Bodhi Tree Children's Fund
In March of 2006 a few friends went to Bodhgaya India to visit the holy site where the Bodhi tree that the Buddha was enlightened under remains. This is probably the most sacred site in the Buddhist religion and thousands of pilgrims visit this tree every year.
It was here they met Sanjeev Kumar in a little tailor shop which he owns in Bodhgaya. After befriending Sanjeev, and having some shirts made, they discovered he was single-handedly supporting his village school with the meager income he was making at his tailor shop. He was also the principal of this school and was able to hire 2 teachers for 80 children per month.
The next day our friends were invited to visit Sanjeev's school in his little village about 5 miles outside Bodhgaya in an agricultural Community. Sanjeev and his father, the village elder, started this school to give the children an educational opportunity rather than working as slaves for the wealthy land owners.
Bihar State is the poorest state in India and there is little opportunity for the local villagers to educate themselves. After a deep discussion our friends decided to take this school on and raise funds to hire more teachers.
Through the help of donations there have been improvements including the repair of the school well and replacement of the well pump. Some money went to repairing the leaky roof in the dilapidated school building. The school building consists of 5 small rooms with no doors or windows. They were also able to hire a total of 6 teachers. There are now 125 children in school (up from 80). The grades are from 1st through 8th.
The money left over from paying the teachers' salaries is able to provide some meals for the children. We want to increase the amount and quality of the meal per day at school.  These children may only get one meal per day in their homes and this is not enough nutrition to support learning. We would eventually like to serve breakfast each day before school starts along with school lunch.
We are supporting and raising funds for this school as a service to these precious people. There is no middle-man or administrative costs other than what we volunteer. All monies go directly to the school.
Current projects include expanding and building a new school house and new kitchen, increasing amount of meals served at the school, building a health clinic to serve the village. Increase enrollment to 250 children from 125. This is the need assessment for the village. Hire more teachers, and add grades 9 through 12 onto the present 1st through 8th for the children as they get older.
Tibetan Prayer Wheels donates a percentage of sales to the Bodhi Tree children's Fund; your purchases have a direct and positive influence on the life of these children.
Please click on link below for more information and to make direct contributions.
www.Bodhiedfund.com
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