Posts tagged vegan
FFL in Ecuador
Mar 5th
FFL Ecuador team serving pure food
January 2012 – Winter season came to Ecuador bringing torrential rains and suffocating waves of heat. However, the radical weather patterns were not enough to deter the FFL volunteers from Guayaquil, Ecuador. Taking time out from their busy family lives and business, the volunteers consistently devote time to the service others.
Over 500 people were waiting in the town of El Consuelo to experience the prasadam from Food for Life. The journey there from the FFL kitchen in Guayaquil takes almost two hours. Nonetheless, the volunteers enjoyed the spectacular scenery, watching the dramatic landscapes unfold before them, bedecked with flowers of all colors and lush green vegetation responding to the winter rainfalls. The journey took a little longer than anticipated and so some of the families went home. However, the FFL team immediately went to community leaders to announce from house to house of their arrival. Making use of the bells of a beautiful church, a large crowd once again gathered for lunch! Buckets of delicious vegan rice and lentil stew, pastries and herbal teas were being passed children and adults. The smiles and words of praise kept coming and mental images will last in our memory forever.
The following week, hundreds of others were the beneficiaries of a traditional vegan rice and lentil stew, fried sweets, and aromatic teas, prepared just hours before by a group of enthusiastic FFL volunteers.
Many members of the community and of other organisations join the FFL Ecuador team each week for the experience of distributing free vegan lunches. Some weeks, due to budget constraints, the FFL Ecuador team is only able to feed 300 people, but the joy of helping even a few people with a warm plate of food prepared with love is amazing! Our small gesture of kindness, melts the hearts of everyone and soon their love comes back to use in the form of hugs, laughter and finally running after our car as we try to leave!
Recently, the Addictions Rehabilitation Centre (ACE prison) was chosen as the place to serve our vegan meals. With the help of volunteer Jimmy Cassinelli, we were welcomed by the authorities and inmates of the place. This time, FFL cooks made a special menu of delicious fried rice with an equally rich chili sauce and aromatic drinks. At least 50 inmates enjoyed the experience of pure food made with love.
Information for this report and photos provided by Gopi Gandharvica
FFL Volunteers
To learn more about FFL in Ecuador, see their blog
Food for Life in Ecuador
Aug 24th
Food for Life volunteers have served hot vegetarian meals to school children and impoverished families for over 20 years in this South American country.
Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border with Brazil. The country also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) west of the mainland.
Recently, the FFL team visited some villages in Ecuador, where eager people waited patiently under tents to protect themselves from the blazing sun. As soon as the FFL van arrived, an announcement of their arrival went out over the public speaker system. The local neighbourhood church groups wearing yellow shirts, similar to FFL volunteers, began organising the gathering crowds and helping to set up distribution.
While working under the hot tents, FFL volunteers perspired heavily serving the delicious lunch. However, “The satisfaction was reflected on the faces of everyone,” explains, volunteer Ekatma Das. ”The people were so touched that we had gone out of our way to come to them with such delicious food. One lady told me, ‘We thought that no one cared anymore. Now we know differently. Thank you so much.’”
Food for Life served hot rice with dhal, fried sweet dumplings and an aromatic vegetable curry.
Ecuador Food for Life web site blog
(Photos: Gabriela)
Somalia Crisis – Food for Life Global researching options
Jul 21st
July 21 – SOMALIA. Food for Life Global is currently researching options for providing some relief to the estimated 3.7 million people affected by famine occurring in the Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions of southern Somalia. The UN has appealed for 300 million US dollars over the next two months to bolster its response in the affected areas. “Our hope is to provide at help to at least some of the people,” said Food for Life Director, Paul Turner. “FFLG will do what it does best and serve hot vegan meals. But our success is fully dependent on the support of our donors.”
Tens of thousands of people are currently migrating to escape the severe drought wrecking havoc in southern and central parts of the war-ravaged country with an equally large number already having perished across the region, most of them children. The UN estimates that humanitarian agencies need 1.6 billion US dollars for Somalia alone, with UN Director, Ban Ki-Moon stating, “Humanitarian agencies need urgent funding to save lives. If funding is not made available for humanitarian interventions now, the famine is likely to continue and spread. The overall requirement is 1.6 billion dollars for Somalia, roughly 300 million US dollars is needed in the next two months to provide an adequate response to famine affected areas.”
If you are interested in supporting a Food for Life Global vegan food relief effort, either by volunteering or by donation of cash or kind, please respond now.
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Food for Life in Japan – Week 5
May 17th
FFL Volunteer Madhu Mangala unloading fruits and vegetables from the FFL truck
Sunday, 15th May 2011 (Wataricho, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan) – Last Sunday was one of biggest Food For Life relief efforts since the Tohoku Mega-Disaster in Japan. A sumptuous prasadam dinner was served to 980 people at three relief-camps.
In addition, over 1000 kilograms of fruits and vegetables were provided for breakfast meals for 1,375 people over next three days.
FFL Global Director, Shrikant Shah said, “These results were possible through tireless efforts of 41 volunteers from Food for Life, Agrawal Association Japan, Hindi Sabha, and the Tokyo Maheshwari Group who worked throughout the day and drove over 800 kms in a convoy of 8 cars and one truck!”
Vege Curries, rice, flatbread, salad and a cookie
Shah, also explained that the planning and co-ordination of these services has itself been enormous. “We start planning on the following Monday for the next Sunday effort. It requires a whole week of careful coordination and planning. We are especially thankful for Akhilesh Ji for his help in this regard.”
A told of six food stalls were setup at the three shelters. The dinner consisted of two hot vegetarian curries (Chickpea masala curry and Paneer masala curry), fresh salad, home-made Thepla (Masala-flatbreads) and a wholemeal cookie. To the delight of all, a special sachet of Organic Tulsi Ginger tea (Caffeine FREE) was served.
