Sri Mayapur Flood Bulletin and Gurukula Appeal
By Bhagavat Dharma das

CHAKRA (London, England) - October 25th, 2000: There is still a lot of work to do in ISKCON Mayapur, and we are continuing to support the villagers around the campus. And we still need your help. However, I think it would be fair to downgrade our emergency status from 10 down to about 7 on the Richter scale as it were.

That would not at all have been possible if it had not been for the substantial help and support we have received from devotees all over the world. I will write to all contributors individually in due course, but I wanted to offer a general thank you to all members of the devotee community for all your well wishes, your kindness and your consideration.

I have included three short sections in this bulletin. The first is from Dayaram Prabhu, expressing the feelings of the devotees in Mayapur.

One of our main areas of concern at this time are the Gurukulas. I next have two letters from our school leaders in Mayapur, Racitambara devi dasi and Lalita devi dasi. They both have a huge task in front of them, as they try to get their schools ready for students.

They are also looking ahead and planning improvements, by which they will avoid such damage in the future. If you feel able to support our Gurukulas at this time, we would all be extremely grateful.

I will continue to update our emergency page at:

http://www.mayapur.org/community/flood2000/index.htm

You can find out about and support the continuing village relief programme at the Mayapur Trust flood page at:

http://www.mayapurtrust.org/flood2000.html

Once again, thank you for all your help.

Your Servant Bhagavat Dharma Dasa

1). Letter from Dayarama Dasa, Oct. 25th.

Dear Devotees,

Dandavats. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I am absolutely at a loss of words to express how touched we, the devotees at Mayapur, are with the overwhelming response of the worldwide body of devotees, to our request for help.

I would like to conclude that it is just another way in which the Lord reassures us that we are in the right company, and on the right path and under the right shelter.

Sometimes the plans of the Supreme Lord are best understood by the Lord Himself. At all times, no matter how trying they may seem, we must simply push forward the mission entrusted unto us by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu through Srila Prabhupada.

All of us at Mayapur wish to convey our deepest gratitude for the love, regard and genuine thoughtfulness this act of yours conveys.

Your response has been so wonderful, that we can only reciprocate by praying to Sri Sri Radha Madhava that They bestow choicest blessings upon you all. We pray with all that is at our command that you all may be blessed to lead a blissful and satisfying devotional life, and pray that somehow or other we continue to get your association and blessings.

We hope that we will be able to serve you all whenever you come to Sri Mayapur Dham. We look forward to having your association.

Hare Krsna.

Your servant, Dayaram Das

2) Request from Racitambara DD, Head of the Gurukula

Phalguna writes that 30,000 dollars of books have been destroyed. Is this correct? This is a very dramatic loss for the Gurukula. If it is so, then the more details you give me the better - what books were they?

Yes, we have had a huge loss in books. We had been collecting for 5 years and lost our entire children's library, most of our textbooks and All of our teachers' resources. We have also suffered huge damage to our kitchen, 5 residential huts, our temple room, assembly house, and the grounds. Our school building (again grass roofed hut-type) also suffered damage.

Since we flood every year, it would be good to once and for all go all out to get financial support which would allow us rebuild in a more permanent way so that after each flood we just wash off and keep going, instead of having to rebuild each year. This is very costly and not cost-effective in the long run.

The huts in our school cost from Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 (700-1400 USD) to build, depending on the size. However, we have a large prasadam hall, which has a foundation for two stories. We could build classrooms on top of that, which would cost us about 6 lakhs of rupees. (13,500 USD). Also the huts could be built with brick and concrete plinths and brick columns, rather than bamboo, and these would them still be traditional, but they would be permanent structures that would not wash away in the flood.

Similarly, our kitchen could be fortified and not wash away either. With 10 lakhs (23,000 USD), we could do it all and next year and in the ensuing years not have to ask for much at all.

We would then basically have a clean up job after each flood, rather than a construction site. It would be a huge saving year after year! Also we would have a permanent storage space well above even tidal wave level, and would never lose another book, nor all the bedding and clothing we lost this year.

Please consider our appeal for once-and-for-all building a proper school that is permanent and flood-proof. A big donation this year will mean we won't be bothering you year after year.

You can send checks for the Mayapur Gurukula, made out to 'Vaishnava Community Services', to Sesa Dasa, 15206 NW 89th Street Alachua, FL 32615, USA. You can also give via secure credit card server from the Mayapur Trust page at

http://www.mayapurtrust.org/flood2000.html

(Please put 'Gurukula Village' in the comment box).

If you are in India, you can send your gift for our school to me via

Racitambara Devi Dasi c/o Pancaratna Das ISKCON 31 Lake Avenue, Calcutta 700026, West Bengal

Your servant

Racitambara dasi (racitambara.acbsp@pamho.net)

PS - there are more details on our SOS page at:

http://www.mayapur.org/community/flood2000/racitambara1.htm

3) Letter from Lalita devi dasi, head of the Mayapur Day School.

Dear Devotees

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for all your efforts to help us here.

We have experienced the kind of devastation we thought would never come to an end. The local people are dazed by their losses and many have no home, no job and family members are dead or sick. The little shops outside the main gate have started to reopen their tiny muddy windows and attempt to sell a few bits and pieces to feed their families.

Inside ISKCON we slip and slide along muddy pathways. The smell of rotting vegetation is everywhere. Our spirits have lifted however, Radha Madhava smiles on us as we dance once more before Him.

Such pastimes with Mother Ganga we will never understand.

The Ganga water has gone down and we are left with a huge mess to clean up in the Day school. All that is left are broken huts, scattered bamboos and shapeless melted mud floors. The bathrooms and swing houses are also ruined.

We have started the clean up with a team of laborers. Their first job has been shovelling mud and heaps of water hyacinth from damaged pathways and out of the main buildings and the school goshalla.

The children are asking when school will start. I am hoping to at least get the main building ready for classes by the end of the month. However, the rest of the school will take months to rebuild and of course a lot of money.

I am more convinced than ever that we need to somehow raise the funds to build brick structures that can be raised above flood level.

One of my immediate concerns is that the broken fences that surround the school will encourage theft by impoverished locals. So one of the first things that I need to do is rebuild these fences. They were completely wrecked by the strong water current that swept across the school area. This is a huge expense and it must be done immediately as we are hoping to open the school on the 1st November.

You can see some images of our damaged school at:

http://www.mayapur.org/galleries/13

I will keep you informed of our progress. Once again, thank you for your help.

Your servant Lalita devi dasi (lalita.bppg@pamho.net)

You can send cheques for the Mayapur Day School, made out to 'Vaishnava Community Services', to Sesa Dasa, 15206 NW 89th Street Alachua, FL 32615, USA. Please specify that your gift is for the 'Day School'. You can also give via secure credit card server from the Mayapur Trust page at

http://www.mayapurtrust.org/flood2000.html

(Please put 'Mayapur Day School' in the comment box).

If you are in India, you can send your gift for our school directly to me via

Lalita Dasi, Day School. c/o Pancaratna Das ISKCON 31 Lake Avenue, Calcutta 700026, West Bengal

Thank you very much.

Your Servant

Lalita devi dasi.

© CHAKRA 30-October-2000

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