FULL RESIDENCIAL appeals are back! If you volunteer for a Karuna appeal, you live together as a community and form life-long bonds with your fellow volunteer fundraisers.

Appeals are about stepping outside yourself and meeting what is alive! It encourages you to reflect on how you communicate with both yourself and others in this 6 week process of transformation and growth.

Applications open for 2025 - we supply a financial support package to help make this happen!

Sign up for a Karuna appeal today

https://www.appeals.karuna.org/

#karuna #fundraising #spirituality #ethics #ethicalfundraiserKaruna

Plant Tomorrow, Today.

Climate change is hitting the world’s poorest communities the hardest. Families are losing their homes and livelihoods because of floods, droughts, and failing crops. Many don’t have the resources to adapt, but together, we can help.

At Karuna, we’re working with local communities to tackle this crisis by:

1️. Teaching smarter farming techniques that help families grow food even with changing weather.

2️. Planting trees and restoring nature to protect against disasters like floods and landslides.

3️. Supporting local leaders to create lasting, positive change for their communities.

With your help, we can give families the tools they need to survive and thrive in the face of climate change. Every donation helps build a safer, greener, and more secure future.

Join us! Learn more and donate today: https://karuna.org/campaigns/plant-tomorrow-today-sm/

#donate #Nepal #India #Bangladesh #ClimateChange #climate #Philanthropy #karuna #CompassionInAction

4 evenings, 4 inspiring films about small projects making big differences in the lives of all beings in some of the world’s most fragile areas.

Join us via zoom or in-person!

Climate change is no longer a "someday" thing; we know it's here now.  The stories of the devastation caused by flooding in South Asia earlier this year have underscored this.  Naturally, we see suffering and we want to help, but how?  As dire as those conditions have become for people and all beings, there are also stories of communities coming together to make different lives beyond survival.

100% of funds raised for this project will go to Karuna USA's climate resilience projects in three countries: India, Bangladesh and Nepal. 

Organizing this benefit are the SFBC Green Sangha. The SFBC Green Sangha is an affinity group within the greater San Francisco Buddhist Center Community, working in various ways to elevate awareness of climate justice.

Karuna USA supports grassroots organizations in South Asia to enable poor and marginalized people to create resilient communities and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Karuna USA also supports families' access to improved livelihoods and protection from exploitation. For 42 years, the Karuna movement has mobilized resources to transform the lives of millions in South Asia.

THE FILMS

Pad Yatra   

A walking meditation while purifying the land of trash.  PAD YATRA was an Official Selection in over 33 film festivals, and won 10 awards on the festival circuit. It has screened at the United Nations, University of Oxford, Yale Himalaya Initiative, British Academy of Film and Television, and many more.

Executive Producer:  Michelle Yeoh

Friday, June 23rd, 2023, 7pm PST

Click here for tickets for Pad Yatra

The Biggest Little Farm   

Though circumstances are not as dire as elsewhere, transformation happens in the US too—recovering the health of neglected land and inspiring others to do the same.

Sunday, July 16th, 2023, 5pm PST

Click here for tickets for The Biggest Little Farm
 

Writing with Fire

When passion and courage stand up to corruption and injustice.

Communities can't adapt to climate change without access to knowledge and resources as well as accountability from governments and agencies.  The press is immensely important in the quest for climate justice.

Friday, August 11, 2023, 7pm PST

Click here for tickets to Writing with Fire
 

Inhabitants:  An indigenous perspective on saving the natural world

This film follows five Native American communities as they restore their traditional land management practices in the face of a changing climate

Sunday, September 17th, 2023, 5pm PST

Click here for tickets for Inhabitants

These events are held in person at the San Francisco Buddhist Center and on Zoom.  Tickets are $25 per movie.  The Zoom link will be provided upon purchase of a ticket.   Please consider adding an optional donation.  The more you can give, the greater the number of people will benefit. 

As a non-profit inspired by Buddhist values, today is an important day for us. We celebrate the Buddha’s enlightenment or awakening on the full moon of May.

