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KARUNA 01
Introduction
One of the great delights of working for Karuna is having the chance to meet some of the children involved in our projects. So many of them come from situations which seem at first glance completely devoid of hope, yet when you look more closely you see that they have enormous potential and a deep determination to improve their lives. Very often all that is needed is a little help and encouragement to get them started.
Over my twenty years of involvement with the work in India I have been moved time and again to witness the extraordinary effect when a child from a deprived background starts to get a good education. It is as if some deeply buried spark of curiosity comes to life in them, bringing with it the confidence to believe in the possibility of a better future.
Karuna was set up twenty one years ago to work with one particular community: the former scheduled caste, or `dalit' people of western India, who converted to Buddhism in the 1950s to escape the legacy of the caste system. Since then we have widened our area of work to include other, equally marginalised, groups in other parts of the country. But wherever we work (and we now work with people of many backgrounds and beliefs), our aim is always to encourage that spark; to support people's belief in themselves and their aspiration towards a better life.
In this newsletter we focus on some of the newer projects, involving tribal people, leprosy sufferers, working children, and people living in underdeveloped rural areas of Bihar and Orissa. We also include a report from the Gujarat earthquake region, where Karuna's Indian partners have been involved in the emergency relief operation.
I hope that the features presented here will give you a sense of the range of our work in India and of the ever-increasing numbers of people whose lives are being transformed by it.
With best wishes and many thanks for your continued support,
William Stones
Chairman, Karuna Trust
Contents
- Gujarat Earthquake Emergency
- Children of the Brick Kilns
- Learning the Hard Way
- English Teachers On Air
- A Light in the Darkness
- A Day in the Life
Credits
The Trustees of the Karuna Trust:
Dr William Stones (Chairman), David Zukas, Hilary Blakiston, Dr Keith Downer, Iain Robertson, Simon Turnbull
The Trustees are all members of the Western Buddhist Order
Director
Peter Joseph
Patrons
Dame Judi Dench DBE
David Morley MD, FRCP
Sir Edmund Hillary KBE
Text
Jonathan Clark
Photographs and design
Ian Waddell