Our Heroes
UNITED SIKHS
A Volunteer's View
United Sikhs has been named, jointly with The Sikh Coalition and SALDEF (The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund), as The Chic Sikhs of the Year 2008!
In 1999, a few committed Sikh-American computer professionals in New York got together and founded The United Sikhs in the Service of America (USSA), which subsequently became UNITED SIKHS.
They held computer classes at the local gurdwaras for cab drivers in an attempt to equalize society. Their efforts were rewarded by way of a few more volunteers.
Out of that grew blood banks, health fairs, community education centers, scholarship programs - the organization quickly took on a life of its own.
The commitment of the people, their desire to serve and their joy in this seva fills my eyes. An army of spiritual warriors committed to doing our very best! Each volunteer joined to be a small part of what "already was," but it always grew beyond "what was" and with his or her own idea of how to help the community, gave life to the realization of "what can be."
The desire to help young children succeed in school grew into Homework Help classes that are now run five times a week at the Educare Center in New York, under our Empowerment and Education directorate.
The desire to put the put the proverbial hand around the "hilt" - of a pen! - when all other means fail, grew into our International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy directorate.
The desire to help an underprivileged Christian student in Malawi (Africa) who had hopes of continuing college after his father's death, led to the transformation of our Sikh With A Need (SWAN) project into Someone With A Need (creatively, still SWAN).
The desire to give holistic education to the youth in Punjab has come true with the UNITED SIKHS Research Project in Amritsar, which has, since 2004, benefitted 1500 youths and 5000 villagers involving 1100 hours in classroom lectures, seminars, camps, conferences and field trips on spirituality, the environment, culture and history.
The desire to inspire students in India to reach for the stars created STARAE (Scholarships to Accelerate Rural Academic Excellence) and the Learning Value Series which awards scholarships and invites role models to speak to the young.
The desire to extend a hand to those who need hope after a disaster grew into our humanitarian relief directorate called Sikh Aid.
The Sikh Aid Directorate (formerly known as GHANAIA) came into its own in 2003 with our Asian Tsunami relief efforts.
"I couldn't sleep that night," recalls Rishiwant Singh. "First thing in the morning I called Jagdev Singh, UNITED SIKHS Director based in Spain, and asked, "If no one else can help us (referring to the lack of funds), why can't just five of us go?"
And that's exactly what happened.
UNITED SIKHS went and, through partnerships (with five other organizations), we fed the hungry (15,000 survivors in four affected countries), we helped rebuild homes and a protective sea-wall, a gurdwara roof, we consoled (trauma counseling in Sri Lanka) and we learned.
That was 2004.
In 2008, we distributed 30,000 meals in the aftermath of the Myanmar Cyclone in May, we distributed 20,000 meals in the aftermath of the Punjab Flooding in August (and that's just the human beings, not including the cattle), we distributed 900 meals in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in September.
To date, UNITED SIKHS has responded to nine disasters spanning nine countries in Asia and North America. The stories are countless, but the sentiment has been the same - fearless compassion, as inspired by the words of the Tenth Master, Guru Gobind Singh:
Dhan jeeo taeh ko jag mae, mukh tae har, chitmae judh bicharae
"Blessed is that soul who, with prayer on the lips, keeps thought and conscience locked in the good fight ..."
In 2001, a visionary in the organization wanted to make it into a global one.
I recall the numerous late night meetings, the holding of many hands, listening to pained voices as we struggled to figure out which foot first - the left or the right.
There was resistance, too.
Today, I look back and smile - we are wired for being a nation without borders - going global was inevitable.
Every chapter that we opened was in response to a need. Today, all chapters are registered under local laws and have local directors who are accountable to the authorities and the local community, using a global approach with local solutions.
Being global, we heard the cry for help by French Sikhs when French President Chirac moved to ban the wearing of "religious signs and clothing" in public schools.
This cry, like many others, was one that UNITED SIKHS could not ignore.
UNITED SIKHS jumped to action by holding meetings with other faith groups, meeting with French politicians as well as non-French politicians that could take our message to France, online petitions with thousands upon thousands of signatures, letters signed by 42 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, rallies in France, USA, India and the UK.
UNITED SIKHS has now filed this case with the United Nations and all other avenues are being explored in parallel. UNITED SIKHS answered similar cries for the protection of civil and human rights from many corners of the world:
A Sikh whose religious rights were being violated in a prison in Florida, U.S.A;
A gurdwara being inappropriately raided in Belgium;
And, a young Sikh girl's right to wear the kara in a U.K. school;
are just a few examples.
Since turning global, UNITED SIKHS has been available to provide advocacy support in any country on the globe. This unique global presence allowed us to see similar-yet-different problems showing up across the world.
This pushed us, in December 2008, to develop the First Global Sikh Civil Rights Report and hold a global Sikh Civil Rights conference in New York, attended by Sikhs from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, USA, France, Belgium, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Afghanistan.
Where there was a will, the organization kept finding a way.
We now have an army of 900 registered volunteers from across the globe; we are connected with 8000 subscribers and 100 discussion groups, facebooks and blogs. Our growth has been organic and the organization is no longer crawling.
Some would say we have come a long way, as we are now walking upright from one need to the next.
We constantly remind ourselves of our humble origins and existence -
Inhee kee kirpa kae sejae hum hain; Nahin, mo sae gareeb crore parae
"We thrive only because of their blessings, Without them, we'd merely be amongst millions like us."
UNITED SIKHS now has chapters in eight countries, with plans afoot to open three more in 2009.
With a number of challenges already behind us and the ongoing support of the global community, we think the best is yet to come, as we continue to battle against new hurdles.
The biggest challenge is the tapping of resources. There is a need to network within this "nation without borders" so that we remain sovereign wherever we are.
[For more info, please visit www.unitedsikhs.org]
January 1, 2009
Conversation about this article
1: Gurmeet Kaur (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.), January 06, 2009, 11:58 AM.
UNITED SIKHS has given a much needed platform for the worldwide sangat to share and to serve in many ways, be it in the humanitarian, human rights, human development or human spirit areas. Truly a nation-building feat. True, the organization is mainly volunteer driven, thus faces focus and resource challanges; but its philosophy has always been - 'Never say no to any one in need'. Kudos to the visionaries and the volunteers alike and the best for the future.
2: Iqbal Singh (U.S.A.), January 11, 2009, 3:12 PM.
'United Sikhs' has been doing a stupendous job for the panth. The fact that most volunteers are full-time professionals and work on global issues in their spare time makes their effort even more commendable. I am particularly impressed with the verve and persistence they work for causes they believe in. A case in point is their global Right to Turban initiative which has kept the hopes for the French Sikhs, to overturn the turban ban, still alive. The 'United Sikhs' organization has been pursuing this case with determination for many years through the French and European courts, and now, most recently, at the U.N. France seems to be realizing that the Sikhs are not going to abandon their fight. The case is now out of the European courts where France seems to have wielded some political clout in its favour. Now the matter is before the U.N. In this situation, France seems to be relenting a little as they realize that it could be seen as unreasonable and perhaps as racist in a prolonged struggle. Obviously, global civil rights initiatives are costly that need both financial assistance and moral support. I beleive every Sikh should try to support such initiatives.