TPRF - The Prem Rawat Foundation: Apr 25, 2009

Saturday

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Gives Grant of US$20,000 for Cambodian Children’s Fund

The Foundation’s second grant to CCF will provide food for over 1,000 people in toxic landfill area of Phnom Penh

Los Angeles, March, 2009 —The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has given a grant of $20,000 to the Cambodian Children’s Fund (CCF), its second grant in two years, to provide food for 1,076 people trying to survive in the landfill district of Seung Meanchey, one of the most toxic garbage dumps in Southeast Asia. The children living here typically spend their days scavenging for food and recyclables, regularly suffering injury and disease as well as malnutrition. The estimated child mortality rate is 20%.

The TPRF grant will provide food year-round for four residential educational facilities, the Community Child Care Center for preschool children, and the Community Café. Scott Neeson, Founder and Executive Director of CCF, expressed, "The Cambodian Children's Fund serves one of the most impoverished and deprived populations in the world. The Prem Rawat Foundation grant provides our community with an assurance that their basic food requirements will continue to be met. With so many ambitious plans to save the world, the beauty of Prem Rawat's work is in its simplicity: feed the impoverished."

CCF’s four residential educational facilities literally rescue children who have been relegated to a life in the dump, providing them with food, medical care, education and preparation to beat the odds and live productive lives. TPRF funds will directly provide the 440 children three nutritious meals and a snack six days a week and lunch for 140 staff members, many of whom come from the same impoverished area.

TPRF’s grant will also provide two meals and a snack for 58 children aged two to six and 27 staff members of Community Child Care Center, where children are not only fed but given shelter, healthcare, immunizations, preschool education and training in hygiene while their parents attempt to earn a meager living.

Remaining funds will go to the Community Café, which offers subsidized meals made fresh daily from local produce for an average of 500 people a month.

CCF reports that, “Even in a short period of time, the change in these young children is remarkable. Within several weeks of improved nutrition, these previously malnourished children demonstrate more energy, focus and alertness. They show healthy height and body mass increases, and damaged hair and skin begin to heal and show new vitality.”

Photos courtesy of Cambodian Children’s Fund

About The Prem Rawat Foundation
The Prem Rawat Foundation was created in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, and has a dual mission of bringing his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. TPRF partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed.

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF GIVES US$25,000 to Provide 1,000 People with Access to Clean Water

February, 2009 —The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a grant of $25,000 to help the internationally known WaterAid charity continue its projects throughout Asia and Africa to provide people access to safe water and proper sanitation.

The findings are staggering: As many as one in eight people in the world (884 million) do not have access to safe water; as many as 2.5 billion people (40% of the world’s population) do not have access to sanitation; and about 1.8 million children die every year as a result of diseases caused by unclean water and poor sanitation.

A major focus of The Prem Rawat Foundation is helping ensure that people have sustainable access to clean water as a first step in moving out of the cycle of poverty and disease.

The Foundation has provided clean water to 2,500 schoolchildren in rural Thailand; 15,000 in Pakistan; and both food and water to hundreds of children who had been rescued from a life in the garbage dumps in Cambodia.

In Africa, TPRF has helped provide water wells and sanitation facilities in 23 villages in Ghana, including training local people to manage the facilities and keep them in good repair; and has provided clean water systems for 11,000 in Mozambique and 40,000 in Niger, where one in five children die before the age of five, many due to diseases carried in their water.

This latest grant from TPRF continues the Foundation’s efforts to help the world’s poorest people gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education.

Photo credit: WaterAid/Marco Betti

About WaterAid
WaterAid is an international charity based in the United Kingdom, whose mission is to overcome poverty by enabling the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Founded in 1981, with a vision of a world where everyone has access to safe water and sanitation, WaterAid is currently working in 11 African countries and four Asian countries. http://www.wateraid.org/uk/

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF’s Grant of US$50,000 Provides Eye Care for 9,700 People

Los Angeles, January 2009 — The Prem Rawat Foundation donated $50,000 to sponsor five eye clinics in poor, rural areas of India during November and December, 2008, with its partner, Premsagar Foundation India.

Clinics were held in Ranchi (four days), Hyderabad (three days), Jaipur (three days), Dausa (two days), and Delhi (four days). Doctors and optometrists examined nearly 9,700 people, giving eye drops for infections to over 8,500 and providing over 6,400 pairs of glasses. Cataracts were identified in over 1,000 people, who were referred to specialists.

“This camp gives eyes to the blind,” said Maheshwari Devi, one of the attendees, “I was given spectacles after my eye examination. Now I shall be able to do my routine work without difficulty.”

Over 15 million people in India suffer from blindness, and it is estimated that 75% of them could have preserved their sight with the proper care. (“The Times of India,” October, 2007.) Yet the country continues to suffer from a severe shortage of eye-care professionals and lack of eye care for its poorest residents, resulting in limited educational and economic opportunity for them.

“It’s an honor to be a part of this camp serving people who don’t even have primary health care services,” said Dr. Ratnesh Kumar, one of the attending physicians who donated his time to provide care. “This eye clinic offers selfless service to a needy population in their own neighborhood at no charge.”

