Dorothy Bush Koch—daughter of 41st President of the United States George H. Bush and sister of 43rd President George W. Bush—officially welcomed Amritanandamayi Devi to Washington D.C. on July 1st. “Doro” and her sister-in-law, Patricia Reilly Koch, garlanded Amma, received her blessings and offered a few words.
Doro explained that she had become aware of Amma and her humanitarian endeavours when Amma’s university, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, designed the “Amrita Learning App,” a mobile application designed to tackle the problem of low-literacy in the United States. Ultimately Dorothy’s family’s charity, the Barbara Bush Foundation for Adult Literacy, would honour Amrita for the app as one of the winners of its 2018 Adult Literacy XPRIZE Contest.
“We are living right now through a time of deep division and discord—not only in our country but across the world,” said Doro. “Amma is here to show us that another path is possible—the path of love and compassion.”
“It is no exaggeration to say that Amma’s humanitarian work surpasses that of many governments,” she added. “In addition to Amma’s darshan and other charitable efforts, Amma is harnessing the power of science and technology to improve people’s lives and create a more equitable world, and we are so excited to be partnering with her on this new frontier.”