President Hugh Reid and first vice-president-elect, Llewelyn Allen, presenting new furniture to the Ananda Marga Basic School. ANANDA MARGA is an international social service organisation with branches in over 160 countries on all the continents. It is one of the few global organisations of Third World origin to render voluntary social service and disaster relief. It does this through a vast network of dedicated volunteers throughout the world.
Prabhat Sarkar (1921-1990) founded Ananda Marga in India in 1955. His contribution to society was a comprehensive spiritual philosophy that broadened humanity's awareness of the nature of our existence and encouraged people to embrace all as part of one universal family. Based on this vision, he propounded a unique social philosophy, different from current social, economic and political paradigms, which addresses world problems and gives practical solutions to them.
Ananda Marga's social programmes include disaster relief, inexpensive or free schools, children's homes, medical clinics, refugee help, multi-purpose development projects and other short or long-term projects, which held people to help themselves.
Membership in the organisation comprise volunteers from many countries and backgrounds, who are inspired by its philosophy of universal love and selfless service to society.
Ananda Marga developed a presence in Jamaica some 25 years ago and has been making a contribution in several areas including children's homes, free medical clinics and education.
Kindergarten school programme
Ananda Marga's most visible contribution to education is its kindergarten school programme, which was established in the depressed East Kingston area of Mountain View in 1985 with the specific purpose of serving that community.
The kindergarten school programme got off to a successful start, but Hurricane Gilbert devastated the school in 1988, resulting in the suspension of classes for a period of time. The rebuilding process was slow, extending over a number of years, but resulted in the addition of a third classroom. The kindergarten school now boasts a population of approximately 100 students, served by a number of very dedicated teachers who provided their services at very meagre salaries as their special contribution to the development of education. These salaries are met primarily from a small fee, which is charged to the students.
Improvement of the kindergarten school is an ongoing concern of Ananda Marga, hence the seeking of private and/or corporate sponsorship to support this effort. Contributions are very hard to achieve and are often thin, but the kindergarten remains undaunted by this and presses on with its own goal of making a difference to education in Jamaica.
The needs of the kindergarten school were brought to the attention of the Kiwanis Club of North St. Andrew by its principal, Didi Ananda Ragamaya. The Club responded, through its Young Children Priority One programme, by providing a quantity of new desks and chairs. These were formally handed over at a presentation ceremony held at the school earlier this year. The Kiwanis Club of North St. Andrew therefore endorses this educational initiative and encourages others to support the venture.