For the past five years, TPRF has regularly held eye clinics throughout India, with doctors and eye specialists who have donated their services. To date, nearly 30,000 people have had their eyes examined, nearly 18,000 have received eyeglasses, over 22,000 have received eye drops, and 2,400 instances of cataracts have been identified and referred for further medical care.

“It has been difficult for me to read and identify words, but now it is easy for me to see things,” said Mr. Hari Narayan, from the village of Lakhana. “I was even given eye medicine. Now I can do some reading and writing work.”

About Premsagar Foundation India
The Premsagar Foundation India, a nonprofit public charitable trust, carries out various projects for the benefit of the poor and needy in India.

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Funds Breakfast Program for Elementary School Children in the Yucatán

Los Angeles, December 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has extended its work with Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya I.A.P. in Mexico to provide a breakfast program for the 59 students of Alfredo Peniche Erosa elementary school in San Pedro Chenchela, Espita, Yucatán, through the end of the school year in June 2009.

San Pedro Chenchela is a small Mayan community with only one elementary school. Typically, the children there come from families trying to cope with severe poverty. They arrive at school hungry, as the only breakfast available to them at home is a hot drink made from soaking burned tortillas in water and sugar, simulating a kind of “coffee,” sometimes accompanied by a taco with a little tomato. Malnutrition in the area is rampant.

Now children arrive 45 minutes early for school to be served a nutritionally-balanced breakfast. The new program has become a community effort. Each school day, two teachers supervise the meal and four different mothers come to prepare the food while learning, in the process, the basics of clean food preparation and nutrition. While the meals are now quite substantial, initially they were small. Since the children were accustomed to eating so little, they might have become sick from too sudden a change.

Maria Jose Medina Diaz, President of Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya, was moved to tears when she first saw the eager smiles on the faces of the children as they ate with such obvious enjoyment. “The teachers told us that the children were becoming more attentive in class and, in general, appeared more content,” she reported. “And the mothers often smiled and laughed as they learned to prepare the breakfasts. They seemed to be very happy for their children.”

TPRF first partnered with Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya I.A.P. in 2006 to provide the supplies needed to replace roofs on water- and wind-damaged homes in two farming communities in the Cancun area after Hurricane Wilma, and later in 2007 to bring relief to flood victims in the state of Tabasco.

Photos Courtesy of Maria Jose Medina

About Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Mayas I.A.P.
Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Mayas I.A.P. is a nonprofit organization under the laws of Mexico which provides, in collaboration with other national and international foundations, services and goods to children and families suffering from malnutrition problems and extreme poverty in the Yucatán State of Mexico.

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Gives US$15,000 Grant to Provide Clean Water to 60 Schools in Pakistan

TPRF and Pakistani Rotary Club bring clean drinking water to 20,000 students

Read original press release

Los Angeles, October 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a contribution of $15,000 to the Rotary Club Lahore Mozang, which will add $5,000 in matching funds, to provide clean drinking water for 60 schools in the Punjab region of Pakistan serving approximately 20,000 elementary through high school students.

“An estimated 250,000 child deaths occur each year in Pakistan due to waterborne disease,” according to USAID. “Waterborne infections such as cholera, typhoid fever and dysentery also burden the public health system and can impose significant economic losses.”

The Rotary Club will purchase a water pump and cooler for each school and provide them to the Ghazali Education Trust (GET) for installation. The water system will become an ongoing community responsibility, expected to benefit students as well as their families and their communities by decreasing the spread of disease and improving educational opportunities.

Established in 1995, GET is a nonprofit government organization operating 270 schools in impoverished and rural areas of Pakistan, many of which have no access to piped water. Within four months, 60 schools will benefit from new water pumps with electric motors, purifying equipment and cooled storage tanks, essential in a country that has summer weather nine months of the year.

Photos Courtesy of Ghazali Education Trust

About Rotary Club Lahore Mozang
Rotary Club Lahore Mozang, a nonprofit organization, is an individual Rotary Club belonging to Rotary International. A worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional and community leaders, Rotary Clubs provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious and open to all cultures, races and creeds.

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Gives US$20,000 to Provide Eye Care for Thousands in Gaza

The Prem Rawat Foundation aids St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, treating over 17,000 people in war-torn Gaza

Read original press release

Los Angeles, November 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a contribution of $20,000 to help St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital continue providing care in conflict-ridden Gaza. The only charitable provider of eye care in Gaza, St. John is open to all patients, regardless of race, religion or ability to pay.

St. John Eye Hospital is one of the few medical care institutions currently functional in the Gaza territory, where all infrastructure, including the healthcare system, is in nearly complete collapse.

It is now estimated that over 80% of the population of Gaza is dependent on humanitarian assistance. According to a March 2008 report* by a consortium of humanitarian agencies including Amnesty International, Oxfam and Save the Children UK, 70% of households in Gaza subsist on $1.20 a day, almost half the $2.30 that denotes “deep” poverty. Despite these conditions, the St. John clinic has managed not only to remain in operation, but to treat over 17,000 people in 2007, which is 3,600 more than in 2006.

Dr. Jom’a El Jazzar, head of the St. John Eye Hospital Clinic, said, “The donation from The Prem Rawat Foundation will have a very real and demonstrative impact on our ability to broaden and deepen our much-needed humanitarian services.”

