Flooding Emergency Appeal for Rishikesh

Our school community in Rishikesh, India has been suffering terrible flooding this past week. The children and their families live in the slum areas of Mayakund and Bihari Basti near the riverbed. Overnight they lost their homes and belongings. Thanks to our supporters, Heart Of Living Yoga has been able to initially send basic ration kits for the 110 families we support through the amazing work of Atma Seva and Freedom School. Additional support has continued to flow over this past week as conditions worsened with continuous heavy rains.

Now the water is subsiding and the clearing up begins. We are repairing their only water supply as the pump is broken. We are also organising a health camp with a wonderful local doctor who gives his time free and we only pay for medicines and treatments that are needed.

It is times like these, when there is an emergency, that we are more grateful than ever to all of our very generous supporters.

Sivananda Ashram in Rishikesh, where we have visited many times on pilgrimage, had water pouring out of it the other night.

As well as ration packs we are providing medicines that are needed by elders and children. Here you can see the wonderful Ajay of the Freedom School talking with the community to find out what is needed. Thank you everyone who has so kindly donated to help.

https://heartoflivingyoga.com/donate

Amazing volulnteers cooking in the rain for 1300 people

Every night, more families were loosing their homes and all their belongings to the floods. Some of the smaller children are sickening from being wet through all the time. Ajay and his amazing team of young men went out to help, despite disaster warnings of danger. Somehow they cooked and fed 1300 people, an delivered food to people trapped in houses by flood water.

We have sent funds to help them keep feeding the community and also for folding beds so the children are not sleeping on the wet ground.

Post-flood clear up - recovering what can be recovered from the mud.

Inside the home of one affected by the flooding.

So much gratitude to the volunteers helping serve food through the night.