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THE RAHULA TRUST |
REPORT 2001 |
| Dear Supporters You will be aware that the Rahula Trust has had a very successful year. We have got 35 more children in our sponsorship programme. Now we are sponsoring 110 children altogether. Also we were able to raise over £20,00 last year. We have received letters and school reports from the children we are sponsoring. Most of them have been able to show progress in their studies. Some have passed 5th grade scholarship, and some have passed their GCSE examinations. Our success is thanks to friends like you. I want you to know just how important your support is to us here at the Rahula Trust, and how grateful we are for your kindness. We are in the process of widening our sponsorship programme to Nepal. We are going to sponsor 10 children in this year and according to the availability of funds we shall increase it. It has been explained in this newsletter. Also we are going to arrange extra classes for the children who are living in remote areas in Sri Lanka where children cannot achieve higher grades. Our local representative Mr. Jayasekara has written about this project in Tantirimale. One of our trustees, Mr. Richard Jones, has visited Kenya in this year. He has shown us what kind of help we can give the HIV-infected children who are living in an orphanage. He has written about this in this issue. It is worthwhile to help where there is the need. If you feel you can help with these projects, I should be very grateful. I am very happy to announce that Miss Kanchana Rajarathna has chosen to run the Flora London Marathon 2002 in aid of The Rahula Trust. Please ask your friends and family to support this cause. Wishing you the best of health, happiness and success for this New Year and years to come. Ven. Dr. M. Vajiragnana |
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DONATION
OF £3,000 TO THE RAHULA TRUST
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| A REPORT FROM LANKA In April of 2001, during my stay in Sri Lanka, I took the opportunity to visit some of the children the Rahula Trust is sponsoring, who live in the hill area above the ancient city of Kandy. With the use of an old Ford van to get around, we travelled for over two hours through winding roads away from Kandy up towards the small towns of Galaha, Bowlana, Akarana, and Talatu oya. The crest of each hill opened up a natural window onto the beauty of the country, but Lanka is a land of varied experience, and an attractive terrain is deceptive; it became quickly clear, as we passed village schools and tenements, just how far local children need to walk to get to class, often miles along a winding road, that turns and twists, making their journey very dangerous to navigate. The driver would often pause here and there and recount to us the death of a local child or villager in some grizzly encounter with a car or lorry. The nature of the road meant long periods travelling between the homes of different children, which were not far from each other in actual miles. People here live in the most difficult of circumstances. Their homes are very different to the houses that we are familiar with in the West, ranging from small cajhong huts or brick tenements along the mountainside to standing on poles over steep banks. We were always welcomed with a warm smile and kind hospitality, and you could not escape the sense of community that pervaded these small villages, which is sometimes lacking for some of us living in cities in the West, where we may not even know or want to know our neighbour’s name. The local children are heroes. Managing in the face of adversity to learn with the generally limited education that is provided at local village schools, and often unable to get access to the better regional schools. One of the children we visited was not at home when we arrived, and when asked why, we were told that the buses were not working that day, and that in the morning, she had to walk five miles to the nearest hospital to visit an aunt who was desperately ill. The child’s mother, who had lost her husband to illness some years before, could not say when she would return. Imagine this scenario here in the UK, parents left anxiously wondering about their child forced by necessity to walk alone along a busy road with no convenient means of public transportation to the nearest hospital? Another child had the smallest of rooms to work in, her window overlooked a steep bank with only the jungle as garden. Although her room was small, it was full of light, and contained books that she had been able to buy through the help of the Rahula Trust. She was one of the poor but academically gifted children fortunate to have done well enough to gain admittance to the main regional school in Kandy. She now has a serious chance of getting to university, instead of just clutching at the dream of going. Below is a photograph of a child
and place that we visited along the way. It is reassuring to know
that through the help of schemes such as the Rahula Trust, children
have the chance to improve their lives, and maybe through them,
and in time, their families and local villages, can also prosper,
and all starting from just a few pounds each month. How can we
even begin to measure the value of such a gift…?
