I think ultimately, um, you know, our relation to the earth as an organization is really rooted in compassion. So that word compassion comes up even then. So just as we serve one another and we serve humanity, we want to serve earth, we feel like earth is its own entity  that's giving back to us so much. And I think Amma, I wish I had the quote, but Amma says, you know, generally she's always saying this, that um, you know, literally mother earth asks nothing of us. It just constantly gives to us, you know, since we're a baby, it gives us food, it gives us water, it gives us shelter, natural shelter, and it asks nothing of us. And that, that really shows how mother earth is the ultimate pillar of compassion towards us. So the little that we can do to give back to mother earth is more than enough in some ways we need to give back to mother because of the example that mother has given to us.

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Intro music

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Hey everyone, thanks for joining for this fourth episode of Just a Peaceful Climate, where we are highlighting groups and organizations that integrate efforts for peace, justice, and planet care. In the past 2 episodes we have heard from representatives of two really cool organizations: Tala with PeaceBuilders Community, Inc. and Jonathan with Blacks Run Forest Farm. Both of these organizations happen to be a bit smaller and are doing work in localized contexts, which is incredibly important. This episode, we are zooming out and hearing from a few people involved with the trans-national organization called AYUDH. This was a really fun interview for me because I had zero connections to these three women, I just sent out a bunch of emails and these folks agreed to be interviewed! And I had a blast getting to know them a little bit. Another reminder that since this interview was done over zoom and there were four of us on the call, you’ll likely hear some technology-related glitches again. So without further ado, here are Lizzie, Divya, and Rithu!

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Nicole
Thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed, just kind of on a whim like this. I really appreciate it.

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Rithu 
No problem.

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Nicole :
So to get us started, um, I would love it if you could all just introduce yourselves one at a time. Um, so that we all know a little bit about you, like what do you like to do, where you're from and what your role is with AYUDH. So Lizzie, can we start with you?

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Lizzy:
Sure. Um, so my name is Elizabeth Corley that most people call me Lizzie. Um, and I'm from New York city. I grew up in New York city and I am now a medical student at the university of Maryland in Baltimore. Um, and I am one of the national coordinators for AYUDH Americas and I have been since I was in college. Um, so I guess starting in around 2013 ish, that's when I started. Um, and I've been involved with the, with AYUDH since I was a kid. As you'll find out, I'm sure most of us here have been

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Nicole:
great. Thank you. Uh, Divya, would you like to go next?

Divya:
Yeah, sure. Hi, I'm Divya or I'm Divya Lobo. I'm a junior at dominion high school. I'm from Virginia. I've grown up here my entire life. Um, I'm one of the chapter leaders for AYUDH DC. I've been doing it for the past three years or like Lizzie. I've been doing it since I was a kid.

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Nicole:
Great.

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Rithu :
Uh, hi. I'm Rithika Morgyashun. I go by, read through. Uh, but I also go with the, because it's easier to say for most people. Like that's my actual name. Umm. So I'm also AYUDH DC chapter leader and like Divya and Elizabeth, I've been involved from when I was a child. Um, yeah.

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Nicole
Awesome. Thank you. So what are, like as chapter leaders, what do some of your responsibilities look like?

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Rithu :
So basically what we've been focusing on in the past couple of years is hosting and organizing different events for our members to participate in. Last year we did a shoe drive. This year we've done several projects including composting park cleanups, upcycling different reusable materials, and like creating blankets for children in need.

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Divya :
Yeah. And I can also add on to that too. Um, so just to give an idea of what, how many chapters we have, cause that kind of plays a role in what a chapter leader does. Um, so I is present throughout the world. Um, and then we have kind of like, Um, I guess continental chapter. So that's why I said I was national coordinator of America. So we have chapters throughout the United States and also, um, middle and South America, central and South America. So we have around, I would say 17 chapters. Um, and that's just groups of members who come together and engage in service activities that we plan as a group nationally during our summit in the summer, which I'm sure we'll discuss at some point. Um, and so we have chapter leaders in all of these areas who kind of take, um, take the initiative in their area to gather all of our members, um, and include our school, uh, different schools that get involved in more.

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Lizzy :
Cool. Wow. Yeah. It's so cool to hear about such a global effort in this, within this one organization. I'm excited to hear more about that too. Mmm.

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Rithu :
It’s actually like international too. There's like, AYUDH India, AYUDH Europe. Yeah.

Nicole
That's so cool.

Lizzy
Um, so before we get too much deeper into the conversation, it's probably important to clarify what exactly AYUDH is. Um, so could you tell me, any of you, tell me a little bit about that and how it came into existence, if you know.

Lizzy
Yeah, if you guys want, I can take this one.

Rithu
Can I, like, start? And you can finish for me, if that's okay. So, um, AYUDH basically, so, uh, it's like the youth wing of a bigger humanitarian organization called Embracing the World. So it's like a one like quote that we go by is like if the youth rise up and, uh, like if we rise up to make a difference, we can make a huge change in the world. So like, we believe in like the youth taking action and all of us starting to take action first, like, like within ourselves. So like, one of our quotes is like, 'the change begins with me,' like the ripple effect, like when we create a change. Lead by example. Um, AYUDH is like Amrita's youth in unity, diversity and harmony, is that right?

Lizzy
Yeah, Amrita's youth for unity, diversity and harmony. Yeah.

