From the design of N95-style masks for frontline health care workers to the creation of a hotline to provide grocery services, AYUDH Americas has come together to find solutions for the coronavirus pandemic. Throughout North and South America, their key focus is joining together as youth to meet the needs of those who are struggling at this time.
Faculty at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham are utilizing India’s national lockdown to innovate new solutions to help in the fight against COVID-19. More than 60 faculty from various fields – including medicine, nanoscience, AI, big data, sensor-manufacturing and material sciences – are hard at work.
Amma is donating $1.7 million US to the Indian and Kerala governments to help combat and contain COVID-19. The funds will also provide relief to those physically, mentally and economically affected by the virus. In addtion, Embracing the World is providing free care to COVID-19 patients at Amrita Hospital in Kochi, Kerala.
Amrita SeRVe took a fundamental step toward a more regenerative, healthier and organic form of agriculture. The tribal community in the village of Sadivayal, Tamil Nadu received Organic-Agriculture certification, becoming the first Amrita SeRVe farmers’ group to obtain this status. Their certification is for the production of mixed vegetables, mango and rice.
VIDEO: She has made it her mission in life: any woman or child of her Indigenous community who needs protection can come and stay with her. Gayili Banduk Marika Yunupingu has opened her door to those who suffer from domestic violence or consider suicide as the only way out. A mining company once offered Gayili, who is a Gumatj Clan Elder, three million dollars for the property. However, she refused because she considers it a duty to respect and safeguard her heritage.
Volunteers with Amma Italia have built a new multipurpose hall in the community of Valfornace. In 2016, the region was battered by a series of strong earthquakes that damaged several cities and villages. Valfornace had one hundred percent of its public facilities destroyed. In November 2019, Amma handed over the keys of the new center, much to the gratitude of community members.
Amma visited Amrita Children’s Home in Paripally, Kerala to celebrate 30 years of caring for the orphanage. A large gathering of alumni was also held to honor the occasion. In 1989, the orphanage administrators came to Amma and confessed they were out of funds. They said that before long, they would have no choice but to turn their 500 children out on the street.
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and the University of Arizona are embarking on a multidisciplinary partnership in education and research. In one of the largest ever international university collaborations in India, a Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed by Amma, who is the Chancellor of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, and Dr. Liesl Folks, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, University of Arizona.
VIDEO: Amma teaches that everyone, whether rich or poor, can make a difference in the lives of others. The doctors in charge of the Amrita Kripa Charitable Hospital in the remote district of Wayanad in Kerala are the very embodiments of this spirit. Dr Sanjeev Vasudevan and Dr Ajitha are a husband-and-wife team who are focussing on care for the region’s tribal people.
The climate crisis is one of the most urgent issues we face in the modern world, due to the finite time in which we have to solve it and the huge implications if it is not resolved. AYUDH, our global youth movement, has been focusing on ways to address these concerns – from tree planting initiatives to trash cleanups. In September, a group of marine science students with AYUDH’s chapter in a small town on the west coast of Scotland decided to also take to the streets.