Erika – Karuna Digital Fundraiser This time last year I had it in my mind as a sure thing that I’d be on the Karuna team retreat 2019. I’d have Kes, my son, weaned. He’d be sleeping separately and I’d be back to pre-baby ways of doing what I wanted in the timeframe I planned. …
Written by Programme Manager – Imen I have just come back from attending the Maitri Network national conference called “Women Speaking from the Margins: Activism, Resistance and Agency” which was held in Pune on 27th and 28th November. Over 250 delegates attended and included Karuna partners, survivors of domestic and sexual violence, academics and various …
Written by Head of Programmes – Suddhaka. In October I had the chance to visit the newly established Karuna livelihoods project in Odisha. The project covers 15 villages in the remote forested hill district of Daringbadi, sometimes known as the Kashmir of Odisha because of its natural beauty. The area is populated by people from …
I’m currently visiting projects in India, and have just spent an afternoon with young women from the ‘Sikhai Hatiyar’ (Education is the Tool of Empowerment) project in Rural West Bengal. I took part in a meeting with over 100 girls who have recently enrolled in Higher Secondary school. This means that they have graduated from …
It was hard to explain to my friends what I was doing for six weeks. I flippantly described my volunteer work at Karuna as a mixture of meditation, group therapy and telesales. Whilst this depiction clearly undersold my experience, on the surface the job did primarily involve calling up Karuna supporters and asking them to …
In the last month Karuna participated in Buddhist Action Month: (BAM!) which is an annual festival of Buddhist social action. It started in Britain in 2012 and has since spread out across Europe and beyond. Social action is one of the manifestations of METTA, the strong intention to create Loving Kindness for all, which is …
Last week, on the first day of May, it was a pleasant Spring evening in West London. Mike, our volunteer fundraiser, was already on the residential street he was to fundraise on, when I met him at 6.30pm. As Head of Fundraising at Karuna, going out “on the doors’ with our volunteer fundraisers, gives me …
I’m recently back from a visit to India where I spent time with several of the projects which Karuna funds. One of the highlights of my trip was visiting ‘Bhalobasha’ a project for children with learning and physical disabilities and their families in rural West Bengal. Disabled children are extremely marginalised, often misunderstood and mistreated …
Greetings from the girls hostel in Latur. Two weeks into my trip visiting Karuna partners and already and it is flying by! I wanted to share a little about my impressions of the girls hostel and the explosion of positive energy that only a group of 50 adolescent girls can bring. The girls here come …
It’s hard to summarise my time working at Karuna. It was such a significant part of my life for around 8 years, coinciding with my ordination process and it feels hard to separate the two out. I feel so fortunate to have worked for a charity that combined my interest in International Development with the …