Rithu 
And AYUDH itself I think means peace. So,

Lizzy

yeah. So are you, is as, um, that you said the youth wing of an international organization called embracing the world. Um, and embracing the world is a network of charities that was started by the humanitarian and spiritual leader named, um, she, [inaudible]. So, uh, she's affectionately known as, Amma - A M M A. And so she's basically inspired this network of charities. Um, and she's based in Southern India. Um, and so she's a spiritual leader, but, uh, but also very prominent, a very prominent humanitarian leader. Um, she actually, I mean, just to give you some background, uh, she, uh, received like the MLK, um, uh, peace award. Um, and so she's pretty recognized throughout the world. Um, so she has this organization that's pretty, um, it focuses mainly on disaster relief, um, healthcare for all. She has a big hospital in India and she's building another hospital and women empowerment. Umm. Education for all. So she's, it's a very diverse organization. So just for an example, the organization has adopted 101 villages in India and, the organization is working to make those villages the perfect village, you know, including women in all aspects as possible. Um, you know, increasing education opportunity, um, working on the sanitation system and things like that. So the organization is vast and it has a lot um going on with it, but I, AYUDH is the youth wing of the organization. Um, and Amma had this idea, I think I was in the mid 2000s to really engage the youth as reduced said in big decision making policies in terms of um, so social service for the world. So we created this, um, sect of the organization that basically focuses on individuals who are 15 through 35, um, coming together and engaging in social service, personal empowerment, green initiatives, and intercultural exchange. So it's kind of grown since then, since the mid 2000s. And I think AYUDH Americas has had a national summit for the past. Mmm. I guess six years, so six years. It's been a long, yeah. So that's where we meet and we discuss, AYUDH works really closely with the United nations sustainable development goals as Amma's organization is a partner to the economic and social forum. So we work with the economic and social forum and the United nations sustainable development goals to create projects. So that's kind of our role in the organization.

Nicole

Thanks. Divya, did you have anything you wanted to add?

Divya 
Um, I guess like the large size of AYUDH, like how interconnected it is has allowed us to create a lot of projects. AYUDH's also a UN partnered youth organization. So we have lately been focusing on implementing their 30 or 17 SDGs by 2030.

Nicole 
Awesome. So could you guys talk, you, you started talking about this a little bit too. Um, could you talk more about the structure of the organization as a whole? Um, cause every time I Googled it, I think I got sent to a different, like regional web page. So I found the AYUDH EU and then the AYUDH India. And then I think I found, uh, AYUDH Americas. Um, yeah. So could you explain like some more of the organizational structure and then also how I'm really interested to hear how the different chapters interact?

Lizzy

Sure. I'm sure they could, uh, Rithu and Divya could talk about the chapters interaction. Um, and just from an international point of view, we, so we kind of take, um, a more regional approach. So AYUDH Americas has its own, um, committee of chairs. So those are people who kind of run the organization. And then AYUDH Europe has their own committee that runs out of Europe, but we meet often, probably like once or twice a year to discuss the overarching goal of AYUDH. But we do take a more continental approach when it comes to what we focus on. Um, and so in the United, in the United States and central and South America, we have, um, a committee of chairs who overview the projects in the annual summit that occurs. Um, and we have around three national chairs, like general chairs, which is me and two other girls. And we have a director. Um, and then so we kind of help, uh, like through communication shares through event chairs, we help kind of create this platform for the chapters to act upon. Um, and then you have chapter leaders who actually are on the ground in these areas. Kind of working with the people that are there.

Rithu 
Um, one place for, at least AYUDH Americas, So like we have a national youth summit. So at the summit we like decide like for, uh, we decided on a few goals for the year. So because we're working on the 17 SDG goals, well like, uh, there'll be a youth, we hold a youth parliament and we decide on the top three as SDGs to focus on for the year and come up with the specific initiative. So regional chapters, all focus on implementing those initiatives, but also doing, um, more projects based on like past initiatives. um, for context this year. So we had, um, AYUDH reuse and restore. So the idea of this, uh, initiative is you host like a park cleanup or a beach cleanup and you like take any like old items and then you upcycle it. And then we had AYUDH Purify, so we partnered with like doTerra. So, uh, in attempts for like to clean, like help keep our water clean, we, uh, we've been distributing those doTERRA bags, which, uh, like it's a way to like properly dispose of medication so it doesn't contaminate our waterways. And finally we had, uh, I forgot the name of the initiative, but this initiative was to like compost more like at home. So yeah.

Divya
Um, adding onto that, the beauty of like the summit is that all the chapter leaders get to interact and discuss with one another progress of their chapters, the struggles they're facing, which allows for a lot of networking that extends beyond the summit as well. Um, recently a lot of chapters have been collaborating with one another to carry out like large scale projects such as park cleanups. Um, currently a bunch of chapters are starting a book club just to discuss what's going on and like Amma's teachings as well.

Nicole

That's so cool. I love that. So Divya and Rithu, Do you, do you get to have much interaction with, um, some of the people from the EU and India who are maybe in similar roles as you?

Divya 
Um, recently we're trying, we're trying to, it's much more difficult because of like distance and I guess time zones too. And like the different climates of each area. Like even within AYUDH Americas, our Southern America chapters face much different struggles than we do. So it's hard to like communicate both of that. But right now we want to work with like AYUDH India for example, and help with their projects.