The Buddha woke up to the truth of his own and other’s suffering on a deep, existential level. A key part of that experience was understanding that he could play a substantial role in alleviating others’ suffering.

In our humble way, we continue this legacy of compassion and altruistic service in support of those in need. This is integral to who we are and is even captured in our name, ‘karuna’ which means compassion in action. Compassion not just for a select group, but compassion for all who are suffering. This is why we work with a range of local partners serving communities from a range of religious and ethnic backgrounds.

Talking about awakening of potential, we want to highlight the role of girls in changing their society. Dalit and Adivasi (indigenous) girls in particular face multiple forms of disadvantage, yet they are central to long-lasting change. That’s why girls’ education and preventing early marriage are key priorities for us. An empowered girl will go on to shape her family - present and future, her community and society at large.

And join us today in celebrating the potential we all hold within us to transform our own and the lives of many others.

We were sad to hear that Tim Lilley, one of the founders of Aid for India, the charity that has since become Karuna, passed away on the 21st of December 2022. 

Tim was instrumental in setting up the first Aid for India fundraising campaigns in the early 1980s, working closely with Kulamitra to introduce door-to-door fundraising into the early Movement. Together they laid the foundations for Karuna as it exists today and introduced many of the radical approaches that still underpin the charity’s work. 

Everyone who knew Tim will remember him as a flamboyant person with lots of energy, drive, and enthusiasm. Tim had worked as a professional fundraiser and, within a few years, he and Kulamitra were recruiting teams of volunteers and leading appeals generating hundreds of thousands of pounds for the newly established social projects of the Triratna Movement in India. He also believed passionately in Team-Based Right Livelihood and saw the potential for fundraising to become a powerful tool for spiritual transformation and the creation of Sangha. When the first appeals started, Tim would go out on the doors with the volunteer fundraisers. He had a fantastic ability to work with fundraisers to fine tune their approach in sometimes quite subtle ways. He had the courage and boldness to set people targets and challenge them, sometimes with the unorthodox style of a Zen master. For example, Kulamitra recalls Tim coaching him to take a more relaxed posture on the doorstep, leaning against the door frame rather than standing face-on; this tiny adjustment was enough to bring about a sudden improvement in his fundraising results. Tim’s approach of fundraising as spiritual practice was extremely popular and effective, and he established some of the principles that are still used today. 

Now, forty years later, many millions of pounds have been raised through Karuna door-to-door appeals bringing improved education, health, and livelihood prospects to many millions of people in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Not only that, but hundreds of Order Members, Mitras, and Friends regard Karuna Appeals as a vitally effective part of their spiritual path. None of this could have happened without the pioneering work Tim and Kulamitra did in those early years. 

As well as pioneering and leading the fundraising, Tim put in place the office systems needed to manage the funds generated through the appeals. He brought in a new generation of people to help him run things. By the end of 1982, he had handed over his responsibilities so that he could start his own fundraising consultancy business, which is still running today. Around this time, Tim left the FWBO to pursue the remainder of his spiritual life as a disciple within Sogyal Rinpoche’s Rigpa Sangha.  

Tim was a dedicated Padmasambhava and Vajrasattva practitioner. He has two daughters, Clare and Jo, who are keen to let anyone who may have known him know of his death and funeral arrangements. His funeral will be on 19th January in Skipton, Yorkshire. 

By Suddhaka - Karuna, Head of Programmes.

Hello, I’m Srirajni (pictured left in the image) and I wanted to give a little update on the recent changes at Karuna. 

Some of you will know Steven Murdoch, who has led our fundraising team at Karuna for an incredible 10 years. He is stepping down and into new ventures both within and outside Karuna.  

To guide Karuna’s fundraising team into the future, I’m excited to be stepping into the role of Joint Head of Fundraising alongside Louise Thomas (who some of you may know from the LBC and now Norwich). Karuna is a large ship nowadays and, as I work at my best in collaboration, I was confident that another team member would bring skills that are natural to her and a working ground for me. Louise and I are looking forward to build upon Steven’s fantastic work over the last decade as we enter a new phase of opportunity at Karuna.  

