I look into a pair of brown, playful and laughing eyes. At the same time 24 more pairs of eyes look back at me. Eager, keen, some shy, but all curious. Lots of rapid talking and laughing! I am invited to visit the home where the owner of the big beautiful eyes lives. I answer yes, with a slight uneasiness of what is next.

We are in a slum area in Varanasi on Thursday Feb 19th with Sai Maa Humanitarian’s Just One feeding program. Sitting in the tuktuk, a 3 wheeled taxi, on the way to Ghasiyara Tola I am emotional. Tears come in my eyes for a moment, but suddenly we are at the site.  Children laughingly greet us. No time for worries.

With great joy and gratitude for the service, we announce the completion of the Sai Maa Cataract 2014-15 Winter program. Each year Sai Maa Vishnu Shakti Trust (SMVST) sponsors 100 cataract surgeries in the villages surrounding Varanasi. The vision of the villagers who is severely impaired and to receive free surgery to restore their eyesight is a tremendous life-altering gift.  Once again this program was completely supported from the generous donations of the Sai Maa communities throughout the world. 

Each November SMVST meets with our partners, Vivekanand Mission Hospital, to plan the calendar of events for the cataract surgeries.  The winter months are the best time for the surgeries because, as the weather gets warmer, the chance of infection, and thus loss of eyesight, increases exponentially.  The days for the eye camps are then communicated to the eye doctors who perform the operations.  The ophthalmologists conduct these surgeries as seva (selfless service) without remuneration, so they are done outside their normal work schedules and when the villagers are available. 

On Thursday 12th January we travelled to the Vivekanand Mission Hospital at MaharajGanj for the Sai Maa Cataract Surgery program.   Each year this program sponsors 100 cataract surgeries, including patient care and follow-up, for villagers in Varanasi and surrounding areas who are being blinded by cataracts, and today the 2015 program reached completion.

The surgeries had been held the previous night and when we arrived the patients were resting in their hospital beds.  Three rooms held the 21 patients, who were each accompanied by a family member.   It was a cold morning and many were still wrapped in their blankets resting, as the surgeries had not been completed until 3am that morning.

Over the past 2 months the Sai Maa Women’s Empowerment Project has seen significant expansion.  In December 2014 a suitable property for the women’s shelter was located, and in January 2015 our first clients were welcomed at the shelter premises – a mother and daughter in need of temporary refuge.  

Since opening between 2 and 5 women have been housed at the shelter each night, ranging in age from teenagers to women in their 70s.  The shelter is smaller than originally planned, catering for a maximum of 5 women (and their children).  We decided on this smaller property so that the shelter services became available, rather than a potentially long wait to locate and prepare the desired larger premises.

Theliyana, Bajadiha is in the heart of Varanasi.  It is a small village area, one of the first that Just One served, and is comprised of unorganized migrant workers originally from West Bengal.  They have lived here about 10 years, so I was interested to find out if they considered themselves from Bengal or Varanasi.  I asked several of the children and they responded with a resounding ‘West Bengal’.  Many of these families still return to West Bengal to see their mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers. 

The weather is starting to get warmer now.  The winters here are short, but very harsh on the people with no central heating and a low tolerance for the cold.  This is why we have additional feedings over winter.  The warm food is vital for the health and well being of the children.  Although today, February 9th, we feed only 190 children, it is a good turnout for the village. The meal is the same menu as all of our Just One feedings: spicy vegetable curry, hot puris and a banana for desert.  

On January 30th, 120 children were fed at the Sai Maa Moksha Dham ashram. The day of this feeding was a sunny day that broke a week of cold and dreary skies.  And in this welcome sunlight a warm vegetable dish including potatoes and peas, perfectly ripe and in season, was served along with warm bread and sweetened milk to every child. Each feeding, the children seem to come earlier and earlier—playing, smiling, laughing—waiting patiently for the feeding program to begin.

The children served at our Ashram feedings are a combination of local underprivileged children who do not attend school and children from schools who cannot afford to provide meals to their students.

On January 28th, 23 new patients received the gift of sight through cataract surgery at the Vivekanand hospital in Maharajganj, India. The recipients were the elderly of the rural villages near Varanasi – those who, because of cataracts, had lost the ability to see clearly and  this was now hindering their normal day-to-day life.

On January 29th, I had the honour of seeing the patients after the surgery, with their children and family ready to take them back to their homes. Alongside the patients was the medical staff - 2 doctors and 3 assistants -  who had been operating late into the night before.  On this day, the medical staff and seva team distributed medicine, shawls, and food to the patients.