Lizzy
Yeah. And just an example of that, um, the other day AYUDH Europe actually reached out to us, um, and they've started having a daily lessons that are like via Instagram live, so like painting lessons or lessons based in the arts. Um, and they invited us to kind of interact with them on that platform, which I guess now, you know, maybe an upside to COVID is we're really using the internet much more than we were before. So we have a lot more opportunity to interact with them. And then, you know, just like another example of I guess how we all work together in the world internationally. Um, I'd say there's a, AYUDH India summit? Um, and in that, at that summit we had probably like seven, AYUDH Americas, um, people, there just like volunteering and helping and you know, holding events or helping hold events where we all kind of related. And then just further, besides just through AYUDH, we have a lot of, um, opportunities through AMMA's university. So Amrita University is a large scale private university in India and there's a lot of projects that have um, uh, I guess a nongovernmental organization base to them. So a lot of our AYUDH Americas, um, members actually go across to India, go to India and volunteer with, for example, their women empowerment project. Um, so like AMMACHI Labs is a project by the university that, Basically is meant to empower women in all the villages that Amma has adopted throughout India. So there was a very large scale toilet building project that occurred in India. So I went, I spend most of my year off between, um, undergrad and med school working in villages like remote villages in India, like in the North of India. Um also in the South of India, working with women in those to help build toilets because that's a huge problem in India. Um, and not just me, actually, we've had many members go across and work in India, in Amma's organization. So I'd say beyond just the AYUDH chapters, we have a lot of interplay with even Amma's organization throughout the world.

Nicole:
so as I was browsing your website, I found a quote and it says "we are an international youth movement, mobilizing young people to lead and perpetuating natural harmony, social justice and community empowerment." And I'm wondering if you tell me more about what that looks like in action. So maybe some examples, if you have any. Maybe start with Divya or Rithu, since you're both the, some of the leaders in your communities.

Rithu 
Um. So natural harmony community, and for community empowerment, for example, like during this, the Corona virus, um, like everyone, like we're all at home and we're unable to like go out and do as many outdoor projects like we had planned. So one thing that we all face, is like, I mean like, it's harder to like stay mentally stable and, um, to like how do we help the world, by staying at home and this time of like, uncertainty and stress. So one thing that we've been doing every day for 15 to 20 minutes, we'll be praying for world - we all get on call at 8:00 PM to pray for world peace. And I think it does, it makes a big difference in not only like helping us, like this is just an example of like community empowerment. Like we're all praying for each other and this is not just like, although AYUDH started it, we spread it to all the members of our communities that our parents, the Ashrams for example. Um, Uh, and like, so, uh, we try to, like, whenever we do an initiative, it's not just like one thing. For example, we had AYUDH connect. So a lot of organizations do this, but like you make blessing bags for the homeless for example. So you give them like hats, socks, essential toiletries and other goods. But, uh, when we make these bags, we don't just give them out. Like what we'll do is like we'll write like a nice quote for them. And we also try to like make personal connections with the people we give it to. So, and like when we're giving it to a homeless, we'll talk to them. Cause we feel that not only the blessing bag but making that connection and like letting them know we're here for them makes a big impact. So it's like all about the holistic thing. So it's not just like community service, but it's also like, how do I balance myself mentally and also like I'm not --

Lizzy

I have a good story about AYUDH Connect if you want me to tell it just, since you're already, you're already talking about that project. I just remembered your thing. Just to add on to what Rithu is saying. Um, uh, AYUDH connect. So basically when we have our annual youth summit, we ask all the people who are attending the summit, we usually have around 200 youth attending, um, from all over the country. We them to get together and think about, uh, three of the three sustainable development goals that the United nations has put forward. Um, and just kind of literally just brainstorm about a project that they want to work on that they see in their community as a problem. Um, and so I connect with just like an example. Um, I think it was for SDG two, uh, fighting poverty, but it's all honestly, it's all the same at this point. Um, so anyway, so they had this thought, you know, we need to like bring, uh, resources to those in our community who have, are somewhat lacking, but, you know, throughout all these discussions, um, and I was there like literally typing up the words, you know, a lot of people were saying it's just not enough to just hand hand things out. You know, there's something more missing in our community. There's some connection that's missing. You know, it's not enough for people to just, you know, hand off items. People need more than just Um, Physical, well they also need, yeah, some, some sort of compassion. Um, so the idea was to make the project literally just as Rithu was saying, more holistic and more comprehensive. So so bringing like, um, creating connections in the community and also providing. Um, so the idea was that we'd call it AYUDH connect and not only would we, you know, make these bags that had hygiene products that were necessary and whatever really was like the need of the community at that time, but also make a pledge to tell the stories of the people that we connected with. So what we did was we would make these bags go out into the community. For example, in DC, we went out to a mother Teresa women's shelter community and we literally just had a bunch of bags, helped clean up their backyard. Like they just needed to help some kind of like community help. And then we talked to the women and through talking to all these people, we asked them, is it okay if we tell your story? And so we did like a series of posts just telling people's stories to try to empower them. So I just thought that was cool because you know, it really got young people talking and thinking about ways that they could help in a sustainable manner. Like as if it was saying it was really holistic. And I think that's kind of what's special. I feel about, I use that we have this summit where people are just, we literally just asked everyone to just brainstorm like as much as they can and come together and create projects. And when you ask young people to do that, usually you'll be surprised with what they come up with. Um, it's usually out of the box and it's different and it's more holistic. So sorry to interrupt you, but I really liked that project, so I wanted to add on.

