Karuna Trust annual review 2014

KARUNA 2014

Poonam, aged 8, selling to Mumbai’s morning commuters (see page 22)

5 The difference you’re making

6 Education

9 Women’s empowerment

12 Where we work (Map)

14 The life of a project worker

16 Human rights

19 Building capacity

20 Our financial summary

22 Looking forward

We work with local community groups to help India’s poorest people escape the hell of poverty and discrimination. Inspired by Buddhist values, we are committed to human development and to challenging the ignorance and prejudice that trap people in poverty. Your generous support is helping us change the lives of the Dalits, India’s most marginalised people. For centuries they were known as “untouchables” under the caste system.

Although the practice of untouchability has been illegal in India since 1950, caste

discrimination affects more than 250 million Dalits. All too often, they experience lives of poverty, persecution and exclusion.

Karuna’s vision is of a world without prejudice, in which every person has the opportunity to fulfil their potential regardless of their caste, gender, belief or ability.

With your help, we are supporting innovative and effective projects that promote dignity and self-confidence. This in turn breaks down caste and religious barriers.

Thank you for your commitment to our work.

About Karuna

Contents

3

Kiranbai (above right) protests degrading caste duty of cleaning dry latrines (see page 16)

Our heartfelt thanks from everyone at Karuna for the successes you have made possible this past year. We may be a small charity with a daunting task, but our achievements have been significant. With your help we changed the lives of over 50,000 people severely affected by the injustices of caste during 2013-2014.

To introduce the stories in this, our annual update, I’d like to share my first-hand experience of the difference you are making. During my visit to a village in Madhya Pradesh in December I met women whose lives have been defined by their caste. Being from a ‘manual scavenger’ caste, they were expected to clean ‘dry’ toilets and carry human excrement in leaky baskets on their heads.

One woman in particular held my gaze as she sadly recounted her childhood and the experience of growing up in dire poverty. She told me of her first meeting with our project partner, Jan Sahas, and how eventually they helped her escape from this appalling caste duty. She is one of thousands of women set free since the

The difference you’re making

project started in 2000. This is just one of dozens of projects that your help enables us to support in India every year.

Enough is EnoughThanks to your support, we are also helping to protect Dalit women from rape and sexual violence. In rural areas, sexual violence is frequently used to assert power and to humiliate women. The two teenage girls raped and hanged in Uttar Pradesh in May this year were Dalits. They were just two of the many thousands of Dalit women who every year suffer sexual violence across India.

Please join us in our Enough is Enough campaign dedicated to supporting projects which tackle this huge issue. Please donate now at www.karuna.org

Again, thank you so much for helping us empower disadvantaged people to escape poverty, access their legal rights and participate fully in society. Your support is critical to the lasting change we are striving to bring about.

Ciaran Maguire, CEO

5

Education

One of the 29 education projects you are helping to support is located in the brick kilns of Kalyan, north of Mumbai. Here, the children benefit from informal study classes in makeshift classrooms. The younger children, such as 3-year-old Poonam, attend a daily Potali class with their

parents. Potali is a Marathi word for a traditional bag in which grandmothers carried sweets and medicines for children. However, these Potali bags contain tactile toys and household items which help the parents interact with their child to develop their cognitive abilities – essential in giving them the right start in school.

*These figures show those directly benefitting from our projects. It is likely that 2 to 3 times as many, including families and the community, also benefit.

680 children are working in the 19 brick kilns of Kalyan

250 of these illiterate children have been reached through this project

8,985 children helped*

421 villages

29 projects

£453,030 funding5 states

19 residential hostels

Thanks to you disadvantaged children are getting quality education and a chance of a better life

££££

Poonam’s storyPoonam Sonaware is 3 years old. She lives in a small hut with her father, Ravi, mother Vandana, 15-year-old uncle, two brothers and 70-year-old great grandmother on the Chinchavli brick kiln site. For most of her short life she has quietly watched the adults work 16 hours a day, 7 days a week for a daily wage of £1.50.

Despite the family’s meagre earnings, India’s brick kiln industry is very profitable. The 1,200 bricks the family make daily will be sold for around £96 by the brick kiln owner.

Poonam’s family is just one of the 760 brick kiln worker families in this area. Most are Dalit people making bricks to pay back loans offered by the brick kiln owners. They are paid so little that full loan repayment is virtually impossible.

When Early Years Teachers from our partner Bahujan Hitay met Poonam they found she wasn’t developing properly because no-one had any time to talk, sing or play with her.