It is hard to put into words just how much Karuna means to me. I remember when I volunteered at my first Karuna door-to-door appeal. I had volunteered and worked in the charity and public sectors since I was sixteen and had become almost cynical about door-to-door fundraising and the ethics of charity in general. I approached the Karuna appeal wondering whether ethical fundraising was even possible. The lessons I learnt about sensitivity, responsiveness and patience – beautifully exemplified by my appeal leader at the time, Kusaladevi – left an indelible mark on me and relit my confidence that compassionate, ethical fundraising was not only possible, it was necessary.  

Today, it’s incredible to be part of a team that feels as passionate about this approach, and the work we do, as I do. In fact, we recently had one of our annual, in-person team retreats, led by Paramananda at Vajrasana. We’re a diverse team of practice, yet the strengths, love and care for one another shone so brightly in such conditions. The red thread that binds us to each other, to the communities we support in South Asia and to the supporters we meet on the doors felt strong, flexible and vibrant.  

Perhaps reading this has evoked some positive memories for you, whether it’s of doing a door-to-door appeal, or of knowing others who have come before and pioneered Karuna’s history. Of course, everything we do is only possible because of those who, like you, continue to support us. Louise and I are grateful for this opportunity to contribute to Karuna's incredible lineage towards a shared vision of easing suffering and discrimination in the world - ready for those that will one day follow us. 

Thank you

***

https://www.karuna.org/

At Karuna USA we believe that every individual deserves a decent life and the opportunity to achieve their potential, regardless of caste, race or ethnicity. This ‘vision’ is oh-so apparent to us as temperatures soar across the globe.

With records continuing to be broken in the US and Europe, Karuna USA's focus countries of India, Nepal and Bangladesh are similarly suffering under the staggering heat. March and April of this year were the hottest on record in India, regularly passing 110 degrees in the north where a billion people live. In May, the temperature in Delhi reached 121 degrees and overheated birds fell out of the sky.

The human cost is devastating, especially for the poorest who lack cooling devices and are more likely to engage in outdoor, manual work (you can read more about the situation in this excellent New Yorker article). There is a deep injustice that the poorest bear the most burden when so many other countries have contributed to climate change.  Many people we know here in the US feel helpless to change that. We can help! 

In May we shared an update about climate mitigation work in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is among the top 5 countries with the highest disaster risk, with 140 million people at significant risk to natural hazards. With our support, vulnerable communities are preparing better for disasters, receive help in the event of flooding, and maintain their livelihoods.  Because of its success in Bangladesh, this project has been expanded to India too!!

Through our focus on building sustainable livelihoods, the poorest people can have access to sustainable and dignified work that improves their quality of life. Climate-focused projects also help them mitigate some of the worst impacts of climate change. Some examples include women’s cooperatives for organic farming in Bihar, and community enterprises for Tribal forest-dwelling women in Odisha and for rural women in Nepal. 

Small investments in the right place can lift people out of poverty and positively change the lives of thousands.

Support Karuna USA

A little known area of the work of the Karuna network - the UK, Germany and the USA - is in supporting women’s reproductive rights and other basic rights. 

A common phenomenon across South Asia is a practice of periodically excluding girls and women from participating in their regular life, with no access to public areas. They are locked out of the house to sleep in stables or shacks. This often leads to hypothermia, respiratory illness, exposure to wild animals and to rape. As a result, maternal and infant mortality are high rates.

What could be deserving of such treatment? Around the biological function of menstruation. Girls and women are seen as impure during their menstruation cycle and so are shunned. Young mothers are also ostracized as impure for four weeks after giving birth. 

In western Nepal, where Karuna works to counter this humiliating practice, these customs are deeply rooted. 