The St. John primary and secondary care clinic in Gaza runs five days a week, offering surgery four days a week. When eye disease requires treatment that the clinic cannot provide, St. John coordinates the successful transfer of patients to its hospital in Jerusalem—a difficult feat in the volatile region.

While 80% of blindness is preventable with early diagnosis and proper treatment, blindness is 10 times higher in Palestine than in most Western countries. Blindness has economic consequences for an entire society—decreasing educational opportunities, raising unemployment and consequently decreasing tax revenue, while adding the burden of providing additional humanitarian and medical care.

Photos courtesy of The St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group

* “The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion,” March 9, 2008, Amnesty International, CARE International UK, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, Christian Aid, Medecins du Monde UK, Oxfam, Save the Children UK, Trocaire.

Photo courtesy of Steve Sabella

About St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital
St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital, established in 1882 for charitable works in Jerusalem, has become the main center for expert eye care service in the region at the Main Hospital in East Jerusalem and satellite clinics in Gaza and the West Bank. St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital’s fundraising appeal for 2008 will support the Gaza Clinic, which has been operating since 1992. http://www.stjohneyehospital.org/

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Gives US$25,000 to Reduce Blindness in Rajasthan, India

The Prem Rawat Foundation’s grant will support ORBIS UK in preventing blindness in thousands of children in northwestern India

Read original press release

Los Angeles, November 2008 —The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a grant of US$25,000 to ORBIS UK, a beneficiary of the 2008 Lord Mayor of the City of London’s Appeal, to support ORBIS UK and the Lord Mayor’s Childhood Blindness Programme in India.

According to ORBIS UK, India is home to almost 20% of the world’s blind children. Over 320,000 children under the age of 16 are totally blind, while even more are visually impaired and at risk of losing their sight. At least half of these children could likely be cured with proper care, yet only 1% of India’s ophthalmologists are trained to treat children.

“This donation will certainly make a real contribution in achieving our aim to make the lives of future generations brighter,” says Wendy Lloyd, director of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2008. “It is enormously encouraging to receive such fantastic support.”

The TPRF grant will support ORBIS UK and the Lord Mayor’s Childhood Blindness Programme in the development of two children’s eye care centers, in partnership with local hospitals in Jaipur and Udaipur, areas in the state of Rajasthan where there are now no pediatric ophthalmologists. These centers will provide eye screening for 200,000 children, with an estimated 23,000 receiving medical treatment; 2,000 receiving eye surgery; and 10,000 families educated about detecting problems and protecting their vision. Equipment and personnel will be provided to sustain long-term eye care services for children in poor local communities.

It is estimated that the economic impact of blindness in India is approximately US$4.4 billion annually. Blindness and visual impairment limit education and life choices and place a heavy burden on families and the wider community. Blind and visually impaired children in India almost never receive an education, get married or live independent lives.

Photographs Courtesy of ORBIS

About ORBIS UK
ORBIS UK is a London-based affiliate of ORBIS International, a nonprofit, global development organization whose mission is to eliminate avoidable blindness in developing countries by strengthening the capacity of local eye health partners to prevent and treat avoidable blindness. ORBIS has pioneered the introduction of pediatric ophthalmology services in seven rural districts of India. It also operates a DC-10 Flying Eye Hospital that brings the gift of sight to developing countries around the world.

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Donating US$250,000 to Build Second "Food for People" Facility in Rural Nepal

First Food for People Facility in Bantoli, India, Serving 100,000 Meals Each Year

Read original press release

Los Angeles, September 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) is donating US$250,000 to build and maintain a sustainable "Food for People" facility in the impoverished Tasarpu village in Nepal's mountainous Dhading region. The Tasarpu center will provide nutritious hot meals year-round to approximately 500 children. Premsagar Foundation Nepal, a charity seeking to relieve Nepal's poor after a ten-year period of political instability, will spearhead the project.

The launch of Food for People in Tasarpu will help the Premsagar Foundation Nepal in its goal of improving the community’s educational and economic growth, according to Dornath Neupane, General Secretary of Premsagar Foundation Nepal. Addressing the food needs of underprivileged children of low- and moderate-income residents of Tasarpu village, says Neupane, will "provide them with the opportunity to get back into mainstream society by uplifting their well-being." Organizers expect that school attendance will rise significantly, especially among the girls.

The mountainous landscape and cold climate of Tasarpu make it difficult to grow adequate crops, and over 80% of Tasarpu's residents cannot produce enough food to sustain themselves throughout the year. With little education or opportunity to advance, many resort to hard labor for private construction contractors who often disappear upon completion of projects, leaving their workers empty-handed.

The Food for People model of sustainable giving has already proven effective in reversing the poverty conditions of Bantoli, a village in Jharkhand, India, where the program is now in its third year of operation.

"The regular meals provided by Food for People in Bantoli have had a dramatic impact on the community, allowing children to return to their studies and adults to regain their economic viability," says TPRF President Linda Pascotto. "We hope that this model for a sustainable, creative solution that respects local customs and individual dignity will prove equally beneficial in Nepal."