7

“She’s the only girl in the family, but she’s more clever than the boys. She has a good future ahead of her… We will never allow her to work in the brick kilns.” Ravi Sonaware

But Poonam’s prospects are improving thanks to the Potali project. The Potali teachers are now working with 117 pre-school children and their parents on 4 of the 19 brick kiln sites. They are helping the children gain the cognitive

Thanks to you

613 child labourers

have been enrolled in

school

85% of hostel students passed their 16+ exam compared

to a local average of 43%

71 hostel students

completed their education

to age 18

behavioural skills they need to make a good start in Indian state schools.

Ravi is delighted with Poonam’s progress, especially her first words – “granny” and “papa”.

“No one had ever called me papa before… I thought

my daughter is doing really well. These people are really helping us,” says Ravi.

Poonam now knows her colours and talks about cooking with her mother. She is heading for the brighter future her parents so desperately want for her.

Ravi encourages daughter Poonam in Potali class

Improving the lives of Dalit women benefits whole communities and helps overcome many of the extreme inequalities inflicted by caste discrimination. Local projects are inspiring girls to gain confidence and complete their education. They are also bringing women together,

200 vulnerable girls are receiving counselling, life skills training, mentoring and job placements through the Urja project

building a strong women’s alliance and a voice for change. This will enable Dalit and other vulnerable women to become effective agents of transformation, claim their rights and improve their lives. With your help, Dalit women and girls are achieving a vital sense of empowerment.

Women’s empowerment


14,251 women and girls helped*

22 projects

£285,983funding

12 states

Thanks to you we’re helping build a society free from all forms of discrimination and violence against Dalit women

9

££££

Farida (left) with case worker Deepali (right)

Farida Shaikh is 22, has just passed the equivalent of A-levels with A grades and is looking forward to starting university to study psychology.

Sadly, Farida didn’t always have such a clear direction. She has grown up on the unforgiving streets of Mumbai, the third generation of her family to do so. One day, after being assaulted in a public toilet by a stranger, her life became even more unbearable.

This incident, coupled with the threatening nature of street life, badly affected her mental health and development. Thankfully, one of her concerned teachers

eventually recommended that Farida become involved with our Urja project.

With your support, Karuna helps Urja give a safe haven to more than 200 girls who have been abandoned, exploited and abused. Thanks to you, we have been able to support their work with hundreds of disadvantaged girls for the last 10 years.

Working closely with Deepali, her Urja case worker and mentor, Farida has rebuilt her life and now lives in a local hostel with three other girls. Shabnam, her 14-year-old sister, is now off the streets and living in the hostel too.

Farida’s story

Thanks to you

3,278 women enrolled

in self-help groups

554 micro businesses

were started by women

950 girls were

supported to complete their

education beyond age 14

“It felt good to go to the hostel, I felt like I had found freedom. I can’t think of life without Urja.” Farida

11

Farida visits her family who live on the streets of Mumbai

Education

Human rights

Building capacity

p6

p9

p16

p19

Where we work

8,985 children helped

29projects

5states


14,251 women and girls helped

22projects

12 states

9,600 people helped

8projects

6states

700 project staff trained

25projects

8states

The numbers on the map show how many people we have helped in 2013/14. Each circle shows the proportion of people helped per theme.

Education


Human rights

Building capacity

Numberof people

helped

Maharashtra

Goa

Goa

Delhi and Uttar Pradesh

Delhi and Uttar Pradesh

West Bengal

WestBengal

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh

Rajasthan

Gujarat

Jammu& Kashmir

Punjab

HimachalPradesh

Uttarakh

Chhattis

garh

Andhra Pradesh

Karnataka

Odisha(Orissa)

Sikkim

TripuraMizoram

Manipur

NagalandAssam

Arunachal Pradesh

Jarkhand + Bihar

24,088

895

3,032

1,786

1,432

1,432

1,708

1,708

596

596

Maharashtra

Jarkhand

Bihar

895

1,786

3,032

24,088

13

Although there are an estimated 110 million people from Nomadic and De-notified Tribes (NT/DNT) in India, they are virtually invisible.

Typically, they do not have birth certificates, marriage certificates, voting cards, ration cards or any form of official identification. This means they are not covered in government censuses and do not have access to jobs or welfare.

Santosh Jadhav

Santosh Jadhav has a Master’s degree in social work. He is also the founding director of NIRMAN, the New Initiative for the Reclamation of Mankind, a Karuna-supported project dedicated to ending the discrimination endured by Nomadic and De-notified tribal communities.

Despite Santosh’s achievements he has been branded a ‘criminal’ from birth. His caste designation

is ‘Ramoshi’ – a nomadic tribe officially labelled as criminal in 1871.

Few NT/DNT children ever attend school. Santosh, however, persuaded his parents to let him have an education.

