Beinspired supporting others to help themselves

Each month, Beinspired donates funds to the Ayurvedic Professionals UK charity work in Sri Lanka via the Ayurvedic Clinic with whom I studied to become an Ayurvedic lifestyle and nutrition practitioner.

I love that through yoga and Reiki we are not only helping ourselves and the planet by positively raising our vibration (and this having a knock on effect on everyone else with whom we interact and the planet as a whole), but that we can help others directly too.

The Ayurvedic project supports children in Sri Lanka, affording their education and helping them to cultivate their own herbal gardens. The herbs that they grow are cultivated and used to help produce the Ayurvedic medicine used, in part, by the clinic (after going through rigorous process), earning cash for the children and their families.

I just received a note from Dr Deepika, who is the founder of the Ayurvedic Clinic and the doctor with whom I initially connected when I discovered Ayurveda back in 2006, and who taught and inspired me on the course last year and thought to share it with you all, so you can read for yourself the good work done by attending class etc:

“I wanted to write to you personally to tell you about the progress of the child you are supporting. I am pleased to say that they are doing so well. They have sent us handwritten thank you letters in English which we are attaching to this email and sending to you by post.

With the support you have given them they are continuing to cultivate their herbal gardens and are able to attend school and continue their education and helping their families in so many ways.

I would personally like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness because I know that this money is going as far as it is possible to go and making a huge difference to their lives. From all of us at the clinic, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude and best wishes to you and your families. The good Karma that you gain from such acts of humanity will stay with your soul forever. The blessings of these children will go with you always far beyond this life.”

Here’s the letter from the child

Beinspired also supports the Namaste Community Foundation in Pokhara, Nepal. This was initially the Namaste Children’s Home, which supported the housing facilities for about 60 orphaned children of Pokhara, Nepal, and which I visited on my first trip to Nepal in 2007. I found the whole experience deeply moving and was struck by how little support there is for orphaned children by the state, so that if it wasn’t for NGO’s like this children’s home, these children would literally be on the streets (or trafficked to India).

Since the time I visited, new projects were added as it became evident that there was much more to be addressed than just the orphaned children, and the name was changed to the Namaste Community Foundation to reflect this. Its mission now is to help as many children, single women and communities as possible in a sustainable way.

The Foundation helps to secure childhood in giving the children a nice and safe home as well as providing a good education and ensuring a positive perspective for the future (giving them options). It also supports parents in taking care of their own children and provides widowed and abandoned women with the skills and opportunities to work for their own livelihood and for the education of their children.

I know people say that charity should begin at home, but I think that when you visit these communities, you realise how much we are supported in the West by the state as much as by those charities within our own communities. In Nepal there is no state help, you are really on your own, it is one of the top ten poorest countries in the world and if it wasn’t for outside help then I dread to think what would happen to the people.

The culture is different too, and for women life can be hard. For example, if a woman is widowed or abandoned, through no fault of her own, then she if often stigmatised and it is very difficult for her to support herself, especially with young children as there is absolutely no state funding. She is literally on her own with the children unless she is lucky enough to have extended family who can help support her.

If not, then she is on the streets, and sometimes women will give their children away because they cannot look after them. Of course these children are easy prey for traffickers, and the children may end up in India - the statistics of the number of Nepali children that are trafficked to India each year is shocking and depressing - how can it be that fellow human beings create so much pain by promoting and buying into the sex trafficking industry?

So for me it is a no brainer to try to do what I can to help the Namaste Children’s Foundation and I am hearted to see the support they have received from others over the years - in fact Angelina Jolie provided them with their initial capital to get going, and they have since been supported by Joanna Lumley, although I only realised this recently.

We are headed out to Nepal in March, the first time in 9 years, it’s been a long time waiting and I am so excited about showing the boys this lovely country, a dream come true, and am intending to visit the Foundation and see first hand the good work that they are doing. Here’s a link to their website in case you feel like learning more or supporting them, they do take volunteers incidentally - https://www.ncf-nepal.org/about-us/

What i love about both these projects is the fact that they are helping people to help themselves, by empowering them and providing them with skills to work and earn money, and of course education too. It’s so easy to take this all so for granted here in Guernsey where we have free access to good education and people to help support us in securing jobs and a state to support us if we are not able to manage this.

So thank you, all of you, for the support you give to me, so that I can support these charities and the children who benefit directly. It is my wish that I can continue to support them in years to come and increase the level of funding too.

Love Emma xxx