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"I
expect to pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore,
that I
can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." - Stephen Grellet |
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1. Children's Rights Development Service (Calcutta, India) -- $500 - 6/6/02 This money is for an orphanage in Calcutta for 65 children run by our French friend, Thierry Darnaudet. All of these children were living on the street and now they have housing, healthcare, family life and they go to school. The money donated was for groceries, medical expenses, gas cylinders, milk and vegetables. 2. New Light (Calcutta, India) -- $200 - 6/7/02 Kolkatar Khabar night shelter is for the children of sex workers in Kalighat run by our social worker friend, Urmi Basu. It provides safe shelter, educational opportunities, recreational facilities and health care for the children in their community. It is a wonderful program located just located at Kalighat Ward 85 in Kolkata, a five-minute walk from Mother Teresa's Home for the Dying and Destitute. http://www.soliddog.com/newlight/ 3. Shuktara (Calcutta, India) -- $100 - 6/7/02 David Earp runs this excellent program for handicapped children in Calcutta. The money is for general expenses to help run the program. http://www.soliddog.com/Feb2000.html 4. Uddami (Calcutta, India) -- $100 - 6/8/02 This program provides free computer and Internet access and skill training for youths of working age from disadvantaged backgrounds in Kolkata. The program imparts real world experience to the vocational trainees and assists trainees completing the training to find placement in the business world. The donation was for a printer. http://www.soliddog.com/Uddami/ 5. Mohammed Ishmael, Cabbie (Calcutta, India) -- $20 - 6/8/02 Donation for shoes and living expenses. 6. Nun at Jokhang Temple (Lhasa, Tibet) -- $100 - 6/21/02 Ani (means Nun) Kunla; 64; She has been a nun for 15 years; "Nothing good ever happened to me until now" What brings her happiness? "Being a practicing Buddhist." She doesn’t like to beg; She has made 600,000 prostrations. 7. Pingshi Village School (Pingshi Village, Tibet) -- $750 - 6/30/02 This is a school for Nomadic children in Pingshi Village, in the County of Dongba. It is 1150 km. from Lhasa near Mount Kailash. Trusted sources. This is for the children in the local school. The government gave them a school building and a teacher, but they did not provide heaters, chairs, desks, books, slate, paper, pens, pencils, maps, food, warm clothing, etc. With the donations from 100 Friends, all of the items have now been provided. 8. 100 people in Tibet (Lhasa, Tibet) -- $1020- 6/30/02 The
level of poverty in Tibet is staggering. In the rural areas, the
average per capita income is close to $150 and in urban areas it
is closer to $600 (although the presence of a small number of wealthy
persons means the average income for the average person is really
lower). When you travel around Tibet, you see a lot of deep poverty. I decided to find 100 people, mostly on the street, who were clearly in great need and give them various amount of money to assist them. The total amount distributed was $1020 (an average of $8.20 per person). It is not possible to list all of those people and their circumstances, but here are some examples:
9. Lhasa Medical Fund (Lhasa, Tibet) -- $750 - 6/30/02 Met
a European Nurse through a very trusted source. She maintains an
emergency medical fund for many people and purposes. Some come from
the city and some come from rural parts of Tibet. Funds may be used
to restore sight (cataract surgery). Here is her first report on
how the first part of the medical funds were used: "We
met in a village a 3-year-old girl, in the final stage of malnutrition.
We took her for 10 days to the hospital in Lhasa. After 10 days,
she had improved enough to be sent back to her village. We also
provided a lot of powder milk and decent food for her for the next
month. "I
met a young boy of 22 years in a village where I am working. He
fell down from a roof when he was helping for building that house.
He is now paralyzed since 5 months from the 2 legs, and developed
terrible wounds at the heels and sacrum because he is stuck in his
bed since that time. So I bought him a wheel chair and I got from
a doctor friend from Belgium, a lot of very sophisticated dressing
to try to treat his wounds. "Then,
we got the visit of an Italian plastic surgeon; I brought him 5
young patients who needed surgery (burns, 2 cliff lips with palate,
hands problem, one with a very bad wound on a bone after a not well
adjusted cast), for who I paid the transportation to Lhasa, accommodation
before surgery and now I have to see if the hospital will charge
me or not. But the 5 patients had successful surgery and are much
better now. "That's all what we did with the 100 friends money so far. I hope you appreciate the way I spent it. I keep giving the money every month to the old man you saw. He always tells me to thank you very much and is praying for you. He is so grateful. Take very good care, you are doing great things with a great heart." 10. Special Tibetan Monk (Lhasa, Tibet) -- $240 - 6/30/02 The
Chinese authorities imprisoned this 76-year-old Tibetan monk (I
cannot reveal his name) for more than 22 years for protesting for
Tibetan independence. He never engaged in any violent activity.
He was tortured for such activities as writing songs & poems
about freedom for Tibet. The prison authorities broke his hip &
repeatedly tortured him in many other ways before they finally released
him. He has been a monk since he was 12 years old. We
visited him in his one room flat in a very poor part of Lhasa. He
has no heat, even in the Tibetan winter. He has to go out every
day to beg in order to survive. Still, he has found a way to donate
10% of his money that is secreted away to the Dalai Lama in India. Our contact told us that if we could donate 80 Yuan per month ($10) he would no longer have to go out to beg and that would completely change his life for the better. It has been increasingly difficult for him to walk with his broken hip. One Hundred Friends donated $240, enough for him to be taken care of for the next two years. Also, they will bring him pain medication and anything else he may need when they bring him his monthly funds. 11. Education for Three Girls (Dzilong, Tibet) -- $300 - 7/2/02 In Tibet public education is basically free from kindergarten through middle school. After that, you must pay for a child’s education. There are three young girls in a Tibetan village called Dzilong about 120 km. from Lhasa. They show a lot of promise, but their parents (farmers) do not have the money to continue their education. The project paid $100 each, which is enough for them to continue their educations for another year. This is for tuition, books and stationery fee, school uniform clothes, and food, money for transportation to come back to the village if necessary. To learn more about education in Tibet go to: http://www.tibet-foundation.org/aid/att/edu_Background.html 12. Monk Lopsang (Lhasa, Tibet) -- $100 - 7/5/02 There
is a 65-year-old monk in Tibet named Lopsang D. He was in prison
and tortured for over 10 years. He is quite ill and lives alone.