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Gives US$100,000 for Clean Water in Ghana

Grant to Community Water and Ecological Sanitation Care is Third in Series, Bringing Clean Water to 23 Communities

Read original press release

Los Angeles, July 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has made a grant of US$100,000 to Community Water and Ecological Sanitation Care (CWESC) to provide 10 impoverished communities within Ghana's Wa West and Gemoa East districts with potable water and proper sanitation essential to eliminating debilitating diseases associated with contaminated water. The grant is the third in a series that will help a total of 23 communities and nearly 100,000 people in Ghana.

“Less than five percent of the residents living in these regions are currently able to obtain safe drinking water. Many are forced to salvage what they can from streams, ponds or makeshift wells—sources scientifically proven to be unsafe for human consumption,” notes TPRF President Linda Pascotto. “On average, these sources lie nearly two kilometers (over a mile) away from residences, forcing women and children to haul water over exhausting distances in order to satisfy the needs of their communities.” [See photos of current water sources.] Bacterial growth within this water leads to guinea worm infestation, a parasite that causes extremely painful and long-term debilitation. Such parasites and other dangers are easily avoided by the use of safe drinking water and simple changes in personal behavior.

TPRF's grant will fund construction of sustainable, demand-driven water systems, including rain harvesting, mechanized boreholes and hand-dug wells and dams, providing 20 liters of fresh water daily to each individual within the 10 villages. These safe water supplies will be within 500 meters (0.3 miles) of every household. In addition, ecological sanitation toilets will be installed in 10 households within three separate communities.

To make this project sustainable, CWESC will organize and train local residents to spearhead relief efforts, emphasizing the involvement of women previously burdened with the task of finding water. Once formed, these water and sanitation committees will help build, own and maintain the clean water systems, providing long-lasting benefits for their communities. Further education on sanitation will promote better living conditions, better health and increased productivity for all residents. It is also anticipated that children, especially the young girls, whose responsibility has been to carry water from its source back to the villages, will soon be able to attend school more regularly. Education for young women is key to the future economic well-being of families and communities in this area.

"We wish to express our profound gratitude to you for this opportunity," says Ralph Osei-Agyemang, project coordinator of CWESC.

TPRF's grant will fund the 12-month project, culminating in April 2009. George Ortsin, National Programme Coordinator of the UNDP Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme-Ghana, who managed a previous grant of $100,000 from TPRF, will retain oversight of the project with CWESC.

( Photos courtesy of Ecosanitation and Community Water Care- Ghana. )

About the Community Water and Ecological Sanitation Care
Community Water and Ecological Sanitation Care (CWESC) is a local non-governmental organization, managed and implemented as a collaborative effort among local communities in Ghana. CWESC operates through the local partners formed at the community levels and functions as a decentralized, demand-driven funding mechanism for sustainable community-based water and sanitation development and management.

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Gives US$40,000 to America’s Second Harvest to Aid U.S. Midwest Residents Caught in Floods

America’s Second Harvest delivers aid to communities in five states

Read original press release

Los Angeles, July 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has granted America's Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network US$40,000 to provide food and water to those stricken by recent flooding in the Midwest. America's Second Harvest, the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States, will use this grant to work closely with local food banks to bring food and water to those affected by floods, many of whom have been forced to evacuate their homes.

“Thousands of homes, farms, businesses and jobs have been lost,” says TPRF President Linda Pascotto. “Lives have been threatened and disrupted by this ongoing disaster.”

While recent storms have caused extensive damage throughout several states in the Midwest region, Iowa remains one of the hardest hit with 83 of its 99 counties declared disaster areas. From 35,000 to 40,000 Iowa residents have fled their homes and farms as floodwaters surged over nearby levees. Supplies remain scarce, and many people are still in dire need of both fresh food and clean water. TPRF's grant will enable relief efforts throughout the region, helping to facilitate the transportation of goods to local food banks currently supporting displaced people.

For every dollar donated, America’s Second Harvest provides 16 meals to Americans in need.

According to ASH, even after the initial recovery period, it is expected that the need for food will be ongoing. Individuals without adequate flood insurance will be facing significant financial hardships in the coming months as they clean and rebuild their homes. In addition, individuals whose livelihoods were affected by the floods—such as those whose crops or livestock were destroyed—will also be facing economic difficulties. Many of these individuals will turn to ASH food banks and their network of food pantries and soup kitchens for help.

“We are extremely grateful for The Prem Rawat Foundation’s interest in supporting our efforts to respond to the unprecedented flooding in the Midwest,” states Vicki Escarra, President and CEO of America’s Second Harvest.

One of America’s Second Harvest’s Members is the Houston Food Bank (HFB), which was the recipient of a TPRF grant of $125,000 to provide food for evacuees of Hurricane Katrina in the U.S. in 2005 and $50,000 to provide over 80,000 meals for at-risk children at the HFB’s Kids Café earlier this year.

Photos Courtesy of America’s Second Harvest

About America’s Second Harvest
America's Second Harvest – The Nation’s Food Bank Network is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through its network of more than 200 member food banks, America's Second Harvest annually provides assistance to more than 25 million people in need, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each year, America's Second Harvest secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of donated food and grocery products to support feeding programs at approximately 50,000 local charitable agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs and Kids Cafes.
http://www.secondharvest.org/.

