20 August 2014
Hillcrest, South Africa
I just received an urgent report and request from the GBC of the Ukraine, His Holiness Niranjana Maharaja. The situation in Ukraine is very intense as many hundreds of devotees had to leave their homes and basically run away from the rebels. Devotees’ houses have been occupied by rebels and some homes destroyed. One senior Vaisnava was kidnapped and held ransom.
I have been visiting the Ukraine, especially Eastern Ukraine, and I know some of the displaced devotees who are in distress. These devotees are very sincere and have been instrumental in helping spread Krishna consciousness in Ukraine.
This is a time to show the family spirit of ISKCON and I would deeply appreciate it if you can give a donation to help the displaced devotees. Donations are being collected by the ISKCON National Secretary of the Ukraine. These leaders have rented schools and other buildings to serve as accommodation for refugee devotees. Since these devotees have lost everything, they need to be fed, clothed and given shelter, which costs a lot of money. The civil war has been going on for a month now and it could well become bigger in the next few weeks.
I humbly appeal to you to try to give a donation, whatever you can, to help these devotees and I know that Niranjana Maharaja will highly appreciate it if you extend yourself in this way.
I hope you are well and happy in all respects. I remain,
Your servant,
Partha Sarathi Das Goswami
Contributions can be made online at https://sites.google.com/a/niranjanaswami.org/ukrainian-vaisnava-refugee-fund/ using Paypal