SD Youth Service Retreat, July 2019 (from left to right):
Top row: Anya Rathod, Sid Shah, Shaun Samtani, Sarva Rajendra (President), Anish Kohli, Manav Sabharwal
Bottom row: Monika Samtani, Charu Sabharwal, Meera Dahiya, Dr. TV Ramakrishna (Founder), Mrs. Vijaya Ramakrishna (Founder), Saira Rathod, Reshma Rathod, Sweta Gandhi
Having the passion to help other people doesn’t apply to everyone. In order to help others, you should find joy in it. And this is a natural characteristic that the Sahasra Deepika Youth Ambassadors have. It’s their own will and joy to help the girls in Bangalore to learn things that they know. They find contentment in sharing their knowledge with basketball, music and so much more. Interacting with the girls in Bangalore is a natural trait that they have.
This summer, a group of exceptional students motivated by a heart for service implemented service projects which benefit the students of Sahasra Deepika in a variety of ways. Seven of our Youth Ambassadors, accompanied by their parents, visited the campus. They successfully opened a brand new sports court on our beautiful campus and left feeling inspired to bring future projects such as a permanent music program and technology to SD. Most importantly, they made friendships and memories that will last a lifetime. The Youth Ambassadors are excited to share their experiences and future goals here. A huge thank you to Meera, Saira, Shaun, Anya, Manav, Anish, Sid, and their wonderful parents for all of the phenomenal work!
Meera Dehiya, 17: I have been visiting Sahasra Deepika every summer for three years now, and each time it’s an exciting experience. My favorite part of visiting SD is talking to all of the girls and learning from their positive, gracious attitude. For the past three years, I have been raising money to build a sports court at the school. This summer we finally built the court! Our motto is “strong is beautiful” and we believe that a healthy mind goes hand in hand with a healthy body. I hope all of the girls enjoy using the court and learn the lessons that we have from playing sports. For our next project, we are working on starting a micro-lending program where the girls at SD create and sell cards. We are excited to see the next project come to fruition, hopefully within the coming year!
Saira Rathod, 17: I know this sounds super cheesy, but my experience at Sahasra Deepika was life-changing. Every girl at SD was incredible and greeted us with open arms right away. The best moments were when I would have hula hoop and jump rope competitions with some of the girls. During the days I would play fun games with the girls whether it be four square or the many games that they would teach me. The last day at SD there was the inauguration of the sports court at Deeksha High. I literally thought I was getting married. There were so many decorations and everyone came up to me thanking me for the basketball court. I couldn’t stop smiling the entire time and being able to see every kid’s face light up at the sports court was amazing. I hope that all the students and Deeksha High and the girls at SD enjoy using the sports court and grow from it because strong is beautiful!
Shaun Samtani, 17: This past summer I had a plan to teach John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change” to the girls at Sahasra Deepika, so they could perform it at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new sports court. I was excited to meet the girls and share my passion for music with them, but I was also nervous to teach for the first time. But right when we began practicing the song, I could see how talented and into it the girls were. They picked up on the song quickly, which made my job a lot easier. After seeing how much the girls enjoyed practicing and performing the song, I decided that a permanent music program needed to be implemented at the school, so that all of the girls could have the same opportunities I have had to find passion in music. I am currently working with music schools and stores to build a sustainable program at SD with both qualified teachers and quality instruments. The girls at Sahasra Deepika changed my life, and now I want to help change theirs with this program.
Anya Rathod, 15: My experience at Sahasra Deepika was life-changing and definitely unforgettable. From the moment we arrived at the moment we left, I always saw the girls smiling with hope in their eyes. They welcomed us with open arms. I felt we were breaking down many barriers by playing, teaching, interacting, and hugging my new “sisters”. This was such an amazing feeling. In the future, I would like to be an advocate for girls to promote gender equality and opportunities so they can be successful in education, technology, and sportsmanship.
Manav Sabharwal, 15: I had an unforgettable experience at the Sahasra Deepika campus. Most of the girls are either orphans or have one parent from an economically challenged background. My parents always told me to give back and I agreed but never really understood. This trip helped me understand how it feels to give back. During the trip, we were to teach the girls the fundamentals of basketball as they had just recently installed a new sports court. They were asking questions, practicing the moves, naming their teams, and in a couple of days were ready to compete with each other. It was a wonderful feeling to see the smiles on their faces. It helped me experience the joy that comes with giving and the happiness that comes with helping. These girls come from the most challenging backgrounds, and they ALL have a story that brought them there, but they were all helping to take care of each other every day. They taught me resilience, hopefulness, and how to continue to dream everyday. During my visit, I felt that an auditorium would be a huge benefit for Sahasra Deepika, and that is why my plan for the next couple of years is to raise enough money for them to build one.
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” So if you are reading this and if you have ever wanted to help others, join us and help us to make these girls’ lives better!
Anish Kholi, 14: While I was on this trip, for four days, I was going to do one thing only and that is to visit this foundation for education called Sahasra Deepika. This is a foundation to help girls whose families are very poor or girls who don’t even have a family. The foundation gives them a place to live and provides them education at the local private school on their campus. Our purpose during this trip was to let them experience new things, so the three of us in our group thought we should go and teach them basketball because we figured out that they have never played sports before. While we were teaching them the fundamentals of basketball we saw that they picked it up really quickly which made our job way easier and before we knew it they were already making teams and playing games. It is great to see the smile on their faces after discovering a love for a new sport and I can’t wait to come back next year and teach them something new again.
Sid Shah, 14: Sahasra Deepika was a very nice and well-organized place to be. It was fun to be there every single day teaching the girls how to play basketball. They were extremely nice and very smart. They were easy to teach. I want to give a lot of credit to Mata Ji and Pita Ji [the SDIE founders] for providing such excellent care for everyone. It is very challenging to raise so many girls that need help. All of them became pros at basketball in just 3 days which came as such a happy surprise! I hope these girls continue to work hard, follow their dreams, and have high expectations of themselves towards what they want to become. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to visit Sahasra Deepika and I hope to see everyone again next year.
