Kids with new winter clothes

Buddha Smile School

http://buddhas-smile-school.org/

I heard about Rajan Kaur Sini from a friend at the teaching. She started the Buddha Smile school around 2002 and in 2009 was awarded  an Unsung Heroes of Compassion Award from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.  http://buddhas-smile-school.org/tag/unsung-heroes-of-compassion. The school is just across the street from the teaching ground so of course I had to meet this lady.
Right away I could see and feel that Rajan was a very open hearted and loving person. She greeted me with a hug and sat me down for a cup of chai. She too had been at the teachings and like me was on a Dalai Lama high. She told me her story of how she came to be in one of the poorest states in India working to educate the poorest of children from low caste families.

She and her husband, Sukdev were forbidden to marry by their families but she says they 'have a very deep and true love" so eloped to Sarnath. Sudev befriended many of the low cast homeless people who do the street sweeping and dirty job. She was very proud to tell me that she had three  low cast people be witnesses at her wedding and that they signed their names with a thumb print. Over the years they settled into the town and wanted to somehow repay the kindness of the local. Being a teacher Rajan decided to start teaching small children. They were very fortunate in that Sukdev's father eventually accepted their marriage and became involved in the idea of creating a school. Buying a small portion of land they decided to build a restaurant, which Sukdev runs and a school which Rajan runs. The building is sparse with bare concrete with a few paintings. The classroom are small with low wooden benches and a black board. She funded the school with her own money and some profit from the restaurant. She and her husband have two of their own girls, Daisy 16 and Rosie who is 11 who are just great girls, brimming with confidence and have been fully involved in helping mum run the school. Rajan firmly believes that it has been the love between her and Sukdev that has made the school a success; she may well be right.
As if their lives have not been hard enough Sukdev lost his leg in a road accident but was luck not to loose his life. He is a tall man, well build and walks with a limp. You would never think he had lost a leg. For his story click on http://spectrummagazine.org/node/1807

Presently Sukdev is building a small guest house on top of the restaurant in the hope of generating more money for the school and Rajan would like to turn a few store room which are half built into a secure home for women and girl at risk of abuse or sex trafficking. We briefly discussed her plans to buy more land for building a proper secure home for women and girls.
I will be headed back to Buddha smile school in a few days when school re-opened after holiday to meet the kids and see the teachers in action. I promise to post photos of her and the kids.