Our work is to improve women's health and decrease unfair treatment. It all starts with the girls and women themselves, and local people who hold positions of power. Through local partners, we help to empower girls and women to live safely and hygienically during their menstruation. Village communities, their religious and traditional healers, and mothers-in-law are encouraged to change their assumptions, attitudes and practices. Local health workers and administrators are trained to intervene and support the safety of women and girls. 

In doing all this, we strengthen the rights of girls and women to participate fully in school, work, and raising families. I am proud that we are giving these women and their children a chance for a safe and fulfilling life. 

Support Karuna USA

Do you want to live this year with deeper meaning and purpose?

To develop more kindness, with others.. for others..

and move beyond ways that limit you?

For over fourty years people in our community have choosen to deepen their practice by joining a Karuna fundraising appeal team. Many have said that doing an appeal was one of the most significant and transformative times of their dharma lives.

Fundraising as a spiritual practice means remembering to open to what’s alive in each moment, meeting fear with metta and finding connection through awareness and empathy. 

It's a practice that gives you a way of wholeheartedly living the dharma in the world.  You get to be part of a team, practice right livelihood, deepen your practice AND raise money to transform the lives of some of the most marginilised communities in South Asia. An average volunteer fundraiser can raise on average £20,000 during a six- week appeal. Could that be you?

We are running four non-residential appeals in London this year. I’m asking you to help to make this happen. We can offer you a generous financial support package to make it possible. 

Is there a friend or a group you are part of that would be open to doing this together. I know that friendships created working alongside each other on an adventure like this can be significant. 

Fundraising as a spiritual practice can help deepen and transform lives - including yours!

With metta Sanghamani

DOOR TO DOOR APPEALS

12th  May -  25th June: led by Varabandhu

7th    July -  20th August: led by Sanghanath

8th   Sept -  22nd Oct: led by Gina

TELEPHONE CAMPAIGN 

30th May - 8th July: led by Sanghamani 

All appeals are London based, non-residential and mixed gender

If you have any questions please get in touch:

appeals@karuna.org

To find out more

karuna.org

As you may have seen in the news, the past few weeks have seen major changes affecting the NGO sector in India. More than 150 large Indian charities, including at least one of our Triratna Trusts, have had their permission to receive foreign funding revoked by the Indian Government.

Most significantly, TBMSG Pune has had its foreign contributions permission removed. This is one of the main trusts supporting Triratna social projects in India. It employs 67 staff, mostly Mitras and Order Members, and also owns the land and buildings on which many of our projects are based. 

This decision is being appealed against but, as it stands, we want to let you know how it will affect the Karuna Trust, Future Dharma Fundraising / India Dhamma Trust and The Abhayaratna Trust:

Karuna Trust
Sadly Karuna will no longer be able to fund the residential education hostels in Nagpur, Kolhapur, Ulhasnagar, Wardha, and Pune, and those projects will now have to rely on funds generated entirely from within India. These hostels currently receive funds from the Maharashtra State Social Welfare Department which means they should be able continue to function, albeit with a reduced number of students. 

Furthermore, a number of other partners may no longer be able to receive funds from Karuna because they are managed by TBMSG Pune. These are Bhaja and Bor Dharan Retreat Centers, and Jeevak women's project Pune. 

Where we are not able to continue funding individual projects we will reallocate funds to new projects that address caste-based poverty and inequality. We are looking for ways to continue to support these affected partners through the provision of training and professional consultancy services. 

As a whole, these changes affect approximately 10% of our Indian programme and whilst we are sorry not to be able to fund TBMSG Pune, we want to reassure you that our current programme in India, Nepal and Bangladesh remains very robust. We are continuing work with strong Indian partners and, over the past year, we have launched a number of new projects in Nepal and Bangladesh; projects which willI help people from the most marginalised communities as they start to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic. Karuna will continue to fund Triratna projects, such as the Aryaloka Computer Institutes, Amravati Schools project, and Green Tara Adolescent Girls’ project. 

Padmadaka, CEO and Suddhaka, Head of Programmes.  

