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2,600 years ago, the Buddha attained enlightenment sitting under a bodhi tree in Bodhgaya, India. Across the river from that famous tree, Buddha met Sujata, a village girl who served him milk and rice and developed his idea of 'the Middle Path' - that the key to enlightenment is neither gluttony (over-indulging) nor complete renunciation (self-starvation).
But today, India is under complete lockdown and in Sujata Village, most people are confined to their homes and unable to work nor meet their basic needs. Many are on the verge of starvation.
Mohamed Islam Ansari and his wife Guri are distributing food in Sujata's village and beyond, reaching over 375 families under lockdown. $18 US buys a Lockdown Survival Kit that can feed a family for a week with 5 kg rice, 10 kg wheat flour, 1/2 kg lentils, soy meat, 1 liter of oil, 1 kg onions, 1/2 kg garlic, 1 kg potatoes, laundry detergent and soap, and masks to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and other diseases. They and their 24 children (adopted and biological) work around the clock, including during Ramadan, to prepare for these dispensaries around the villages.
Islam, raised as an orphan himself after surviving on just water with salt due to extreme poverty, his wife Guri, and their entire family are motivated to help to ensure that others do not suffer as they did. The Ansaris have established an orphanage, a school and a medical clinic that he was trying to build into a hospital before the COVID-19 epidemic.
"What I'm doing is just a very small piece of what others did for me as a child."
For more information on Sujata Children's Welfare Foundation please visit Sujata Children on Facebook.
***GoFundMe charges $0.03 + 3% for each donation, so please consider donating a bit more to help cover the fees. (For example if you were going to donate $100, please donate $104 to cover the costs of the campaign).
**If you prefer to donate in another currency, with another form of payment, or directly to Islam himself to avoid GoFundMe and other administrative fees, please contact Rachel via the "contact" link on this page. All forms of payment and all currencies will be accepted!**
But today, India is under complete lockdown and in Sujata Village, most people are confined to their homes and unable to work nor meet their basic needs. Many are on the verge of starvation.
Mohamed Islam Ansari and his wife Guri are distributing food in Sujata's village and beyond, reaching over 375 families under lockdown. $18 US buys a Lockdown Survival Kit that can feed a family for a week with 5 kg rice, 10 kg wheat flour, 1/2 kg lentils, soy meat, 1 liter of oil, 1 kg onions, 1/2 kg garlic, 1 kg potatoes, laundry detergent and soap, and masks to reduce the risk of COVID-19 and other diseases. They and their 24 children (adopted and biological) work around the clock, including during Ramadan, to prepare for these dispensaries around the villages.
Islam, raised as an orphan himself after surviving on just water with salt due to extreme poverty, his wife Guri, and their entire family are motivated to help to ensure that others do not suffer as they did. The Ansaris have established an orphanage, a school and a medical clinic that he was trying to build into a hospital before the COVID-19 epidemic.
"What I'm doing is just a very small piece of what others did for me as a child."
For more information on Sujata Children's Welfare Foundation please visit Sujata Children on Facebook.
***GoFundMe charges $0.03 + 3% for each donation, so please consider donating a bit more to help cover the fees. (For example if you were going to donate $100, please donate $104 to cover the costs of the campaign).
**If you prefer to donate in another currency, with another form of payment, or directly to Islam himself to avoid GoFundMe and other administrative fees, please contact Rachel via the "contact" link on this page. All forms of payment and all currencies will be accepted!**
