My name is Aleksandra. I live in England.

During my working life, I have worked in helping professions of one kind or another, most recently in an adult social work team, and about to move into working in a health and social care setting specializing in supporting adults with learning disabilities. I am a trained therapist specializing in verbal and body-based aproaches, and this work I do mostly in my free time, on voluntary basis.

I am a yogi (meditator), learning from Sri Lankan meditation master. Before the covid19 pandemic, I have used my work holiday entitlement to go stay in my Teacher's monastery and continue learning from him.

I have spend 5 months in Sri Lanka coordinating work of local and international charities after the tsunami, as an independent volunteer, and I have done other voluntary work locally and world-wide, using my own funds.

Ten years ago I came across a post on Facebook, relating to rasing funds for an orphanage in Bangladesh. I made a donation, and I stayed in touch with the man who was at the time supporting the monk with running the orphanage and looking after nearly 100 children and young people. Now, 10 years later, this orphanage is trhiving. They have a long term sponsor, and nearly 200 children and young people are receiving good education, and they are healthy and happy. And all because of the head monk and 1 man who used his time and energy trying to help. The same man is now officially the charity coordinator for this and 10 other orphanages.

Very recently I have learned about another orphanage - the Sujata.

Sujata Orphanage is based in a very rural and remote area of southern Bangladesh, in the Hills Tracts area. This is a very poor area. The locals mainly depend on agriculture, and because of the poverty, the literacy is only about 30%. Without good education, the prospects for young people are bleak.

Sujata Orphanage was established by the Buddhist monk Venerable Uttama in 2013. There are 66 children and young people, some of whom are ordained as Buddhist novices, and 8 monks, living in the orphanage, which also functions as a monastery. The children and young people come from Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari districts. Some of them have lost their parents, some have one parent alive, and some have both parents, but their parents are too poor, and unable to provide enough food and education for them.

Venerable Uttama, now with the help of few adult monks, has been looking after the orphanage, and providing food and necessities with much difficulty. The locals donate food as much as they can, and Venerable Uttama gets some support from the wider community during religious ceremonies. However, this help is far from enough.

I will be posting regular updates, including photos, and you will see the level of poverty and hardhip in the orphanage.

In the first instance, I would like to provide beds. At present everyone is sleeping on thin piece of cloth on the floor. Now they are in the middle of the winter and the weather is cold. Children and young people are sitting on the floor during their classes, bent over to read the books, in poor light. I would like to provide tables and chairs and school materials. The monks and older young people are running the classes.

As most of them did not have the opportunity to attend higher education, even though doing their best, what they can teach is limited. I would like to build a library and provide many different books, with all sorts of subjects and information.

The roof on the dining area is severely damaged by the weather. The buildings in the orphanage are mainly built of wood and tree (palm) leaves, so they don't last long. When it rains, the water pours into the dining area.

So these are the most necessary things I will focus on providing first.

The charity coordinator I mentioned earlier spoke with Venerable Uttama on my behalf (Venerable Uttama does not speak English and I don't speak Bengali). Venerable Uttama gave me the permission to fundraise for the Sujata, and to share the photos and information.

I will be posting updates on how the funds are spent, and anyone is welcome to contact me at any time if you wish to see the copies of transactions and receipts, or if you have any questions.

If you live in Bangladesh, please contact me and I will give you the telephone number for Venerable Uttama, and you can speak with him directly, if you would like to help.

Once I have organised the initial necessities, as described above, I will aim to buy a laptop for the orphanage (providing we can arrange internet access, because of the very rural location). I have committed to teaching English to children, young people and monks in the orphanage, in my free time. In time I will organize a group of volunteers who live in my area to get involved with teaching English.

I am in contact with Venerable Uttama's assistant monk on daily basis, because he speaks English. He keeps sending me the photos and videos from the orphanage. I will be sharing as much as I can on here (only 3 photos are allowed per update, and I don't want to overload you with too many emails). I will share more on my Facebook page - METTĀ Foundation, so if you would like to keep in touch and see regular updates, please click 'like' and 'follow':

https://www.facebook.com/METTĀ-Foundation-100633815876858

Following the initial stages of this project, and depending on how quickly we can raise the funds, I will be focusing on building more solid buildings in the orphanage, and on providing the ongoing support to the orphanage.

This is a long term project, and I am committed to doing my best, with your help, for as long as I can.

There are travel restrictions for non Bangladeshi nationals in the area where the orphanage is situated, but if at all possible, I will be traveling there next year, using my own funds. I have recently fundraised here on GoFundMe to help with medical treatment for one of the monks in the orphanage. There is approximately £500 left over, as not all the money was needed for medical costs, and with permission and wish of the monk, this money will be used towards buying the beds.

If you are unable to donate, and you would like to help, please share this fundraiser with your friends and others who may wish to help.

Thank you in advance, from all the monks, novices, children and young people of Sujata, and from myself.

With best wishes and metta

Aleksandra Kendel