FFL Volunteers serving dinner
“The dinner was relished by everyone and many requested for “O-kawari” (second helpings) of the curries,” explained volunteer coordinator, Madhu Mangal.
In serving these delicious meals, Food for Life volunteers try to be as sensitive to the feelings of the Japanese people, many of whom are still in a state of shock and depression. “We do our best to engage in positive conversations with them and also try to play with the children to uplift their spirits,” explained volunteer, Tapasvini Dasi.
Other volunteers included residents from Madhya Pradesh (MP), Ojima Indians, and Nishi Ojima Indians who pitched in enthusiastically to make the project a success.
Japanese children doing their homework at one of the many shelters.
Contact
Shrikant Shah, FFLG Japan director (+81-90-1469-6129 or shrikantshrigems@gmail.com)
Plan for coming weeks:
For coming weekend (May-22)
The Kofu Indian Group has pledged 14 volunteers to serve meals to 770 people at three shelters and also distribute 1000 kg fruits and vegetables.
The following week we plan serve around 1350 people, for which we will need many volunteers.
Food for Life Japan is now aiming to provide these food services on a daily basis for as long as possible. “As long as funding and volunteer support is there then we can keep this up,” said Shah.
If you are interested in helping, we urge you to come forward now and help.
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/101068806464452734982/May15FoodForLife#
https://picasaweb.google.com/Tarun.Mohta/MiyagiFFL20110515?feat=directlink
Fruits and Vegetables for 3-days of breakfast:
➢ ORANGE 600 PCS
➢ APPLE 600 PCS
➢ GRAPEFRUITS 600 PCS
➢ BANANA 1,000 PCS
➢ MIKAN 600 PCS
➢ KIWI 300 PCS
➢ MELON 56 PCS
➢ LETTUCE 100 PCS.
➢ CUCUMBER 30 KG
➢ SPINACH 100 PACKS
➢ TOMATO 720 PCS
➢ CAULIFLOWER 100 PCS
Food for Life Japan – Week 3
May 5th
FFL volunteer serving meals in Japan (Photo: Mayumi Ishii)
May 1, Sunday (Miyagi, Japan) — A convoy of six cars carrying 32 Food for Life volunteers left the Govindas kitchen in Tokyo at 3.50am to bring a freshly cooked lunch to three relief centres in the Miyagi district. Meals were provided for 726 survivors, as well as 50 local relief volunteers. SEE: PICASA Slideshow (PHOTOS). Photos by: Mayumi Ishii
Hari-San and Manoj-San from the FFL Global affiliate, Govindas restaurant prepared the vegetarian curries for the distribution. Assisting them were Tapasvini Devi Dasi and Mrs. Akibasan who made cakes; local FFL volunteer coordinator Madhu Mangal Das who prepared a giant salad and Mrs. Purnim Shah who oversaw the making of 1100 masala paratha (flatbreads).
Japanese tsunami survivors enjoying a Food for Life lunch in their makeshift "rooms". (Photo: Mayumi Ishii)
Other noteworthy volunteers were Vishvambar Das, as well as Anup Bhai, Jayesh Narula, Suresh Ji, Fujita-San, Kubota-San, and Alina Devi Dasi who partnered with Purnima Shah to provide all the vehicles. The volunteers covered all fuel and toll charges so that 100% of the donations could be used specifically for feeding people.
The previous week, Madhu Mangala and his assistant Fujita-San took extensive notes on how best to serve the survivors and this proved invaluable on Sunday. “It made the whole planning of our distribution very easy,” explained FFL Japan director, Shrikant Shah.
“The FFL volunteers worked so hard and gave their all,” said Shah. “And it was shown by how much the people loved the food we served.”
Govindas Restaurant manager, Manoj-San consols some of the survivors (Photo: Mayumi Ishii)
The local relief volunteers told the Food for Life team that they would not waste any of the food, and whatever was left over would be used for the next meal.
“The refugees were so happy that they applauded us after serving them,” explained Shah. “They were absolutely thrilled with the cakes. I got a call from the director of the Wataricho relief centre, Mr. Suzuki-San and he told me that ‘no one had ever brought them desserts before!’”
The Food for Life volunteers returned at 11pm, after which FFL Yoga teachers, Purnim Shah and Ishigaki-San led all the volunteers through a breathing exercises and karada yoga. The team are currently preparing to visit again next Sunday.
PICASA Slideshow (PHOTOS). Photos by: Mayumi Ishii
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
An enormous effort is involved in procuring, preparing, and distributing the food. Food for Life Japan is appealing for help with shopping, packing, cutting vegetables, cooking, and cleaning, as well as donations in kind and/or cash. Local volunteer, Sanjiv Keswani made an appeal on behalf of the survivors, “Although many people have come forward to help FFL Japan, we still need a lot more support to continue. Please spread the word, but more importantly, please pray for the affected. Sincere prayers are mightier than the greatest Tsunami and will always help,” he pleaded.
WHERE CAN YOU SEND YOUR OFFERING?
Donations of produce or personal supplies may be delivered at the ISKCON Temple in Funabori, Japan.
(ISKCON New Gaya Japan)
2-23-4 Funabori, Edogawa-ku,
Tokyo – 134-0091
Phone: 03-3877-3000
Mobile: 080-5412-2528,
080-5405-8977,
080-3753-5097
ONLINE DONATIONS
- Donate directly to Food for Life Japan
- Donate through Food for Life Global – Emergency Fund (tax deductible with the USA)
Emergency Relief
Donate to the Food for Life Global emergency fund to help FFLG coordinate disaster relief when the need arises. We are currently sending all emergency donations to Japan.
