This is 4th year for Sewa Chicago GIC  summer internship program. In all 33 High school and collage students participated. Internship was conducted at 3 Chicago suburb locations  i.e. Naperville, Schaumburg and Lake county for a duration of 8 weeks. Each group was headed by a Coach and a college intern as Team Lead.

The project was to conduct research on causes for Diabetes, its alarming increase, conventional treatment, holistic treatment options, understanding Sewa's SDM ( Stop Diabetes Movement ) program and marketing/making presentations to local community groups.

Interns did an awesome job doing research, learning from Doctors whom they invited, did survey on social media, studied SDM program, interacted with past SDM camp participants, made a short video on Dos and Don'ts on prevention and made presentations to local community groups ( from 20 people to 250 people audience !) e.g. Mayor's office, Temples, Church, Senior groups, Fitness centers, Yoga studios, Hospital, cultural organizations...etc. 

 On August 14th we had a concluding day event which was attended by over 110 people. Interns made presentation on  their 8 weeks of learning and shared their experiences. It was an eye opener for the audience to see their innovation in several areas, depth of  research, thinking out of the box and confidence with which they presented. The interns were presented  Sewa certificate.

 We would like to thank tremendous efforts put in by Team Leads ( Avni Patel, Abby Mohan ) and Coaches ( Kruti ji Patel, Mangal ji Nagarkar and Manish ji Joshi ) for guiding their group.

 Link to the photos : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B9kX8qzyafz2TU1yLUprOXJ2b0U

We will be happy to share our experience, if any Sewa chapter would like to conduct such an internship. 

Atlanta Celebrated Holi, the  colorful Hindu festival which has people across the world digging their hands deep into heaps of colored powder, smearing friends, family and strangers with it, and filled with fun, music and masti, on Saturday, March 26 2016 at Pinckneyville park Norcross GA where a record number of about 3000 people gathered in-spite of bad weather. 

“Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” The Sewa Team 

Counsul General of India Mr. D V Singh addressing the attendees at SEWA Holi 

Sewa International USA-Atlanta has been organizing this festival at the same park since 2005.  Since last 11 years the gathering grew from 50+ to 3000+ people. Sewa International USA runs on the philosophy of, “Vasudhaiva kumtumbakam” where it is believed that the world is ONE family. Through this festival Sewa bring every culture, every religion, and every faith under one umbrella to celebrate the festival.  This year Sewa partnered with other prominent organizations of Atlanta viz. IFA ,HSS, VHPA, Ekal Vidayala, Siddhi Vinayak Temple, Shiv Mandir, Rajasthan Association of Atlanta, Greater Atlanta Panjabi Society, Shiv Yog, Art of living, Isha, Indian Awareness Foundation, AIM for Seva etc to bring the community to celebrate this vibrant festival together under one roof. 

A record number of about 3000 people attended SEWA Holi 2016 despite of bad weather  

The morning on Saturday, March 26th 2016, was cloudy. While the weather report showed that it would be 65F, it started raining. The volunteers, who were prepping the ground for Holi, were a bit worried as it is an open event and it was a bit cold outside. The event started at 10 am with very few people walking into the park. However, by noon crowd started pouring in.  DJ Yani (Shyam Brahmbhatt) kept the crowd on their toes with old and new hit dance numbers. Dance performances by NetIP, Northview high school dance team and others added energy to the event.  The rain amid the celebration could not stop the enthusiastic crowd from having fun and they kept dancing with more energy. The team of sevikas (ladies volunteers)   prepared delicious home food. “We feel so fortunate to be cooking and serving homemade food to the attendees" said Madhavi Gunasekaran the food coordinator for Sewa Holi for last two years. IFA team successfully managed the parking. All the parking lots were full and additional parking lot across from the park was used for the overflow. IFA team distributed free T shirts to the crowd.  HSS, VHPA volunteers helped with Setup and logistics, Our Dholi Jazz's awesome performance engaged the crowd in an amazing way.  The official photographer for the event Kiran Mudigonda did an awesome job clicking all the colors of this wonderful event that declares the arrival of spring.

