Dear Supporters

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
President

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.

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:
1. Poverty
2. Lack of infra-structural facilities
3. Lack of right type of teachers

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.

Procedure
The tutorial team will comprise two teachers, assisted by a helper. The teachers are selected for their ability and concern for the children and also their commitment to the task in hand. As text books are provided to the children by the State free of charge, there will be no investment in this regard. It may be that in some exceptional cases, additional text will become necessary and can be purchased.

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.