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"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself
"You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself
that you truly give," said the legendary poet and writer, Kahlil Gibran.
Here in front of us, is the epitome of such giving, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, world
renowned Spiritual Leader, Humanitarian and the Chancellor of Amrita University.
During one of his visits to Amritapuri, the International Headquarters of Mata Amritanandamayi
Math, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Former President of India said, "I want to share with you what
I have learned from Amritapuri: Giving. Go on giving. You can give. It's not only money.
You can share knowledge. You can remove the pain. And you can even go to the person who
is suffering. Every one of us, the rich and poor can give. That is the message I get from
Amritapuri. There is no greater message than Amma's giving to all the people of this region,
and Kerala, and India, and to the world. Now, this embodiment of giving, our beloved
Amma, has a dream for the world. What's Amma's dream? "Everyone in the world
should be able to sleep without fear, at least for one night. Everyone should be able to
eat to his fill, at least for one day. There should be at least one day when hospitals
see no one admitted due to violence. By doing selfless service for at least one day, everyone
should help the poor and needy. It is Amma's prayer that at least this small dream be realised".
This noble dream is the inspiration behind Serve an Hour or SaH as it is fondly called
by the students. What is Serve an Hour?
Serve an Hour is Amrita University's unique initiative, at its Amritapuri Campus, that
drives home the importance of selfless service to its students. Here all the freshmen get
an opportunity to engage in a service activity one hour every week.
Why should we 'Serve an Hour'? Amma says, "Repeated good actions slowly turn
into good habits, which eventually become spontaneous. These bring success in life."
Thus the 'Serve an Hour' program offers students of Amrita University the opportunity to engage
in small yet significant acts of service, building in them the confidence that they
can create positive change in the society if they step forward and act.
The university's Administration prides itself in being a class apart in everything it does,
serve an hour being just one example. "We are starting a programme called SaH. This
will give exposure to the most important aspect of our mission statement - being able to extend
selfless service to the society", says Br Sudeep, Director of Amrita University's Amritapuri
Campus. "What is it that makes Amrita a different
university? That makes you a different person? We are trying to create a world of unselfishness
in this horrible world of backstabbing. There should be at least one place of selflessness;
there should be at least one place where we consider other people before ourselves. That
is Amritapuri. In the university if we are reflecting it we are following the vision",
says Dr Balakrishna Sankar, Dean, Amritapuri Campus.
Dr Bala is so committed to the cause that he has personally introduced the program to
every freshmen class year after year for the past four years.
So, what happens during SaH? The students begin by brainstorming ideas
for hands-on service projects that they could implement over the semester. A host of projects
ranging from growing fodder for feeding the cows at the Ashram, organic gardening, raising
funds for orphaned children through recycled handicrafts to gardening in recycled bottles
are planned and implemented. The students also collaborate in creative
learning opportunities with students at government schools in rural areas through school visits
and educational outreach activities. The feedback from the principals, teachers
and the little children from the rural schools has always been overwhelming.
The students and faculty volunteers work in an extremely informal, relaxing and fun-filled
atmosphere during the SaH sessions; the students all the while improving their creative thinking,
presentation and social skills and learning important lessons in planning, organising,
and team building. "It is a challenging job but I love to be
part of it because I can see that this course offers a wealth of experiential learning to
all the students. The best part about it is that Serve and Hour projects go in line with
Amrita University's mission trying to sow the seeds of selflessness in our students'
minds, with the expectation that it will sprout at a later time and our students turn out
to be the promises of the world", says Ms Geetha, Dept of Computer Science, Faculty
volunteer SaH.
And finally what do the students feel about SaH?
And does the world notice all this? Yes it does. Many of the Serve an Hour projects have
found mention on prime time news broadcasts on television.
To top it all, recognition for Serve an Hour initiatives comes from none other than Chancellor
Amma, who is full of encouragement and appreciation for students who are becoming the change that
society so badly needs today. Serve an Hour -
helps you make new friends and contacts teaches you how to connect to others,
exposes you to people with common interests, makes you aware of resources,
gives you lot of fun and fulfilling activities increases your social and relationship skills
, increases your self-confidence ,
helps you combats depression. helps you stay physically healthy,
provides experiences that teach you valuable job skills,
brings fun and fulfillment to your life
Serve an Hour -- Live life full