Activities 2024-25 : Affiliates Outside India

Ramakrishna Math & Ramakrishna Mission:

(A) New Centre

• Vedanta Center of Greater Washington, D.C., USA, which was so long a sub-centre of Hollywood centre, is upgraded to the status of a full-fledged branch centre.

(B) Important News

• Colombo centre, Sri Lanka: Started a Welfare centre at Kotagala, 230 km west of Ramakrishnapuram (Batticaloa) sub-centre. Constructed monks’ quarters and started a computer centre in the Karaitivu campus of Batticaloa sub-centre.
• Faridpur centre, Bangladesh, installed a statue of Swami Vivekananda on its campus.
• Fiji centre received Bharat Vitti Maitri Award from the High Commission of India in Suva for its contribution to society and community.
• Gretz centre, France, held an all-European Vedanta summit.
• Jashore centre, Bangladesh, built an office building at its Narail sub-centre.
• Lusaka centre, Zambia, constructed a multipurpose hall.

(C) Report of Activities

Educational Services

*Details of various vocational training courses are given below.

Vocational Courses

Medical Services

General Distress Services

Items distributed to 12,216 families and 41,999 people through 13 branch centres in 5 countries covering 72 villages: 26,410 kg rice, 15,179 kg pulses, 14,128 litres cooking oil, 4278 kg salt, 4570 bars of bathing soap, 3370 saris, 63 dhotis, 177 lungis, 220 T-shirts, 2560 assorted garments, 100 pairs of socks, 66 bedsheets, 1003 school bags, 10 water reservoir tanks (each of 500-litre capacity), 9822 litres milk, 5 gas cylinders (refilled), 16,340 notebooks, 192 geometry boxes, 233 pens, 220 pencils, 100 diapers, 31wheelchairs, a shower chair, 3 walkers, 2 pairs of moon boots, a set of elbow crutches, 43 hospital beds, an electric mobility scooter, 11,028 meals, 175 kg vermicelli, 2036 kg flour, 695 kg soya chunks, 4313 kg maize meal, 3069 kg pasta, 327 kg semolina, 210 kg cake flour, 300 kg macaroni, 4360 loaves of bread, 3267 kg porridge, 800 bars of peanut chikki, 472 sandwiches and hot dog rolls, 4012 kg snacks, 30 packets snacks, 514 kg sweetmeat, 4000 bars of chocolate, 37,419 packets of biscuits, 6888 cakes, 27 kg baby food, 210 ice cream lollies, 82 kg jam, 2324 cans of jam, 245 kg peanut butter, 222 bottles of peanut butter, 149 kg chilli bite mix, 920 packets of instant noodles, 13,226 cans of tinned food, 4707 kg potatoes, 2615 kg onions, 23,094 kg assorted vegetables, 2987 kg assorted fruits, 1811 litres flavoured milk, 5 kg milk powder, 2 kg cheese, 70 kg margarine, 6628 kg sugar, 601 kg assorted spices, 72 kg tomato sauce, 1 kg pasta sauce, 5940 litres fruit juice, 490 litres drinking water, 4,25,705 tea bags, 27 kg coffee, 374 kg health drink powder, 60,100 breakfast cereal sachets, 1067 kg fortified cereals, 1126 packets of soup, 442 kg of soup powder, 20 litres sanitizer, 3977 bars of laundry soap, 327 kg detergent powder, 139 litres detergent, 52 litres body lotion, 2585 tubes of toothpaste, 774 toothbrushes, 6 litres mouthwash, 200 baby napkins, 5787 adult napkins, 30 packets of sanitary napkins for children, 7690 sanitary pads, 60 men’s toiletry packs, 30 baby gift packs, 245 shirts, 150 T-shirts, 10 trousers, 38 track pants, 719 ladies’ garments, 128 gents’ garments, 391 children’s garments, 36 raincoats, 130 towels, 10 sandals, 27 pairs of shoes, 262 sets of household utensils, 55 buckets, 51 curtain sets, 5 pillows, 88 comforters, 751 assorted bedding items, 118 erasers, 21 pencil case 138 rulers, 3600 educational toys, 39 garden tools, 220 packets of seeds, 61 guava plants, 3300 clay lamps and wicks, 6326 matchboxes, 606 candles, 250 boxes of incense sticks, 38 solar panels with LED lights, 5 rainwater harvesting tanks, 884 shopping bags, 22 prepaid electricity vouchers etc.

Other Welfare Services: Ration / grocery items (rice, wheat, pulses, salt, cooking oil, condiments, sugar, tea leaves, etc) to 3899 people; snacks / tiffin / milk to 7737 people; meals (Annadanam) to 20,000 people; hygiene kits (toothpaste tubes, toothbrushes, soap bars, antiseptics, nail-cutters, etc) to 300 people; education kits (textbooks, notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, geometry boxes, rulers, uniforms, etc.) to 578 people; clothes to 7711 people; Winter clothes to 669 people; Pecuniary help to 2695 people; Medical help to 42,411 people; Educational help to 395 people.

