Seva Activities In Greece
The Greek team continues Seva activities with humility, devotion, responsibility and love for the people in need. The feelings of gratitude and bliss are inherent in every single person that participates in the preparation of food. Gratitude pervades the whole team, as Swami grants the youth this opportunity, the skills and the energy to serve others; while allowing everyone to discover the meaning of life through putting His words into practice: ‘Love All, Serve All’!
By Swami’s Grace, over the last several months, the group has been distributing to the homeless and to the refugees 600 packs of food on a weekly basis. These packs contain sandwiches, fresh fruit, sweets and fruit juice. Some of these packs are provided to a church close to Piraeus Port which supports families in dire need. Additionally, a number of devotees have now established a good communication channel with the people receiving the food packs. This allows them to assess and respond to additional needs these people have: as a result the homeless are being provided with clean clothes, shoes, warm coats and blankets on a weekly basis, to keep them warm over the cold wintery nights on the streets. Everyone in the group looks forward to the Saturday Seva, as they draw immense delight from the activities themselves, as well as from being in good company and in God’s company.
Moreover, the team continues to distribute monthly, 70 boxes of domestic supplies to families in need in the eastern region of Attica, in cooperation with a social worker in the area. The boxes contain mainly household cleaning products and off-the-shelf food supplies that are planned to cover the needs of a family throughout a month. Depending on the needs, clothes and children’s toys are additionally distributed. Apart from this action in the area, the youth had the chance to visit ‘Constantinopoulion’ Nursing Home and meet the amazing people there and donate food supplies.
Furthermore, in January 2020, the youth organised a celebration for the ‘Athens Nursing Home’ where 100 elderly people are accommodated. Nevertheless, their needs in food supplies, heating and electricity are very big. A party was organised for them in which a lady from the youth group sang beautiful old songs that reminded the elderly of their youth. They danced, had contact with the volunteers and enjoyed a different Sunday morning. It was a lovely morning for everybody as the feeling of joy and happiness totally overwhelmed them. The youth aim to visit the nursing home once a month. In the meantime, in order to address their immediate need for food, by His Grace, the youth managed to secure sponsorship from two large food manufacturers in order to provide the elderly with a large supply of food on a monthly basis.
Additionally, the team donated laptops and school supplies such as pencils, bags, marker pens and notebooks to the children of an orphanage of Piraeus area in order to cover their basic needs for school. In cooperation with the director of the institution and according to their needs, the youth also motivated a company to donate new kitchenware such as dishes, glasses and cutlery.
The 'Growing to be God' team continues with the translation project. Volumes 1 to 6 have been translated so far. The lessons of 'Growing to be God' are also held twice a month. The children, after the lessons, help in preparing sandwiches as they love to participate in it!
