Supporting Dhalit education and women's micro-loan entrepenurial programs in December 2006
In December 2006 we visited our Indian charitable trust partner KIRF Bodhgaya in Bihar, India. Through KIRF Bodhgaya we were able to directly help chronically poor children get a better education with purchases of school supplies like text books, paper, slates and sports equipment for a new physical education program. While in Bihar we assessed water availability with our village well projects and other village school needs. KIRF is sponsoring four children with educational scholarships beginning in January 2007. Finally, KIRF has funded a micro-loan prgram that will benefit 40 women and their children in the chronically poorest caste families who live in the same Dhalit (poorest caste) villages as KIRF Educational Centers located near Bodhgaya in the state of Bihar, India.


Read how KIRF was able to make a difference in Bihar, Indian In December 2006 >

Drinking water for a poor village was supplied by KIRF earlier this year.


$5,000 Grant for KIRF Bodhgaya's new school in Bihar, India

KIRF Bodhgaya has gratefully received a $5,000 grant on October 12 from The Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation, the non-profit foundation for an international money management firm based in Los Angeles, California. This grant is to help pay for the construction of a new KIRF educational center in Bihar, India. Bihar is the poorest state in India where farm workers make about 55¢ a day (20 Indian rupees) and 60% of the population lives below the Indian poverty line according to Diane Kirwin. The new educational center will be the first school available to the poorest children in the area.

KIRF Bodhgaya's plans to build the new school began after receiving the generous support from a private donor in Bermuda who wanted to build a school in Bihar, India. KIRF Bodhgaya must raise approximately $20,000 more to purchase a parcel of land in a safe and hospitable place and for the construction of the school. The future facility and land will service 9 villages and serve 4 major purposes: educational facility, community center, medical clinic and community orchard.  The facility will be the first of its kind in this rural area.

Currently KIRF Bodhgaya operates three educational centers in Bodhgaya which serve 450 children. The success of these related projects, local community involvment and donor support is what has inspired us to build a permanent facility.

Our School Sponsorship Program will provide for teachers' salaries, school supplies and regular health examinations for the children being educated in KIRF Bodhgaya Educational Centers. To support this program in the United States and become a School Sponsor please make an online donation of $50 or more to KIRF Bodhgaya by clicking here.

KIRF Bodhgaya is KIRF's non-profit partner in Bodhgaya, Bihar in northern India. It is a registered Indian Charitable Trust with an Indian governing board of trustees founded by Diane Kirwin.
Photo: Diane L. Kirwin, LCSWII

Mt. Everest Climber Laurie Bagley's Climb for the Children

Mountaineer and former adventure racer Laurie Bagley chose KIRF Bodhgaya (formerly Diane Kirwin's Priviledge Sharing) as the beneficiary non-profit for her fundraising and Mt. Everest mountaineering challange called Climb for the Children in 2006. On May 25, 2006 at 7:05am Laurie's dream of summiting the tallest peak in the world, Mt. Everest while helping others, became a reality. Laurie Bagley of Mt. Shasta, California is, at 45, one of only 18 US women to successfully climb Mount Everest.

Laurie described the motivation for her combining her Mt. Everest attempt with raising money for the Poorest children in Bodhgaya, India this way: “This climb is about making a difference, using my passion for climbing to help those children who are born into their current situation; they deserve choices and a way to change their current path.”

You can read more about Laurie's experience climbing Mt. Everest from the article in the Redding Record Searchlight on June 25th by clicking here.

Laurie Bagley on the summit of Mt. Everest. Photo: Scott Woolums

• Inadequate physical & social infrastructure investment – Roads, power grids, irrigation and rail transport systems in this area are not able to support basic commerce, forcing communities to live a subsistence existence.  Many areas do not have schools, medical clinics, roads or running water.
• Historical neglect from the center of Indian power – Bihar has never had a strong representative in the Indian parliament; as a result the needs of this state have never been brought to the forefront of Indian politics. 
• Lack of vision amongst the political parties – Bihari politics tend to be driven by caste distinctions.  As a result a unified body politic has not been established nor has a comprehensive vision for social and economic development.  A highly fragmented society makes social progress extremely difficult.

Local economies within Bihar tend to be based on agricultural and trading activities.  Without access to free and open markets most people work the land of wealthier land owners forcing them into a subsistence existence.

The villagers that KIRF helps work in the fields of the wealthier upper class.  On average the village laborers earn 40-60 Rupees/Day (or about $1.50 USD/day) this amount is not sufficient cover even basic household expenses.  To properly feed a family of four costs about Rs. 1,5000/month.  As a result, many villagers take out short term loans at high interest rates to cover their basic household costs.  These loans are administered by the wealthier land owners resulting in an arrangement between land owner and laborer that can only be described as indentured servitude.

• Drought Relief: alleviate the water crises in dry villages by providing materials and drilling equipment for seven new wells with construction supervised by KIRF Bodhgaya trustees; all wells have been built and are supplying clean drinking water for free to the poorest of the poor
• Micro-loans: Enable woman to support their families by funding the local woman's micro-loan co-op managed by Sister Mary called Jangre Manch
• Medical care: KIRF sponsored the medical costs of reconstructive facial surgery for a boy who suffered disfiguration by burns
• Cold weather relief: provide warm clothing donated by Patagonia, Inc. for destitute and ill through a KIRF Bodhgaya's trustee at free local medical clinic at the Root Institute in Bodhgaya
• Education: support local Dahlit children's education with school supplies for KIRF Bodhgaya's Kirwin International Education Centers and scholarships for promising students in financial need