FutureDharma Fund & India Dhamma Trust
We are also sad to let you know that our work in India has also been affected. One of the movement Trusts we support, TBMSG Pune, have had their FCRA registration renewal request denied, which means that they are no longer permitted to receive foreign funds from 1st January 2022.

This doesn't affect all the projects we support - we are still able to send funds to the Indian Communications Project and our Indian Movement Coordinator. However, Bordharan Retreat Centre definitely is affected, and the Indian Ordination Teams and Youth Project probably will be.

In the medium term, we have reallocated funds we already held in India, including - with their kind permission - a gift of £60,000 from a UK Dharmachari and Dharmacharini. We are able to continue to support the Indian Ordination Teams for the next 18 months, and we are looking at how to make sure we can continue to support Bordharan Retreat Centre and our Youth Project. In the long term we are looking at a number of creative solutions, including stepping up our support and encouragement of Indian fundraising within India.

Nandavajra (FutureDharma Fund) and Vajratara (India Dhamma Trust)

Abhayaratna Trust
Because of the remit of the Abhayaratna Trust - i.e. providing help to individual Order Members in hardship, including in India - our work will be affected very little by the recent changes affecting the NGO sector in India. Many of you gave to the Trust’s Emergency India COVID Appeal last year, and we will continue to get donated money to Order Members and their families who are in desperate hardship as a result of the COVID situation, as well as taking a longer-term, sustainable view to help Order Members re-establish livelihoods lost as a result of the pandemic.  

So, please be assured that your money will continue to bring relief to Order Members and their families badly affected by the pandemic. 

Mahasaraddha, Director, The Abhayaratna Trust 

The Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Cultural Institute (ITBCI) school is closing its doors with a finale event today. In February 2021 the school’s trustees made the decision to close later in the year, and now that day has come.

The Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Cultural Institute (ITBCI) School was established in Kalimpong in 1954 by the late Dhardo Rimpoche, one of Sangharakshita’s main teachers. The school was originally set up in order to provide free education for the children of the poorest refugee families escaping persecution in Tibet. It was the first school of its kind to be set up in India. Lokamitra began fundraising for the school in the late 1970s. Karuna ran some of its first fundraising appeals at the start of the 1980s to raise money for the school, and has been supporting them ever since. The school always placed a particular emphasis on teaching and preserving the traditional arts and culture of its students.

The children of the school are being enrolled in other educational institutions in the area, and Karuna has made a substantial donation to the school, in addition to their regular grant, to ensure that all of the teachers received a generous redundancy package, reflecting their hard work and dedication over the years.

From February 2022, the school will be running a new, Karuna funded, ‘legacy’ project, which will consist of a library promoting Himalayan arts, culture and Buddhism, and a small museum containing some of the original Dhardo Rinpoche’s artefacts. Karuna are delighted that this project will honour the connection between ITBCI, Dhardo Rinpoche and Triratna, and will keep the memory of the original Dhardo Rinpoche alive for a long time to come.

Akashamitra, Karuna's Programme Manager, writes:

ITBCI is one of Karuna’s longest standing and most valued partners, we are proud of the school’s achievements and their excellent work which has enabled thousands of children from very poor backgrounds to receive an education and fulfil their potential, and we look forward to continuing to support ITBCI for many years to come.

Find out more about Karuna's work

We are delighted to announce the launch of Karuna USA! 

Live launch: November 6th: 1-3pm EDT | 10am-12pm PDT | 11am-1pm México | 5-7pm IE & UK | 6-8pm Europe

Karuna USA has been established by Triratna sangha members based in the United States as a sister entity to Karuna UK and Karuna Germany. We are grateful to Karuna UK’s Trustees and Team for their invaluable support. 

Sharing similar missions and values to our European sisters, our key aim is to mobilize resources in support of marginalized people in South Asia and the United States, helping them to live full  lives and access greater opportunities to fulfil their potential. 

