“Serve all” Community | Neyyar Dam, Kerala
The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashrams in India provide free medical help to local villages where medical facilities can be very limited.
The 101 st free Ayurveda medical camp took place at the Sivananda Dhanwantari Ashram, Neyyar Dam on 21 December 2018, after holding camps for 800 to 900 people once a month for eight and a half years. Each month a team of eight to twelve Ayurvedic doctors headed by Dr. Vishnu, director of the Sivananda Institute of Health at the Ashram, provides free consultations and prescriptions for up to one thousand local people, treating ailments ranging from simple back ache to diabetes, obesity, arthritis and heart conditions. The local people are greatly appreciative of the service and the possibility of replacing the monthly camp with a free daily clinic to better serve the public is currently under consideration.
The Ashram makes many regular contributions to individuals in the local area for health, education, housing and social needs as well as to local temple festivals and temple development.
It regularly contributes to the SG Special School, which has been providing opportunities of stimulation and education for mentally- and physically-
challenged children of impoverished families from the local tribal areas since 1980. A number of volunteers serve 75 children from a rented space—with great love and devotion. An appeal is currently in progress for funds to purchase land and construct a purpose-built building.
The Sivananda Ashram provides support on a regular basis to an orphanage for abandoned children, elderly persons and cows. Registered as a charity, the Aum Pranava Ashram in nearby Tamil Nadu, has been accommodating a children’s home since 1996, an old age home since 2003 and now has a growing goshala of 60 cows. As well as long-term shelter, the charity provides nutritious food, medical care, a spiritual environment with daily satsang, and supports the educational needs of the children into adulthood.
To get involved contact: [email protected]
Read about the various charitable initiatives within India here.
