The Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa

The Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa is a Branch of the worldwide Ramakrishna Mission which has its Headquarters at Belur Math, West Bengal, India. The organization was brought into existence by Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), the great 19th century saint from Bengal who is regarded as the Prophet of the Modern Age, and Sri Ramakrishna’s chief disciple, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), one of the foremost thinkers and religious leaders of the present age, who is regarded as ‘one of the main moulders of the modern world’, in the words of an eminent Western scholar A.L. Basham.

The main goals and objectives of the Worldwide Ramakrishna Organisation, based on the principles of Practical Vedanta are:

To spread the idea of the potential divinity of every being and how to manifest it through every action and thought.
To spread the idea of harmony of religions based on Sri Ramakrishna’s experience that all religions lead to the realization of the same Reality known by different names in different religions. The Mission honours and reveres the founders of all world religions such as Buddha, Christ and Mohammed.
To treat all work as worship and service of man as service to God.
To make all possible attempts to alleviate human suffering by spreading education, rendering medical service, extending help to villagers through rural development centres, etc.
To work for the all-round welfare of humanity, especially for the uplift of the poor and the downtrodden.
To develop harmonious personalities by the combined practice of Jnana, Bhakti, Yoga and Karma.

The President and Vice-President of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa are monks of the Ramakrishna Order; and they, together with lay devotees and volunteers form the organisation which offer a number of spiritual and welfare services to achieve the aims and objectives of the Centre. The Centre is registered with the Department of Social Welfare (NPO No. 053-630-NPO). It is also a Public Benefit Organisation (PBO No. 930007651).

The Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa is a non-political, non-sectarian spiritual organization which has been engaged in various forms of humanitarian and social service activities.

Over the past 80 years the Centre has been propagating the universal message of peace and harmony as demonstrated by Sri Ramakrishna, Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and Swami Vivekananda in their own lives. It has also contributed significantly to the upliftment of disadvantaged communities through many of its outreach programmes. These include – medical services, poverty alleviation, skills development, women empowerment, youth resource development, educational services, HIV/Aids shelters, free distribution of value based literature, etc.

In addition to the spiritual wellbeing of its congregation, it has offered many welfare services as highlighted below:

Health

Poverty Alleviation & Nutrition – An important area of focus by the Centre is ‘poverty alleviation’. The nutrition programme endeavours to bring some level of relief to families affected by the tough economic times and other circumstances beyond their control. All the branches support deserving families with monthly grocery hampers, children’s education and uniforms, medical and legal services. Many NGOs are also supported on the nutrition programme.

- Medical – Medical services is one of the main aspects of our humanitarian efforts. We are fortunate to have the free services of over 80 medical professionals who give off their time and expertise to serve the disadvantaged people of KwaZulu-Natal. The Ramakrishna Clinic of South Africa, the Medical Wing of the Ramakrishna Centre of South Africa, was founded in 1959 by Swami Nischalananda and has provided medical services to the disadvantaged for the last 57 years free of charge to all. The Ramakrishna Clinic, Durban conducted free community medical clinics throughout KwaZulu-Natal in Chatsworth, Etete, Sydenham, Inanda, Pietermaritzburg, Ladysmith and Newcastle. During 2016 a total of 3595 patients were attended to at an estimated value of R 2 548 580.00.

Education

- The Centre conducts year long distance and supported learning courses for adult learners, dealing with the Spiritual Heritage and Culture of India. The following five Certificate courses are being offered by the Faculty in the 2017 Academic year:

- Branches of the Centre conducts Hinduism for Children classes for pre-school and school going pupils. This is a value based, structured course, incorporating study of a prescribed text, chanting of verses from the Bhagavad Gita and other prayers.

Humanity

Human Excellence – Swami Vivekananda had wanted ‘life-building, man-making, character-making and nation-building’, education and training for all people, but especially the deserving and the disadvantaged – he wanted that education by which a person could stand on his or her own and support themselves. To achieve this objective our Centre has launched the Swami Vivekananda Centre for Human Excellence. The main aim of this Centre for Human Excellence is to instill faith in oneself and impart education and values of life and life-giving strength, to raise individuals to higher levels of self-confidence, self-esteem and self-reliance to attain the goal of human excellence, peace and spiritual growth. Various programmes are being offered to add value to devotees and a wide cross section of society to help improve their lives in a holistic manner. These include, sewing, art, coaching for matric learners, and in future skills in the areas of plumbing, carpentry, painting, building, gardening, etc.

Community Outreach – Early Childhood Development
The Centre has focused on ECD programmes in support of Crèches in the Inanda and KwaMashu areas with education, nutrition and medical support.