TARA CHILDREN'S PROJECT |
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The Tara Children’s project is the only project of its kind in the state of Bihar, India, taking care of HIV affected children and orphans.
"If we start this children’s home, the main staff here should know that it’s not just to feed the children, like keeping animals in a zoo. Our main purpose is for their lives to be meaningful. We have to teach the children, as with Universal Education, to practice kindness all the time to everybody: people and animals; friend, enemy, stranger." - Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Since 2008, when it first began, the Tara Children’s Project has grown in leaps and bounds.
The one-off grant money that Tara Children’s Project received was used to pay for and renovate the previously leased school buildings, providing an almost ready made home for the TCP kids.
All that was needed now was a good clean, a new kitchen and bathrooms and lots and lots of fresh paint and tiling and the project was ready for a new beginning.
Three children and two carers moved in and soon after followed six new kids from an orphanage in Delhi, all of whom originated from this area in Bihar.
The project now has 12 children ranging in age from six to twelve. All children are now enrolled in a good local school, no mean feat for kids living with HIV, and have been accepted exceptionally well considering the stigma surrounding HIV/Aids.
The Tara Children’s Project is becoming more and more known amongst the local and interstate population and other children are waiting for the opportunity to join us.
The emphasis of the project at the moment is stabilization for the kids. Trying to make their lives a little bit ordinary. Most of the kids have come from difficult circumstances and for some we don’t have any information on their backgrounds at all. The more we try to normalize the children’s routine, the more they respond in happy and positive ways.
Everyone at TCP receive regular intensive training workshops to standardize the care and the messages the children receive while getting to understand that they are now family, and to care for and support one another.
Universal Education for Compassion and Wisdom is at the core of all the training and vision of the Tara Children’s Project. The kids have classes with Root Institute’s resident Lama Gyupa, Ven. Thubten Yonden from Kopan Monastery, based on the 16 Guidelines to a Better Life.
A lot of people hear about the Tara Children’s Project and offer varioushelp - the best way you can help support the project is financially. We’re continually trying to improve their environment by building them a new dining hall, new bathrooms and a security wall, and hiring good people to fulfill the roles of carers, supervisors, cooks, tutors and administrators in order to provide the children with the highest quality of life we can.
If you’d like to support TCP, please donate here or for more information please contact Root Institute’s director Thubten Labdron on director@rootinstitute.com
Please share with your friends about this worthwhile project and follow the progress of the kids on their Facebook page
The merit you'll create from your generosity will be multiplied as we rejoice from the holiest of holy lands here in Bodhgaya!
Lama Zopa RInpoche gave advice about the project during His visit to Root Institute in January this year. To read Rinpoche's advice on the 'Six Essential Guidelines for a Better Life', click here.
Download and share the Tara Children's Project brochure
