Mark Miggins receives the computer from an official of Saraswati Vidya Niketan (Source: Demerara Waves, December 6, 2017). Two days after fire destroyed all the belongings of a a Linden secondary school student who has been preparing for CXC examinations, he on Wednesday received a much-needed computer to help him continue preparations. Mark Miggins, 17, was presented the computer by the Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara-based privately-owned school, Saraswati Vidya Niketan. Almost immediately after the house in which he lived at 119 Wall Street, Self Help Housing Scheme, Amelia’s Ward was razed, Miggins had expressed grave concern about the future of his academic studies because his computer containing his School Based Assessments (SBAs) was destroyed. Hours later, the Principal of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan, Swami Aksharananda reached out and successfully contacted Miggins. Arrangements were made for the computer to be handed over Wednesday. Miggings and eight other persons lived in the Lampkin family-owned two-flat house. One of the theories about the cause of the blaze is that one of the occupants lit a mattress, resulting in the house being gutted.

Picture shows SVN student, Rafeena Mustapha, handing over check of $273,000 on April 11, 2013 to two children at the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Center. In the background is SVN’s Deputy Principal, Tanuja Gopaul. The Students of Saraswati Vidya Niketan presented a cheque of two hundred and seventy three thousand Guyana dollars ($273, 000) to the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre on the occasion of Holi. Students were encouraged to save their own money and later on contributed towards the donation. They felt that it was the right thing to do to celebrate Holi. They were willing to give their savings to the centre and were satisfied that their money would be put into good use. SVN is constantly reminding the students about their duty and responsibility towards society as citizens. Saving their money is one way of demonstrating that they are willing to help build the society in which they live. SVN is proud that the students have contributed towards this endeavour..

Picture shows two students of Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) Hindu High School, Guyana participating in SVN’s 2012 annual blood donation drive.

2012 SVN DIWALI BLOOD DRIVE

Saraswati Vidya Niketan has just completed a mega blood drive which yielded 551 units. The 2nd Diwali Blood Drive, conducted on the 9th and 10th of November, was organized and executed by the students and teachers of the school, along with the assistance of officials from the National Blood Bank. Students of the school recruited over 800 voluntary donors for this drive. The school organized this drive as a Diwali gift to the society. It is the school’s way of inculcating the values of dharma(duty) and responsibility to its students. Most of the planning for the drive was done by the students and teachers of the school. Saraswati Vidya Niketan has been organizing blood drives since 2007 and has recruited almost 1800 units of blood up to 2012. The target has been set at 1000 units for this year, 2013, alone. The first blood drive, held in May, yielded 508 units. This Diwali blood drive added another 551 units. Therefore, Saraswati   Vidya   Niketan   has   recruited   1059   units   of   blood   in   this   one   year,   which   is   one-tenth   of   the nation’s need. All units are given to the National Blood Bank to buffer the country’s supply. One institution alone has provided one-tenth of the country’s need and this is no easy task. With hard work, effective planning and execution, Saraswati Vidya Niketan has managed to serve the society and country. The students are aware of their duty and responsibility as citizens of Guyana and are very enthusiastic about recruiting and helping with the blood drive. SVN would like to thank members from the National Blood Bank and the voluntary donors, past and present, for their consistent support over the years.

