By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 11 Jul: Aware that the Covid pandemic has affected, both, the mental and physical health of people, including children, Ahimsa Trust has been offering regular mindfulness meditation sessions and retreats under the guidance of Dharmacharya Shantum since April 2020.
Over the past two months, with the onset of the second wave, Ahimsa Trust has been working extensively in and around Dehradun and Uttarakhand during the pandemic. Ahimsa has reached out to local authorities and organisations in need of essential items and Covid-care supplies. It has provided Oxygen concentrators, thousands of Surgical and N 95 masks, PPE kits and oximeters, which were distributed in different camps organised by social worker Godavari Thapliyal and Urmilla Thapa, Ward Councillor in Rajpur, who distributed them among municipal workers. Anjoo Malik, a social worker, has been distributing Covid prevention materials to remote villages. Ahimsa has also extended timely support and access to oxygen and masks, oximetres, etc., to the Tibetan Primary Healthcare Centre along with 5 smaller clinics in Dekliyang Tibetan Colony in Dehradun.
The Ahimsa team has been providing support to the people in and around Chandralok Basti of Rajpur and has distributed 115 Covid-Care kits containing masks, soaps and instructions on Covid protocol including symptoms people should be aware of. As many as 120 packets of dry rations were distributed at the end of June 2021.
The SHOs of Roorkee (Rajesh Sah) and Rajpur (Rakesh Shah), who have been on the frontline of Covid care, were provided with Oxygen concentrators, (1000) surgical masks, (100) N95 masks, (35) PPE kits and (15) Oximeters.
‘At a time when there has been so much suffering and hardship, we felt that any of us who can offer something to alleviate the anxiety, worry, fear and other mental problems should do so. Ahimsa has been offering mindfulness practices for many years in schools, colleges, the police, the corporate sector, etc., and so we tried to cater to that need. As the second wave came, we decided to also work on physical relief,’ said Gitanjali Seth, the Managing Trustee.
Ahimsa continues to work in Covid relief in 6 villages near Shantiniketan in West Bengal.
Ahimsa Trust celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year. It is a voluntary organisation working towards bringing peace and mindfulness to various facets of society including schools, the CRPF, etc. Ahimsa is setting up a Mindfulness Practice Centre (Jamun Village) in Dehradun.