Rithu 
No, thank you. And then, so like another project for example, is like AYUDH change. So one theme is like, well we're helping others we're also building inner peace and the inner peace like will hopefully like lead an example. Like in like I find in- like in my like if- for example, if I did not have AYUDH or Amma, like I don't know, like would feel super lost like right now when like when you need help. Like, like a lot of people have to like fall on to like, like maybe drugs or like other things or like... There's like, uh, I feel like in the community like, like without AYUDH and like these values, like it provides such a strong base for me to always fall back on. So I think that's special. Like, and, and like that way like when people see like me for example, and maybe my friends, like I've gotten my friends involved like from school, like the people who get involved in AYUDH, you don't necessarily follow Amma, just like the principal and idea. Another project for example is AYUDH Change. So like, so this project we'd all like forsake like one thing that we had every week. We'd all give up. Like one thing that we really liked, for example, coffee once a week and use that money to like donate for other kids' education. And another example for like DC of like natural, natural harmony. Like when we do one project, like we're always looking at how we can help in other ways. So for example, when we went to DC central kitchen to serve, Divya maybe you can talk about like composting and our like tin cans, like the story of our tin cans.

Divya 
Oh, okay. Yeah. So one tradition that DC has is that every September as part of like a tribute to like Amma's birthday is that we'll do all these large saver projects or like salsa service projects. And that includes going down to the DC central kitchen to like cook food for the homeless. So what, like I have noticed while we were there is that the organization, they don't recycle their like tin cans and rice bags and things and they don't compost the leftover food. So what I decided to do was we'd started sorting through the plastic and trash or, and food scraps within the trash to, um, actually bring back the food scraps to our local base and compost it there. And then in addition to that, we would, we took all of their tin cans and rice bags to upcycle them at home into like pots and like different bags with the rice bags.

Rithu 
So right now we've like painted them all. And then our next thing that we've done, we've turned it into planters and we started planting the small plants in them. So that's another initiative. Like, like grow our own veggies. So it's like a big chain.

Nicole 
That's, yeah, I love that example. It's like a really cool way to see the connections throughout some of the, maybe different or separate initiatives, but then how they, they connect, um, through the different values of the organization.

Lizzy 
And I was just going to add like, you know, where the chapter is, like we were saying before, kind of dictates a lot of what it can do. So the basis is the same. But for example, like this year I started a chapter at my school at the university of Maryland. It's a school of medicine. Um, and we actually worked to get a panel of physicians together to help fight for bringing climate change into the curriculum. Um, so we worked with like two other organizations. And so I kind of, you know, as a medical student I was just wondering what can I do in AYUDH just because like there's just a lot of studying to do of course. Um, you know, what can I do in my city and besides like, you know, tree planting and social service events that we held, we actually, you know, reached out to doctors in like in administration and we pushed for like the new curriculum to incorporate climate change into our curriculum.

So we had, we literally like worked with like two other organizations and two of the professors and we got to have a lesson that was like tested on this year already. We helped design the whole lesson that went through like multiple organ systems and the effect of climate change on those organ systems. So like, you know, it really depended on where we were. So it was really cool to see, you know, AYUDH's message come alive in a medical school and we also have another medical school involved at Yale also. There's a chapter, so they do projects as well there.

Nicole:
Yeah, that's really cool. Just how it's broad enough and there's enough going on. It seems like that you can make it applicable no matter kind of what context you're in.

Music Transition

Nicole 
So yeah, you've mentioned Amma quite a bit. Um, could you tell me a little bit more about her and, um, kind of what her guiding values are and how that influences AYUDH? 

Lizzy 
Sure. So, yeah. Um, as I said before, I'm as like a spiritual leader. She grew up in the South of India, in the state of Kerala. Um, and she, uh, I guess from a young age saw the problem that so many people were suffering. Um, and she didn't understand why some people would suffer, some people didn't suffer. Um, and so she engaged in a lot of, you know, spiritual practice and kind of came to the understanding that even if it might be their fate to some extent to whatever extent that means to suffer, it can also be my fate. I can make it my own fate to help them. So that kind of blossomed what Amma's embracing the world charity activity. So, um, she actually has ashrams, ashrams, which are spiritual havens, but also kind of are homes to these charities all over India. And in these ashrams there's a, a bunch of activities that happen. Like I was saying before, um, the toilet building project or uh, you know, just lots of women empowerment projects and um, lots of disaster relief projects. But anyway, so what Amma, to get you back on Amma's story, So she is known for hugging people. So ever since she was young, people would come and uh, she just naturally embraced them for whatever reason. I think people thought that was really interesting and it became, you know, that embraced, just became such a symbol of Amma's kind of like love that she seems to give to humanity. People became, um, started lining up for it and somehow it just spontaneously became known as well, Uh, it's called darshan and darshan is actually, it means like 'seeing an enlightened person' in India are a blessing in India. But anyways, so that's what happens. So people actually come and she sits for probably, um, usually around like 10 hours at a time, but up to 26 hours at a time, just embracing the masses. And not only in India, but in the United States. She travels all around the United States, all around Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, Japan, lots of different places. Um, and so she just meets people and just hears their problems, you know, wipes away their tears and kind of just shed some love. And she also gives talks and things like that. And I think what's coolest about it is that in the background behind all of that, as she's meeting all these people, she actually has tons of, um, she has lots of fundraising efforts that are happening. So for example, a lot of us here, like Divya, Rithu, and I go on the tour and for example, me and Rithu work in the cafe on the tour. And so we're just like making coffee and making Indian snacks, selling it, and all of that money goes to the embracing the world charity. So we've been doing that since we were kids. So I think that's cool. She kind of uses that amazing experience to also, um, propel to help [inaudible]. And lastly, I guess I would just like to say Amma's spiritual teachings are not really based in one religion. So she always says my religion is love and real service, real worship of God is a service to those in need. So that's kind of like the basis of Amma's organization. It's, you can worship God through helping others. Even if you don't believe in God, you can do good. So, yeah, you guys want to add something?