That’s right, as well as supporting work in India, Nepal and Bangladesh, we also aim to support people within the United States itself. Here, as we all know, many communities face discrimination or exclusion that traps them in poverty, subjects them to injustice, and restricts them from living their lives with full agency. Our aim through 2021-22 is to identify where the Karuna approach can make the most difference. 

Visit Karuna USA to find out more about our work

We have a launch event planned on November 6th. We will share some of the incredible work that Karuna does, and we invite you to explore with us the relevance and possible focus of our approach within the United States. 

Find out more and register for free for our launch event!

                      EXPERIENCES AND STORIES FROM THE GROUND

Join us for our next live Covid crisis event and hear directly from the founders of Nirman, Santosh and Vaishali, who have given their lives to raise awareness of the issues faced by Nomadic Tribal communities in Maharashtra.
Register here: https://appeals.karuna.org/get-involved

SUNDAY 1ST AUGUST 4-5PM

Who are the NT/DNT ?

The Nomadic Tribes and De-notified Tribes (NT/DNT) are among the most socially excluded communities in India. As a result of their occupations, these communities are constantly mobile. They often live on the margins of society, without housing or identity documents. Many were subjected to the historical injustice of being branded as criminals by law, both by the British and subsequent Indian governments, resulting in a stigma they still carry.

• Short mediation
• Presentation and stories from Nirman ( Translated by Keval)
• Q&A
• How you can help change lives by joining one of our online/own towns Karuna appeals this year.

Join us for our next live event and hear from our newly ordained Srirajni, who has been working for Karuna for the last five years. She volunteered on her first Karuna appeal in June 2016 and since then continued to work for Karuna. Srirajni will be sharing her experience of the many benefits of doing Karuna appeals and how fundraising is a path of spiritual practice.

Register here: https://appeals.karuna.org/get-involved

Thursday 15th July 7-8pm

'Why are Karuna appeals such effective spiritual practice? Because you are doing something for others.'
— URGYEN SANGHARAKSHITA
 

Interested in hearing more? We’d love to see you at the live event! You can find out more, ask any questions and learn how our spiritual practice on appeals can change thousands of people’s lives in South Asia, as well as many lives closer to home.

From The Abhayaratna Trust, FutureDharma Fund / India Dhamma Trust and The Karuna Trust.

The Abhayaratna Trust, Karuna Trust and FutureDharma / IDT are working together with our partners in India to coordinate relief to people and projects affected by the devastating second and third waves of COVID in India.

The remits of the three charities are different – the Abhayaratna Trust works with individual order members, Karuna Trust with the wider community and FutureDharma / with Triratna movement organisations and projects but we are working together to ensure that all communities in need in India are supported. Moreover, we are committed to transparency and keeping people informed of our work by providing regular updates on our fundraising activities – and the impact they are having.

Many of you have given to the Abhayaratna Trust, Karuna and other appeals. The solidarity that the Order and Movement have shown to the suffering in India has been overwhelming and deeply appreciated in India – thank you!

At the time of writing, 4 July 2021, recorded cases in India have fallen from a peak of 414,000 per day at the start of May to 48,000. The situation in many parts of India is becoming easier with lockdowns lifting in many areas. However the official death toll has now passed 400,000 and many experts are issuing dire warnings of a third wave later in the year.
 

1.      The Abhayaratna Trust
In response to the suffering arising from the coronavirus pandemic in India, the Abhayaratna Trust set up an Appeal for a Coronavirus Emergency Fund. The Abhayaratna Trust is working very closely with the Indian Order Office and India Order Convenors to get financial support to those individual Order members across India most in need of help for food, housing bills, medicines, oxygen, hospital fees for them and their families.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of Order members, mitras and friends from around the world, the Appeal has raised over £190,000 which is helping to alleviate suffering and save lives in India. For example, a grant of £150 from the Abhayaratna Trust India COVID Appeal funds has been enough to help an Order member from Pune buy food for his family of four as well as medicine for his daughter. A grant of £100 is helping an Order member in Delhi buy food for their family of six. And a grant of £100 is helping an Order member in Pune buy food; her husband passed away a few years ago and her son has lost his job because of COVID so little money is coming into the household.

