Amma The Hugging Saint: Her Service to the World: Humanitarian Activities that Bring Hope & Peace

"The world should know that a life dedicated to selfless love and service to humanity is possible."
The hugging saint Amma has brought peace to millions through her embrace and through her many humanitarian activities all over the world.

Mata Amritanandamayi, known as Amma (Mother), is often compared to Mother Teresa and Gandhi because of her devotion to the poor. Amma has said her inborn nature is "an unbroken stream of love flowing from her to all beings in the universe", and from early childhood Amma offered compassion to her neighbors who were suffering without food or proper care. She would spend long periods immersed in deep meditation, inquiring into the source of the suffering around her. Amma experienced a oneness with all of creation, and understood that the purpose of her life was to uplift humanity. Regardless of gender of caste, she consoled those around her, taking them into her arms, never turning anyone away.

Today, people refer to this 55 year old woman from India as the "hugging saint." In the past thirty-five years, Amma has embraced over 26 million - sometimes 50,000 in one day - of her "children" who have come to her to receive healing and peace. Though Amma asks for no money, many give in gratitude, entrusting her wisdom to serve those most needy.

Amma says “My sole mission is to love and serve one and all", and has created numerous humanitarian services facilitated through her Mission Trust, MATH. In 1981, MATH's primary charitable activity was feeding the poor at Amma's Ashram, but today the N.G.O, which recently gained United Nations consultative status, has vastly expanded its reach. With Amma's micro-managment, and through dedicated volunteers, 97 percent of the money coming to MATH is used for its projects. MATH still feeds the poor, serving some 2 million people each year- but its humanitarian activities have expanded to include a multi-speciality 1,500-bed hospital providing free healthcare, cutting edge educational institutions, vocational training centers, an orphanage which is home to 600 children, of which about 500 are from tribal and scheduled caste families and hospices for AIDS and cancer patients. Community welfare services provide 125,000 free homes for the homeless, monthly pensions for 100,000 destitute women, free medical clinics, and large scale ongoing disaster relief response including flood, earthquake and hurricane Katrina relief. Additionally, MATH has created 4 homes for the elderly, a speech and hearing school, a free legal aid project, and a charitable hospital that serves the Adivasis, an indigenous people living in northern Kerala. In 2005, MATH's $23 million donation played an immense role in tsunami relief in India and Sri Lanka, and its volunteers continue activities to construct 6,200 permanent homes in devastated areas.

Recently, Amma pledged 43 million dollars to an initiative "aimed at relieving financial, emotional and family pressure on farmers living below the poverty line". In South India, continually failing crops and oppressive debt from loans taken out to buy land have caused rampant numbers of suicides by the suffering farmers. MATH's programs will provide educational scholarships for 30,000 children, many of whom have lost parents to suicide, and free vocational training for 5,000 groups of women who will receive start-up capital to begin small home-based businesses.

Amma feels "The world should know that a life dedicated to selfless love and service to humanity is possible". With your funding, I will create a photo-narrative about individuals in India and around the world who benefit from Amma's humanitarian activities, bringing more awareness to the possibility of a selfless life.

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