Rithu 
Sure. So like one thing like, uh, like Lizzy was saying, um, she really stresses like compassion, like one of for new, uh, new year's messages. Like the first, first or second point was never lose the opportunity to help others. So, even though we're providing service to others, like how I like to think about it is when we're serving others like we're helping ourselves at the same time. So, uh, AYUDH is based on like helping - like it's based on inner peace as well. Like uh, green initiatives helping others but also like, uh, finding inner peace within ourselves to help more. So I think while you help others, the first person, who you can help is yourself. And I think like Amma like making AYUDH and everything, she's like giving us all an opportunity to like serve and that's like a big blessing.

Nicole

Is there anything you'd like to add, Divya?

Divya 
I mean, I feel like Lizzy and Rithu pretty much summarized it pretty well. Um, she also has like this whole idea of like maintaining the right attitude when you're accepting things. Whether they're good or bad. And I feel like that's also a quality that AYUDH brings whenever they're accepting a challenge or like obstacles in their work.

 

Nicole
Um, so kind of getting into the bulk of what I'm interested in hearing from you guys about, um, my question is how do you see AYUDH's work as connecting peace, building justice and care for the planet?

Lizzy 
that's a deep question, I like it. So it was peace building justice and care for the planet.

Nicole
Yes.

Divya 
I feel like it kind of ties back to like AYUDH's holistic approach to such events. Um, I feel like justice is carried out like no matter, like what we're doing is justice-related. And like this peacebuilding is established through these like relationships we're getting with these different people. Um, especially when we were down, uh, mother's kitchen in December when we were giving out blessing bags and serving food to the homeless, we actually started talking with them and talking about their lives and what they needed and their jobs as well. And I feel like that's kind of a form of peacebuilding cause like you're uniting two different communities. And it ties back to Lizzie's thing about like the women empowerment when you, when they started talking to the women at mother Teresa's. For climate change, That's actually been one of I's biggest focus in recent years, especially with our emphasis on composting and tree building. Oh, another project that I Rithu talked about was their focused on like cleaning up parks and Upcycling whatever trash they find there as well. So I guess like, yeah. Um, I, AYUDH's holistic approach to all these projects kind of connects all three.

Lizzy 
I think you said a perfect, Oh go, go ahead, Rithu.

Rithu 
In addition to all these projects we also like inspire, we try to like do things on a personal level. So for example, AYUDH DC has recently launched like our zero waste initiative. It's like very new but we're all trying to like pick up one thing every week. I really like bamboo toothbrushes, saving our plastic bugs. Like even simple things like taking smaller showers, making sure we all do it. And then like for peacebuilding, like for our members too, like we started like this, like kind of competition, inner peace competition, where we get points for how much we meditate, do yoga or like pray for world peace. So it's like in addition to these big projects we made sure to carry out these values in our personal lives.

Lizzy 
I think like just to echo what you guys were saying, like the holistic approach of AYUDH really ties it all together. So, as you know, you mentioned those three terms are really hard to actually tear- to move apart from one another, especially when you're talking about like in the context of an organization that has like a foundation in compassion, um, as the means to selfless service. So for us, you know, every project that we take, we ask ourselves, 'how can we make everyone in this project feel cared for and loved,' and then we bring that to action, you know, 'how can we give but also sustain?' So all of those things kind of, you know, relate back to thinking about the project in the most holistic and comprehensive way.

Lizzy 
Um, and then also because our organization is so vast and it and incorporates, incorporate so many different countries, um, we're constantly in, um, the process of peacebuilding. You know, we're learning about one another and cultural empowerment is one of our pillars. So we're constantly, you know, having performances, um, and different talent shows and just kind of learning about one another's cultures. Um, so I think that kind of just shows how, you know, the basis of our organization really tries to attend to every, like all three of those principles in every project that we bring forward.

Nicole 
I've heard the word compassion come up quite a bit. Um, that seems like it's a pretty core principle to the work of the organization. Um, I would be really interested to hear how you all would say compassion ties in with some of the efforts that, uh, related to climate change.

Lizzy 
I think ultimately, um, you know, our relation to the earth as an organization is really rooted in compassion. So that word compassion comes up even then. So just as we serve one another and we serve humanity, we want to serve earth, we feel like earth is its own entity that's giving back to us so much. And I think Amma, I wish I had the quote, but Amma says, you know, generally she's always saying this, that um, you know, literally mother earth asks nothing of us. It just constantly gives to us, you know, since we're a baby, it gives us food, it gives us water, it gives us shelter, natural shelter, and it asks nothing of us. And that, that really shows how mother earth is the ultimate pillar of compassion towards us. So the little that we can do to give back to mother earth is more than enough in some ways we need to give back to mother because of the example that mother has given to us.
So I think it's kind of a complicated relationship. You know, I think mother earth teaches us compassion and I think our work for mother earth is rooted in the compassion that mother earth teaches us. So um, I really think our organization kind of thrives on that. And then again, like it is our organization that, you know, it is the young people who all want to work for the earth, but it's also Amma's constant message that we should be giving back to the earth as much as possible. And you know, all of her projects always, you know, she was very particular that there should be no waste that is not thought about, you know. Before we have this big summit that happens in August, we have 200 people come, we have guests from United nations. We literally think about every single detail to make sure it's as least wasteful as possible. And we, you know, we have a running compost, we're teaching people how to compost. So again, like you guys said, it's all about holistic projects. Like any project you take, you should think about the effect that it will leave on the earth and on others. So it's kind of my take on it at least.

Nicole
Yeah. Thank you. Either of you two want to add in?