Rohan Kariyawasam |
The Rahula Trust Widens Its Scope
Nyumbani (which means "At home" in Swahili) was founded about ten years ago by Father Angelo D’Agostino, a Jesuit priest and medical doctor from the U.S.A. Why support this particular orphanage? What makes Nyumbani special is that its children are not only orphans, but also HIV+. Their parents may have died or may have abandoned the child because of its HIV status. Either one of these conditions means a very bleak outlook, but to have them both is doubly unfortunate. It is hard to imagine a much worse start in life than to be both an orphan and HIV+. The first time I visited Nyumbani, I expected I would find a depressing atmosphere, with children suffering terribly from the scourge of AIDS. In fact, the mood at Nyumbani is very far from gloom and doom. The buildings and grounds are clean, tidy and well-maintained. The children are smartly-dressed and lovingly cared for. Watching the children playing games in the playground, you feel you could be watching any group of healthy, happy children enjoying themselves. Provided the children are received young enough (under 1 year old), they still have their own anti-bodies and with good nutrition, hygiene and general care there is a 75-80% chance that they can be turned round to HIV-. In this case they are offered for adoption back into the wider community. The orphanage is quite literally saving lives. Of course, there are some failures and a child may go on to develop full-blown AIDS with death as the inevitable result, but even then the child is looked after in a loving atmosphere with good medical care. A total of about 80 children are being cared for. They live in houses of 12 under the care of a "housemother". There are also trained medical staff and a small army of dedicated volunteers. Great importance is attached to sound nutrition and the children receive wholesome, nourishing food which helps them to maintain a good overall level of health. In addition to its role as an orphanage, Nyumbani has also developed into a centre of importance in the treatment of HIV and AIDS. It has a small laboratory in which tests are regularly carried out to monitor the health of the children. Local doctors give their services free of charge and even specialists come from overseas to help. The University of Oxford has a research project on AIDS which is progressing with the help and co-operation of Nyumbani’s children. The oldest child is 19 and seems to have a natural immunity to AIDS - for reasons which doctors are trying to discover. Nyumbani is careful to ensure that any treatment given really does benefit the children and they are not being used as mere "guinea pigs" to try out all sorts of experimental treatments. Naturally, all this costs money, a lot of money. Nyumbani receives no Kenya government aid and is entirely dependent on the generosity of donors, both within Kenya and overseas. The medical side of the operation requires hi-tech equipment and expensive drugs. Even though the drugs companies have responded to public pressure to lower the prices of the some of their drugs, the costs are still very high, especially for an organisation with limited ressources. Nyumbani grows some food on its own small farm, but more needs to be bought. As children grow up, they need to be educated. Some schooling is done in the orphanage, but older children are sent out to schools in the community. So far, only private schools will accept the Nyumbani children because of their HIV status, and their fees are high. It is encouraging to note that the Nyumbani children are often among the brightest students in the class. There is also a community-based programme called Leatoto to educate the public about the dangers of HIV and AIDS and to work with those who are infected but who cannot be admitted to the orphanage. This is where the Rahula Trust is offering some help. In keeping with the Trust’s mandate to further the cause of education, we are planning to donate an overhead projector and a slide projector, which Nyumbani will use when giving talks and presentations both to the children and to the general public. In a continent where it is predicted that there could be 30 million deaths during the next ten years due to AIDS, Nyumbani offers a small but very bright beacon of hope. If you would like further information concerning the work being done by Nyumbani in caring for some of the world’s most unfortunate children, or would like to make a donation, please contact the Secretary of the Rahula Trust. Richard Jones, December 2001
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PROPOSAL FOR UPGRADING EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS IN TANTIRIMALE Summary It is in this connection that
I am submitting this proposal for your consideration. I must also
add that the educational levels of these children in these backward
areas are below standard due to: BackgroundThe programme envisages collecting ‘our’ children for the ‘upgrading course’; because they get some funding, they can a small part of that money for bus fares, etc. They need to reach the required level of education in order to continue to receive the assistance from the Fund; otherwise if their progress is unsatisfactory, this assistance will cease. So it will be virtually compulsory for ‘our’ children to attend. Other children are free to attend these classes if they wish to. I have insisted that the Rahula
Trust will assist only those children who provide satisfactory
progress reports and it is up to them to produce such reports.
I am aware of the constraints that these children have and it
is up to these children to make use of the additional help provided.
No child will be excluded from this programme, but it will be
a 'must' for the Rahula Trust beneficiaries. These classes will
be conducted on a regular basis, for a nominal payment, in a school
or a temple where the children will have easy access by bus or
bicycle. Duration |
CHILD SPONSORSHIP IN NEPAL After the success of our child sponsorship project in Sri Lanka, the Trustees decided to widen the Rahula Trust’s activities. The Trust’s new project is focused on Nepal to sponsor children who are academically clever but economically poor. Nepal is a country facing serious financial difficulties which affect the lives of many people. Due to poverty children leave schools at a young age. The literacy rate is low. Having considered the situation, the Trustees have decided to start this project. Any support to improve their lives will make a read difference. The Rahula Trust’s new project will help to brighten youngsters' lives through education. Lumbini, Nepal is the place where the Buddha was born. Over 50% of the population of Nepal are Buddhists. Sri Lanka and Nepal have cultural and religious connection going back many years. Mr. Amrit R. Sthapit, Founder President of the Lumbini Nepalese Buddha Dharma Society (UK), was asked to investigate the possibility of starting this new project. He contacted the venerable monks at a Sangharam Vihara, Dalko, Kathmandu. At present they have an organisation named "Samyaka Lemha Pucha" (Samyaka Youth Group). They are offering free health camps and other activities connected with the development of the community. It is a registered organisation in Nepal with local office bearers. Two monks, Venerables Saddhatissa and Kolitha, are the founders and advisers to this organisation. Being satisfied with these findings, the Trustees have decided to start with sponsoring 10 children through this local organisation. The necessary application forms have been sent out and hopefully we will be able to sponsor them this year. If you are interested to join this sponsorship please contact the Secretary, The Rahula Trust. Our Thanks
Dear Supporter Today we are sponsoring 110 children in Sri Lanka. We have selected children from all age groups in different parts of Sri Lanka. Some children are from families without any income, but they are clever students. It is your support that enabled us to make this possible. Our special thanks go to our sponsors and all well-wishers who helped us. Trustees
of the Rahula Trust:
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| The
Rahula Trust Summarised Accounts |
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Restricted Funds £ |
Total 2001 |
Total 2000 |
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| RESOURCES
EXPENDED Costs of generating funds Charitable expenditure Management and administration |
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The
financial information has been extracted from the annual accounts. |
Copyright © 2002 by [THE RAHULA TRUST].
All rights reserved.
Revised:
12 Apr 2003 21:20:41 +0100
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Editor: Ven. Tawalama Bandula
Copyright
© 2000 by THE RAHULA TRUST. All rights reserved.
Revised: 23 May 2007