Tanzania, a nation of 45 million people, tells a compelling, poignant story about little Tanzanian children dying needlessly.  One out of 200 children born there suffers from congenital heart defects. With lack of paediatric cardiac surgical facilities, these children have to be sent to India for open heart surgery. As you read this now, and at any given moment, more than a thousand children await surgery.  Their only hope for life lies in the generosity of donors.  No wonder so many people want to support the Tanzania Heart Babies project.

Deepa Kapur, the coordinator of the TOS in Tanzania, tells us about the exciting and courageous Everest Base Camp climb, a fund-raising drive, undertaken in May by her daughter Malaika, a TOS teen from Tanzania herself, and ten fellow students from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada as well as one from Chicago, USA.  Leading the team was their trainer who hails from Scotland. With immense support from around the world, including a hand-written note from the UN Messenger for Peace, Jane Goodall, they have raised an impressive sum for the Heart Babies project.  We send warmest congratulations to these fine young citizens of the world.

Malaika with a heart-crippled child from the Maasai tribe near the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

"Neverest till we reach Everest!"

Photo to the left is the first batch of university students arriving at New Delhi airport on 3rd May en route to Nepal for the Everest Base Camp Climb. From left to right: Benjamin Bar-Gera (Switzerland), Tanaya Bhardwaj (USA), Malaika Kapur (Tanzania/India), Anne-Sophie Deman (Belgium) and Johannah Cramer (USA).

For a full account of the team’s climb, visit www.tzfortheheart.org

To donate through the TOS to the Tanzania Heart Babies project, contact Deepa Kapur at deepakapurjambo@gmail.com

The Theosophical Order of Service in the United States of America recently announced the recipients of its 2014 Oglala Lakota College scholarship, awarded to Native American nursing students who are passionate about using their education to give back to their communities. This year's scholarship is shared by two recipients – meet Nicole and Amy below:

A member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe, Nicole Griffin was raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Nicole moved to South Dakota six years ago to work toward her goal of becoming a Registered Nurse.

Currently in her second year of nursing school, Nicole plans to graduate with an Associate of Arts degree in Nursing in June 2014. Her longer-term goals include working toward a Bachelor's degree in nursing.

Nicole relates that life has not been easy for her, but says, "I have managed to make it this far and have no current plans on giving up." The mother of five children ages 1-12, Nicole drives 200 miles per day from her home in Rapid City to attend classes in Pine Ridge, all the while working part time as a nursing assistant. Nicole says that getting her nursing degree "is like a dream come true for me and my family."

Amy Wilson is a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe and is a lifelong resident of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Her grandfather, Chief Oliver Red Cloud, founded the Red Cloud Indian School that has educated Lakota people for over 100 years. Amy was raised with traditional Lakota values, including respect, generosity, courage, fortitude and wisdom. She finds that "the feeling of sharing and caring is immensely calming."

A single mother of three (ages 17-25), Amy's family has expanded to include two daughters-in-law and two grandsons.

Amy worked for the Lakota Housing Authority, then obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. She found her true calling, however, while caring for severely injured and ill family members. Amy sees a great deal of suffering on the reservation, and is determined to use her nursing skills to help her community.

We have often reported in this newsletter on the Teddies for Tragedies project championed by the TOS in England.  Last year we shared the excellent news that our British knitters received recognition for collecting over 12,000 teddies to comfort children traumatised by war, famine, abandonment or natural catastrophes.  (They are closing steadily in on 14,000 now!)  In recent years, members in Italy and France have been inspired by the Brits to join the team.

It is interesting to learn how the project started. The website http://www.teddiesfortragedies.org tells us that Teddies for Tragedies originated with the Women’s Royal Voluntary Services workers who, in 1985, knitted teddy bears for orphans housed in a temporary orphanage set up by the Emergency Care for Children nurses in a Sudan refugee camp for 2,000 children with tuberculosis.

The teddies were such a success that more were requested.  Soon teddies were being sent to Peru, Uganda, Zambia, Jamaica, Armenia, India, Thailand, Romania, Croatia, Albania and Nepal.

Doctors treating children in developing countries find that the teddies are sometimes as important to healing as the medicines.  And like medicine, a continual supply of teddies is needed as each child keeps the bear he or she receives.

The TOS in France has just enlisted the help of the ladies in a retirement home in the region of Burgundy.  Below, we see the presentation of their first bunch of teddies to Michel Chapotin, President of the TOS in France.

Anyone can participate in the project.  Just ask friends for wool remnants and download the knitting pattern here:

http://www.tos-uk.org.uk/teddies.htm

The trickiest part is possibly getting the teddies to children in need.  If the children are overseas, it can be difficult finding friends or associations to transport them for free.  For advice and encouragement, write to Atma and Cynthia Trasi of the TOS in England at:atmatrasi@btinternet.com.