Relief & Rehabilitation Services

Cyclone Relief:
Conducted by: Bangladesh centre – Bagerhat. Relief Details: Distributed 200 kg rice, 20 kg pulses, 40 kg potatoes, 20 litres cooking oil, 40 kg salt, 40 saris, 10 dhotis, and 400 packets of ORS. No. of beneficiaries: 160 people from 40 families in 2 villages.

Tornado Relief:
Conducted by: South Africa Centre – Durban. Relief Details: Distributed 181 kg rice, 10 kg wheat flour, 52 kg pasta, 50 kg maize meal, 82 kg pulses, 145 kg porridge, 60 litres cooking oil, 1 kg salt, 97 cans of jam, 609 cans of tinned food, 188 packets of instant noodles, 12,950 tea bags, 326 litres drinking water, 94 litres milk, 73 kg sugar, 30 candles, 40 bars of bathing soap, 2 litres detergent liquid, 48 packets of toilet paper rolls, 4 baby diapers, 17 tubes of toothpaste, 688 saris, 2265 ladies’ garments, 500 shirts, 400 trousers, 615 gents’ garments, 22 tracksuits, 15 overalls, 85 blankets, 25 pillows, 12 duvets (bedding), 110 assorted bedding items, and 136 pairs of shoes. No. of beneficiaries: 1920 people from 640 families.

Fire Relief:
Conducted by: Bangladesh centre – Chittagong. Relief Details: Distributed 220 kg rice, 22 kg pulses, 22 kg salt, 11 kg detergent powder, 52 saris, 22 dhotis, 22 bedsheets, 22 blankets, 52 buckets, 52 plates and 30 sets of utensils (each set contained 2 cooking pots, 1 kadai, 1 serving bowl, 1 ladle, 1 spatula, 1 perforated spatula, and 1 mug) No. of beneficiaries: 233 people from 52 families in 2 villages.

Flood Relief:
(A) Conducted by: Bangladesh centres – Bagerhat, Chandpur, Chittagong, Comilla, Dhaka and Jashore. Relief Details: Distributed 9375 kg rice, 1102 kg pulses, 2246 kg chira, 621 kg molasses, 670 litres cooking oil, 126 kg assorted spices, 1024 kg salt, 4396 kg potatoes, 2663 litres drinking water, 621 packets of biscuits, 4901 packets of ORS, 621 matchboxes, 1242 candles, 531 bars of soap, 158 kg detergent powder, and 625 blankets. No. of beneficiaries: 12,115 people from 2692 families in 37 villages.
(B) Conducted by: Nepal centre – Kathmandu. Relief Details: Distributed 1875 kg rice. No. of beneficiaries: 300 people from 75 families in 1 village.
(C) Conducted by: Sri Lanka centre – Batticaloa (sub-centre of Colombo). Relief Details: Served meals to 710 people. No. of beneficiaries: 710 people from 175 families in 1 village.

Disturbance Relief:
Conducted by: Bangladesh centre – Bagerhat. Relief Details: Distributed 250 kg rice, 50 kg pulses, 65 kg potatoes, 50 kg onions, 25 litres cooking oil, 50 kg salt and 25 kg sugar. No. of beneficiaries: 225 people from 33 families in 2 villages.

Summer Relief:
Conducted by: Bangladesh centres – Bagerhat and Jashore. Relief Details: Served 500 litres of drinking water, 500 packets of biscuits, and 500 packets of ORS to passers-by and distributed 50 table fans. No. of beneficiaries: 600 people from 550 families in 4 villages.

Winter Relief:
(A) Conducted by: Bangladesh centres – Bagerhat, Chandpur, Chittagong, Dhaka, Mymensingh and Rangpur. Relief Details: Distributed 2,158 blankets and 5 winter garments. No. of beneficiaries: 2213 people from 2163 families in 23 villages.
(B) Conducted by: Nepal centre – Kathmandu. Relief Details: Distributed 62 winter garments. No. of beneficiaries: 62 people from 35 families in 1 village.
(C) Conducted by: South Africa centres – Durban and Phoenix. Relief Details: Distributed 1185 blankets and 90 winter garments. No. of beneficiaries: 1275 people from 637 families.

Spreading of Moral, Cultural and Spiritual Ideas

This was accomplished through several libraries, lectures, seminars, youth camps, Balak Sanghas, regular classes, public celebrations, etc. The 24 libraries in various centres had 77,727 books, newspapers and 79 periodicals. Our monks gave lectures at the centres and in colleges, universities, and other institutions, conducted religious classes, observed religious festivals with special worship, organized seminars and held retreats.

Details of the lectures/classes and other preaching services conducted by the Math and Mission centres abroad during the year are given below:

Overseas Publications

Our overseas centres published valuable books and 15 periodicals in 9 languages.