When Amma said, " My Children are my strength"

When Amma pledged $23 million for the relief work of the Tsunami victims, many questioned, "How can Amma pledge an amount of such magnitude?"

Amma has said that some of the money would come from different funds that she had set aside for distribution. This is from the widow’s pension scheme and also the money kept aside for the project for the rehabilitation of prostitutes. These projects may suffer a temporary delay. But Amma feels that since the relief efforts are the urgent need of the hour, other projects can wait. As for the rest of the money, Amma has said that God will provide for it.

Amma ended saying that she has the strength of the dedication, self-sacrifice, surrender and humility of her children. With this she will certainly be able to fulfill the needs of the Tsunami victims and make this pledge a reality.

Ever since Amma announced this pledge, it is so heart-rending to see how her children around the world feel inspired to work for the Tsunami-victims.
Below are a few reports that will give a glimpse on the different efforts of Amma's children to work towards this pledge.

Tsunami Relief Benefit Dinner sponsored by Tucson/Phoenix Satsang on Saturday, February 26th, 2005.

The event was well attended by over 80 people, the majority of whom had never met Amma. Their main motivation in coming was to help monetarily those people whose lives had been so devastated by the tsunami. People of all ages and from all walks of life attended. It was very inspiring to see the outpouring of real concern that took place when the need arose.

The evening's actives begin with a gourmet Indian dinner prepared and donated by the local devotees. This was followed two videos of the tsunami disaster, a raffle with prizes donated by local stores and vendors and concluded with bhajans played and sung by the local Satsangs.

Piano and Silent Healing Meditation Fundraiser for the Tsunami Relief Fund

Andrew Cheng hosted a piano concert in his home to raise money for the Tsunami Relief Fund in Tucson, Arizona on January 22, 2005. The piano concert combined intentional healing for the Tsunami victims and their families through meditation and music. It was personal and experiential. The whole event lasted about an hour and a half.

Andrew Cheng is an accomplished pianist, scientist, healer, and improvises music on the piano intuitively. His premier CD release "flower of life" on meditation music has been used in hospices for people left alone in the world, on the last days, as well as for babies coming to the world.

In the event there is interest, Andrew would like to continue to hold piano and silent healing meditation fundraisers to provide continual support to the Tsunami Relief Fund financially and spiritually. The event is based on a donation basis with all time and expenses being provided by the devotees. The public is invited to participate.

Asia Fantasia"Tsunami benefit stage show, silent and live auction, and Asia bazar in Ft COllins, CO on April 9 was a huge success.

It was a multicultural secular event, with the planning group drawn from CSU and thelocal community, representing India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

We had an attendance of about 350-400 people and a net collection of close to$7000, which will be distributed to 5 relief agencies in 3 countries.

.Amma's tsunami relief work will be one of the 5 recipients to receive funds from this event.. We had a table for Amma with a 1-page handout from theAmma Center, that was given out to interested people.. In the slide show for the public event, there were 3-4 slides taken from Amma's website on tsunami relief work. Sreedevi Bringi, Ft COllins Amma satsang coordinator, was a key

Sreedevi Bringi, Ft Collins Amma satsang coordinator, was a key organizer in the planning group for the event.. In addition, 5-6 Ammasatsang volunteers from Ft COllins, Loveland, Boulder and Denver allenthusiastically helped at the event.

Many such benefit efforts are going on in many parts of the country and around the world.
These are small baby steps towards the huge amount being pledged, but giant steps in terms of reaching out to the community and reminding ourselves again and again that the Tsunami is a historical tragedy and the unfortunate victims still need our support and prayers.

Om Lokaha Samasthaha Sukhino Bhavantu

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