AMURT entered Yogyakarta soon after the devastating earthquake that hit the area on May 27, 2006 and left over 400,000 homeless. In the initial relief phase, AMURT distributed Emergency Relief Supplies to 2083 families in 20 sub-villages in Yogyakarta Province.
AMURT in partnership with Kinder Not Hilfe and Catholic Relief Services run ten Child-Friendly Spaces in Port-au-Prince for 4,000 children. The purpose of the centers is to help children affected by the earthquake restore normalcy and improve overall well-being in their lives with psychosocial and educational support. Besides psychosocial, educational, and creative activities children in the Child-Friendly Spaces program receive nutritional biscuits in addition to a hot meal of rice, beans and vegetables.
Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team, AMURT started its relief activities immediately after the Cyclone Nargis in May 2008. Food and non-food items where distributed to the survivors; Child Friendly Spaces where set up to provide psycho-social support to the children and temporary primary schools where constructed.
AMURT & AMURTEL volunteers from the two states along with reinforcements from around India distribute water, dry foods, clothes and blankets. We also provide urgent medical as well as psycho-social care. The operation served up to 10,000 people daily for a month.
BFI, one of AMURT’s oldest local partners is based in the Mindanao Island of the Philippines. Today BFI is a leader in the micro-finance field known for its innovative techniques that appeal to the real needs of the poor. Social services such as children’s advocacy, gender awareness, waste management and marketing linkages workshops still occupy 30% of BFI’s programs.