NIRMAN has set up a study centre in Pune. Here, NT/DNT students with little or no formal education can take a three-month course to improve their English, learn IT skills

The life of a project worker

“I begged and cried to be allowed to go to school. My ‘dominant’ caste neighbours mocked us… ‘So Ramoshis are going to school now’ they sneered.” Santosh

Santosh informs NT/ DNT community about their rights

and prepare resumes in order to improve their chance of employment. Twenty-five of the 27 students enrolled in 2013-2014 have now found jobs.

“The study centre is the best opportunity I have had in my life,” says 24-year-old Dharam Khachadad who, since completing

15

the course, is now working as a customer service executive in an IT company in Pune.

Thanks to your support, Dharam and other members of his community are breaking through the barriers of exclusion and are taking their rightful places in society.

For thousands of years the Dalit community have been forced to remove human excrement from dry latrines across India. This caste duty is referred to as manual scavenging. It is estimated there are 1.2 million manual scavengers in India; the vast majority, (98%), are women.

Dalits are told this is their duty; however, Jan Sahas are challenging this attitude. They are running the ‘Campaign for Human Dignity’ through which 5,800 manual scavengers have been freed from this humiliating practice and helped to find

5,800 women have been freed from the practice of manual scavenging through the work of our partner Jan Sahas

alternative and dignified work.

The campaign helps organise grassroot yatras (rallies) during which women, like Kiranbai, leave this caste duty and burn their baskets (used to carry human waste) as a symbolic gesture of their new-found liberation.

Your help is empowering people subjected to generations of caste-led oppression and persecution to stand up for their rights. Through your generosity, they are gaining dignity and accessing schemes like Jan Sahas’ ‘Campaign for Human Dignity’.

Human rights


9,600 people helped*

8 projects


Thanks to you we’re empowering Dalit people to access their rights

££££

Kiranbai is a confident woman of 31 and has two daughters and a son who are doing well at school. Through Jan Sahas, Kiranbai has now found a government job. She works in a balwadi (a nursery) feeding young children.

Her life hasn’t always been like this. Kiranbai had to leave school aged 15 when she was married into a manual scavenging caste and was forced by her new in-laws to take up the humiliating

work of manual scavenging. Expected to follow generations of women, she became one of a million or more female manual scavengers who are still performing this caste duty today.

“Each household would throw me a roti, not give me a roti, they would throw a roti at me.” Kiranbai

Kiranbai’s wage was one piece of roti bread from each of the 60 houses whose dry toilets she cleaned in Bhowraser village,

Kiranbai’s story

“Caste exists in Indian society. Caste exists at home, the village, the temple, government services and social organisations. Caste operates in all spaces in Indian society even though the Indian constitution is against caste.”Ashif Sheikh, founder of Jan Sahas

17

Kiranbai symbolically burns the baskets used for collecting human waste

near Indore in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

The work badly affected her health. “I always felt sick and vomited. I had skin diseases on my head [she carried the

excrement-filled basket on her head] and on my hands. And during the monsoon when the rain is heaviest the excrement would run down my face.”

Because of her job, Kiranbai’s

daughters were considered to be ‘unclean’ and were bullied at school. Their classmates shouted at them: “You can’t play games with us because you’re a bhangi”. This is a derogatory term used to describe Dalits who collect human excrement.

When the team from Jan Sahas, a Karuna-funded rights organisation, visited Kiranbai’s village, it changed her life forever. They worked with Kiranbai and 27 other women in Bhowraser helping them develop the courage and skills to abandon this degrading work and find new ways of making a living.

“My biggest achievement is giving up manual scavenging. It’s not work or a job, it’s slavery,” says Kiranbai.

Kiranbai enjoys her new work caring for nursery children

Thanks to you

7,365 people attended

human rights rallies

241 legal cases

were fought on behalf of Dalits

5,594 people have been made

aware of their rights

700 project staff trained

25 projects


Thanks to you we’re championing in-country expertise, innovation and leadership skills for Dalit organisations

With your help, our local projects are working towards strong, well-resourced and independent futures so they can continue their vital work. Since 2008, our capacity building team has been running up to 18 annual

“When the students join the hostel, they are shy, scared and don’t know how to take the initiative. By learning about the Child Rights Approach from a Karuna capacity building workshop we adopted a child parliament. Students vote for child ministers and these ministers take responsibility for food, activities, student welfare. Any issues they bring to me and my team. This encourages them to speak out…They are breaking old habits.”

Ashwajeet Maitrak, warden, Ullhasnagar Hostel, Mumbai

Building capacity 19

Growing the seeds of change

training workshops for Karuna hostel and social projects. Last year, the team trained more than 700 project staff in project management, monitoring and evaluation, child rights and fundraising skills.