SVN students achieved spectacular results in

their blood donation drive

Source: Stabroek News, November 13, 2012

Author: Swami Aksharananda

The world commemorates November 11 as Remembrance Day. But what a way the students of Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) chose to mark this day! Over the last weekend, the students of the West Demerara Hindu secondary school, Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN), on their own organized their first Dipavali Blood Donation Drive, as their Divali gift to the nation, and the result was absolutely spectacular.During the course of the two days, 10th and 11th of November, a total of 324 individuals recruited by the students, participated in the life-saving exercise with 303 individuals actually donating and with a mere 21 deferrals. What was unusual about this drive in contrast to the one held in May of this year is the small, almost insignificant, number of deferrals. Then there was an inexplicable stunning 148 deferrals out of a total of 401 participants. The difference in the Dipavali drive is clearly due to the high professionalism of the current staff and technicians of the National Blood Transfusion Service. We sincerely thank and congratulate them for a magnificent job, and look forward to working with them in the future. But the greatest thanks and gratitude must be reserved for the students of SVN, especially the fifth-formers. Equal to SVN’s 2012 outstanding CSEC results, our students have achieved a remarkable feat. While on account of other responsibilities I have had to be away from Guyana over the weekend and could not be on hand to savour their achievement, as their principal I am deeply touched by their commitment to this cause and the dedication and energy they showed in the process. I am sure that their teachers and parents are equally proud of this magnificent goodwill and at this early age their ability to give back to the society. I will urge our students to ensure that the Dipavali Blood Donation Drive becomes a permanent feature of their calendar of activities. While the Dipavali drive is one solely organized by the students, it should be remembered that they have been the dominant partner in the SVN-SEVA annual blood drive held in collaboration with the Cornelia Ida Hindu Temple since 2007. Each year since then our students have each been responsible for recruiting at least one donor. While the result of the May 2012 drive was disappointing 253 donors on account of the high rate of deferral, each year since 2007, even including 2012, our effort resulted in the largest single blood donation drive in the Caribbean. Thus, in 2007 which was our first attempt we obtained a mere 76 units but this was increased to 176, 214, 262 and 308 for each of the subsequent years. J ust   as   we   enjoyed   and   celebrated   your   remarkable   success   at   the   2012   CSEC,   let   us   celebrate   this moment.     It   is   truly   a   high   point   in   SVN’s   life.   Your   school   is   proud   of   you.   Your   parents   are   proud   of   you, and   Guyana   is   proud   of   you.     You   are   the   greatest.     I   am   confident   that   you   will   be   great   citizens   of   this beautiful   Guyana.   Our students know that I have always been demanding their best. Many of them and even some parents have complained their best never seemed enough for me and I have never stopped demanding and demanding. But for now no more demands, only a little challenge to reach for 500 units in 2013 to celebrate SVN’s tenth anniversary.

Picture shows students of Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) Hindu High School, Guyana recruiting volunteers to donate blood during SVN’s 2013 annual blood donation drive. The location is the Cornelia Ida public road, West Coast Demerara, Guyana.

2013 SVN BLOOD DRIVE

Saraswati Vidya Niketan, in collaboration with SEWA Guyana and Cornelia Ida Temple, completed its 7th Annual Blood Donation Drive on 18th and 19th May 2013. T his   drive   attracted 534   potential   donors   and   yielded   508   units   of   blood,   which   is   probably   the   largest   number   ever collected   in   Guyana.   There was a target of 501 units but with the hard work of the students, teachers and temple and community members, the target was met and exceeded. Donors included old and new donors, past and current students and residents of the surrounding villages like Cornelia Ida, Anna Catherina and Hague. Some donors even came from as far as from West Coast Berbice. There were also entire families that came out to contribute towards the blood drive. Saraswati Vidya Niketan has recorded its highest number of blood units collected and has done it with great organization, assistance and hard work. All those involved gave their time and effort voluntarily. SVN wishes to thank the workers from the National Blood Bank, the members of the Cornelia Ida Temple, the reporters from Kaieteur News and the community members. Pujya Swami Aksharananda, the Founder and Principal of SVN expressed his thanks and noted that SVN community is immensely proud of the students who encouraged and recruited most of the potential donors. The school aims at educating its students of their social responsibility and this activity is one way of doing so. SVN is grateful for the support of donors who come year after year in huge numbers to support this worthy cause of voluntarily donating blood. It was indeed a blessing to work with such people to help save lives.

Mr. Gaimchand was the first donor at Saraswati Vidya Niketan Hindu High School’s 2013 annual blood donation drive.

