On November 23, the Bay Area chapter of nationwide nonprofit Sewa International held its 14th annual banquet at the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto. The banquet marked a successful year for the charitable organization grounded in the ethos of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, a Sanskrit phrase that translates to “The entire world is one family.”
Sewa International is an almost entirely volunteer-run Hindu faith-based organization but is not a religious organization; while tenets of Hinduism like selfless service are coded into the DNA of Sewa, they work for the upliftment of all underserved communities through healthcare, education, disaster relief, and senior care programs.
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“Give because it feels good”
The evening started with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp and the performance of a prayer song dedicated to Ganesha. Then, hosts Rakhi Israni, Director of Public Relations for Sewa USA, and Dr. Anurag Mairal, President of the Bay Area chapter, welcomed guests and shared some highlights from 2024.
Sewa’s Bay Area chapter started in 2007, and over the years it has grown to include 650 volunteers working across 22 projects. Also, an important part of Sewa’s mission is the 45 partner organizations they work with in twelve Bay Area cities. The overwhelming scope of their operations has meant that the chapter is further divided into two sub-chapters, one each in the South Bay and the East Bay.
“Since most of us work voluntarily, close to 95% of the funds we raise go towards our projects,” said Dr. Mairal, highlighting that donors’ contributions directly impact the communities that Sewa serves.
The keynote speaker for the evening, Colin Boyle, is a faculty member at Haas School of Business in UC Berkeley and the Chair of the Bay Area Global Health Alliance. He spoke about the far-reaching positive impact that voluntary organizations have on civil liberties in societies around the world.
“We really need some ways to bring all of the ‘I’s’ into the ‘We’,” he said. “That’s where Sewa is not only a great model of direct service now, but pretty much a great model for all organizations.”
Echoing Sewa’s motto of selfless service, he encouraged those in attendance to donate to charitable causes like Sewa: “Give till it hurts is the wrong framing,” he said. “Give because it feels good!”
ASPIRE – Addressing the needs of schoolchildren
One of Sewa Bay Area’s most successful projects has been ASPIRE (Achieving Students Progress, Instilling Resilience, and Excellence), a free program for children from underserved communities in the Bay Area. Sewa volunteers collaborate with specially appointed tutors, and partner organizations to provide tutoring, homework assistance, meals, and other supplementary workshops. Led by Program Director Sudha Prabhunandan, ASPIRE has expanded significantly over the last year.
Last year, ASPIRE operated as an after-school program for children in two Newark schools. However, after securing substantial funding from AmeriCorps grants, the program established a solid partnership with the Newark Unified School District and made its way into the classroom.
“We got six to eight teachers last year who worked during the school,” said Sudha. “We started offering enrichment activities too; so we brought in yoga, we bought in robotics, we bought in geography and other activities to these kids. There was an overwhelming response for art activities especially!”
Children who attend these schools often come from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and in many cases, their families have recently immigrated to the country. Despite federal and state assistance programs for such families, they still do not have access to a lot of resources.
At the banquet, stakeholders from Lincoln and Schilling Elementary schools – which are part of the ASPIRE program – shared that there was a tangible improvement in the academic performance of student’s grades and performance thanks to ASPIRE’s efforts.
“On the surface, everything looks like it’s provided for,” said Sneha Kulkarni, a teacher with ASPIRE at Schilling Elementary. “But the only means and resources these kids have is at school.”
Building on its success this year, ASPIRE has already engaged with four more schools in Newark, and three in Livermore, where Sewa will conduct math-focused programs. Sudha hopes that in the year ahead, ASPIRE will have up to 20 teachers, and many more youth volunteers to help 1200 students across the Bay Area, a threefold jump from the 400 students they served last year.
A focus on physical and mental health
Another major pillar of Sewa Bay Area’s mission is to tackle the problems of food insecurity and limited access to healthcare. Through its Health and Wellness Initiative, Sewa enlisted the help of doctors, dentists, dietitians, and yoga practitioners to provide free medical check-ups and healthcare support to Bay Area communities that are in need. Additionally, they also conducted health camps in San Jose and Milpitas to assist in health insurance enrollment. In the coming year, Sewa Bay Area plans to launch 100 mobile clinics to benefit underserved Bay Area communities.
A related problem that many Bay Area residents suffer from is food insecurity. To do thweir bit, Sewa Bay Area volunteers conducted fortnightly food drives, preparing and distributing 200 burritos in partnership with organizations like Agape Silicon Valley and Loreto QD’s Brigade. Cumulatively, they distributed a staggering 4.5 million pounds of food in the last year.
The CALM (Cultivating Acceptance Love and Mindfulness) program, the organization wishes to tackle the stigma surrounding mental health challenges. They conducted more than 50 workshops like mental health first aid and chair yoga, in which more than 2,000 people participated.
Recognizing service, talent
A key component of Sewa’s mission is to empower its youth volunteer cohort that ensures the smooth running of all the programs. This summer, 35 volunteers – all high school students – worked a hundred hours, making them eligible for the Presidential Volunteer Service Awards. The youth volunteers were invited onstage and awarded their certificates during the banquet.
The evening’s entertainment featured an energetic performance by recording artist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Neil Nayyar. Nayyar, a student of virtuoso Guitar Prasanna, is a budding Bay Area musician who can play more than a hundred instruments from all over the world. His saxophone and drum-machine-laden rendition of Aigiri Nandini, a devotional song for Goddess Durga was well-received.
The organization has announced two more awards to individuals whose work has inspired the spirit of service. Himanshu and Milli Seth received the Sewa Excellence Award for their commitment to healthcare through the Saloni Heart Foundation. The Sewa Partner Recognition Award was given to Loreto Qevedo Dimaandal, community organizer and founder of LoretoQD’s Brigade, a grassroots organization that works to provide food, healthcare, housing, and other support to Silicon Valley’s underserved communities.