We believe it is the right time to scale back the Appeal as we have raised sufficient funding to support a short, medium and long term plan to support those pushed into need by the pandemic. We estimate that the need for individual Indian Order members and their families arising from the current pandemic in India will continue for at least another 2 years and we want to be able to continue to support them through the difficult process of rebuilding their lives and livelihoods. 

There are other communities that have been devastated by the pandemic in India who you may wish to support, or are already supporting, by giving, for example, to Karuna (see below).

Visit www.abhayaratnatrust.org to learn more.
 

2.      Karuna Trust | Karuna Germany
The Karuna Trust makes grants to organisations working with marginalised communities in India, Nepal and as of April 2021 – Bangladesh. Our programmes focus on Education, Livelihoods and Women’s Empowerment. We work through a network of 45 grassroots partner organisations, many of whom are Indian Triratna charities (such as TBMSG and Bahujan Hitay). This large network enables us to reach out to some of India, Nepal and Bangladesh’s poorest and most marginalised communities.

Since March 2020 Karuna has been responding to changing needs of those affected by the virus. So far we have been able to deliver emergency relief, including 29,820 food parcels and 22,580 medical kits, to 223,000 people from marginalised communities across 6 Indian States and 3 districts of Nepal. In the past 3 months alone we have made emergency relief grants in excess of £250,000 GBP.

Watch this video update about Aryaloka

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to large numbers of Order members supporting our emergency relief work and our ongoing projects. Your generous support has made a huge and life changing impact.

However, we urgently need to provide additional emergency relief to unemployed migrant workers, children out of school, women at risk of violence, and people suffering directly with virus infection.

Our first priority is to support those directly impacted by the crisis. This includes:

●      Distributing emergency supplies, food kits and sanitation equipment

●      Communicating accurate information on preventative healthcare, (including physical distancing, use of PPE and sanitisers, and vaccinations) for vulnerable communities

●      Working closely with local Governments to ensure emergency relief and welfare support reaches the most vulnerable

●      Protecting women and girls vulnerable to increased risk of violence during lockdown

●      Giving direct medical care to covid sufferers unable to access mainstream medical facilities and helping people without internet access to register for vaccination.

What can you do?

1. Support the Karuna Trust Emergency COVID Appeal – please donate securely at www.karuna.org/coronavirus-crisis
2. Stay informed – see the latest updates on our FaceBook page

3.      FutureDharma Fund / India Dhamma Trust
The FutureDharma Fund in partnership with the India Dhamma Trust (and in consultation with the Indian Public Preceptors Kula) funds a number of projects and teams in India, including the Ordination Teams, the Movement Coordinator, and the Indian Youth Teams. Many of these are actively involved in coordinating the distribution of food parcels and other emergency responses to the coronavirus.

The experience of courage, inspiration, guidance and solidarity provided by our Sangha and the Dharma has been crucial in these times of great uncertainty, challenge and fear and the Indian men’s and women's Ordination teams are playing a vital role in offering spiritual training, friendship, and counsel. In 2020 £72,000 in funding was provided and £62,000 in 2021, including an uplift to help with the financial hardship experienced by members of the team, and it is vital that they can continue their work through the pandemic and beyond.

We anticipate that we will receive requests for financial assistance from Centres and projects and we are in communication with key Indian Public Preceptors and members of the Area Council to identify and assess what may be needed. We are also keen to support projects which are developing new Dharma initiatives for the post-pandemic world, and we expect to launch an appeal in the coming months to help with this.

FutureDharma / India Dharma Trust (IDT) are grateful for their supporters’ continuing and vital generosity and will continue to explore ways of supporting our Dharma brothers and sisters in India.

www.futuredharma.org

***

The Abhayaratna Trust, Karuna Trust and FutureDharma / IDT will continue to meet regularly to review the situation and Amrutsiddhi, Karmavajra and Aryaketu will continue coordinating in India.

