GIWA Co-Founder/Co-Chair, Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji met recently with the H. E. Donald Ramotar, President of the Republic Guyana at Gandhi Nagar Gujarat University during a meeting organized by Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO). Pujya Swamiji deeply touched hearts and minds of all assembled as he discussed the crucial, life-saving importance of ensuring access to improved, sustainable and healthy Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for all, so that we may save our children from preventable illnesses and deaths.
During the proceedings, Pujya Swamiji presented the Hon’ble President with a sacred shrifal coconut as a symbol of interfaith harmony for the preservation of our natural resources. He also presented to him a beautiful shawl made by widowed Uttarakhand flood survivors, who now are earning livelihoods through a cooperative supported in part by GIWA as part of its disaster relief initiatives.
GIWA has been assisting Uttarakhand’s flood survivors since the disaster of 2013, which claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. It is one of the few NGOs that continues its efforts in the disaster zone, where countless women were widowed and left to descend into deeper poverty due to their lack of employable skills. Among GIWA’s disaster relief initiatives are organic farming cooperatives, in which women are taught how to raise medicinal herbs whilst preserving and protecting their region’s water resources.