Sewa Atlanta President Mr. Pratap Singh welcoming Mr. D V Singh.

The IFA Team handled the parking responsibility very efficiently. Thank you!! 

The Chief Guest of the event was Consular General of India, Mr. DV Singh who graced the event with his daughter and her friends. In his address to the attendees Mr. Singh conveyed best wishes for Holi and said he is so glad to see the community celebrating together in such large number. Mr. Pratap Singh Chauhan, president of Sewa Atlanta Chapter, thanked Mr. DV Singh and said he was so happy to see people enjoying the event.

 

Happy & Colored faces. Sewa Holi 2016 – A family friendly event 

Atlanta youth having lot of fun and masti at Sewa Holi 2016 

The jubilant SEWA Holi 2016 Team after another successful event of the year. There are more to come.

Sewa International thanks all the collaborating organizations and the community for their participation and support in making Holi 2016 a big success and fun filled event. There was a huge following on Facebook, post event, with many mentions of “The largest color festival of Georgia”.

India Awareness Foundation, Sewa International USA and supporting organizations presented the Documentary film of “History of Yoga” and Lecture on “Yoga and Indian Civilization –its continuity and change” by Ramji Om and Dr Deepika Kothari on March 25, 2016 at Chinmaya Niketan, 5511 Williams Rd, Norcross, GA 30093.This event was offered as free service for people to connect with Roots of Yoga and its rich heritage. This event was hosted by IAF and Sewa International in Atlanta and other cities of the US. 

 

 Dhirendra Shah ji addressing the film makers 

Close to 200 people attend the event 

 

 People Registering for DVD’s 

In the present times Yoga has established itself as an effective alternative therapy across the world. Modern Masters are improvising and selling it with different brand names and even patenting them. It has become increasingly difficult to find authentic knowledge about Yoga; therefore it was decided to document the History and Philosophy of Yoga on film media. This is the first ever film in the world on History of Yoga.

 The film HOY starts with Yoga of Patanjali as a unique technique for experiencing the mastery over senses and modifications of the mind. Patanjali is not the inventor of Yoga. The documentary also talks about the origination of yoga.

    History is traced from the times of Harappa civilization. The story moves to explore the elements of Yoga in the times of Vedic, Jain, Buddhist periods and other doctrines. It takes you through the delightful journey of 3000 years of developmental history of Yoga up to the medieval ages.

    Here the HathYogic practitioners show an intense human desire to conquer disease, aging and death through the Hathyogic practices. The film ends in 19th century where modern science acknowledges the potential of yoga in a new light.

    To know more about the documentary film please check the link  

@ http://vishuddhifilms.com/index.html 

 

The Director, Ramji Om and Producer cum co-director Dr Deepika Kothari also took an opportunity to answer questions related to “history of Yoga” film screening and on Yoga and Indian Civilization.

Special thanks to IAF, Chinmaya Niketan, Aim for Seva and VHPA for their additional contribution in facilitating and logistics.

Sewa (pronounced 'say wah') is a word in the Sanskrit language that translates to service above self, or memorably, Selfless Efforts for Welfare of All. The mission of Sewa International, a 501(c)(3) Hindu faith-based non-profit charity is to promote selfless service through its chapters in cities and towns across the United States.

To know more about Sewa International, please visit www.sewa-usa.org or find us on Facebook at Sewa International USA- Atlanta and join us in the good work.

Friendship Village is a continuing care retirement community in Schaumburg, IL. They organized “Easter Egg Hunt & Visit with the Easter Bunny” for residents, associates, children and grandchildren on Saturday, March 19 from 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm.

Friendship Village requested SEWA to assist them in accomplishing below activities on time and with perfection:

• Hiding  eggs
  
•  Crafts
  
•  Egg hunt patrol
  
•   Set up
  
•   Clean up
  

Volunteers were requested to reach Friendship Village by noon and stay until event is over and cleanup is done.  Six adults and seven teens volunteered for the event. This was a wonderful experience for everyone specially our kids. Friendship Village representatives were very pleased with the enthusiasm and commitment of our volunteers.

Our group of volunteers helped Friendship Village to peacefully manage crowd of around 150 people