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Provides US$15,000 for People Disabled by 8.0 Earthquake in China

Grant to China Disabled Persons’ Federation brings clean water and food to survivors

Read original press release

Los Angeles, June 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has donated US$15,000 to the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) to provide food and bottled water for survivors of the 8.0 magnitude earthquake that devastated southwestern China’s Sichuan Province on May 12. A respected charity that specializes in attending to the needs and rights of disabled people in China, CDPF was quick to respond to the staggering affects of the earthquake that left almost 70,000 dead and more than 370,000 injured.

“TPRF’s grant helps meet immediate needs of food, water and shelter for the hundreds of thousands affected by the worst disaster to hit China in 30 years,” says TPRF President Linda Pascotto. “Within ten days of the disaster, CDPF teams spread out through Sichuan, bringing food and water along with medical professionals and equipment.” Team members included experts in spinal injury, traumatic brain injury, orthopedics, amputation, rehabilitation and psychology.

Recognizing CDPF’s work on behalf of the disabled, TPRF gave the organization US$150,000 at the end of last year, to be disbursed over two years to fund the “Nutritional Plan for Students with Disabilities.” The grant is providing nutritious food to 480 visually impaired, deaf and intellectually disabled students at special schools in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region's Baise City and to 320 visually impaired students at special schools in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to The Prem Rawat Foundation for the concern and support to the disabled children in the two regions,” says Chen Ya'an, Director General of CDPF’s International Affairs Department.

( Photos courtesy of China Disabled Persons' Federation)

About the China Disabled Persons’ Federation
Established in 1988, the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) is a unified organization of/for the 83 million persons with various categories of disabilities in China. Headquartered in Beijing, it has a nationwide umbrella network reaching every part of China with about 80,000 full-time workers. http://www.cdpf.org.cn/home/home.htm

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Donates US$100,000 for Disaster Relief in Myanmar

Read original press release

Los Angeles, May 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has donated US$100,000 to bring immediate aid to the hundreds of thousands of survivors who have been stranded without food, shelter or potable water after Cyclone Nargis hit the country on May 2. Through Friends of the World Food Program, TPRF’s donation will help the UN World Food Program (WFP) provide aid directly to those most affected by the disaster.

“WFP was one of the first humanitarian agencies to be allowed to deliver aid directly to the people rather than through the government of Myanmar,” notes TPRF President Linda Pascotto. “Our years-long partnership with Friends of the World Food Program to distribute aid directly has meant that our donors have been assured that their funds have had a great impact on those most in need. We are again grateful for this partnership, as we are able to assure our donors that their donations are getting directly to the victims of Cyclone Nargis.”

In the three weeks since the cyclone hit, WFP has dispatched a two-week ration of rice for 340,000 people in eight townships in and around Yangon and seven in the Ayeyarwady delta. They have also provided high-energy biscuits for over 107,000 children.

Even so, there are communities that have not yet been reached by any outside agencies. Much of the area is reachable only by boat, which makes the delivery of assistance even more challenging. The Myanmar authorities have now given WFP permission to bring in 10 helicopters, the first of which will arrive from Malaysia on May 22nd. In addition, WFP has now contracted four barges and two tug boats capable of moving large amounts of food and other humanitarian aid. All of this will help to improve the delivery of much-needed aid to these people.

In all, WFP is currently planning to provide lifesaving food assistance for 630,000 people for six months, until the next harvest in October/November. Long-term assistance is needed because the storm has devastated the crops in Ayeyarwady, the country’s largest rice-producing district.

“Time is of the essence,” says WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “We are mobilizing all possible resources to save lives, given the massive disruption in food, water and shelter caused by the storm.”

The damage is widespread and is expected to have long-lasting effects. With an official disaster area that includes 24 million people, which is over half the population of Myanmar (Burma), it is estimated that 1.5 million are in urgent need of assistance. Flooding and seriously damaged infrastructure and communication systems add to the challenge of the rescue effort.

Photo credits WFP/Hakan Tongul

Photo credits WFP/Anabelle Wang

The Prem Rawat Foundation was created in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, and has a dual mission of bringing his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. TPRF partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed.

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Gives US$50,000 for Food Aid in Haiti

Read original press release

Los Angeles, May 2008 —The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has offered a US$50,000 challenge grant through the Facebook “Causes” page to help thousands of people at risk of starvation in Haiti due to the recent dramatic rise in food prices. TPRF’s challenge to Facebook members is to raise an additional $50,000, for a total of $100,000, which can supply food for 60,000 people for one month.

“Through TPRF’s partnership with Friends of the World Food Program, the fundraising arm of the United Nations’ World Food Program, food will be distributed directly to Haitians at risk of starvation,” says Linda Pascotto, President of TPRF.

The crisis in Haiti made international headlines last month when thousands rioted in the streets to protest the rising cost of staple food like rice and beans. Haiti is rated as the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and one of the least developed in the world. The World Food Program reports that half the population lives on less than $1 per day. The average per capita income is $485 a year. Chronic malnutrition has long been a problem in Haiti, but with the cost of basic foods nearly doubling in the last few months, the situation has reached panic proportions.

The rise of food prices worldwide has had disastrous effects in many countries, but in a country such as Haiti, there are no reserves to fall back on. Most of the once-rich farmland has been depleted of nutrients and destroyed by erosion and flooding caused by tropical storms. Now Haiti imports 80 percent of its rice, the main ingredient of the typical meal. When prices go up, there is only one result possible: some will starve unless outside aid comes their way.

