Círio de Nazaré Festival, Brazil

Zone 2B

Highlights

CountriesCentres/
Groups
SSSIO
Members
SSE
Students
ISSESathya Sai
Schools
Argentina226517711
Bolivia476-1-
Brazil466244013
Chile29115--
Colombia91281012
Ecuador469-12
Paraguay120---
Peru5138251-
Uruguay140---
Venezuela14220-11
Totals1082,05716779

Argentina

For more than 23 years, SSSIO volunteers have served the native Mocovi community, particularly women and children at the Noccan Kani Service Centre in Santa Fe, Argentina. In the Sathya Sai Centre building, tens of thousands of books on Sri Sathya Sai Baba are stored for distribution to several cities and countries. Recently, volunteers from all over Argentina worked during one weekend to renovate the building and organise the book holdings.

Bolivia

On Christmas Day in 2019, a group of SSSIO volunteers in the city of Sucre, Bolivia brought joy to 60 people in need by distributing rice, noodles, and other food. They also served hot chocolate and cakes to 90 elderly people in a nursing home.

Brazil

Interfaith Panel
School - Serve the Planet
National Congress

During 20–23 June 2019, 120 people attended the inspiring Eleventh National Congress of the SSSIO of Brazil. The event, themed Love All, Serve All was organised along with the National Young Adults Festival.

SSSIO volunteers in Ponta Grossa, a small city in Southern Brazil, established a community vegetable garden, growing native vegetables and local crops.

On 31 August 2019, 125 SSSIO volunteers and the public participated in a lively interfaith meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Speakers representing Catholicism, Zen-Buddhism, ISKCON, Spiritism and Umbanda discussed how they could make the world better, for peaceful and loving coexistence.

The Sathya Sai Schools of Vila Isabel and Goias planted saplings of trees native to Brazil such as redwood, yellow ipe and white ipe to celebrate ‘Tree Day’ on 21 September 2019. The students also placed small placards identifying each sapling as a service to Mother Earth.

Ieska Maria Andrade, an exemplary Grade 4 student of the Sathya Sai School of Ribeirão Preto, secured the Bronze Medal in the Brazilian Olympics of Astronomy and Astronautics. The Education Secretary of Ribeirão Preto, Mr. Felipe Elias Miguel, presented the medal in a ceremony.

The Sathya Sai School in Ribeirão Preto, Sao Paulo, launched a campaign for waste segregation and recycling, and organised a special Pet Adoption Fair with the help of a local Non-Government Organisation (NGO).

Colombia

Tree Planting
Human Values Festival
Recycling Seminar

Every Saturday, about 25 people, including young children, gather at the Sathya Sai School in Funza, Colombia for workshops on human values. Organised since 2010, these workshops are directed by trained volunteers from the Institute of Sathya Sai Education on Human Values.

For the last four years, SSSIO volunteers in Colombia have lovingly served 20 women and children of Usme, a small, rural community near Bogotá. The volunteers assist the women in taking care of the environment by practicing sustainable development and rejuvenating streams, rivers, and water springs.

SSSIO volunteers in Barroblanquito and Bucaramanga, Colombia established a Sathya Sai Complementary School, serving about 30 children, ages 3 to 15. Three teachers and eight volunteers work with the children, encouraging activities such as theatre, dance, and music.

Twenty-five people, including young children, gathered at the Sathya Sai School in the town of Funza for a seminar on recycling. The children presented ideas to save water and energy. Following the seminar, the volunteers cleared trash from the local community.

The SSSIO of Colombia operates Saiama, a home which provides shelter to relatives of children who come for treatment of burns, to the Simón Bolívar Hospital in Bogotá. Needy people from remote regions of Colombia use these facilities. During the day, while relatives visit the ailing children, SSSIO volunteers give human values classes to neighbourhood children and help them with their homework.

The SSSIO of Colombia joined in the planting of 665 trees in Medellín on 24 August 2019 in an activity organised by the Mayor's Office. One million trees were targeted for planting, in total. The event was attended by 67 people, including SSSIO members, who discussed the ‘Go Green’ activities organised by the SSSIO globally.

Ecuador

Guyayaquil Festival
Pledge of Allegiance
Public Meeting

On 7 May 2019, nearly 300 people, including rectors, psychologists and teachers attended a public meeting titled, Human Values, Solution to the Educational Crisis at the Luis Noboa Naranjo Auditorium in Guayaquil. This was held by the ISSE of Ecuador and the 'National Table of Human Values', a private initiative. The Minister of Education and the Mayor of Guayaquil inaugurated the three-day event.

