Ideas for Social work

[Guest guest]

Dear Ramesh,

Greetings.

 

OK, so you're in Chennai. That's a starting point.

 

There are many areas of social work. You have to

seriously think about your own time and resources

(sometimes you may have to pay out of your own

pocket)and what kind of social work will best suit

you.

 

Also, you should opt for social work that will fit in

with you free timings. Do not compromise on your work

life because of your social work activities.

 

Here are some types of social work:

 

1. Blood donation

2. Free tuition

3. Visiting old folks' homes and keeping them company

4. Social work in hospitals

5. Community hygiene programs

6. Family social work

7. Social work in Prisons Dept

 

For social work No. 1, there are already many

established organizations doing it - eg. Sathya Sai

groups, Ramakrishna Mission groups, other devotees

groups. You could play a part in the blood donation

drive - either donate blood, or help the organizers as

a Volunteer. And when you do it, say a mental prayer

and dedicate it to Lord Muruga. He will definitely

accept your dedication and respond to you.

 

Social work No. 2 can be done in your own

neighbourhood. You can offer your services as a

tutor/guide/organizer for schoolgoing children from

families where parents find it very hard to help their

children in their studies. Maybe they are facing

financial hardship, or they have no time or health

(because teaching children requires time, energy and

patience) or whatsoever other reason.

 

In this case, you can declare that you're doing it as

a service to Lord Murugan. You'll be pleasantly

surprised how happily people will respond and even

encourage you. It is a very nice way to gently spread

awareness of Murugan bhakti among people. You dont

need to be tutor for a high level; for lower primary

schools also its a good beginning.

 

For Social Work 3 & 4, you can contact any big

hospital's Social Work dept. Some of them call it

Rehabilitation dept. They usually have professionally

qualified Social Workers whose job is to assist

hospital patients (even relatives) to settle back into

society after a difficult health period. They can

give you very good pointers on how you can contribute.

 

(Long ago, I had the opportunity to help

hearing-impaired, but otherwise healthy, individuals

find suitable jobs. They were very successfully

employed in a factory where the noise levels were very

high, and nobody wanted to work in the high-noise

dept. A lot of workers used to shun that dept because

it would lead to premature hearing loss. So these

jobs were a boon to those who were already deaf-mute

or hearing impaired.)

 

Social Work No. 5 - Community Hygiene Programs. I

know there used to be group that used to visit the

slums in Mumbai every weekend and

educate/help/organize the slum-dwellers to maintain

their slum neighbourhood in a hygienic way. This

would improve their health enormously. Also, the

people began to feel a lot better about themselves

when they discovered how clean they could really be.

(Here also, you can inform people that you're doing it

as a service to Lord Murugan. That will raise

awareness of Murugan Bhakti).

 

Social Work No. 6. Charity begins at home. You can

explore opportunities in your own family - your

immediate family, relatives and so on and see if you

can help or guide them to make their lives better.

But this is a very personal situation. Some Indian

families may have their own politics.

 

Social Work No. 7: Prisons also have Rehabilitation

depts and you could enquire if you can contribute your

services in any way.

 

Well, Ramesh, I think Murugan Himself has guided me to

find the time to write to you and get you thinking on

this issue. Given my non-stop work schedule, I had

doubts whether I'd be able to write a long and helpful

letter.

 

Remember, thinking and planning is time-consuming.

But its worth it.

 

If you find my ideas helpful, may my efforts be an

Offering to Lord Murugan.

 

Patricia