Jain Digest 2014 11

Author(s): Federation of JAINA
Publisher: USA Federation of JAINA

Page 29

one school. The power of the idea, spirit of giving and the opportunity to be an agent of change so appealed to these generous souls that no one asked how much they would have to contribute! After the lunch break, Acharya Shri ChandanaJi proposed a Global conference of Veerayatan family be held in 2014 to work out details of how a massive project of 200 schools will be carried out. Various committees for detailed planning and financial controls will have to be formed and awareness will have to be raised for the dream to become a reality. Dr. Vinod Shah of MD proposed the name of Dr. Kiran Patel of Tampa, FL (Past President of AAPI) to be the Convener of the conference in July of 2014. It is expected that one hundred international delegates and 100 US delegates will gather to brainstorm and propose a plan for implementation at the 2014 Veeraytan Global Conference.
Last speaker of the day was the one everyone was waiting to hear from. Veerayatan President Abhay Firodia, made a detailed presentation on issues ranging from acquisition of land, budget, construction, government permits, corpus funds for sustaining the schools after the construction, hiring of staff and the teachers etc. He said that in each of these components, Veeryatan's vision should be the central philosophy. His presentation was so thorough that it answered all the questions there were on this ambitious and visionary project. Lastly, Abahy Ji proposed that Sadhvi Shri Shilapiji be the overall manager of the entire project with divine guidance from Acharya Shri Chandanaji. Everyone applauded the idea as Sadhvi Shri Shilapiji graciously accepted the responsibility.
JAIN DIGEST
Inspirational presentations by Acharya Shri Chandanaji have prompted one Singhvi family near Solapur to offer their family built school to Veeraytan. The school that is a creation of PradeepJi and Pramilaji Singhvi family in loving
memory of their daughter (Rupali) who had succumbed to a life threatening disease. It was her last wish that the family find a way to help underprivileged children. The family did just that - "SNEHALAYA"A school dedicated to rehabilitating sex workers and their children. Today, Snehalya is a home, family and future for children and women in distress. But after running the school for the past 15 years and seeing the school grow to 700 students it was time to turn school management in capable hands. Once they learned of Veeraytan's new initiative to build 200 schools that will provide value-based education without regard to cast or religion. In Veeraytan, Shinghvi family saw fulfillment of their daughter's last wish and decided to turn over the entire school complex to Veeraytan.
Acharya Shri expressed her vision of Snehalya becoming a training center for providing teachers, administrators and workers for Veeraytans's project of creating 200 new schools. Veeraytan could take over the entire Snehalaya and its activities once the proposal was studied and approved by the Trustees of Veeraytan. If this experiment of family run school becoming part of Veeraytan family does become a reality, it may open door for other family run schools to join Veerayatan project of 200 new Schools.
This project, known, as "Jaha Jinalay Vaha Vidyalay❞ will seek to uplift the lives of thousands of people that surround these sacred yet challenged areas by providing quality education to over 1 lakh (100,000) children.
If you would like to participate in the Veeraytan's school project, write to admin@veerayatan-intl.org And If you wish to get more information on this or other Veerayatan activities on monthly basis, please join our mailing list by signing in at http://www.veerayatan-intl.org/join-vi
In the past 8 months, Acharya Shri Chandanaji has held meetings with educators, community leaders and government officials throughout India to gain their perspectives on such an ambitious project. From the villages of Bihar, to the deserts of Kutch and hundreds of places in between, since 1973, Veerayatan has been applying its motto of Seva, Shiksha and Sadhana and has availed an opportunity to make a positive difference and transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals. She has repeatedly stressed "While one could build temples in town, why not turn the entire town into a temple by building the Vidya Mandirs". The "Vidya Mandir" where along with the best education we teach children the merits of family values and the emphasis is given on the purity of thoughts and actions. Along with Seva and Sadhana, it has always focused on the immense power of education and has contributed to the advancement
of our great nation. She firmly believes that "Gyaan Daan", Veerayatan Institute of Engineering, Management and an educational opportunity is the best mode of benevolent giving.
Research, Kutch, Gujarat
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