Welcome to the first joint seasonal AYUDH and GreenFriends newsletter! As the environmental aims of AYUDH correspond with those of GreenFriends we felt that it would be a great idea to join together for many of our activities that have an environmental focus. This newsletter will be a forum for all GreenFriends news to be posted on activities around Australia, as well as news of AYUDH events and activities involving all of AYUDH’s aims.

We are currently looking for people to become AYUDH leaders and GreenFriends organisers in each city. So far we have AYUDH leaders in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and have GreenFriends organisers on the Sunshine Coast, Sydney, and Adelaide and are very keen to get both an AYUDH and GF person in each city. If you’re interested in organising events in your local area please contact us via the emails below!

SYDNEY

“With bright spirits and plenty of enthusiasm we found two spots in great need of a 'clean up'” says Holi (Amritasri), Sydney’s local AYUDH leader. “As we worked together we shared stories about Amma and had many light hearted jokes about the unusual objects we came across, such as little plastic people and mango pips which were definitely the worse for wear”.

As well as some strange and interesting objects, the group were saddened by the many plastic bags, broken glass and fishing wire they found along the shore and were affected by the realisation of what a significant impact such rubbish has on our environment.  The group ended up with bags and boxes full of many different types of rubbish and felt that they had made a noticeable difference to the foreshore area.

“The opportunity to express our love for the environment and a commitment to preservation and restoration in the simplest of ways, was a great blessing” says Holi (Amritasri). “We shared a picnic lunch following the Clean-Up, and finished the day overlooking Wattle Bay with full bellies and hearts.”

HOBART
In Hobart a small group of AYUDH members met at Seven Mile Beach to clean up the rubbish along the main road. After filling many bags of rubbish, the youth were affected by what a difference one day of cleaning up their local environment could make.

“To spend that time picking up pieces of rubbish was a very grounding activity which really made us feel the connection we have with nature,” said Cleo (Arati), the local AYUDH leader. “We felt a strong sense of nurturing the environment and felt that in turn we received great support back. It was one of the strongest bonding experiences with nature I’ve ever had on that level.”

Through making a concentrated effort on this one day, the AYUDH and GreenFriends members attuned their awareness to the interdependent relationship we have with our environment, and resolved to make efforts to continue to care for and clean up our environment, while also focusing on mentally "cleaning up" those aspects of our lives that bring negativity, such as negative thoughts and feelings, and attempting to replace them with positive, loving thoughts and actions.

SUNSHINE COAST
From little things big things grow... at least that is what I was thinking after participating in a GreenFriends, Clean Up Australia Day event  here on the Sunshine Coast. I was a GreenFriends team of one so I joined a local Clean Up Australia Day activity and chanted my mantra whilst picking up rubbish. Although alone it felt great to be part of the local crowd who came along to help. I was still able to hold Amma in my heart as I picked up rubbish and made a difference to the local environment. 
 
The Sunshine Coast has just started a new Amma Satsang group and Clean Up Australia Day took place  a month before our very first Satsang. I'm confident that by 2010 it will be a much bigger GreenFriends group participating in Clean Up Australia Day on the Sunshine Coast.

ADELAIDE
Adelaide GreenFriends are up and running with their first contribution to supporting Amma’s vision of protecting and caring for the environment which we all share.

On March the 1st the Adelaide GreenFriends group met on the banks of the Torrens River in Adelaide to contribute to Australia’s national “Clean Up Australia Day”.

Between 8am and 10am eight of Adelaide’s GreenFriends members plus others picked up a total of 18 bags of rubbish from the much-deprived Torrens River.

Being the first “GreenFriends” activity in Adelaide the Clean Up Australia Day activity was very successful. A big thank you goes to all of Amma’s devotees and to all the people who contributed to Clean Up Australia Day throughout Australia.

Tilak Shanti & Navya Trainor - Adelaide GreenFriends organisers

CANBERRA
A sunny day, though not too hot, brought Clean Up Australia Day supporters, including four of us from the Canberra Satsang, to the grasslands of Pine Island, on the edge of Canberra and overlooking the Murrumbidgee River. The clean up at this particular site had been organised by one of the Green MLAs from the ACT government.

We donned our shiny yellow gloves and began the clean up, sorting rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable. We had chosen a site which was not too potentially challenging in the way of broken glass, needles and the like because one of the devotees was planning on bringing her young children; still, the number of cigarette butts was truly staggering - I was seeing them in my sleep that night!

When we all gathered around the barbecue at the end we got a chance to talk to others about the commitment of Amma's groups around Australia and the world to making even a simple contribution of this kind to Mother Nature in return for her boundless nurturing and protection. Later I received a very friendly message of thanks from the organisers, saying they would like to involve us in future events as well. Thank you AYUDH and Green Friends for your encouragement in this direction!

Prashanti

AYUDH has internationally adopted a theme for 2009 which will be incorporated in events and activities around the world - this theme is “Give Peace a Chance”.

Having the theme of Give Peace a Chance gives us the opportunity to reflect on what peace means to each of us, in every sense of the word. We often associate the word peace with conflict and fighting amongst tribes and nations. However peace has a much more far-reaching relevance than this. Giving peace a chance might involve working toward peace on a global level, but may also involve us giving peace a chance in our ordinary everyday lives, so that we try to cultivate a more loving and compassionate attitude generally, and to implement this approach in our lives while trying to reduce our negative thoughts and actions that effect those around us as well as putting a subtle negative vibration out to the world. If we can start to change our own attitude to a more loving, peaceful one, we will have a greater chance of having a positive effect on the world.

AYUDH Australia will attempt to implement the theme of "Give Peace a Chance" through working toward peace for the environment, peace for society, peace within ourselves and for all other people in the world.

"Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu" – May all beings in all the worlds be happy and peaceful!

The international AYUDH movement is gaining momentum with new groups setting up regularly. Most recently, we saw the launch of AYUDH Kenya and AYUDH Mauritius during Bramachari Shubamrita’s recent visits there. For more information check out the international AYUDH website which collates stories and articles on youth activities from all over the world: www.ayudh.eu

What is AYUDH?

We are a movement of young people between the ages of 15 and early 30s who want to lead a life based on universal values. Starting with ourselves, we want to help in generating a future of hope, peace and social engagement while maintaining an awareness of spiritual principles.

AYUDH’s main objectives are Personal Development, Social Service and Environmental Protection. For more info go to our web page on Amma Australia

Fundraising projects: On New Years Day the local AYUDH members got together for their first gathering to discuss potential activities for the Brisbane group.  Everyone was keen to do selfless service in Amma's name and a number of ideas were discussed, including joining an existing soup kitchen.

The group came up with two main fundraising projects that have now been implemented and are already raising money for Amma’s charitable projects. The first is a project to make Japanese origami balls which the we have been selling at satsang for $2 each. 

The second project is to make Amma’s piggy banks. The idea came from AYUDH member Lekha, who had started saving coins using a piggy bank with Amma's picture on it. Inspired by Lekah’s example, AYUDH members gathered some coin boxes and decorated them with gold paper and Amma's pictures.

A few satsang member took the coin boxes back to save money for Amma's activities. Everyone will bring back their coin box during the Christmas satsang, as a gift for Amma.

The piggy banks are easy to make - the group used some inexpensive containers and covered them with gold paper, and then stuck on pictures of Amma that had been cut out from old tour poster & flyer. This way we were also recycling!

Movie Night:  Members of AYUDH in Brisbane participated in the local M.A Centre’s fundraising movie night on 21 February 2009 by assisting with the preparations for the night, including cleaning and cooking delicious food for those who came. The group watched Buddha’s Lost Children, a touching documentary about a travelling monk in Northern Thailand who looks after boys from poverty stricken communities effected by decades of drug abuse. All proceeds from the movie night were donated to the Victorian Bush Fire victims. The movie night was successful with about 50 people coming from all over Brisbane and Gold Coast to support us.

Mangalam

Inspired by the AYUDH theme for 2009, GreenFriends Australia has also decided to adopt the theme of "Give Peace a Chance" in its activities Australia-wide. We look forward to working with AYUDH Australia and to particularly encourage an attitude of peace in our actions that impact on the environment, and towards nature itself.

Carbon Footprint
Amma encourages us to live at one with nature. By being aware of our personal impact on the environment we move closer to attaining that goal. One way to measure our impact on the earth is to calculate our Carbon Footprint. This can be done by considering how much carbon dioxide we are putting back into the atmosphere through our actions and lifestyle.

Travel can be one of the largest contributors to our footprint with electricity use often coming in second. All of our actions have a direct or indirect impact on carbon dioxide emissions and contributing factors include such things as diet, clothing choices, recreational habits and communication use.

All of our actions that involve the burning of fossil fuels contribute to global warming and climate change. We can choose to be proactive about our Carbon Footprint by having an awareness of our actions and taking steps to reduce our impact on the environment. See the tips below for reducing your carbon footprint!

TIPS FOR REDUCING YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT

Here is a list of five things you can do at home to reduce your own Carbon Footprint.

1. Change a light bulb  - Replacing one regular light bulb with a compact fluorescent light bulb will save 68 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year.

1. 2. Drive less - Walk, bike, carpool or take mass transit more often. You’ll save 282 grams of carbon dioxide for every kilometer you don’t drive!

1. 3. Recycle more - You can save 1.1 tones of carbon dioxide per year by recycling just half of your household waste.

1. 4. Use less hot water - It takes a lot of energy to heat water. Use less hot water by installing a low flow showerhead (160 kilograms of CO2 saved per year) and washing your clothes in cold or warm water (225 kilograms saved per year).

1. 5. Plant a tree - A single tree will absorb 900 kilograms of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
   
   This list is from the website for the film, An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore. For more information go to http://www.climatecrisis.net/takeaction/pdf/10things.pdf   You may want to consider a screening of the film for a GreenFriends or an AYUDH fundraiser in your local area.
   

GreenFriends is an organisation established by M.A. Math for the preservation and protection of the environment. This programme instils love and respect for Mother Nature in people, teaching them that humankind is a part of Nature, not a separate entity. If we take care of plants and animals and the environment as a while, Nature, in turn, will take care of us.

GreenFriends regularly engages in tree planting and the maintenance of plants. Its members also practice eco-meditation, a method or re-establishing the vitally important harmony between nature and humanity. For more info go to our Amma Australia web page

National Tree Day this Sunday, 2nd August - SYDNEY event

If you would like to join in, we will be planting between 10.30am and 1.30pm, this Sunday, 2nd August at Rodney Park, Rodney Road, Dover Heights.

If you are coming by public transport, take the 380 bus to the end of Military Road near Blake Street, and walk to the eastern end of Blake Street. Bring a hat, gloves, sunscreen, water and sturdy shoes. The local Council will put on a BBQ afterwards, but you may wish to bring a vegetarian plate to share. Any queries or to register interest, contact Tripura on 0432-910-932.

To find out more about AYUDH and GreenFriends activities in your local area, send an email to either of the email addresses listed below.

AYUDH Australia
Email: ayudh@ammaaustralia.org.au
Phone: 0418 551 958
                       
GreenFriends Australia
Email: greenfriends@ammaaustralia.org.au

If you have a story you would like to contribute to this newsletter, please send an email to one of the contacts above. We’d love to hear from you!

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