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KARUNA 04
Introduction
Karuna is always looking for partnerships where a little money has a big impact. Today your donations help support a wider range of peoples - from the Himalayan kingdom of Sikkim to the mega-cities of the Indian plains. The projects featured here give a taste of this diversity: schools across north India; HIV outreach work in Mumbai slums; a network of crèches for low-paid women in rural Maharashtra and an outreach project for children who live rough on the railway platforms of Gaya, Bihar.
As Karuna expands, we decided to expand the view of what we do. This year we asked an independent writer and documentary filmmaker, Pratap Rughani, to write our report. He is a long-term supporter of Karuna but as a filmmaker for BBC TV and Channel 4, and former co-editor of New Internationalist magazine, he is able to give a fresh perspective on the projects we fund. Of our many projects, he selected five and says:
“Each one targets children on the edge. Many end up here as a sequence of hardships leave them near destitution. Most have already missed the scant opportunities of India’s education and welfare system. Without the chances that Karuna helps create, their prospects would be far worse. I wanted to see their lives as they are – and give this picture unvarnished. Their hardships emphasise how your money, channelled through small independent projects, is re-making lives. For anyone who, like me, has wondered whether finding a few pounds has an effect, here’s the evidence - it makes a crucial difference.”
Thank you for your support.
Dr. William Stones
Chairman of the Karuna Trust
Contents
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