Message from the Chairman
Mr Mahendra Tappoo
My heartfelt greetings to you all!
As we celebrate Sai Prema Foundation’s fourth anniversary, I cannot but look back at the last four years and say that it was extraordinarily monumental. For a young Foundation like ours to make a significant impact upon the people of Fiji is only due to the grace of the Divine. The words and teachings of our inspirational master, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, “Love all, Serve all, Help ever, Hurt never” and “Hands that serve are holier than lips that pray”, is at the very core of our Foundation’s values. Each and every person who is a part of Foundation is focussed not upon earning personal glory, name or fame but sharing a common goal of creating goodness in the world, making a difference and inspire change.
The Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital is the largest project ever undertaken by an NGO in the history of Fiji. We are truly humbled and honoured to have the opportunity to undertake this monumental project which will both change the medical landscape of our nation and more importantly, save the lives of the children of Fiji and the Pacific suffering with Congenital Heart Disease.
2018 was special for the Foundation as the Prime Minister of Fiji, Hon. Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, on the occasion of his Birthday on the 27th of April, inaugurated the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Medical Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services. This Medical Centre provides quality general medical consultations and medications to the underprivileged and needy people of Fiji completely free of cost. In 2019, the Hon. Prime Minister once again graciously opened the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Heart Screening Centre in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services. This Centre provides free heart screening for the children of Fiji and the Pacific and houses the state-of-the art Echocardiogram Machine offering the latest 4D technology.
The Gift of Life project, in association with Ministry of Health, has been supremely successful as 232 children were given free open-heart surgeries, catheterisation lab procedures and other cardiac interventions completely free of charge by the 16-member team from India, USA, Australia & Oman representing the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital India. It was also a matter of pride for Fiji as the Foundation’s Medical Scholarship Program came to fruition with the training of Dr. Maryanne Kora’ai at the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital in Raipur India.
The Sai Annapoorna project served over 100,000 meals to the underprivileged and needy families as well as to residents of the various institutions across Fiji. The Health On Wheels Medical Outreach Project, in association with Ministry of Health, to the rural villages of Fiji continued to make a significant impact to the health and wellbeing of Fiji’s rural population.
The Be a Hero Project in association with the Fiji National Blood Service has been supremely successful as the Foundation has won both National and Regional Awards as the highest collectors of blood in Fiji for the last 3 years and more importantly, help save thousands of lives. The Children of God project of looking after the needs of orphaned children gave us much joy all throughout the year. Project Heart Beat, a child heart screening initiative also expanded its work of screening for heart disease.
The Foundation’s Sai Prema Ashram is a Centre for Human Development and this will grow into a beacon of light for country in years to come.
Despite all the above milestones, much is still yet to be achieved. The Foundation will continue to strive and work hand-in-hand with the Government to support its initiatives. I humbly invite all of you who have the same desire to serve, to join our efforts and help us work towards that common good. Let us try to make a difference. Let us do all that we can to inspire change. Like Mahatma Gandhi said, “let us be the change that we wish to see in the world”.
May God Bless Fiji!
Mahendra Tappoo