Come January, the Mumbai Bala Vihar sevikas team headed by Smt. Shyamala Acharya (comprising Usha Sundaresan, Priti Kadakia, Aruna Joshi and Manisha Deole) starts gearing up for their annual camp at Chinmaya Vijaya, Kaza village, Vijayawada. The camp is held in the first week of May.
This year saw the sixth edition of the camp titled ‘Shakti’. These camps are held for approximately a hundred orphan girls. All camp materials and essential basic necessities are procured at Mumbai and transported there. Stationery items, lunch boxes and lunch bags, sanitary napkins, socks and undergarments were given to them, which was possible only through generous donations. Keeping up with the theme, ‘kolu’ steps, decorated Devi and dolls were bought and displayed. The 5-day camp included interactive workshops, hands-on activities, physical exercise, workouts, a treasure hunt, Bala Vihar sessions, a quiz and cultural presentations. Along with the children, the sevikas too enjoy the entire event and the learning becomes mutual. This was possible only through the blessings of Pujya Gurudev, Pujya Guruji, unwavering support from Swami Suveerananda, the evergreen enthusiasm of Dr. Sumati and Dr. Appa Rao and the help of support staff at Chinmaya Vijaya ashram.
