South Asian Circle Of Hopkinton

Arin, a middle schooler from HPS goes back into history and chats on Zoom with the 3 men Dr King, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Nelson Mandela to help and guide him. SACH remembers and celebrate Dr Martin Luther King’s legacy on this day in an environment where we’ve reached a crescendo of outcries and protests for social justice and in a sensitive political climate where tensions and emotions are running high. We are left grappling with how to deal with these issues and pondering the impact this might be having on our young ones. Please watch and share this with your fellow community members and school children. A short 5 minute skit with Arin, a middle-schooler from HPS.  View the 5 minute video Copyright © 2019 | South Asian Circle of Hopkinton, Inc. www.southasiancircleofhopkinton.org

Hyppolite Ntigurirwa talks to the community of Hopkinton Hyppolite Ntigurirwa, an International Peace activist and a child survivor of the Rwandan genocide talks to the Hopkinton community with message of Peace and Unity. While his experience is heart breaking, it leaves us inspired and his words fill us with tremendous hope and gratitude!  The video starts with an introductory message from Dawn Miller, Director of Youth and Family Services and Cheryl Perreault, a member of the Hopkinton Freedom Team, who helped bring this speaker to talk to the community of Hopkinton. Thank you for this privilege! Copyright © 2019 | South Asian Circle of Hopkinton, Inc. www.southasiancircleofhopkinton.org

Young Women in STEM: An Interview with Elizabeth Gross A huge congratulations to Elizabeth Gross - Our winner of this year's HHS Scholarship award of $1000 to support young women in STEM. Young Women in STEM is our scholarship program that was launched in 2019 in support of high school girls with a passion for STEM subjects and who want to pursue a career in a STEM related field. We sourced our funding for this program through our Community based Engineering & Design Summer Workshop for elementary school children in 2019. A big thank you to the HHS Counseling team and especially to Constance O'Loughlin who helped us coordinate the application process. What inspired you to get into this field of study (Environmental Engineering)? During Freshman year in Chemistry we did research project to study devices that help people with clean water. Learning about the global struggle for access to basic resources like clean water really sparked my interest in environmental science. I a...

SACH launched an initiative to help raise funds for Project Just Because during hard times when Covid hit in 2020. Many families were struggling after having lost their jobs and all local food pantries were stretched with resources running low.  FUNdraising Fridays was organized by SACH throughout the month of May 2020. The community enjoyed fun events such as Trivia, Antakshari, watched Chai making and South Asian cooking demonstrations live, while also raising money for PJB.  We exceeded our goal of $1,500! We thank our community for helping us through this journey.  SACH Cares is a philanthropic wing of SACH aimed at supporting initiatives based on a variety of issues we care about. We care about our town and strive to create inclusiveness in supporting all communities within Hopkinton irrespective of race, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender. Copyright © 2019 | South Asian Circle of Hopkinton, Inc. www.southasiancircleofhopkin...

Highlights of Diwali 2019 The event brought the whole community together with children and families dressed in their festive clothes. The venue at the HCA could not have been more perfect for this grand occasion.   The program theme was 'Traveling across South Asia'. Railways, being an integral part of South Asia brought back nostalgic memories and the venue was decorated with  non-traditional interactive displays and  cultural props that reflected the theme.  Pictures of all events were curated and shown to the audience as a slideshow to show SACH in 3 minutes.  The video was called 'The Breathless Team'. Click here to watch  'The Breathless Team' in action ! Our State Rep. Carolyn Dykema was the Chief guest and kick started the  program by  lighting the lamp, soon after the National Anthem sung by one of our high schoolers. There was a diverse range of participants and attendees. High schoolers were an integral part of help...

A ‘Happy Diwali’ sign was lit up at the Town Common, Handmade by Team SACH. The display, on its very first year was on for nearly two weeks and to wish all residents of Hopkinton and share the festive feeling of celebrating Diwali as one big community.  A lighting ceremony inaugurated the display, where some of Hopkinton's Select board members and families, the town manager Norman Khumalo and family, along with other Hopkinton residents and families participated. Sweets were distributed to celebrate the event.  Display in the making by Team SACH The display was also mentioned in one of the popular regional news publications: https://indianewengland.com/2019/10/south-asians-of-hopkinton-install-lighted-display-on-diwali-at-hopkinton-town-common/ Copyright © 2019 | South Asian Circle of Hopkinton, Inc. www.southasiancircleofhopkinton.org

Onam: The Harvest Festival What, When, Who & Where The grand harvest festival of  Onam is celebrated in the Indian State of Kerala every year for 10 days, sometime during August-September. According to legends, the festival is celebrated to commemorate the homecoming of King Mahabali, whose spirit is said to visit Kerala at the time of Onam. Elephant Processions, Boat races and Art Forms The  Onam sadya (feast) is another indispensable part of Thiruvonam, and almost every person attempts to either make or attend one. The Onasadya reflects the spirit of the season and is traditionally made with seasonal vegetables such as yam, cucumber, ash gourd and so on. The feast is served on plantain leaves and consists of nine courses, but may include over two dozen dishes. Thiru Onam marks the final day of festivities The celebrations start off with a grand procession called  Athachamayam , which is a state sponsored event near the coastal city of Coch...