Amma has announced that the Mata Amritanandamayi Math will give Rs. One lakh to families who have lost a member in the monsoon flooding currently hitting parts of Kerala.
“My heart goes out to those families who have lost their loved ones,” said Amma. “I am praying to the Paramatma that they are able to get back their self-confidence and attain peace and prosperity. We all need to reach out to those in need with compassion and service. It is only the love and compassion that flows from the heart that can help society in such times.”
Amma also said that she feels the recent flooding is due to indiscriminate chopping down of trees and other abuses of nature.
The Mata Amritanandamayi Math has also set up its “Amrita Helpline” at the Amritapuri Campus of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. The phone lines are being manned by volunteers from the math’s youth group, Ayudh. Through the line (0476 280 5050) flood victims can get various forms of assistance.
During the 2018 Kerala floods, Amrita Help Line volunteers fielded more than 25,000 calls, connecting more than 100,000 flood victims across the state with appropriate relief services, including government officials, the Navy, NDRF, Kerala State Police, local fishermen, and other volunteering agencies.
The Math is also encouraging people to reach out for help via its Amrita Kripa App that is available for free download on Google Play. The App can be used by disaster victims and relief providers to locate, rescue and provide medical help and supplies such as clothing, medicines and restore services such as water, electricity supply, telephone services and so on.
Amma’s ashram has also opened up relief camps at various centres across the state and a relief mission is underway at Wayanad, Idukki and other districts.
Similar efforts were undertaken by the Math during last year’s monsoon floods, contributing more than Rs. 10 crores to help flood victims.
The Mata Amritanandamayi Math has been dedicated to disaster-relief since 2001, contributing more than Rs. 475 crores in disaster relief since. Some of the disasters it has provided assistance in the wake of include floods in Chennai (2015), Jammu-Kashmir (2014), Uttarakhand (2013), Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh (2009), Bihar (2008), Gujarat (2006), Mumbai (2005). It has also rendered relief-and-rehabilitation in the aftermath of the Nepal Earthquake (2015), Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines (2013), the Japan Earthquake/Tsunami (2011), the Haiti Earthquake (2010), Cyclone Aila in West Bengal (2009), Hurricane Katrina in the USA (2005), the Bhuj earthquake of 2001 and the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004.