Divya 
I think - oh you can go, Rithu. Okay. Um, I think, um, was Lizzy you pretty much explained it perfectly. Um. Yeah. Like on the note like the summit, they even use like all our materials to create the decorations of the stage, just not to waste any plastic or other materials in that. Um, what's another example? We just try to enforce it in our daily lives, like beyond AYUDH as a whole. We try to enforce it like every member's individual lives as well. And yeah

Rithu 
and just to add on to what Divya said in any, like for example, when we were presenting different initiatives to the parliament, like the first question asked was like, like does this, is this a compostable, is this biodegradable like you could never pass a project that wasn't, that had like any harm to the environment. So like everyone made sure to like think about that. And like anything we do, we try to like reuse. For example, like the Coronavirus, people need masks. So like right now what we're doing is for upcycling like old cloths, not really old, but gently used cloths to make masks out of them. And like anything, like anything we do, we try to like, like we look around and see like how we can use like, and any of the materials and not waste anymore.
There's just so many examples, like even when we're giving out the blessing bags, we like, we use like old Christmas bags or like any like we asked everyone to collect like, or like brown paper bags that would have been thrown away otherwise. And we gave our blessing bags in those. So like any way possible we'll like try to reuse.

Nicole
Hmm. That's cool. Um, so going kind of back to the, the connections of peace building justice in the planet. Um, do any of you have any stories that come to mind? You've already shared quite a few stories and examples, but um, anything specific that comes to mind as a really great example that connects those things? You've already mentioned the food pantry, um, and the composting that came from that.

Divya
Um, I think an example that's like representative of like AYUDH Americas as a whole is like during these like large scale, like times of crisis, especially when there was like a lot of flooding in Southern Asia, specifically Kerala, um, so a lot of AYUDH members started using different methods of fundraising and taking inspiration from one another. Um, I think our San Ramone chapter single-handedly raised like 7K for the um, initiative itself. But yeah, basically what AYUDH DC did was they tried to create a shoe drive that actually worked towards helping small businesses in other countries get better shoes and materials and like help like start up micro businesses in those countries as well. Um, so yeah, I guess like that kind of ties in like justice cause you're kind of helping more than one person and like climate change too cause you're not letting these shoes go to waste. Um, apparently a lot of landfill is just old shoes and like the rubber from that which causes a lot of like carbon emissions. And I guess it also ties in like it ties into peace building because you're working with different organizations. We actually got shoes from all around the East coast from Massachusetts all the way down to Florida. So it was a nice like I guess movement for the event.

Lizzy
Even just to add onto that, like kind of what you were saying, when times of crisis come, I think it's nice to see how we mobilize, you know, as a community. So for example, COVID, you know, we have like leaders on the chapter leaders and um, like chairs in our organization on the phone, like pretty much like almost daily coming together with like different ways we can help. Like for example, we created like a COVID help line like a few weeks ago or we just take calls and we try to help people, we try to connect people with, um, individuals in their community who may need groceries or things like that, Um, and connect them with a young person who can get groceries for them or just like teach them how to use zoom. And then even more recently, we had a member who's actually creating 3d masks. And so literally he, he came to me and was like, I'm creating these 3d masks. Like, can you guys help me create filters for them? It's three D 3d M 95 masks. So he's in Atlanta and he's like, I just need like manpower. And literally everyone was like, yes, we're on it. So now we have like chapter leaders like all around the country and also just like volunteers around the country for it just going to be cutting, like home Depot bought filters and sending them in to him so he can send them to hospitals. So, um, I don't know if that's a good example, but it kind of shows how we work together as a community, um, to, You know, really mobilize in times of crisis to meet all these different principles that you discussed. So I thought that was cool.

Nicole
Yeah, that's really cool. Just seems like, yeah, you're, there's such a clear structure and um, a way that you function as an organization that as needs arise, It seems like they're able to be met without tons of like stress on the organization.

Lizzy
I think it's also just interesting because it's kind of like we do, we do everything to some extent, you know, so that can be difficult, Of course. Like that can be challenging. Um, but one nice way that we kind of circumvent that or try to like hone in on the things we want to do is at the AYUDH summit when we come up with three projects that are voted on and then uptaken by the chapters throughout the year, we usually come up with like an actual number goal to achieve by the end of the year. Um, and so we look back on it by the end of the year, like this many trees. So I have like, for example, I think we want it to give out like a thousand blessing bags, but you know, we gave out 4,000 blessing bags. So we always just try to like watch our numbers and make sure that when we come together as a group, we don't just discuss, but like we take action that's followed through. So I think we feel like as young people that a lot of times at these big conferences, you know, a lot is discussed but not necessarily taken up. And so the beauty of the chapter leader structure is that, you know, we decided the chapters, we decide the projects together and then we all account for everything that happens throughout the year.

Nicole
Rithu, Is there anything I'll see you want to add to that?

Rithu
one personal thing that I felt like at the summits and stuff like we, we, because it's like, like -- like how Lizzy was saying it's like a huge, um, like we're trying to do a lot cover a lot. So sometimes I feel like, um, at the summit, like there's a lot of planning a lot of talking and and sometimes I feel like the action that we take, like at least locally, like doesn't match sometimes, but I feel like the problem, like for me, that was like a personal issue that I had with myself. Like last year, at least last year I feel like I didn't pull my weight as a chapter leader. So this year like DC, we've been doing more
Um, but like one struggle is like when we're trying to look at everything like holistically it does slow down the process to an extent. Like when we're like looking 'Oh, like how can accomplish this?' Like all these things are so small. Like for example like even just calling members in our community to ask how they are. Like we can't measure measure these things or like broadcast these successes like, Oh look we called members of our community or we like composted or we like started planting at home where we took shorter showers. Like you can't, like it's not like you can't broadcast it. It's like not impressive when you look at it on paper, but I think the holistic approach is important but it does slow things. not slow things down, but it seems like it sometimes makes me feel when I think in numbers like Oh I'm not doing enough.