“The riots in Haiti have drawn the world’s attention to the crisis of rising food prices,” said Karen Sendelback, President and CEO, Friends of the World Program. “TPRF’s generous contribution will not only help the people of Haiti through this critical time but also encourage the online community to donate.”

So far, over US$9,000 has been contributed by more than 6,500 people on Facebook Causes for “Feed Hungry Children in Haiti.”

Photo credits WFP/Anne Poulsen

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Donates US$10,000 for Disabled in Niger

Read original press release

Los Angeles, June 5, 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has donated US$10,000 to the Koulawa NGO organization in Niamey, Niger, to provide food for more than 250 disabled women and children, who are in various education and training programs.

An exceptionally arid region on the edge of the Sahara desert, Niger has long suffered political instability, draught and scarcity of food. With the recent rapid increase in the price of cereals, many of those most at risk have been faced with the threat of starvation.

Staple foods such as rice, corn, millet and sorghum provided by TPRF’s grant will enable the women and children in the program facing abject poverty to “stay in the NGO center rather than beg for food in the streets,” says Coordinator Mme. Mahadi Zeinabou.

“TPRF’s assistance will allow program participants to focus on education and vocational training to learn the required skills for them to become independent,” notes Linda Pascotto, President of TPRF.

Koulawa NGO is a non-profit, non-government agency that aims to improve the conditions of the disabled in Niamey, Niger’s largest city. Koulawa NGO’s objectives include the training, promotion and social integration of the disabled, in order to improve their living conditions. The organization focuses on disabled women and children, providing specialized education, access to maternity and pediatric healthcare, and activities to generate funds.

Five target groups in five towns of Niamey will receive assistance: 50 blind students; 50 blind women; 100 deaf students; and 50 handicapped women, many of whom are blind.

The Prem Rawat Foundation was created in 2001 by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji, and has a dual mission of bringing his message of peace to people around the world and providing essential humanitarian aid to those in need. TPRF partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and rapid disaster relief where it is most needed.

To learn more about TPRF’s humanitarian initiatives, Prem Rawat and his message of peace, please visit http://tprf.org/pressrel/20080605-Niger_Grant.htm

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | $20,000 Grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation to Support Prison Telecasts

As Many As 900,000 Inmates to See Positive Messages of Hope and Fulfillment

Read original press release

Instructor Lee Logue facilitates TLN classes

Los Angeles, May 8, 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) has donated $20,000 to the Maryland-based Correctional Education Association (CEA) to underwrite the costs of telecasts on the Transforming Lives Network (TLN) that present Prem Rawat’s message of hope and the possibility of personal fulfillment to U.S. prison populations.

The grant will cover expenses associated with telecasting half-hour “Words of Peace” programs for one year, eventually making them available in Spanish. CEA sources say the TLN programs reach between 500,000 and 900,000 inmates nationwide, as well as about 300,000 correctional staff and workers.

More than 98% of the prison population will return to their communities after serving their sentences. John Holt, who oversees the Words of Peace Prison Network in the U.S., said that Prem Rawat’s message can provide both those leaving prison and those who must remain with a new sense of hope and an opportunity for a life-long process of learning and self development.

Potomac Highlands Regional Jail, West Virginia

“Words of Peace,”which is now shown 20 times weekly on TLN, features excerpts from international addresses given by Prem Rawat on the possibility of finding fulfillment and peace within.

The series “Words of Peace” is also shown at correctional facilities in Africa, India, New Zealand, Mexico and South America. “We believe that ‘Words of Peace’ will help bring positive change to offenders and corrections workers,” said Anne Charles, project director for CEA’s Transforming Lives Network.

The response from prisoners to the programs has been enthusiastic. Writing to express his appreciation for “Words of Peace,” Cedric, a California prisoner, said, “It gave me some insight on how to look at life from a different perspective.” AJ, from another California prison, said, “I must say that Prem Rawat’s message truly resonates with my heart on a deep level.”

( Photos courtesy of Steve Steuer)

About the Correctional Education Association
The Correctional Education Association, founded in 1945, is a nonprofit, professional association serving educators and administrators who provide services to students in correctional settings.

Contacts
The Prem Rawat Foundation
Linda Pascotto, President
http://tprf.org/

CEA
Steve Steurer, Executive Director
1-443-459-3080
http://www.ceanational.org

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | $26,000 Grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation Aids Flood Victims in Ecuador

Grant to Montañas de Esperanza will feed 1,500 families for one month

Read original press release

Los Angeles, April 21, 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation has donated $26,000 to Montañas de Esperanza or Mountains of Hope (MdE), a local non-profit in northern Ecuador, to provide relief to flood victims in the coastal village of Santa Lucia. The grant will supply 32 tons of vital food supplies to feed 1,500 families (c.7,500 people) for one month.

Ecuador has been battered by torrential rains since early January, which have affected 40% of the country, destroying entire towns, crops and herds of livestock, particularly in the coastal areas. As many as 300,000 people have been uprooted from their homes, and over 14,000 are still living in shelters, including at least 5,000 children. Rescue efforts have been severely hampered by the widespread flooding of roads and disruption of transportation services.

