Dear Khalsa Ji:
Every day we say this prayer “Nanak Nam Chardi Kala Tere Bhanéy Sarbat Da Bhala” and ask for the welfare of all human beings irrespective of caste color race religion or country of origin. But let us ask ourselves honestly how many of us beside donating to Sikh Gurdwara or organizations for the benefit of Sikhs only help the needy the sick and the hungry belonging to other religions or races or countries. Although in theory our Gurdwara are supposed to provide free food and shelter to all the needy but in real practice our free kitchens have become more or less shared Sikh community meals or the residences of our priests. Of course there are some individuals and even organizations who sometime donate food clothing or money to the Red Cross Salvation Army or other similar instructions However these efforts generally go unnoticed and do not bring any real positive image to the Sikh community The net result is that the Sikhs in foreign countries are cither being mistaken for Iranians or Arabs and harassed whenever there is any tension between the western and Muslim world or we are viewed as some kind of strange looking people and possible terrorists.
As they say in order to “kill two birds with one stone” i.e. to do our spiritual duty of “Wand (Chhakna” and at the same time try to improve the image of Sikhs we formed an organization called Sikhs Serving America in 1986. Since its opening this organization has executed the following projects:
Food for the Hungry – But with a difference. We know that many Gurdwara’s or Sikh organizations sometimes organize free kitchen or deliver food to Red Cross or Salvation Army on special occasions such as Thanksgiving or Guni Nanak Devjis Birthday. But our philosophy is that the human beings do not need food only on special occasions they need food every day or even many times a day. So for this reason we started an innovative practice of working an arrangement with the local social services agency and a fast food chain store In this arrangement we provided coupons worth $3.50to the social services agency who would distribute these coupons to the needy and deserving people and who than could go to this fast food chain at any time of the day or night and redeem the coupon for food. The food chain would than bill us at the end of the month subject to a maximum limit. This arrangement while provided for an opportunity for the hungry people to have food almost 24 hours daily for all 365 days of the year saved us from the hassle of pre ring food or facing any legal complications.
Medicine For the Sick After running the food service for a few months we were advised by the local social service agency that more than food which is being provided by many other organizations there was a dire need to help then needy who although could somehow were able to go to a doctor through the county or city health agency did not have any means for buying the prescribed medicine. With the result they continued suffering in spite of free medical advice. So we made agreement with the county health agency to write the prescriptions for these needy and deserving people who could not be helped through any other program or source and order the local pharmacy to fill the prescription. The pharmacy in turn would bill our Organization on a monthly basis subject to a maximum limit.
Just in a period of two years and with only $200 per month we could help almost six hundred people. This program is at present active in one county of Kansas. But we are planning to expand this program in two more cities in Kansas and Washington D.C. on the coming Guru Nanak Deyji’s birthday.
Homes For the Homeless and Jobs for the Jobless While the medicine aid program was still in operation we noticed that beside food and medicine many people were suffering because they had lost their jobs and as a consequence were losing their homes as well. While we did not have the resources to provide jobs or build houses for these unfortunate a people we did try to help them also. What we did was to go and make an agreement with the state social and rehabilitation service and made an agreement with them to refer to us those needy and deserving people who wanted to find jobs but could not afford to repair their cars so that they could look for jobs or those homeless persons who could not afford to pay their utility bills or pay the first month’s rent as security. Since the last year we have been able to help almost 20 persons who included 8 month pregnant women without a roof over their head or real hard working young men trying to retrain themselves for new jobs but without the means to pay for the fee.
Helping the Needy Anywhere Besides those formal and continuous programs we have tried to help other needy people through Out the United States Canada or other countries in the world. Whenever we have learned of a natural disaster in America Iran Russia or anywhere else we did send our humble donations. Beside this whenever we learned of any lonely victim such as a Sikh gentlemen in Canada whose house was burnt or a Christian student in the United States who did not have money to pay for her school fee we helped them to pay for their initial expenses.
Helping at Home Besides providing above named services for the benefit of all we have not lost focus on our own problems. In this regard we already have made and distributed two videos 1) “Red Waters of Amritsar” and 2) “Who Are the Sikhs”. These two videos are an attempt to tell the world what kind of human right violations were committed against us in 1984 and remove many wrong perceptions among the foreigners about the Sikhs. These video tapes are still available from us for $12 each. In addition we have already prepared a script for a Sikh movie (to be played in regular cinemas) which will tell the world about the real culprits behind many false stories concocted to defame the Sikhs. But unfortunately we need at least half a million dollars for such a movie and we will welcome any contributions or investments on shareholder basis.
Sikh Psychological Services Network (SPSN) Besides above projects especially designed to help build the Sikh image we feel that because of the foreign culture and surroundings many Sikh families and their children in the foreign countries find themselves in great tension and mental struggle in order to survive in this culture without losing their own identity or identity of their children. In addition there is practically no place for these unfortunate families who happen to suddenly face tragedies like death of a family member or other tragedies like divorce etc. The local psychologists and psychiatrists being from different culture and background are not able to really understand our values and traditions and are unable to help us during such trials. For this reason we are trying to establish a network of Sikh psychiatrists or psychologists throughout the United States and America so that any Sikh living in America or Canada in need of counseling can call a 800 number and be able to get in touch with the nearest Sikh professional trained to provide needed guidance and counseling. Dr. Sujit Kaurof Falls Church Virginia is spearheading this project. Anybody wishing to participate in such a project may approach her at the following address: Dr Surjit Kaur 7320 Lee Hwy #103 Falls Church VA 22046 telephone number (703) 560-7387.
Invitation to Participate Dear Sikh brothers and sisters please do not think for a moment that the above article is an attempt to propagate any individual or organization. This article is written with the sincere desire to enlighten you to the fact that if only a handful of people with less than $25000 can work on so many projects think what can be done if all of us start doing our share. We encourage you to either on your own open similar other service projects in your city or state or join us and help us in any way you can (with money or personal service) so that we can expand these kind of human services not only in America but throughout t the world. What could be a better way to celebrate the birthday of Guru Nanak than starting something which will ultimately realize the following lines of our Gurbani:
“Suni Ardas Swami Merey Sarab Kala Ban Aayee Fargat Bhae Sagley Jugantar Guru Nanak Ki Wadyayee.”
Daljit Singh Jawa
Sikhs Serving America
3543 Wood Valley Pl.
Topeka Kansas 66614
(913) 267-5273
Article extracted from this publication >> December 4, 1992
