The following newsletter was circulated to potential volunteers February 2006. To join our volunteer mailing list email volunteer enquiries

Volunteer Programme 2006 - 2007
Update and Forward Planning

Work in India is progressing and developing all the time. We have over one hundred regular students attending classes in Delhi plus a women’s group and outreaches to two different poor areas and work with pavement dwellers. In Tamil Nadu we are helping at the Hostel for Tsunami children in Chennai, taking teaching to Tsunami affected children in the Nagaputtinam area and teaching English at a village near the Palini Hills.

We have been very fortunate to have some excellent volunteers and that more local people have come forward to be involved. Next year we hope to have more interactions and exchanges with local volunteers within India and hopefully eventually some will come to train in England.

The project is run by Amida Order, a Pureland Buddhist group. Volunteers do not need to be Buddhist but should be sympathetic to Buddhist ideas and willing to join in some practice. For those who would like to learn more about Buddhist teachings, there will be opportunities for sharing in Buddhist study and practice with Sr Modgala and Joy, who are both members of the Order.

To apply to join the scheme, please fill in the application form on the volunteering section of the web site.

DELHI
It is hoped that we will continue to do more outreach work into poorer semi slum areas of Delhi. Also to continue to develop work with pavement dwellers. Currently Joy is working with Potter children actually on the pavement. This does mean that the in-school teaching will probably be significantly reduced. She also has a growing women’s group and as women desperately need more empowerment we hope that more groups will be founded. The literacy rate amongst women especially amongst the scheduled castes and tribes is appalling. Placement in Delhi in especially suitable for more mature volunteers. We need some experienced teachers, however people with experience of group and community work are also very welcome.

TAMIL NADU
We hope to extend the projects in Tamil Nadu into longer placements in Chennai and Palani. We also hope to develop work in Madurai. English coaching is needed. People with technical and creative skills will also be very welcome. Again experience of group, community and social work is particularly relevant. We will again focus on people affected by the Tsunami and on people in the poorer “Dalit” communities. We hope to do more work with women and have some thoughts of a short term residential “college” where they can study and learn more about Buddhist practice and the Dharma.

The Sakya group, with whom we have been working in 2005/6 also need volunteers to help at their summer schools in the month of May. If you are thinking of travelling to India during that time please do get in touch with us

ARUNACHAL PRADESH / ASSAM
Following the visit to the North East by Sr Modgala and Sudhana, the Delhi volunteer who comes from Arunachal Pradesh. We hope to reach out to more students from the Buddhist Chakma people. In particular we want to help them attain higher education and vocational and technical skills. We anticipate a shorter term placement in Assam that can run concurrently with Delhi and Tamil Nadu offering skills training and conversational English. Volunteers with a large variety of skills and creative abilities will be very welcome. Meantime Sudhana will be taking some of the laptops back to his village and teaching the older children to use them. With the help of the English programmes on the computers, the older children can teach the younger ones.

Over these last two years various opportunities have opened up and we are sure there will be more possibilities next year. The work we do is led by requests and suggestions from local people in India, also by the skills which volunteers bring to the projects. It is a very creative process, and very enjoyable. We hope in November 2006 we will bring out more volunteers so our growth can continue.

Namo Amida Bu
Sr Modgala and Joy



The next letter was circulated last November
11th November 2005
The Volunteers have arrived!
They are now sleeping off their long journey in the house next door to our centre. We were very lucky as that now gives us plenty of space and an extra teaching room. Our chakma friends especially Sudana, have been wonderful helping us settle back in - Joy has been back a week and we have been having fun dreaming and planning. It is very moving being back in Delhi. Many of our old students have returned bringing friends. So many that we are nearly full and classes do not start till next week. 112 students and counting. Other students who have graduated or found work have been visiting to share their news and some have come to help us get the house ready for the volunteers. Some are also considering volunteering themselves and at present we have a volunteer from Nagpur, central India.
I am so glad we have more volunteers this year. Six from the UK at present and other volunteers coming for shorter visits.This makes much more possible, both here in Delhi where we also hope to do more outreach in the poorer areas, and in Tamil Nadu. I visited Tamil Nadu last month and we plan to take several volunteers down there for a couple of weeks in december to give some English teaching and encouragement to young people affected by the tsunami. We will divide our time between the hostel in Chennai and an outreach base at Sirkali in The Nagaputtinam district that was hard hit by the tsunami. Just like everywhere in India the poorest suffer the most and have the least chances. We will be doing a little to redress the balance and hope to return for a longer spell in the New Year when more volunteers come out. We also hope some of the young volunteers from Tamil Nadu will join us in Delhi and be part of an exchange system and tap into home grown talent. Anyone with teaching/community/youth work experience is very welcome to join us in this fascinating exchange of culture and friendship.
Excitement builds as we await the start of this new term. It is great to be back and with so many willing and able hands. I feel very confident because I know they took part in the volunteer training wholeheartedly and are as ready as they can be for the challenge. Namo Amida Bu
Modgala

