Who we are
The Divine Onkar Mission is a UK registered charity. Founded by Tersam Lal in 1991 with the aim of helping the neediest in some of the most remote parts of India. Since then, we have established hospitals and orphanages in Jharkhand and Orissa, have set up agricultural projects to encourage people to grow their own food, and run a leprosy project, where victims of the disease are treated and re-housed or provided with long-term care, we have also run a clean water project bringing clean water to most remote areas.
We also run many other projects from giving blood to training for widows, to enable them to support themselves and their children. We have two main sources of income: your donations and a charity shop where we sell produce donated by the public and businesses. Our projects are based in Jharkhand and Orissa, two of the poorest states in India. Many live in miserable conditions without basic necessities such as clean water, medical care, employment and daily food. We extend our hands, hearts and funds to enable them to break out of the cycle of poverty through the provision of basic human rights. We provide education and training opportunities that will eventually make the people self-sufficient.
Our vision is to extend our hands, hearts and funds to poor and disadvantaged people in India, enabling them break out of the cycle of poverty through the provision of basic human rights. DOM empowers those with no voice in society by giving shelter, food, education and basic health care and a commitment to help them become self-sufficient. Our belief is that once people are no longer hungry, homeless, sick, uneducated, unemployed and lacking dignity they will themselves seek to grow and become active citizens. DOM helps people to help themselves and then others so that there is equality, fairness and justice for all regardless of their background.
In 1988 Mr Lal went back to India for a holiday for the first time in over 30 years. He went on a train journey to visit his Sister’s hometown in Bihar. During his time there he visited a leprosy colony where he made a donation for the leprosy victim’s homes. One of the sufferers started talking to him in English. He told Mr Lal while he had been studying to become a doctor he had contracted leprosy and had to stop his training. This man explained that they were the lucky ones as they regularly received donations and support. He stated that if he really wanted to help in a meaningful way, he should go to Ranchi as they were in urgent need of help. At that time Ranchi was the capital of Bihar. On his journey to Ranchi an incident took place where a man was injured with extensive damage to his legs. Nobody would help the injured man, so Mr Lal offered to pay for him to go to the hospital. He was warned by an Army officer also a traveller on the train, that if he wanted proper treatment for this injured man he better take him to hospital himself. He was concerned that the money given would be stolen. This incident had a huge impact on Mr Lal, further spurring him on to do something, to make a difference.
His visit to the leprosy colony in Ranchi encouraged him to build homes and provide a clean water supply for them. He contacted other NGO’s in the area to see if they could help; he found they were stretched and their resources limited. However, they helped as much as the could. These organisations worked in collaboration with Mr Lal to sponsor medical camps. They also provided medical treatment and food aid to a village where a significate number of the occupants were suffering from TB.
In 1985, Mr Lal had undergone an eye operation – a cornea graft which helped to restore his eye sight. Realising the benefits of such an operation, he sponsored eye camps with money donated by his friends and relatives. The camps were useful but provided no after care for patients to enable effective recovery. On his return to the UK, the Divine Onkar Mission charity was formally established and registered by Mr Manohar Singh with the Charity Commission in 1991. This provided DOM with the mandate to raise funds from the general public and businesses across the UK.
With donations raised by DOM members, an eye hospital where pre-care and after care was provided was established. This was built on land donated by a local business man in Ramghar, who was touched by Mr Lal’s determination to help the poor.
Soon DOM had developed a base of loyal customers. Our charity shop was operational and doing well. Another move was again necessary, to a rented premise, which was a warehouse on Lower Villiers Street, Blakenhall.
In 2001 we opened our offices at 66-67 Dudley Road. The opening ceremony was performed by a famous Hindi and Punjabi film actor, Dara Singh, also known for his world standard champion wrestling. DOM’s success was phenomenal and we extended our charity operations to building water wells, education for the children from the leprosy colonies, Langar (food aid) and Orphanages in India. In the Head Office in Wolverhampton, we began to provide free legal advice and counselling services for the local community. Slowly but surely, more and more people who had the necessary expertise, became involved helping to promote the work of DOM.
The back bone of the Divine Onkar Mission is regular Seva by our loyal Volunteers. Without the continued and unfailing commitment of our Volunteers DOM would not have been able to run the many operations and projects to date. Our Volunteers carry out jobs such as collecting the Charity Box from shops throughout the West Midlands. A special thanks to Mr Inderjit Singh Rana who works tirelessly to ensure this vital task is undertaken professionally.
The Charity Warehouse could not work without the help and support of our volunteers and people on work placement. Such placements help to support individual back into working life and self-sufficiency.
Our vision is to extend our hands, hearts and funds to the poor and disadvantaged people in India, enabling them to break out of the cycle of poverty through the provision of basic human rights. We empower those with no voice in society by giving shelter, food, education and basic health care and a commitment to help them become self-sufficient.