MdE has designed a unique collaborative effort to supply nutritious food for the people of Santa Lucia, one of the most severely affected areas, with the cooperation of the Ecuadorian Red Cross, Regional Andean Farmers Cooperatives, the National Emergency Operations Center, community leaders and individual volunteers. This will be one of the largest deliveries of aid to flood victims by a non-government agency on the Ecuadorian coast to date.

Six hundred and thirty 100-pound bags of highly nutritional dried haba beans, barley rice, milled wheat and corn grown in the agricultural region of Pimampiro were repackaged at a school auditorium into 45-pound family kits by over 100 community volunteers this past weekend. Each completed family kit also includes raw organic sugar, ovo preserves (a vital fruit), and a nourishing cereal grain drink mix, along with recipes and spices for cooking the food. Other volunteers, coming from as far away as Quito, prepared meals for the helpers using some of the recipes so all could sample what they were helping to provide.

The Mayor of Pimampiro, Lic. Ivan Paredes, has arranged free use of an 18-wheel trailer truck to deliver the packages to Santa Lucia, some 17 hours away, a journey which begins tomorrow. Accompanying the food kits will be two tons of water bottles, clothes and personal sanitation kits from the Imbabura Red Cross, and school materials and art supplies funded by a grant from the Ibarra Rotary Club. On Wednesday, the food kits and emergency supplies will be delivered to 1,500 families, supplying each family with food for a month.

The distribution of the family kits is being managed by Mountains of Hope in collaboration with the Ecuadorian Red Cross, Ecuadorian Civil Defense, the Ecuadorian Ministry of Social and Economic Development, and local municipal and social service agencies.

Photographs by Jaime Alarcón Valencia

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Provides Clean Water Systems in Mozambique

Read original press release

Los Angeles, April 2008 — Like many children in the world, the children in Zitundo, Mozambique, wake up every morning looking forward to going to school. However, Zitundo is a remote area of the Maputo province in Mozambique, and the people are very poor. Before the children—especially the girls—can attend classes, they have to walk miles to fetch water from a contaminated water supply and then walk miles back home to bring it to their families. Not only do the children miss school, but their health and that of their families is being severely affected.

Working to counteract this is the Joaquim Chissano Foundation (FJC), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting peace, economic and social development and culture in Mozambique. The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) made a significant contribution recently to the FJC to provide clean water systems for about 11,000 people in Zitundo. The project will construct seven new sources of drinking water, rehabilitate one existing water system, and train the communities in local management to ensure an affordable and sustainable supply of clean water.

Dr. Leonardo Santos Simão, executive director of FJC, reports that not only do the people in Zitundo have to walk long distances to obtain water from currently unsafe water sources, but some of the sources show high nitrate levels. Improvement of the quality and quantity of potable water is part of an overall effort to modify behavior in terms of water usage, safe waste disposal and reduction of water-borne disease. The project is expected to be completed in December 2008 and involves building boreholes with pumps, training users to manage them over time, making spare parts available and improving the life cycle of water sources.

As a result, besides the obvious health benefits from having a clean water supply, the attendance at school, especially for the girls, will increase and their level of education will improve.

Leopoldina Dias, the Zitundo Project Coordinator at FJC, reports that visits have taken place to meet the government authorities, the local leaders and the communities, to jointly conceive the project details, hear from the beneficiaries about the location of each infrastructure, receive their comments and suggestions about the whole project and establish partnerships with them. FJC is reviewing proposals from local construction companies to build and rehabilitate the water systems.

FJC promotes peace in Mozambique, Southern Africa and the world through conflict prevention, management and resolution. It also promotes integrated and sustainable development, particularly in rural areas, and enhancement of the Mozambican culture.

( Photos courtesy of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation)

TPRF advances the internationally acclaimed message of peace of Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji. In addition, it helps provide the necessities of life for people most in need. The Foundation often partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water and disaster relief rapidly where it is most required.

Discover more about Prem Rawat, his message of hope and peace, and the humanitarian activities of The Prem Rawat Foundation

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Grant Aids Recovery of Flood Victims in Mexico

Read original press release

Los Angeles, March 13, 2008 — Last November, The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) made a grant to Compartimos Bienestar y Salud Para Los Niños Maya I.A.P. to aid people affected by the massive flooding in the Tabasco area of Mexico. To date, the grant has helped over 150 families with much-needed clothing and 40 local farmers with seeds for planting new crops.

In early November last year, nearly half of the state of Tabasco was under water. Serious flooding had destroyed roads and dikes, homes and crops. Some affected areas could not be reached for over a month.

A group of local friends of TPRF offered their time to help the IAP deliver the aid. They first arrived in mid-January in Acachapan, along the Grijalva River. Families had lost most of their belongings, and children were in urgent need of clothing. The volunteers traveled through rough terrain on dirt roads with a truckload of children’s clothes. Within minutes of their arrival, a crowd of eager children and their mothers surrounded them. One mother, Marie Enriqueta, expressed her appreciation saying simply, “Thank you. The river took everything.”

Speaking with farmers and villagers, the volunteer team soon learned that the greatest need was now fertilizer for the newly planted crops, at least in the areas that had dried out enough for planting. Two weeks later, more volunteers arrived with bags of fertilizer.