He is on the authorities' "blacklist" ( a list of Tibetan
undesirables who are denied access to jobs, housing, and other privileges
afforded ordinary people). Because of this, the money had to through
three different (trusted) people to get to him. In prison, he had to work very hard in the sun for years and was placed on a nutritionally deficient diet. The prison guards beat him on a regular basis. He suffers from high blood pressure and has boils on his head. He is also extremely depressed. One Hunred Friends donated funds for food, medicine and clothing. 13. Thinlay's family (Tibet & India) -- $920 - 7/6/02 Thinlay Gyatso is a dear friend, a great painter, and a supporter of Tibetan and Sikkimese youth who was our translator and cultural guide in Tibet. He also has very limited funds. We looked for three weeks to find his family who were separated from the part of the family that immigrated to India in the late 1940’s. After almost giving up, we miraculously found them. What a great moment of reunion! We gave $50 (about 400 Yuan) to his aunt, cousin and nephew. Another $750 was donated for Thinlay’s son’s education and another $120 for Thinlay’s living expenses. 14. Gu Chu Sum (Dharamsala, India) -- $1000 - 7/8/02 Gu Chu Sum Movement of Tibet (Ex-Political Prisoners Association). Gu Chu Sum means 9-10-3 in Tibetan. It was named according to the months in which important demonstrations occurred in Lhasa, Tibet, against the Chinese. Nine is for September 27th, 1987, ten is for October 1, 1987, and three is for March 5th, 1988. The Chinese Army suppressed these demonstrations, carried on by three main monasteries’ monks in Lhasa, mercilessly. Demonstrators were imprisoned and tortured harshly and forced into hard labor. Some were maimed and even killed. This organization provides housing, employment, education, job training, counseling, medical care and economic assistance to former political prisoners. They also send money and clothing to prisoners and their families in Tibet. The donation is to continue to support the organization's efforts because we were so moved by the suffering of the ex-political prisoners and the good work of Gu Chu Sum. 15. Social Worker (Pokhara, Nepal) -- $1235 - 7/9/02 There are a group of social workers at the Western Regional Medical Center in Pokhara, Nepal. For several years 100 Friends has contributed to the neediest-cases fund at the hospital. In the past, we have helped people with AIDS, skin diseases and burn victims. Some of the money has been for medicine and some has been allotted to help these individuals earn money to support themselves and their families. The funds from previous years have now been exhausted. Now the fund has been replenished. The results form these funds will be published on the website as these clients are identified and reports come to the project. 16. Cambodia Hair salon (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) -- $390 - 7/13/02 Hair
salon? That’s right. Phnom Penh has a big problem with pedophiles
preying upon street children. The pedophiles here are mostly Europeans
and Australians. The combination of homeless and hungry children
and foreigners dangling money in front of them creates many opportunities
for Western pedophiles. In response, our friend Thierry Darnaudet
and Vibol Heng (who lost 20 family members during the Khymer Rouge
rain of terror in the '70's) developed a program called PROTECT.
They have set up homes to take the boys off the street two home/shelters
for boys who were abused. One home is for children from 7-12; the
other home is for boys 13-17. One
Hundred Friends gave $390 to help the children start a hair salon.
This business helps the children earn money for themselves and their
families so they do not need the money they previously got from
pedophiles. Another traveler contributed $80 to help start the hair
salon. During the stay in Phnom Penh, Marc Gold did a two-day workshop for the staff of PROTECT (with the help of a translator, of course). The workshop has three parts: (1) psychological profile of pedophilia; (2) basic counseling skills focused on youth; (3) HIV/AIDS counseling. To read more about the problem with pedophiles in Cambodia: http://www.canoe.ca/OttawaChildren/oct24_cambodia4.html 17. 14 street people in Cambodia (Phnom Penh, Cambodia) -- $210 - 7/15/02 During
the reign of terror under the Khmer Rouge, approximately 25% of
the population was killed, starved or worked to death. The country
is basically starting over and it is one the poorest countries in
Asia. About 36% of the population cannot afford to purchase the
most basic needs for survival. Walking through the streets of Phnom Penh, you see people begging and homeless, some of whom have lost their limbs due to landmines. Unemployment is high, clean water is scarce and education is not available for the young. The average income is approximately $260/yr. 100 Friends identified 14 people and donations were made according to need. These included a number of street children and their families, very old people, the blind and the handicapped. 18. 17 Street people in Calcutta (Calcutta, India) -- $170 - 7/28/02 Calcutta has 12 million people. There are dilapidated buildings, roads and sidewalks, urban garbage dumps with people and animals rummaging through them for recyclables and food, slums, beggars, homelessness, traffic mayhem, air pollution from tailpipes and smoldering garbage. Close to forty percent of the population lives in slums or unauthorized housing. Hot in the news is the eviction of 17,000 squatters to widen a roadway. The official number of Calcuttans living below the poverty line (approx. one US dollar a day for a family) is 36 percent. One Hundred Friends gave money to people rummaging through garbage, mothers carrying infants, old people, and numerous others. |
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