££££

2013/14 2012/13

Income £ £

Individual Donations 1,358,528 1,335,744 Legacies 279,245 8,000 Charitable Trusts 160,160 203,003 DFID 47,360 91,491 Other 10,212 8,282 1,855,505 1,646,520

Expenditure Project Delivery 1,117,709 1,085,456 Fundraising 454,494 453,087 Governance 25,970 41,220

1,598,173 1,579,763 Surplus to Reserves 257,332 66,757

These figures are extracted from the Karuna Trust Statutory accounts, which are available on our website.

We are delighted to report that we had another successful year of fundraising – our best year ever.

Income increased 12% on last year to £1.85 million. We are deeply moved and inspired that donors have considered Karuna in their will. This year we received £279,245 in legacies.

We maintained our fundraising costs at the same level, whilst increasing our spend on project delivery. Thanks to the success of this year, we have added £257,332 to our reserves. This has put us in a very strong position, enabling us to commit to more projects, and reach even more beneficiaries.

Our financial summaryIncome Expenditure

Individual Donations

Legacies

Charitable Trusts

DFID

Other

Project Delivery

Fundraising

Governance

We would like to express our gratitude to Trevor Shears OBE who died earlier this year. His long-term support of Karuna made a huge difference to the lives of thousands of marginalised people in South Asia.

Trevor and his wife Lyn contributed to a wide range of deserving causes through their trust the Shears Foundation. Thanks to their generosity we were able to support projects

including an orphanage in Bangladesh, a Tibetan cultural project and, more recently, a women’s empowerment project in Pune, India.

Trevor’s huge contribution to the lives of others was recognised with an OBE in 2009. We are so grateful for his enthusiasm for helping others and his astute awareness and understanding of the issues involved. Our heartfelt condolences go to Lyn and the family.

Lyn and Trevor Shears

Remembering Trevor Shears OBE

Thanks also to the many Trusts who continue to support our work, including:

The Shears Foundation

Miss KM Harbinson’s Charitable Trust

Style with Heart

Staples Charitable Trust

Reed Elsevier Cares

The Brillig Charitable Trust

The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation

Martineau Family Charity

Make My Day Better

North South Travel

Zephyr Charitable Trust

The Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity

Mood Foods

21

Last year you helped us make positive differences to the lives of more than 50,000 people oppressed by caste, but there is still much to do. The key to lasting change is enabling people to build a brighter future for themselves and inspiring them to hand their skills on to others. Your help is making this possible.

Thanks to you we’re enabling even more people to escape poverty, access their legal rights and participate fully in society

“We have had many thorns in our life. We want to turn these thorns into flowers.”

Rajashree Kale, Pardhi activist, Manuski project

Rajashree Kale and generations of her family have endured intense poverty, extreme prejudice, harassment by the police and false imprisonment. This is because they were Pardhis – a community branded ‘criminal’ through the caste system.

Despite being sold into marriage aged 14 and enduring

wrongful imprisonment while nine months pregnant at 19, Rajashree’s spirit has remained remarkably uncrushed. She is now aged 29 and has the security of a home where she lives with her two daughters. Help from our partner Manuski has made her determined to fight for her people’s rights.

“I want Pardhis to become citizens of India, their country,” says Rajashree.

So far she has helped 700 people fill out the application

Karuna Activist Rajashree Kale

Looking forward

If you are inspired to do more, please donate at www.karuna.org

forms needed to gain their caste certificates. These certificates entitle them to housing, food and school registration.

She also aims to convince the Pardhis to register their children and send them to school rather than having them sell balloons, toys and colouring books to support their families. The children, such as Poonam, 8, and Navnath, 10, work in dangerous traffic and pollution for up to four hours a day for which they may earn £1 or £2 if they are lucky.

Pardhis also have no rights to homes or land and Rajashree has submitted a budget and plan to the Maharashtra state government worth £50,000 to reclaim land and build houses.

She is now a fully-fledged activist, respected by many Pardhi people and with Manuski’s help she will continue to fight for their rights.

“Education has helped me. Now I am raising my voice to help my people. It has inspired me to help others,” she says.

£20 will help 2 girls like Poonam to attend a year of Potali classes with their parents

£100 will release 8 women like Kiranbai from manual scavenging

£50 will help another girl like Farida gain a safe haven, counselling and rehabilitation for a year in Mumbai

23

Navnath and Poonam on Mumbai’s dangerous roads

The Karuna Trust is a registered charity No 327461

The Karuna Trust 72 Holloway Road London N7 8JG UK 0207 700 3434

www.karuna.org

[email protected]

CEO: Ciaran Maguire

Trustees: Ulla Brown, (Chair) David Zukas, Professor Dominic Houlder, Amanda Seller, Dr William McGinley

The trustees are all members of the Triratna Buddhist Order

Patron: Dame Judi Dench DBE

Photographer: Pratap Rughani

Design: Eyelevel Design

Karuna Trust annual review 2014

Documents

Transcript of Karuna Trust annual review 2014