On 1 August 2019, the Minister of Education, Mgs. Montserrat Creamer Guillén, visited the Sathya Sai School in Bahía de Caráquez. It was a unique opportunity for the educators to explain the human values programme at the school. Students also briefed the Minister and a special performance was presented by a musical band, a choir, and others, to the Minister and about 300 guests.

The students of the Sathya Sai School of Guayaquil participated in a solemn ceremony of taking the pledge of allegiance on 26 September 2019 as a tribute to the nation. About 50 people also attended this memorable event.

The city of Guayaquil was founded on 24 July 1538. The Sathya Sai School of Guayaquil celebrated the 481st anniversary of the city by hosting a grand event, featuring dance, song, plays and allegorical decorations from the colonial era. About 600 people participated in the joyful programme, including students, parents, teachers, and special guests.

Paraguay

During November 2019, the SSSIO of Paraguay initiated a project with a target of performing 1,000 cataract surgeries as a humble offering to Sri Sathya Sai Baba on the occasion of His 100th Birthday. As a first step, 26 successful operations were performed at no cost. The SSSIO provided glasses and all necessary materials while medical professionals offered their loving services, at no cost. A group of dedicated volunteers assisted the patients before and after surgery.

Peru

San Fco Service
Leadership Service
Leadership Conference

On 27 April 2019, the SSSIO of Peru organised a public meeting in the city of Lima to spread the message of Sri Sathya Sai Baba in the community.

On 28 April and 5 May 2019, seminars were held in Lima to reflect on leadership qualities in the SSSIO.

On 24 May 2019, SSSIO volunteers from the El Milagro Sathya Sai Centre in Cajamarca organised two public conferences which emphasized the importance of leadership for the youth and the vital role of human values in society. The conferences were attended by 300 youth from the National University of Cajamarca.

On 6 July 2019, SSSIO members travelled for 16 hours to visit the town of Cullcuy in Huánuco, 3,500 metres above sea level. The volunteers distributed food, warm clothes, and other essential items to 440 needy people in the town.

Members from the Sathya Sai Centres of Trujillo and Cajamarca visited the town of Juncos on 14 July 2019 and gave food and warm clothes to 64 people.

On 9 and 10 September 2019, volunteers from the Sathya Sai ‘El Milagro’ Group in Cajamarca organised two public conferences, titled Life is a Game, Play it, and Self-confidence and Self-knowledge. Dr. Srinivas Raghavan, member of the SSSIO Education Committee, shared the teachings of Sri Sathya Sai Baba with more than 600 people.

During 11–13 September 2019, the ISSE of Peru, the Sathya Sai Foundation of Peru and the SSSIO of Peru, jointly held the 3rd International Forum of Excellence in Human Values Education. The event was attended by 200 teachers from the community and facilitators in SSEHV from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, USA, Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile, and Peru.

On 16 September 2019, 250 people attended a public meeting, titled Life is a Game, Play it, hosted by the National Library of Peru in Lima.

On 17 November 2019, a medical camp was held to serve four settlements in the San Francisco hill, Lima. About 321 people received healthcare from six medical professionals in general medicine and dentistry. The SSSIO also conducted workshops on SSEHV for children and distributed food, clothing and medicines.

Uruguay

Public Meeting

On 27 September 2019, SSSIO volunteers in Maldonado City, in the southeast of Uruguay, organised a public meeting, themed Life is a Challenge, Face It - The Challenge of Being Happy. The event was attended by 24 people. The speakers gave radio interviews on two weekends.

Venezuela

Cataract Surgeries
Distribution of Baby Bags

On 18 May 2019, SSSIO volunteers offered food to needy patients at the UCV Hospital in Caracas.

In Caracas, during July 2019, dental services were provided to Young Adults. In November 2019, free cataract surgeries were performed for 20 needy people.

On 23 November 2019, the SSSIO distributed baby bags to mothers at the Maternity Hospital in Caracas. Each bag contained clothing, quilts, soaps, towels, and infant formula.

On 24 December 2019, SSSIO members distributed 108 dishes of traditional Venezuelan Christmas fare to people living in the streets of Caracas. The hungry and malnourished people expressed deep gratitude for the food.

The SSSIO participated in a radio programme called Marchan al Contacto, which airs on a local radio station in Puerto Ordaz. The two-hour programme covered topics such as human values and the role of parents in society.