In what could be dubbed the most innovative recruitment drive for blood donors, students of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) Hindu School, yesterday flanked the thoroughfare outside of the Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, institution soliciting donors. Armed with placards and leaflets explaining the importance of donating blood, the students were in high spirits as they beckoned passing vehicles to pull over while simultaneously encouraging passersby to give blood. The novel tactic was in fact one that bore tremendous results as by afternoon, the blood drive, which was held in collaboration with the Society for Empowerment and Wholistic Advancement (SEWA) and the Cornelia Ida Temple Committee, was well on its way to achieving its 501units target for the day. The blood drive had in fact commenced on Saturday and was intended to be part of a month of activities to commemorate Arrival Day, which was celebrated on May 5 last. The overall target for the two-day activity was expected to be close to 1,000 units. During an interview yesterday, Vice Principal of the School, Tanuja Gopaul, disclosed that aside from the roadside donors solicited by the students, donations were forthcoming from students themselves, their parents as well as members of communities within proximity. The school has a population of 406 students, ranging from Forms One through Five of which 363 were actively engaged in the blood donation recruitment drive. The top recruiters of the school are Ajith Parsaud, 12; Shyam Narine, 16; Akshaya Prasaud, 15; Amanda Sookwah, 16 and Al-Ansar Abdul, 18. Only the students of Forms Four and Five were allowed to donate blood after their parents returned signed consent forms to the school. T his   year   represents   the   seventh   consecutive   year   that   the   school   has   been   undertaking   the   blood   drive,   an activity   which   is   geared   at   helping   to   address   the   frequent   blood   shortage   situation   at   the   Ministry   of Health’s   National   Blood   Transfusion   Service. According to Gopaul, “since we have been doing these drives, we understand that it has been tremendously helping the situation at the Blood Bank…” “They have been telling us that an accident victim for example needs a lot of blood and they are often short so we believe that some help like this can go a long way and this is what encourages us every day. We are told one unit of blood can help at least three persons.” Moreover, the students were more than willing to give up their weekend to seek out volunteers to donate blood even as they advised drivers to “take your time when you are driving on the roads; lives are important, help save them.” Principal of the School, Swami Aksharananda has in fact been awarded by the Ministry of Health for his role in spearheading blood drives over the years. He explained that the main idea of the annual activity is to give back to the public and to teach the students values of social responsibility of giving back to the public. The Head of the school said that the annual blood drive was introduced in 2007 and the response from the public has been increasing each year so much so that a decision was made to have two annual blood drives. Another blood drive is slated for November which will be spearheaded by the student body of the school. “We do one annually for the Blood Bank but since last year we started doing it twice a year. Each year it has been getting bigger and bigger and we felt that we should include another at Diwali,” the Swami disclosed.

SVN’s student, Romeo de Fretais, was the 500th blood donor at SaraswatiVidya Niketan Hindu High School’s 2013 annual blood donation drive.

SVN 2014 BLOOD DRIVE

Saraswati Vidya Niketan has done it again with its blood drive this year. In commemoration of Indian Immigration Day, the school has organised a blood donation drive in its efforts to fulfill its duties towards the society. Organised and executed mainly by the students of Form 4, the drive yielded 523 units over two days, 3th & 4th May, 2014. This is the 8th year the school has organised such a huge drive and the units collected increase significantly each year. The students recruited approximately 1000 donors in about a month’s time. The students kept in contact with their recruits and reminded them regularly about the dates. All recruits turned up and 523 of them were confirmed to donate blood. The students took control of the drive on both days, conducting registration, ushering services and even giving moral support to some of the donors. The teachers were also actively involved, supervising the students and spending hours on the phone over the two days to recruit and remind prospective donors. The students and staff worked tirelessly over the two days to reach the target. Saraswati Vidya Niketan has been organising blood donation drives on such large scales over the past 8 years and each drive has yielded high number of units of blood every time. The students and teachers are actively involved in these efforts. The school sees this as a way of contributing to the society and the students are always reminded to fulfill that duty. They are enthusiastic and willing every time and are always looking forward to be helping out. Saraswati Vidya Niketan continues to instill such values in its students and never ceases to remind them of their social duties as citizens of this country.

