Japan was hit by an earthquake and a tsunami on March 11, 2011. Hundreds of thousand people lost their homes and many of them even their dear ones, relatives and friends. Czech and Slovak children made Drawings of Love to support Japanese children living in the affected areas. Over 1.500 drawings were sent to Japan in April.
1. Report from Japan:
Akanda, our Japanese colleague, went to Shiogama City, Miyagi Prefecture, which had the most loss. He and his friends visited a shelter with 100+ people. The shelter has 30 children, but when they went there to cook hot lunch, only 3 of them were there; the rest had gone out with their families. So he gave the pictures to the 3 children personally, and handed 27 to the shelter leader for the other children. One boy was inspired to make a drawing in return for the Czech friend whose drawing he received.
The European Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles coordinator Abhisar from Czech Republic, a professional pantomimer Vlado from Slovakia, and 3 local staff (Akanda-from-Mongolia, Usra, and Harashita) paid a visit to northern Japan. During our two-day visit on July 11 & 12, we visited 6 schools and 1 shelter in 3 cities in Miyagi Prefecture: Ishinomaki, Minami-Sanriku, and Kesennuma, all of which were most seriously damaged by the tsunami back in March 11, 2011. Besides the Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles, we also gave the World Harmony Run program and offered posters of Sri Chinmoy’s paintings on behalf of Jharna-Kala Foundation.
In August 2008, Oneness-Heart-Tears and smiles sent their first container from UK to Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania. Contents included over 50 bicycles, 23000 pencils and other school equipment including 24 computers, paints, books and videos.
One of our most successful international projects was the Drawings of Love, through which 22,000 children from 30 countries send drawings and messages of affection, which were distributed to the thousands of children orphaned by the tsunami 2005 in Banda Aceh.
One thousand Swiss children participated in our Kids to Kids programme for children in Kenya. With this programme we were able to send school supplies and furniture, books and toys to support a new school built by Tegla Laroupe, a world marathon woman champion, in the north-western part of Kenya.
At the request of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, our international team of volunteers arranged for Kids to Kids projects to benefit the children in the Philani Nutrition Centres in Cape Town, South Africa.
In July 2004, our members in the United Kingdom sent a full sea container of additional goods collected for Guinea-Bissau, including school equipment (approx. 200,000 pencils), stationery, computers, clothing, toys and medical supplies. The school equipment was donated to schools in rural areas of the country. The medical supplies were distributed to a major hospital in the capital city, Bissau.
A 20-foot sea container with school supplies, books, bicycles, toys, sports equipment and computers was sent in October 2003 from members of our group in Great Britain to the Salvation Army in Cape Town. All of the items were distributed to schools and comunity projects around the Cape Town area, the rural Vendaland state in South Africa and even the remote island of St. Helena!
In November 2002, Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles in Great Britain sent their first container to feed the Children in Angola. It contained dried food, clothes, pharmaceuticals, toys and stationery. For some of the children it was the first time they had played with toys.
About Sri Chinmoy - The Founder of the Oneness-Heart-Tears and Smiles
Sri Chinmoy Centres International
