Theosophical News
2011
Changes of Officer
This year four fine workers finished terms
coordinating the TOS work within their countries:
Tim Boyd in the USA, Narendra Shah in Nairobi,
Kenya, Luigi Marsi in Italy and Regina Celi Medina
Alves Silva in Brazil. We thank them all. Their
successors have started out with energy and
creativity.
The new president of the TOS in America, Nancy
Secrest, has invited anyone in sympathy with the TOS
to grow their hair and then have it cut (unless this
is discouraged by their culture or religion) for
donation to Locks of Love, an organisation that
makes wigs for cancer patients and others. Nancy is
setting an example by growing her own hair. She
feels that this is a very simple act of service in
which most people can participate. In her first
annual report, she highlights the TOS’s projects in
support of Native Americans: continuing assistance
for the Rosebud Reservation of the Lakota Sioux
Indians in South Dakota and for the Navajo Indian
Reservation in New Mexico in the form of clothing
and blankets, school supplies, computers and
Christmas gifts. This year a significant scholarship
was granted to a nursing student at Oglaga Lakota
College School of Nursing. |
Tim Boyd, outgoing President of the TOS in America
and Nancy Secrest, incoming President.
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The new convenor of the TOS in Kenya, Usha Shah, has
initiated three projects this year in addition to
spearheading the famine relief work already mentioned: the
distribution of teddy bears knitted by TOS members in Italy
for children affected by tragedy, a tree-planting project
with primary school children, and the teaching of skills
enabling needy women to increase their family income. These
new projects come in addition to the significant service
programme carried out for many years by the TOS team in
Nairobi.
Narendra Shah, who has handed over the work of
Convenor of the TOS in Nairobi
this
year but who continues to handle the TOS’s accounts. |
Usha Shah,
who
has ‘hit the
ground running’ as the new TOS Convenor, with the
help of the solid Nairobi team. |
The TOS in Kenya started a project this year to give skills
to women enabling them to add to the family income. Ten
ladies from 25 to 70 years of age came to the premises of
the TS in Nairobi and were shown how to make cow dung cakes
to use as fuel, instead of coal. The ladies were also taught
to make dairy products. Here we see the ladies’ second day:
we see them learn how to make samosas, as well as chapattis,
plain and stuffed.
Rosella Milani Fanzio has started out her role as new
director of the TOS in Italy by launching a “one euro for
our Pakistan home schools” appeal to which members were
invited to donate when they renewed their TS membership dues
this year. This simple idea was remarkably successful: the
members responded in a characteristically generous fashion.
A heart-warming trait of the Italian TOS is that when a
major disaster takes place in the world, its representatives
contact the International Secretary saying, “How can we help
the TOS respond?” This spontaneity is refreshing.
Luigi Marsi acted as National
Director
of the TOS in Italy for 21 years. We salute him! |
We
welcome
Rosella as the new TOS National Director in Italy. |
As the new coordinator of the TOS in Brazil, Andréa Dias de
Mendonça Resende and her team have developed an engaging
service activity. They give everyone at the TS’s Summer
School in January and at its National Meeting mid-year an
opportunity to contribute to the activity in some way:
helping to set up and run a sale table, making, donating or
buying sale items, identifying suitable local beneficiaries
for the money raised, and buying and personally delivering
the donated articles. This activity is done with joy and
goodwill during the summer school itself and is a
constructive form of community outreach.
Regina Celi Medina Alves
Silva,
who is now coordinator of the TS
Lodges
in Rio de Janeiro. |
Andréa
Dias
de Mendonça Resende, our new
Correspondent
for the TOS in Brazil. |
Conclusion
In spite of all the positive news reported above, the fact
remains that the TOS still operates in only half the
countries where the TS is present. Continuing attention
needs to be given to helping members wishing to start
groups. The TOS’s long term goal is to be of help to the TS
in making Theosophy of transformative value in as many
countries as possible.
"News" page
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