Please contribute through our secure websites/giving platforms given above.

From all of us, thank you for supporting this vital work and for standing in solidarity with our movement and everyone in need in India during this crisis.

Mahasraddha, Director: Abhayaratna Trust.
Padmadaka, CEO: Karuna Trust.
Nandavajra, Director: FutureDharma / IDT.

See other posts about the coordinated Triratna response to the Covid-19 emergency in India

Join us for our next live Covid crisis event and hear directly from Pratibha who works for Karuna in Germany. Recently back from India, she witnessed the heartbreaking reality happening right now for women and girls and how women are disproportionately impacted during the pandemic.

Register here: https://appeals.karuna.org/get-involved
Thursday 24th June 7-8pm

Streaming Zoom Live Event, Thursday 3rd June, 7-8pm (BST)

Register here: https://appeals.karuna.org/get-involved

I hope we all remember how migrant labourers suffered during the sudden lockdown last year in India. The first thing that comes to my mind are images of 'tired feet' and 'hunger'. I can not believe millions of feet had to walk thousands of miles to get their homes, and many of them never made it.

One of my inspirations from India is Ashif Shaikh, the founder of 'Jan Sahas' ('People's Courage). Karuna is very fortunate to serve his vision to help migrant labourers in India.

With partners' support, Jan Sahas successfully supported over 1 million migrants last year.

• Between April and June last year, they were able to facilitate relief for less than 1 million migrant workers across 19 states
• They have developed a database of more than 1.5 million migrant workers and connected the workers with government skill mapping and job initiatives
• Facilitate entitlement delivery for less than 58,000 workers

Please come and hear directly from Ashif Shaikh, project partner from India, about his "Migrants Resilience Collaborative" initiative.

Join our long-term project partner, Aryaketu, for an inspiring and informative talk on his new emergency ambulance project 'Your Life Now On Our Wheel' TONIGHT @ 7pm-8pm.
Register here: https://appeals.karuna.org/get-involved
 

I do Karuna appeal not because they are easy, in fact, they are never easy. But in my deepest sense, I know they make difference to myself and my brothers and sisters in India. In my opinion, one of the best practical application is available in our community to help others.

I like what Sangharakshita said, "Karuna appeal is a spiritual practice because you are doing something for others"

Get involved- https://appeals.karuna.org/application

As most of you know the situation in India is again becoming desperate. 

This second wave of COVID-19 is spreading faster; infection rates are more than double than at the previous peak and health facilities are being overwhelmed. Night curfews and local lockdowns are still paralysing many states, with devastating consequences for migrant workers. As before, it is the most vulnerable and marginalised people suffering most. 

Make a donation now and help us save lives

In March last year, Karuna launched a Coronavirus Crisis Appeal, and thanks to the incredible generosity of our supporters – both from Triratna and the wider public – it allowed us to respond precisely and rapidly to the emerging needs of those affected by the virus. 

That generosity has meant we have been able to deliver emergency relief, including 29,820 food parcels and 22,580 medical kits, to an estimated 143,000 people from marginalised communities across 6 Indian States and 3 districts of Nepal. And, as I write this, we are in the process of making a further round of urgently needed emergency relief to unemployed migrant workers, children out of school, women at risk of violence, and people suffering directly from virus infection.

We are just as committed now as we were then to support those directly affected by the crisis, especially the most vulnerable. And it is still only because of the generosity of others that we can do this. 

Many of the projects we fund are run by incredible Order members and Dhamma mitras. They are a part of Karuna’s wider family of organisations who work for excluded and minority communities in India and Nepal. They all need our help now.

Please know that we will be doing everything we can to meet the increasing need in India and Nepal – and we are so grateful for the support we receive from Triratna in helping us respond. 

If you’d like to make a contribution to this ongoing work, or find out more, please visit our website. 

Yours in the Dhamma,

Padmadaka 
CEO