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To our donors, staff and volunteers we send sincere appreciation. It is through your contributions that The PRASAD Project has touched the lives of thousands of people!

We also give our profound thanks to the SYDA Foundation for their kind support of PRASAD, the philanthropic expression of the SYDA Foundation.

 A message from the Board:

In the early days, what mattered most were food and basic medical care, in India’s Tansa Valley. PRASAD responded with the Milk Project and the Shree Muktananda Mobile Hospital. Over the years, eye camps, educational and community development programs followed.

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 Member, PRASAD Self-Help Group 

Tansa Valley, India- PRASAD Chikitsa’s staff, volunteers and beneficiaries have planned a month-long program of events for, by and about women – cervical & breast cancer screenings, women’s rights, social and economic opportunities – and skits that entertain as they shine a light on other serious issues that affect women. Read more…

We offer our deepest gratitude to
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
for initiating the work of The PRASAD Project.

To you, our donors, trustees, staff and volunteers,
we offer our sincere appreciation.
It is because of your contributions that
The PRASAD Project has touched the lives of thousands of people!

We also give our heartfelt thanks to the SYDA Foundation
for their kind support over the years.

From January through December, we will explore PRASAD’s rich, philanthropic history to bring you the warmest stories and the most inspiring photos of the people whom we have served during the past two decades.

There are so many opportunities for you to participate in
PRASAD’s 20th Anniversary Celebration:

• Become a PRASAD Monthly Partner, or increase your monthly gift amount.
• Donate and send one of our e-Cards in honor of a loved one.
• Share PRASAD’s e-news with your friends. Just use the ‘Forward’ option from your browser’s toolbar.
• Contact us and tell us your comments about The PRASAD Project!

Philanthropic Relief Altruistic Service And Development

Now, when you make a gift to PRASAD, you can create a free, illustrated
e-Card with your own unique message, to express your warm feelings and intentions to the recipient.

PRASAD e-Cards are easy to send. After you have made your contribution through the Donation page or the Gift Catalogue, you will be directed back to a Transaction Results page, where you can click the e-Card link, and follow these four simple steps.

1) Choose an image
2) Write your message
3) Review your message
4) Send

There are so many great reasons to make a gift and send an e-Card – birthdays, holidays, marriages, anniversaries, graduation, in memory of a loved one – these are just a few of those reasons. Best of all, there is no required minimum donation – you may send an e-Card with your gift in any amount.

Now is the perfect time for you to give in honor of a loved one, and send a personalized e-Card.

Your gifts to PRASAD became seedlings, agricultural supplies, medical care, education, environmental protection, mentoring, advocacy, clean drinking water, Self-Help Groups, a children’s library, health education, and training programs, etc. that made their progress possible. On behalf of the people benefited, we offer you profound thanks.

We have two important Milestones to report for 2011:

This year marked the 20^th anniversary of one of PRASAD’s earliest initiatives in India, the Eye Program. It the ideal time to shine a fresh light on this amazing program, which has served nearly 1 million people in the Tansa Valley!

It began in 1991, as a traveling program of eye camps and community outreach to provide corrective surgery to villagers suffering from cataracts. In 2003, the program added the permanent, Gurudev Siddha Peeth Netra Chikitsa Eye Hospital, while continuing the outreach and eye camps. These expanded in 2006, to include the most remote areas of the valley.

Also enjoying its 20^th anniversary is the Education Program – from presenting school supplies to young children who have none, to providing college scholarships to promising students, the education initiative is a crucial component of PRASAD’s efforts to break the cycle of ignorance and poverty in the Tansa Valley.

The end is also the beginning!

We are also eager to welcome the New Year. This will be a very special and exciting one, filled with promise, as we will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of The PRASAD Project itself! We invite you to join our celebration by making a year-end gift.

All of us at The PRASAD Project wish you a joyful holiday and a prosperous New Year!

And what could be more joyfully rewarding than restoring one person’s sight? Try multiplying it by 23,000. That is the number of corrective operations the surgical team has performed during Carlos’ tenure!

“I feel blessed for the privilege of helping these children to start a new life, to improve their ability to study, to play with their friends and to enjoy seeing their reflection in a mirror,” said Carlos. For example, Edith, age 10, says she is eager to go to school now, because, “I have normal eyes and my classmates won’t call me cross-eyes.”

Carlos added, “It is, for me personally, an opportunity to work with my wife Angelica, who, from the first eye camp season, has been my inseparable companion in this incredible adventure.”

Editor’s note: PRASAD de Mexico’s volunteer surgical team performs free, corrective surgery among children and adults suffering from cataracts and strabismus (crossed eyes). To date, the team has performed eye surgery for more than 23,000 adults and children.

The objectives were to stimulate interest in protecting and conserving the environment in the Tansa Valley and to provide the tools to achieve that. The outcomes include a plan of action that is both practical and exciting, and a committee to carry out the plan.

In the words of one PC staff member, the villagers and PRASAD Self-Help Groups (SHG) here “…have displayed exemplary ownership in running the affairs of the village by themselves. They participate in decision making and set examples of good governance including 100 percent compliance with guidelines for personal waste disposal, water conservation and managing of household waste by composting it.”

Mr. Mehta, a well-known environmentalist, spoke about the causes and effects of pollution, and his personal experiences in combating them. As he enumerated those causes – pesticides, industrialization, ignorance of environmental laws, poor waste-management and failure to protect and manage resources – he also offered hope in form of effective, grass-roots counter-measures that our Self-Help Groups, Farmers Clubs, village leaders and even youth groups can implement easily.

Informed and inspired, the villagers immediately created a preliminary Environmental Action Plan, and a new committee to implement that plan!

The Chikitsa Action Plan

• Environment Awareness Campaigns
• Celebrate Environment Week and Earth Day,
• Plant fast-growth trees for fuel, fodder and household use

The committee’s first task is to create the Environmental Awareness Presentation and to schedule events for the campaign.

Make a donation now to support PRASAD’s work and bring opportunities for the people of Tansa Valley to contribute to environmental protection and their communities.