Crusader Sees Wealth as Cure for Caste Bias

When Chandra Bhan Prasad visits his ancestral village in these feudal badlands of northern India, he dispenses the following advice to his fellow untouchables: Get rid of your cattle, because the care of animals demands children’s labor. Invest in your children’s education instead of in jewelry or land. Cities are good for Dalit outcastes like us, and so is India’s new capitalism.

Photos from Helga Frech

You can see more photos in our Gallery | Link

Photos from Dana Kornberg

The performance by the kids on Sunday was awesome! The kids were so thrilled to be dressed up and performing on stage, and once they were done, were just BEAMING with pride.

Underprivilaged Children must be given Special Care

Various studies have revealed that poverty can be reduced by sending children from India’s disadvantaged groups to schools instead of sending them to work. If a child is in school, adults of his/her family will get work from where the child used to work. When the child of family goes for work then, adults of that family generally sit idle and the wages earned by the children are ill spent by their family. The employers prefer to engage children on work rather than adults so that they have to pay less wages to children. In this way children are exploited.

Dalit boy killed for writing poem to upper caste girl

In a recent example of India’s horrific caste system, a 16-year-old Dalit school boy died after he was thrashed almost unconscious in front of other students by an upper caste teacher for writing a poem to an upper caste girl. He was also beaten by family members of the girl the next day, found semi-conscious and taken to hospital where he later died. Local leaders have sought an inquiry into the incident as the police appear to be siding with the upper caste girl’s family and the teacher. ->> MeriNews | Read the Full Story

Uttar Pradesh is not Somalia – or is it?

Children do die from malnutrition in Uttar Pradesh. The latest was two-year-old Sahabuddin, who died May 31, 2008. He lived with his parents in Dhannipur village in Varanasi district of Uttar Pradesh. His parents were too poor to feed Sahabuddin – he weighed only six kilograms when he died. This is Grade III malnutrition, a condition that the world hears of in places like Somalia.

L’Arche de Dolanji funds 220 meals daily

Toward the end of 2007 we were extremely worried that the children’s food funding was ending in February 2008 and that we hadn’t been able to find a sponsor. Then a miracle occurred:

Amistad Intl: A Benefit for Buddha’s Smile School

On June 7 and 13, Amistad International will be staging a special Concert and Art Auction in New York City for Buddha’s Smile School. Performers include a mix of world, jazz, rock, and contemporary classical musicians combines with an extensive group of well know artists.

Miriam Sicherman

Miriam Sicherman sent us some really nice pictures of the Buddha’s Smile School kids receiving their end of year reports.

Note on Sarnath

Sarnath is a suburb of Varanasi and is located about 13 kilometres north-east of the centre. It’s not only the home of Buddha’s Smile School it is also where Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha first taught the Dharma.
There are four important Buddhist pilgrimage centres in India. Lumbini, where Siddhartha Gautama was born. Bodh Gaya (or [...]

Prosjekt Norge

En tur til India vart et sterkt møte med fattigdom og nød for meg, Geir Davidsen, Etne i Norge. Men oppe i alt det triste kom jeg i kontakt med Rajan og Sukhdev i Buddhas Smile School (BSS), Der fikk jeg se at hjelp når fram til de som [...]

About Varanasi

Varanasi is situated on the banks of the river Ganges in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and is considered to be the most sacred place of pilgrimage for Hindus, irrespective of denomination, with more than a million pilgrims visiting the city each year.
Along the water’s edge cremations are performed at the burning ghats [...]

Kimberly Dukes

Dear John,
I’m writing to you as a friend of Rajan and Sukhdev. Rajan said you were helping them with the Buddha’s Smile School website and asked me to take some photos of the children and teachers and send them to you; she thought you’d like to use some of them on the site.
Kimberly
We sure would [...]

Alfredo Cardenas and Anel Suarez: Movie

Alfredo Cardenas and Anel Suarez recently visited BSS and made this wonderful video that I am sure will help Buddha’s Smile School a lot. I’ve also sent the movie to Karen from Amistad International and she has passed it on to some of her donors. Amistad International is a US based charity that has been [...]

Photos of Sangita

Dana Kornberg has just sent me some photos of Sangita from when she was at Buddha’s Smile School in 2005.

Here are some more pictures you might be able to use. They are from the days when all the teachers were teasing Sangita about getting married soon… my god…
I have always loved the one of her [...]