Divya 
I think the reason that like AYUDH doesn't have stress on like the structure for like the long run I guess is because all of the members are like a family. We all have like the same set of goals, the same set of priorities and like I guess intrinsic motivation as Rithu was talking about, to like create a change. So we all like, and like when we see there is an issue, like we're automatically motivated to start taking action towards it. Like Rithu I have like called till like four or five in the morning just planning AYUDH because like we just get that into a project once you start it.

Nicole 
I am curious how personally for you all, how it is being like your all full time students, um, and you're taking on these roles as really important leaders within the organization. Um. How has that been for you all?

Rithu 
Um, I think me and Divya, like over the years we've worked out a really good system. So yeah, like sometimes both of us, uh, like in Nova at least it's like kind of competitive. The high school, like it's not an excuse. Like I'm sure college is much more hard. I think it's much harder. But like it like sometimes like for example, like AP season or like when I'm in junior year this year, Divya's in junior year. So like when if it's like a stressful week for me, I'll be like, Divya, can you take care of everything? When it's a stressful week for her, I'll take care of everything. And then when we both are free we'll both go like full force. So like, because there's multiple people, um, we're able to like, and also we have so many volunteers so we can like ask them to help us plan and stuff. So it's like we try not to let the initiative stop. Even if we're busy, like we'll like delegate their responsibilities are split among ourselves. I don't know if I answered the question.

Nicole
Yeah, no, for sure. I think, yeah, that's, I've definitely learned that over over the course of the past few years having like a partner to help split up tasks and bounce ideas off of is super helpful. And it sounds like that's what you two, Divya and Rithu are doing.

Lizzy 
I think also, um, like just being involved since like similar to them since probably high school, um, having this organization kind of be my main thing has just taught me a lot about leadership and it's really actually come in handy like in school, you know, like working on maybe like a board of like something that's happening in school. Like I have, we have so much experience like, you know, inviting, uh, like invite these speakers to come talk or like, you know, planning like events, you know, speaking with different members of the community, speaking with like politicians or people from the United nations. Like I just feel like you gain a lot of confidence and also like interpersonal skills. And beyond that I think it does give you some sense of purpose. Like it's hard to just be in school all the time and I think that's really what youth want to like they want some other, uh, some sense of purpose beyond, you know, just like school and academics and whatever is happening in your personal life. And I think AYUDH has really played like a pivotal role in like our development in some ways like the people we've become for sure. At least for me, I know for sure. Yeah.

Rithu 
Yeah, for sure. And also another thing is like, it's easy like, well they our older members like our like for example Lizzie or like anyone, like we have easy, like we have like a big group chat. Like whenever we're feeling stressed or we don't know what to do or we need help, there's like so much help available. Like it's so easy for us to talk to other chapter leaders or like older members who have been through who've already done this. So it's like easy for us to reach out when we have questions. They'll guide us.

Nicole 
Sounds like there's a really good support network and a lot of ways through the organization. Um, but yeah, especially, yeah, if you need things related to your roles specifically.
So, I was surprised that I had never heard of AYUDH until I came across it on my Google searches. So I'm curious how you all got connected in the first place.

Divya 
I mean personally and I think like for Lizzie and Rithu too, we were a part of like Amma's organization and like we followed her spiritually before we got into AYUDH, so I guess there's just like a natural progression.

Rithu 
Like, uh, for me personally, my parents saw like a flyer at an Indian store and that's how we figured out about this whole like work.

Lizzy
Think. How old were you guys when you met Amma?

Rithu 
uh, when I was four, but we started coming regularly to like the weekly meetings when I was like eight or nine,

 

Divya 
yeah. My mom was a follower before I was born. So I was just like, in it.

Lizzy
Yeah, I was two when I met Amma my parents brought me. But yeah, like I'd say a lot of our, um, like our core structure are people who have, you know, been with Amma or like follow Amma's teachings for a very long time and like play a strong role in the organization, embracing the world. Um, but, that's not to say that, you know, we do have a lot of people who come for the summit who really don't know Amma at all, which is kind of nice because it just shows you that this is more than just like one spiritual teaching. This is, you know, like a way of life. So that is like the foundation of, you know, our system, our value system of AYUDH. So yeah, like a few of us have, there's about I think three university chapters, actually four, four university chapters. So those are people who started chapters at the university and like, you know, a lot of them are just sustained on their own you know, following what we've done. Um, and don't necessarily know Amma. We had a participant from Kenya come one year because they were told about it through following the United nations youth, youth delegate for the United States. You know, she just came because she was interested. It's definitely interesting to see how people connect. And then I think, you know, for Europe they've been around longer than us too. Um, they usually, will have probably like, you know, sometimes they have up to 300 people and like, you know, 200 people won't have known Amma at all, you know, so and they're funded, I think they've been funded by the EU in the past. So it's just cool how, you know, in every country and area different, but we have the ability to reach out to more people.

Rithu 
Yeah. Like a lot of people find out about you just through their friends. I feel like it's not like an Amma thing at all. Like if, if I talked to like most of my friends, like I would say like eight, eight out of 10 of them, are like very interested in climate change, like, especially in our area. Like I find that everyone's like very like active about like climate change. Like everyone, everyone is like interested in like the pillars of AYUDH, like at least a lot of people that I meet. And like there's so much about AYUDH that I can, I feel like you can definitely find something that you're passionate about in AYUDH that it appeals to so many people. So it's like super nice.

