With 200 YGB’s SHE scholarship students in West Bengal, December 2019
“I am the seed.
YGB is the water that nurtured me.
Now I am a tree to serve for thousands of people.”
Guruprasad, YGB SHE Graduate Student, Bangalore, Karnataka
This month, YGB SevaTrip visited all our programs in India to see how your support is truly transforming so many lives. YGB Ambassadors Anouk Prop (the Netherlands), Beate Scholz (USA), Birgitte Kristen (USA), Daniel Taylor (USA), Gwen Tan Wynne (Malaysia), Julie Yew-Crijns (UK), Mina Lee (UAE), Sharda Ten Hove (the Netherlands), Wendy Chan (Singapore) along with a volunteer Anita Hoffman (USA) and the founder Kayoko Mitsumatsu (USA) represented YGB and met all our NGO partners (Deenabandhu, Shaktidhama and NISHTHA) and our program fund recipients in Karnataka and West Bengal.
Some of the moving highlights witnessed during this trip:
- Guruprasad is our first SHE scholarship graduate student. He now works as a doctor at a prestigious Sagar Hospital, Bangalore.
- Poornima, a victim of domestic violence and YGB micro loan borrower, who shared her hardship with tears in 2018, welcomed us with big smiles with her daughter
- Sanowara persevered daily physical abuse by her father and brothers because she did not give up her higher education for her marriage, as YGB SHE scholarship student. Today, she is shining with confidence as a successful sales rep for a health wellness company and as the bread earner for the family, selling products from village to village by her motor bike!
- Women’s Micro-loan Group has not only paid back their loans but also saved enough money for investment to make further profit! This was a huge progress and surprise.
These are just some of truly inspiring stories how a life has been transformed with your support. Together, we are empowering more than 1300 lives in India this year.
“For the cost of one yoga class, you can change a life,” continues to demonstrate its true magical power.
It takes a village. And our village is very special. YGB is truly honored to partner with OmStars, who is passionately supporting YGB’s mission with their Instagram Challenges and funding. Its Founder Kino MacGregor is one of the first YGB Ambassadors and now serves as Advisor as well.
“Every student of yoga owes a debt to India and working with Yoga Gives Back is one way that we at Omstars take the journey of yoga full circle. We are honored to be a part of the micro-loan financing, educational grants, women’s empowerment, entrepreneurship and school funding projects that are truly of service to India. With a hard-working dedicated team both in India and worldwide, YGB embodies true dedication and heart-centered effort. “
~ Kino MacGregor, OmStars
Welcome New Advisor Lisa Walford Los Angeles, CA
“…Sri B. K. S. Iyengar always said that the generosity does not impoverish… cultivating that heart muscle of gratitude is a tremendous practice.”
Lisa Walford holds an Intermediate Senior II Iyengar teaching certificate and has been teaching yoga in Los Angeles since 1982. She continues her studies annually with the Iyengars, in Pune, India, and teaches worldwide.
She was the curriculum director for the Teacher Training Program at YogaWorks through 2006, and was instrumental in its development. She is on the advisory board of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Yoga Studies program at Loyola Marymount University. Lisa has a BA from UCLA and is co-author of The Longevity Diet, now in its second edition, and The Anti-Aging Plan.
Welcome New Ambassadors
