Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. I am Karunadipa from Dapodi, Pune.  for twenty years I have been working for Jeevak - we are a team of women doing social and educational work in the slums of Pune.  We serve the needs of 200,000 women and their families, providing basic healthcare, life-skills training, legal support and a thriving micro-credit scheme. 

Now I have also begun working with the Aryatara Mahila Trust, ATMT for short.  We are a project run by Indian Buddhist women, almost all from the Dalit, or ex-untouchable, communities of India.  If the difficulties of reviving Buddhism and challenging the caste system in India are great, those faced by Indian women are even greater. Because of poverty and very challenging past conditioning which reinforces feelings of inferiority, many women who have converted to Buddhism face personal and social difficulties - lack of confidence, low self-esteem, inability to take initiative. We work with them to change all that!

Through the Arya Tara Mahila Trust, we are building on 25 years of experience of humanitarian work to alleviate poverty in the social, medical, educational and economic fields for women and their families. Also, currently, nearly 50 women members of our order, along with several hundred other actively involved women, are engaged in teaching and supporting meditation and Buddhist study in many parts of India.

----------------- STOP PRESS APRIL 2009 -----------------

Karunadipa writes -

"By now you must have heard that fire broke out last month in Jeevak building and the medical and creche in Jeevak has been burnt down because of a short circuit, especially the medical project has been completely destroyed, 5 fire brigade came for help.

"We are fortunate that the whole building did not catch fire or else it would have been a great loss. The fire broke out in the early hours in the morning about 4am on 16th March, since then we have been very busy clearing up the burnt heap. The ground floor looks terrible hence the medical unit has been closed down.

"WE NEED HELP to set up the ground floor for painting, fixing new doors, windows, grills, complete new wiring, electrification etc, which will cost at least 5 lac (about UK £7,000) for renovation of the building"

"There are some photographs of the fire on the thumbnails opposite. Please help us if you can. Thank you."

We have a great website at www.indiansisters.org.

Please dig deep and sponsor me online.  We'd especially appreciate regular donations - these really help us plan for the future.  The funds raised will be divided between Jeevak and ATMT, both are great projects!

Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: FWBO (Dhammaloka) will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.

So please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support.

Dhammacharini Karunadipa (Pune, India)