Nicole 
That's awesome. Um, so when you guys were saying like, Um, like a lot of people haven't met Amma, do you mean, do you mean in person or just like don't know of her?

Lizzy 
Both. Probably both, but most people don't know of her. And I mean, not most people. So when people come, uh, who, I guess it could be either, but like usually when people meet Amma, that's when they're kind of finding out about Amma. So Amma comes, Yeah, And she has like programs throughout the United States. It'll be like two day programs through the programs in each city and then you can come get a token and then like go and meet, Amma, personally, like physically get a hug for a moment, as I said before. So like, it's a pretty intimate meeting. So when you say that, I would say like, yeah, like our classmates, like honestly, like at least for AYUDH UMB, like at my school, like they don't know about Amma that well. I think they know that the organization is founded by Amma, but, um, they don't know much about her. They just know the principals. Um, but it, a lot of people have ended up, you know, who come actually ended up coming to meet Amma eventually because it's, you know, it's just definitely something new for a lot of people in this society.

Nicole 
And you all three have gotten to meet her in person?

Lizzy 
Yeah. We, we, I, I think I can say this for all we of us see Amma every summer when she comes to the United States and like I've done the tours with Amma and so has Rithu and Divya, they've done the tours with Amma, like for full US tour kind of things like traveling with Amma. Like My year off I spent like in India living there with Amma, like going on her Europe tour and like going to like Singapore for her programs in Japan. So yeah, we spent all the time with her physically.

Nicole
That's amazing. That's so cool.

Lizzy 
Yeah. And that's something you hear about every day. You probably didn't expect it.

Nicole 
No, huh uh. Yeah, you don't usually hear about like the founder of the organization who's like a really big deal, making an effort to meet the people who are doing the like the groundwork of it.

Lizzy 
Yeah. And not only that, I would say like she's like involved in like every single planning like planning situation. Like, I feel like we go over our plans with, Amma, I mean not like these, like maybe not as specific as times we're talking about, but like overall like AYUDH's plans with Amma, we discuss them with her every year. And then like for example, she has this hospital being built like Amma will literally like, you know, talk through the entire floor plan while she's giving, Like while she's giving hugs, she'll have like all these university people on the side of her talking to her about, you know, some latest thing that's happened in her university. So I think that is, you know, one rare thing about Amma. It has been years and years since there's been like a spiritual teacher who well physically accept you into their arms.

Nicole 
That's really cool. Um, well I don't have any other questions for you guys. Um, is there anything else you want to add before I stop recording here?

Rithu 
Um, thank you so much. Like I like that you're interested in this like umm. Like I hope a maybe you can like come here once or like come to summit, maybe? That will be so fun.

Nicole
Yeah!

Divya
Oh my god, if you've got any ideas from like your other projects or like your other interviews, you should share them so we can like start creating other initiatives based on that.

Rithu 
Any project ideas you have, like if you have a random idea, honestly, you should just text us or email us and then we will try to implement it.

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I wanted to leave those last few comments in there just so you could get a sense of how much energy and passion I felt from these three on the call. It was so clear that they really love AYUDH and the work they do through the organization. And I really do hope to meet up with them one day!

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So, anyway, here we have a third example of an organization that works to combine elements of justice, peacebuilding, and care for the planet. For AYUDH, it sounds like these three elements, and all of the organization’s work, are housed under the main core value of compassion. I think this is a really cool way to frame this work. Compassion towards people and planet can allow for change rooted in love.

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As Rithu, Divya, and Lizzy were describing how AYUDH mobilizes to respond to needs as they arise, the words “emergent strategy” kept coming to mind. This came up in the last episode with Jonathan, too. I’m going to read you a quote from Adrienne Marie Brown’s book called “Emergent Strategy”: “Emergence notices the way small actions and connections create complex systems, patterns that become ecosystems and societies. Emergence is our inheritance as a part of this universe; it is how we change. Emergent strategy is how we intentionally change in ways that grow our capacity to embody the just and liberated worlds we long for.” As I understood it, this sounds like how AYUDH does their work. Ideas emerge. They follow the energy where it goes. They act on what there is energy to act on. And the whole time, compassion is at the center. 

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Another really amazing part about this organization is the network that it has created throughout a singular region, and also all over the world. Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink define a network as something that enables the sharing of information and services. AYUDH America’s yearly gathering is a great networking opportunity for those who attend. It also sounded like networking is possible around the world with international AYUDH chapters. These networks have allowed the various chapters to support each other in times when they need it.

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One piece that is sticking with me is when Rithu said that a project could never pass if it did harm to the environment. That’s a really fascinating way to analyze a proposed project idea before diving in. I haven’t personally experienced anything like that before, and I’d be really interested to be a part of that kind of process. (Maybe I will if I take them up on their offer to go to Summit!)

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I’ll leave you this time with a quote from Amma on compassion: “Compassion is Consciousness expressed through your actions and words. Compassion is the art of non-hurting.”

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Thank you for listening to episode 4 of Just a Peaceful Climate! My name is Nicole and I’m the host and editor of this podcast. All the music you hear is composed by Luke Mullet, who also generously let me use his sound equipment and helped me when I couldn’t figure out how to use it. Huge thanks to Rithu, Divya, and Lizzy for agreeing to be interviewed for this episode! Shout-out to the worms in the dirt for doing amazing work. Stick around for a final episode, featuring some of my own stories!

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