5th October 2005
Dear All,
I am glad to say that six volunteers have completed the first part of their training and will join me in Delhi in November. It is wonderful to have such a response and to know that we can extend the project in Delhi and also possibly have workshops in Tamil Nadu, South India. The first part of our traininglooked in depth at the work of the Amida Trust in the UK and abroad so that volunteers could gain an appreciation of the scope of our work. We then had an induction course that looked closely at why we want to volunteer and what can help or hinder our work. We looked at many "What IF" situations" so that we could appreciate the difficulties of working in different environments and find ways to help each other cope with the challenges. In this environment a wonderful team spirit built up which will help our volunteers cope as they work in the crazy, chaotic, vibrant city of Delhi. Alongside these practicalities we became aware of how a Buddhist project with a background of faith can enable us to go into very different communities and cultures. Whether we or they are Buddhist or not. The conditions we create are what makes a difference. Last year when our students received their certificates. They spoke much about learning about honesty, respect and love. We learnt more about teaching abroad and the reflective practice we need to develop to do this in a very different way to the one students are accustomed to. We looked at contracts and the support and supervision needed. We shared our experiences of living and working abroad. Dharmavidya gave some intensive input about Dr Ambedkar and the caste system and now our volunteers are preparing presentations to introduce us to some of their interests. Next week the volunteers will go North and out into the hills for a week of teambuilding before attending the final part of their training. This will be the nine day Fully Engaged Buddhism course at The Buddhist House which will focus on Groups and Communities across Cultures. They will be joined by other volunteers who will be coming out to the project for shorter periods. We welcome visitors too while they are travelling as this all aids our students developments. Tomorrow I leave for India. I go in advance to rent further accomodation for our volunteers etc. I also will be going to the International Network of Engaged Buddhists Conference in Nagpur before revisiting Tamil Nadu to give teachings and to meet the people we helped in the wake of last years Tsunami. Joy will join me to help run the project at the beginning of November and our volunteers will follow shortly. I will return at the end of March and look forward to seeing all who can make it at the "Learning Freedom" conference at Narborough at the end of April.
Namo Amida Bu
Sister Modgala


The next volunteer scheme will be in October 2006. In the meantime you may be interested to read information sent out in 2005. It is unlikely the scheme will change substantially, but we will be reviewing matters in April when this year's volunteers return.

VOLUNTEER INFORMATION 2005-6
The idea of a Buddhist voluntary service scheme was first floated in Spring 2004, and drew considerable interest from people. Over the summer of 2004 we met a number of prospective volunteers, many of whom spent time with us in one of the Amida centres in France or UK. As a result of this, a small group of volunteers joined us at The Buddhist House in September 2004 for a two month intensive training programme, and of these two are now in India on five month contracts, working in Amida's new centre in Delhi (see below).

Not all those who approached us became long term volunteers. Some were interested in short term work and got involved in community life, helping out with gardening and other land based work in France or in various work around The Buddhist House in UK. Some took time to discuss their plans and decided that volunteering was not the best way forward at this point in their lives. This process in itself has been useful and I think everyone has felt benefitted by it.

On the basis of this experience we are looking forward to offering our next wave of volunteer training in Autumn 2005.

TRAINING
We will be offering volunteer training from mid-September to mid-November 2005. This training will probably follow broadly the same format as this year's programme, though full details will be decided nearer the time, especially in the light of feedback from the current volunteers when they return in April.