Alfonzo Carillo expressed his thanks saying, “With this help we can stop crawling; we can stand up and start walking.” Another farmer, Heriberto Santos, said, “Maybe for you, a sack of fertilizer means nothing. For us, it means a healthy crop” and food for his family. Manuel Gonzalez said, “Thank you for your help. We are surprised and grateful that someone who is not from our town would help us.”

TPRF advances the internationally acclaimed message of peace made available by Prem Rawat, known also as Maharaji. In addition, it helps provide the necessities of life for people most in need. The Foundation often partners with other humanitarian organizations to bring food, water, and rapid disaster relief where it is most required.

(Photos by Tomás Barba and Héctor Sánchez)

Discover more about Prem Rawat, his message of hope and peace, and the humanitarian activities of The Prem Rawat Foundation

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Contributes Food Aid to Kenyan Refugees

Read original press release

Los Angeles, March 2008 — The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) responded quickly to aid victims of the violence that erupted following the December 2007 elections in Kenya. A significant contribution was made to the Friends of the World Food Program (FWFP) to help the UN World Food Programme (WFP) provide food for the hundreds of thousands of Kenyans who were displaced.

Over 300,000 people were forced to flee the violence that claimed 1,000 lives, and they had nowhere to go. Makeshift camps, police stations and churches housed many refugees temporarily, but they sorely lacked food and basic supplies. TPRF’s contribution provided food for 3,000 displaced people for three months.

“The Prem Rawat Foundation’s generous contribution will help save hundreds of lives and prevent under-nutrition and hunger rates from skyrocketing,” said Karen Sendelback, President and CEO of Friends of WFP. “This donation will help WFP reach thousands more crisis victims with the much-needed food relief.”

Twenty-six-year-old Grace Omaribe, an educated mother of two young boys, described her situation. “There is no food left. It has all been burnt,” she said. “There are no blankets, no pots and pans. I am dressed the way I came—I have nothing else.”

Aid workers from WFP traveled to affected areas quickly, but it was not easy. One WFP Field Officer reported, “Even for our main partner, the Kenya Red Cross, getting into areas where some of the worst violence had taken place had been extremely difficult, but things were getting better by the day, and food was moving. It was a team effort with the lead agency, the Red Cross, providing government-donated maize and with WFP providing the rest.”

He further reported that it was bizarre for him to arrive in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) settlements of Kenyans in Kenya, describing a scene of “thousands sleeping under the stars on cool clear nights; children beginning to suffer from the lack of shelter, coughing and sputtering, noses running; people complaining that they needed food, blankets and protection from those that in many cases continued to threaten them.”

With so many people at risk of starving, the WFP is working with the government of Kenya, fellow UN Agencies and local NGOs to provide food and other humanitarian assistance as quickly as possible. WFP is supplying beans, vegetable oil, corn-soya blend and ready-to-eat high-energy biscuits, along with trucks for transporting the food, while the government is providing a variety of cereals, and the Kenya Red Cross and other local NGOs are handling distribution.

Because it already has extensive programs in Kenya providing food for 700,000 affected by drought, over 1.1 million school children and over 60,000 HIV/AIDS patients, WFP has been able to respond to this new crisis with extraordinary speed by borrowing from established food stocks over the short term.

Fortunately, the situation is improving after a recent agreement between rivaling factions to form a coalition government. Thousands of displaced people are beginning to return to their farms with the hope of being able to plant crops for the next season and beginning the process of rebuilding their lives.

(Photos By: WFP / Marcus Prior)

Discover more about Prem Rawat, his message of hope and peace, and the humanitarian activities of The Prem Rawat Foundation

TPRF - The Prem Rawat Foundation

Saturday

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Gives Grant of US$20,000 for Cambodian Children’s Fund

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF GIVES US$25,000 to Provide 1,000 People with Access to Clean Water

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF’s Grant of US$50,000 Provides Eye Care for 9,700 People

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Funds Breakfast Program for Elementary School Children in the Yucatán

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Gives US$15,000 Grant to Provide Clean Water to 60 Schools in Pakistan

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Gives US$20,000 to Provide Eye Care for Thousands in Gaza

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Gives US$25,000 to Reduce Blindness in Rajasthan, India

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Donating US$250,000 to Build Second "Food for People" Facility in Rural Nepal

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Gives US$100,000 for Clean Water in Ghana

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Gives US$40,000 to America’s Second Harvest to Aid U.S. Midwest Residents Caught in Floods

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Provides US$15,000 for People Disabled by 8.0 Earthquake in China

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Donates US$100,000 for Disaster Relief in Myanmar

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Gives US$50,000 for Food Aid in Haiti

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Donates US$10,000 for Disabled in Niger

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | $20,000 Grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation to Support Prison Telecasts

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | $26,000 Grant from The Prem Rawat Foundation Aids Flood Victims in Ecuador

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | The Prem Rawat Foundation Provides Clean Water Systems in Mozambique

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Grant Aids Recovery of Flood Victims in Mexico

Prem Rawat - Maharaji | TPRF Contributes Food Aid to Kenyan Refugees

Young People's Initiative

Maharaji and his foundation

The Prem Rawat Foundation - Recent Updates

Blog Archive

Young People's Initiative