Category Archives: News

Susila Dharma Network in Peru

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Did you know…

That during the first 1000 days of life the foundation for optimum health and brain development established for life. Children in poverty face a high level of adversity that can disrupt healthy brain development. In Pachacamac, Peru, where there are high rates of poverty, domestic violence, malnutrition, child abuse and neglect, many children will suffer their whole lives.

Newborn babies receive attention of nurses at Lima’s maternity hospital in Peru.

With support from the Canadian government, the Susila Dharma global network—including the International Child Development Programme (ICDP), Asociación Vivir, A Child’s Garden of Peace (AGP), SD Canada, Susila Dharma International (SDIA), and SD USA—has come together to bring expertise and fundraising assistance to address this problem.

Wawa Illari team visits with leaders in Tambo Inga

A new project called Wawa Illari will train teachers and students of nursing as well as other students at the Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (UIGV) in Lima, Peru, in a community approach to improve early childhood development.

“Nurses in Peru are the frontline health workers, yet their studies do not cover in depth the psycho-social or nutritional needs of the developing brain,” says Ana Sofia Mazzini, Director of ICDP Peru. This new approach will train nurses to enhance parent-child interaction as well as ways to help impoverished families improve nutrition—including growing and eating healthy food in combinations that are best for early brain development.

Nursing students and professors with Ana Sofia Mazzini, dean of faculty of Nursing, along with Illène Pevec (A Child's Garden of Peace) and Hamida Thomas (SDIA).

Nursing students and professors with Ana Sofia Mazzini, dean of faculty of Nursing, along with Illène Pevec (A Child’s Garden of Peace) and Hamida Thomas (SDIA).

By working together, our Susila Dharma organizations are able to achieve results that none of us could have achieved alone. This collaborative approach can be seen, not just in the Wawa Illari project, but also in the Susila Dharma health centers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in the Anisha project in India, and in the synergy achieved by the interaction of SD projects in Kalimantan.

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The demands are great and our network needs to rise to meet them. There is no end to the good work that needs to be done. Give generously during our Fall fundraiser so that our network becomes even stronger in the coming year.

Thank you!

Read more about the Wawa Illari project here

Guru Krupa Foundation Renews Anisha Kitchen Garden Project

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Susila Dharma USA is proud and happy to report that Project Anisha has received the second year of funding for its Kitchen Garden Project from the Guru Krupa Foundation based in New York state. The Foundation has given another grant of $10,000 to Anisha this year to continue its four-year educational project to teach over 1400 middle school students to grow organic kitchen gardens at their homes.

The Kitchen Garden Project at Anisha teaches families to grow small-scale kitchen gardens, producing organic vegetables from native seeds. This can make a significant difference in their health and standard of living.

These students live in the Martalli Region of Karnataka State in Southern India. Their families, often single-parent, struggle every day with extreme poverty and everything that results from it. They live in a drought-prone area that is also hard-hit by the effects of climate change. Learning to grow small-scale kitchen gardens producing organic vegetables grown from native seeds (initially supplied by Anisha’s native seed bank) can make a significant difference in improving the standard of living in this area. It can help to stem the flow of farming families that are forced to abandon their homes in India’s countryside and move into the dumping grounds of India’s big city slums.

We are so appreciative of the support provided by the Guru Krupa Foundation to help Anisha do its vitally important work! Please visit their website to learn about their impressive work in both the United States and India – www.guru-krupa.org.

You can read more about Anisha on our web site and see a slide presentation about the Kitchen Garden Project below.

Strong Communities in Times of Disaster

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In the face of the hurricanes, tropical cyclones and earthquakes and now wildfires that have devastated so many communities in the past two months it is easy to allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by human suffering. But, there is not only darkness; we find hope as we witness an upwelling of the latent nobility of the human spirit.

Seasonal fires occur in Kalimantan each year, peaking in the dry season of late summer and early fall. Slash-and-burn deforestation to clear land for farming or other agriculture still takes place, and fires escape from already cleared land into adjacent forest. The swampy forests of the low-lying parts of these islands sit on thick layers of peat (un-decayed vegetation), which is extremely flammable when it dries out. The peat is exceptionally smoky when it burns.

Seasonal forest fires occur in Kalimantan each year, peaking in the dry season of late summer and early fall. Slash-and-burn deforestation to clear land for farming or other agriculture still takes place, and fires escape from already cleared land into adjacent forest. The swampy forests of the low-lying parts of these islands sit on thick layers of peat (un-decayed vegetation), which is extremely flammable when it dries out. The peat is exceptionally smoky when it burns.

Continue reading →

Disaster Relief Agencies for Hurricane Harvey

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Many people have been contacting us to find out whether we are doing anything to send aid to those made homeless by Hurricane Harvey. SD USA is not a disaster relief organization,  but we are very happy to refer our members to organizations that do this work much more efficiently than we would be able to. Here are some links to disaster relief organizations now active in Texas and Louisiana.

You can see an updated list of organizations accepting monetary donations here.

Texas Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster website for a list of vetted disaster relief organizations.

American Red Cross – You can donate directly to the American Red Cross to assist hurricane victims. Minimum online donation is $10. To donate visit redcross.org, call 1- 800-RED CROSS or text the word HARVEY to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Salvation Army – Call 1-800-SAL-ARMY, go to the donate online or send your contribution, earmarked “Disaster Relief,” to The Salvation Army, 10755 Burt St, Omaha, NE 68114.

Catholic Charities USA – Donated funds go to support recovery efforts, including direct assistance, rebuilding and health care services. You can donate here.

Here is an excellent article by Episcopal Relief & Development on how we can help and what kind contribution is most helpful.