SVN 2015 BLOOD DRIVE

Record-breaking blood donation Source: Stabroek News, May 23, 2015 Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN), in collaboration with SEWA GUYANA and the Cornelia Ida Mandir, quietly conducted its 9th annual blood donation drive on May 2 and 3 last. It was yet another record-breaking voluntary venture yielding 570 units of blood, though fell short of target of 600 units. Our previous high was 551 units. It   is   regrettable   that   year   after   year   such   a   feat goes virtually unnoticed in Guyana. The project started in May 2007 with a modest contribution of 76 units which we were told was a record for Guyana. In 2008 when we set a target of 170 to mark the 170th anniversary of Indian Immigration, we raised 176 units. Since then the contribution has risen almost exponentially, and the response was so overwhelming that starting in 2013 we decided to have the drive twice a year, the second time to coincide with Divali, as a result of which the combined total for the year was 1,059 units. This, we were told, was about 10% of all voluntary blood donations in Guyana. From 2007 to our most recent blood drive, we have contributed a staggering 4,091 units of blood to the National Blood Bank. We want to take this opportunity to thank the staff at the Blood Bank for their diligent work that lasted without break for about 12 hours each day. We are also grateful for the massive support we have received from donors. People came from as far as Wales and Canals I and II on the West Bank to Parika Backdam, Leguan and Wakenaam. They came without any material incentive and on their own expense. We are also happy to report that along with members of the Cummings Lodge Mandir, the entire Dhanaciar Singh family of the same community supported the drive. But the most important support came from the students and teachers of SVN. Most of the teaching staff showed on both days to help with a variety of chores, and in the days coming up to the drive they spent several hours each night calling up persons on our data base to remind them of the event. In all of this, the contribution of SVN students was critical. Each student was requested to find two donors from their respective villages. Once the names were submitted the office verified the information which was then entered into our data base. The students themselves were asked to remind the donors that they had recruited. Because the drive required the constant supply of electricity, the school’s generator was used for more than 12 hours each day, and this added to the expense that SVN and SEWA incurred. In addition meals were prepared for donors and volunteers. The Blood Bank supplied 20 cases of Vita Malt, with compliments of Banks, that was meant for the donors. But since this was grossly insufficient we had to procure an additional ten cases. Though publicity and support from the business community are important to ensure greater success, our effort is inspired by the spirit of daana, a Sanskrit word that means giving, generousity, charity, etc. The Bhagavad Gita (17.20) speaks about three types of giving. Accordingly, that charity which is given to one from whom there is no expectation of a return, which takes into consideration the proper time and place and which is given to a worthy recipient with the notion that “it should be done” is the purest and ideal giving. According to this teaching giving blood qualifies as the highest kind of giving. Those who give it do not expect gratitude from any specific individual because they do not know who the recipient is. Those who receive it have no specific person to thank because they do not know the donor. It is this anonymity that makes blood donation the most ideal form of giving.

CONSUMER CONCERNS…BLOOD DONORS ARE HEROES – THEY SAVE LIVES Source: Kaieteur News Author: Pat Dial Three Sundays ago, we had the rewarding experience of attending the Speech Day of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan School on West Coast Demerara. The occasion was very reminiscent of the Speech Days of the Old Queen’s College of 50 to 60 years ago. The boys of this boy’s school were accorded a well-rounded education in those times and this made Queen’s famous well beyond the shores of Guyana. Saraswati   Vidya   Niketan,   likewise,   cultivates   well-rounded   students,   developing   them   intellectually, morally   and   physically.   The   outstanding   performances   of   its   students   at   the   CXC   Examinations   are known Caribbean-wide. To   encounter   a   school   in   Guyana   where   “mens   sana   in   corpore   sano”   (a   healthy   mind   in   healthy body)   together   with   the   cultivation   of   a   strong   ethical   commitment   had   been   achieved   was   indeed a   very   pleasant   surprise   since   most   tend   to   assume   that   the   ideal   of   a   rounded   education   had   long disappeared. In the short time between programme items, we questioned pupils to try to find out their take on the success of their fine school. They said their motto was their living guide. Their motto, in both Sanskrit and English, could be seen in various places. It is: Satyam vada – Be always truthful; Dharmam cara – Practice Righteousness; Svadhayanan Ma Pramadah – Never Abandon Studies. Many also claimed that the name of their school was an inspiration: Saraswati – that aspect of God which is invoked to develop Education; Vidya – Learning in its widest sense; Niketan (pron. Nee – kay – tan) means “abode” Thus their school’s name could roughly be translated as “ An abode of Learning grounded in God’s inspiration”. An   example   of   the   pupils’   ethical   commitment   is manifested   in   their   biennial   donation   of   hundreds   of   units   of   blood   to   the   National   Blood   Bank. Indeed, in one year, SVN’s contribution was 10% of the holdings of the Blood Bank. For complete article, please see: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2017/10/29/consumer- concerns-blood-donors-are-heroes-they-save-lives/