The Theosophical Order of Service seems to have the wind in its sails. After a year of upbeat and happy centennial celebrations around the world, it has moved into its second century of work with vigour and enthusiasm. The international secretary reports that the Plan of Action prepared in 2008 by Dorothy Bell after consultation with the members is proving valuable in guiding the organisation’s work. The two-monthly electronic newsletter and the website that were the first items of the Plan to be developed have generated a significant increase in interest in service work. The TOS in Tanzania, coordinated by Mrs Deepa Kapur, is now collaborating actively with the international team, and correspondence has started with fledgling groups in Portugal, Finland, Mexico and Hungary. A TOS start-up package, updated and expanded by Ananya Rajan, will shortly be available on the TOS’s website at 
The Theosophical Society is very fortunate to have some outstanding libraries. The ones in Adyar, Sydney, and Wheaton are well known to all, but there is another, probably lesser known, that certainly deserves our attention.When travelling through Holland, next to visiting the beautiful International Theosophical Center in Naarden, a visit to the National Headquarters of the Dutch Section in Amsterdam is a must. It is located in de Tolstraat 154, close to the river Amstel, the river after which the capital of Holland was named, and in the middle of de Pijp, a picturesque city district. A few years ago the headquarters building was fully renovated; it houses the three main departments of the Dutch Section. The library, the administration of the TS, and the bookstore are all situated on the ground floor. All three departments are fully integrated. When you are in the library, for example, you can easily walk into the TS office where the bookstore is also operating; all departments are freely accessible, which gives an open and truly holistic feeling.
Good News from India
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 15 June 2010 13:46
Seeing Eyes for Everyone
In launching this programme in September 2007, the TOS Chennai Region aimed to provide eye care for as many disadvantaged people in and around the city as possible. So far, screening for vision impairment has been carried out in five schools and two slum areas, totalling some 8,500 school children and slum dwellers. About 75 workers on the Theosophical Society’s Adyar Estate have been screened as well as a number of orphans in the area.
How does the SEE Project work?
It is a collaboration between the TOS and the Udhi Eye Hospitals in Chennai, which provide highly subsidised medical care. The TOS Chennai identifies deserving cases and institutions. Their member-volunteers make the non-medical arrangements and the Udhi Eye Hospitals send professionals to do the screening. If further treatment or glasses are required, the children and adults are sent to the hospital.
The TOS in Chennai coordinates the billing, while monitoring the numbers screened and treated. Occasionally, TOS medical coordinator Dr Sunita Maithreya offers a general medical check-up in conjunction with the eye screening. Mr C.V.K. Maithreya, President of the TOS, Chennai Region, Dr Sunita Maithreya, Dr R. Revathy, Dr P. Nagaraj and Mr K.S. Amuthanathan provide the energy behind this project and donate their time as volunteers. Ms Sharada and Ms Shanti from the Udhi Hospitals are their organisers and there is a team of optometrists. Dr Parthasarathy of the hospital is a good friend of the TOS in Chennai, as is its promoter, Dr Ravindran. Their help has been invaluable and this team effort between the TOS and hospital staff has been vital to the project’s success.
How can you or your group help?
To date, the TOS in France, the TOS in Australia and members from India and the U.K. have been sponsors of this project. If you’d like to help or would like more information, contact Mr C.V.K. Maithreya by email at:
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This past winter staff volunteers at Olcott, the national center for the Theosophical Society in America, in Wheaton Illinois, pitched in to prepare the auditorium for renovation, tackling the demolition phase with relish and enjoying the opportunity to shift roles and do some physical work instead of sitting at their desks. Every staff member contributed to the overall success of this project, and it was a great team-building exercise–coordinated by the maintenance department. Designed to make the space more welcoming and accessible for guests, the renovation included demolishing a large non-loadbearing post, ripping up old carpet, and tearing out the old fixed stage. Now the finished project sports new carpeting, improved 
audio visual equipment, a new moveable stage, and increased seating capacity. Funded through the contributions of many members for this purpose, the project brought new life to all the activities held in the renovated auditorium. Staff and visitors alike have been touched by the fresh and inspiring feel of the clean, expansive space. At first, many of the staff would walk up to the third floor every day or so just to be sure it was still there, and it is one of the first places to take visitors to see.
Can you imagine being a member of a country with over a hundred active TOS groups? Our Indian sisters and brothers can because they are members of one! Total individual membership of the TOS in India is over 6,000 and growing. The National Director, Mr Birendra Bhattacharyya, spends several months each year on the road visiting groups to oversee and support them in their activities. Even with a team of some 18 regional secretaries to help him, his hands are still very full.
The Golden Link School is now renamed Golden Link College with the opening of its modest college department with two course offerings: Bachelor of Secondary Education and Bachelor of Elementary Education. The first batch of college students consists of 12 freshmen and 7 sophomore students. Most of them have applied for scholarship grants as they mostly come from very poor families. There were many other applicants who applied but did not meet the minimum entrance qualifications of Golden Link.
