We are now feeding about 70 families, elders, handicapped & monks. It typically increases if we have more funding. This page is set up to support the efforts of a young and energetic man, Amit, in bringing support to villagers in and around Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India who have been hit by joblessness and natural calamities during and post pandemic lockdown. Amit grew up in a poor village near Bodh Gay
a, where he still lives with his family. Even when the odds were against him, he managed to get a good education despite all the challenges, and is completing his higher education now. As the Corona Virus lockdown spread over India in 2020, Amit saw that people in his and surrounding villages, who were suddenly blocked from earning the meagre daily wage that they had been surviving on, were starting to go hungry. Some had not had any decent food for days. Things were especially challenging in the more remote villages, that neither the government nor NGOs were aware of nor reaching. Where such help is available, it is in any case insufficient and spotty. Bodh Gaya is one of the four main pilgrimages for the Buddhist. Thus largely the work is associated with the tourist and pilgrim activity which has sadly still not resumed after the lockdown. For all those who can and want to work, the employment situation is still dire. To compound the difficulties, natural calamities like drought this year, 2022, leading to failing to grow rice or find any agricultural work. Whereas last year, 2021, people had to deal with flooding and leaking roofs. Amit and a group of friends were already volunteering and involved in food programs in the town of Bodh Gaya but nothing was getting to these villages. That’s when the seeds for formation of what is called as Bodh Gaya Feeding program, was formed. Jacques Achsen started sending money little by little and was amazed to see how resourcefully and judiciously Amit spent the first amount. As Jacques has been more and more innovative and creative in raising money through various ways possible, so has Amit has been determined to make the best of these donations by building better relationships with vendors to get the best price and at the same time reach the most number of villagers. For the past 2.5 years, we have been delivering food, house by house to people in desperate need in remote villages outside Bodh Gaya, India. This includes kids, elders, handicapped & monks. These are families who are without a breadwinner, and also widowed women and the elderly. Another wonderful service that we added on, back in August, 2020 has been to set up a school, in a Korean Monastery that we use on a temporary basis until pilgrims come back, serving grateful children from the poor and underserved villages. They are getting an education that neither they nor their parents could have dreamed of – learning Hindi, English, history, math and so on. This temporary accommodation might need to change once pilgrims return to Bodh Gaya. And some months ago after starting school in Bodh Gaya and several heartfelt requests from the families, we started another school in the nearby village of Chachh. The teachers are wonderful, generous young men and women, college educated, willing to work for much less than they deserve. They are happy to work on a mere salary of INR5000 or $65 per month. As education is the main, and possibly the only way these kids will have a chance to escape the cycle of poverty they are subject to, and help support their families. It would be truly wonderful if we could keep the schools going, pay the teachers more, and improve the facilities going into the future. Ram Ram, Jai Sri Krishna, Jai Guru
Love and Metta to all Brothers and Sisters
