bread, fruits and an egg as these foods are both nutritious and rich in energy.
Seva  at Sharjah Ladies’ Camp
Based on the direct guidance received from  Bhagawan  Baba, the alumni of Sri Sathya Sai Educational Institutions got together to organise women empowerment initiatives in the region.
The tokens of love gifted every weekend differs and the special sessions held remain focused on developing and strengthening their language, communication, and computer skills.
Seva  at Three Different Sites in Dubai
The youth of Middle East display tremendous positive energy when it comes to small acts of selfless love. Their commitment keeps alive service initiatives started at three construction sites in Dubai.
Transformation
Transforming our Little Hearts with Noble Qualities
I strongly believe that these changes started in me when we were taught to honour our parents everyday by paying them homage. We were also taught to recite a prayer before partaking my meals and being...
When I look back at my past, I feel a sense of guilt about my past behaviour. Particularly, I was a person of intolerance and I did not pay heed to the words of elders. How fortunate I am, Swami did something which has made some positive changes in me now...