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Arpana at Home
Commemoration, Dedication & Celebration

Family, friends and devotees gathered together in celebrations during August 23-27 in remembrance of Param Pujya Ma, Founder, Inspiration and Guide of Arpana. On Aug. 23rd, about 300 women from new self help groups (SHGs) facilitated by Arpana in Haryana, assembled to hear the experiences of older SHG women.

Blessed by Chhote Ma, the gathering ended in spontaneous dancing and singing as marginalized women found new hope arising in their hearts.

On the 25th, Arpana staff, along with the children of Arpana’s Urvashi Lalit Kala Academy, presented a program of songs, dances and instrumental music.

A convocation at Param Pujya Ma’s Samadhi Sthal in the early morning of 26th August, reaffirmed the aims of imbibing humane qualities and being of service to others as exemplified in Param Pujya Ma’s words and life.

The dance-drama of ‘Raikab Rishi’ was presented that evening by the children of the Ashram and the Urvashi Lalit Kala Academy. Urvashi Day was celebrated on 2nd October and was coloured by the Grace and Spirit of Param Pujya Ma, whose words flowed in a river of song, illuminating the path to Truth and Self Realization and were called ‘Urvashi,’ Gratitude filled the hearts of participants for this extraordinary path of knowledge to our minds – a guide to transcendental meditation and transformation.

Fever Camps
Hearing from self help groups about fevers striking virtually every home in several remote villages, with a few even resulting in fatalities, Arpana Hospital held six village medical camps August 16-19, 2011. Doctors examined 788 patients, performed tests and distributed medicines, saving many marginalized rural people who were suffering from high fever and seasonal diseases.

Emergency Workshop
Dr. Davinder Kapur, General Practioner and Police Surgeon in Antrim, Northern Ireland, brought a team – Dr. Rohini Sabharwal and senior instructor Mr. Frank Armstrong and Mr. Mark Anderson – and held a week long Emergency Care Workshop at Arpana Hospital from Oct. 30 to Nov. 5. Topics included ECG, managing trauma (head, chest, spinal & pelvic), managing medical emergencies (chest pain, epilepsy and diabetes), basic and advanced life support and the ABCDE of patient assessment.

Assessments were also discussed for respiratory, cardiac and neurological problems. Road traffic collisions – initial actions, managing multi-casualties and integrating emergency services were also discussed. Sessions were held for Arpana Hospital doctors, nurses, paramedics and village health workers as well as for personnel from the National Highway Authority of India and the Haryana Police, and paramedics from the Government Hospital in Chandigarh.

Celebrating Sri Rabindranath Tagore’s Birth Anniversary
The Minister of Culture invited Arpana to take part in this year’s centenary celebrations for Sri Rabindranath Tagore’s birthday. Mrs. Sushma Seth, actress and Arpana’s cultural director, whose great passion has always been children’s theatre, directed 35 children in Sri Rabindranath Tagore’s play, “Tasher Desh.” The songs and dialogues were recorded and sung by the children under her personal direction.

The play has been staged twice at Sri Ram Center and been greatly appreciated by the audiences. Kumari Shailja, Education Minister, was the chief guest at the first performance on 18th August, 2011. The second performance was sponsored by a ladies club, ‘Swar Manjari’. The club gifted the child actors with Rs.250/- each, in appreciation for their wonderful effort.

Nursery Teachers Training
A one year Nursery Teachers Training Course has been started at Molar Bund. Mrs. Meena Sharma, a trainer at Mobile Crèches for over 20 years, was engaged as an instructor for this course. Classes are conducted three full days a week. The curriculum is intensive and has a high level of practical application.

14 young women are participating with a great deal of interest and enthusiasm in the course. The trainees also learned to conduct community meetings with the children’s parents and relatives.

Doctors use ‘Stitches of Love’ to ‘Mend’ Rural Families
The love and hospitality of the Gupta family, Drs. Inder and Raj and Drs. Rahul and Lena Gupta, along with their children Raghav and Aman, drew an enthusiastic crowd of their friends, families, patients and colleagues to Arpana’s ‘Stitches of Love’ sale of embroidered items produced by village women, held in their home on Oct.8 & 9, 2012.

Each gift bought was an object of exquisite beauty for the recipient and brought hope and succour to a village woman. This exhibition-cum-sale was the most successful of such events of Arpana Handicrafts to date.

Opening up Remote Villages
The remote villages of Kolka, Bhalka & Priungal had never had official visitors and were isolated from any amenities or support. For the first time, due to Arpana’s initiative with NABARD to develop them as Model Villages, they had a visit by Government and bank officials on September 28th. The function was inaugurated by Shri Sharabh Negi, IAS, Deputy Commissioner Chamba.

He emphasized the need of all round development of these villages through convergence of activities of Government departments and banks as well as community participation, by focusing on the development of these three villages as models. He assured full support. Two hundred farmers and women’s self help group members attended and heard about various Government development schemes.

Micro Finance for Rural Populations
Arpana’s field supervisor and senior field workers attended the first microfinance workshop in Himachal held by the Indian School of Microfinance for Women, Ahmedabad. This was organised by NABARD in Chamba from August 8-12. Arpana’s workers learned important aspects about savings and bank linkages for people in remote areas and discussed financial planning, savings, borrowing, investment, etc. with the experts.

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