This year the training started with a two week induction period in late September. This covered some sesions to introduce participants to what is involved in volunteering and to Amida Trust. The history of Amida overseas work and examples of particular projects were given. Issues connected with travel, health, contracts and other practicalities were dealt with.

Volunteers were also encouraged to look at their own past experence and skills and how these might relate to work in the field. This was an important time for the group to get to know one another and start to look forward to different volunteering options. Following this, the volunteers had a choice of either joining the psychotherapy nine day course block (which introduced counselling skills, multi-cultural perspectives and groupwork experience) or going to France to help with harvesting work. In fact everyone chose the former option. Following this the group had three days team building away in the Peak District, walking and spending time together, before joining the Buddhist Studies nine day block. During this course block

volunteers received teachings from three different Buddhist traditions. It is important that volunteers are willing to be open and flexible in their approach to Buddhism. The middle section of this block focused on the Ambedkarite movement in India, providing an invaluable backdrop for those volunteers going to Delhi. After five days in The Buddhist House (largely taken up with practical preparations) we had our final training nine day block of the term which looked at education and community. This very practical course offered oportunities for students to develop teaching aids and experiment with groupwork.This section concluded with a celebration of the work of Dr Carl Rogers, who developed counselling method and student-centred learning and was also a significant peace activist. You can look at details of Amida course programmes on this web site Throughout this period volunteers took part in community life, in gatherings and facilitated meetings and in the Buddhist practice of the house.

PLACEMENTS
There are a number of possibilities for volunteer placements. We will try to match your preferences to what is available. We will also look at suitability so some selection will be involved, although in practice most decisions are made by mutual agreement. We expect to be able to offer a placement somewhere to everybody who completes the training.

HOW TO GET INVOVED
The volunteer programme operated by Amida Trust is flexible. There are number of routes to involvement. If you are interested in volunteering please contact us to discuss your interests. Here are three types of option:

TRAINING AS A VOLUNTEER ON A LONGER CONTRACT:
Amida Trust will be running training for volunteers similar to that outlined above in Autumn 2005. We already have a small waiting list of interested people so if you would like to join this training programme let us know. We encourage all potential volunteers to spend some time with us before embarking on the training programme so that we can get to know each other. Volunteers who complete the training programme are likely to be considered for bursaries and have their expenses met when taking up overseas postings under an Amida contract.
SHORT OR LONG TERM VOLUNTEERING IN UK AND FRANCE:
There are many ongoing opportunities for joining the Amida community as a volunteer either in UK or France. Talk to us about what you can offer and what your availability is. If you are residential, you will probably be asked to contribute a bit towards your keep, depending on what skills you are offering and your personal means. People planning to join next autumn's volunteer training are encouraged to get involved with Amida activities as soon as they are able.
OVERSEAS VOLUNTEERING ON YOUR OWN INITIATIVE:
Although we send volunteers overseas who have completed training with us, if you have useful skills and are able to get yourself to one of our overseas projects under your own steam you will usually be welcomed there. If something we are doing appeals to you immediately, speak with us about possibilities for helping out.

WORK IN DELHI
India has become an important focus for Amida volunteers in 2004. Our new project in Delhi builds upon work we have been doing over several years with two populations in need in India. These are the Chakma people and the Ambedkarite community. The Chakmas are tribal people who are indigenously Buddhist and are refugees, mainly from Bangladesh. The Ambedkarites are converts to Buddhism who were formerly untouchables.

Ven Anomadharshi, who is a Theravadin Bhikkhu and a member of the Chakma tribe, has been living in our community here at The Buddhist House for three years during which time he has continued to make visits back to India periodically. Anomadharshi also has part time responsibilities in Delhi in a small vihara that caters for both Chakmas and Ambedkarites. He and a small group of other Indian people have now established an organisation called the Universal Maitri Foundation. The UMF is Amida Trust's main partner organisation in India, and, as a result of this years' developments, the two organisations currently share a large house in Delhi. Through a visit to India by Dharmavidya and Prasada in spring 2004, we established valuable co-operative links with Ambedkarite groups and with TBMSG, the Indian sister organisation to Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. We also identified needs in Delhi for Buddhist teaching, for community development, and for educational development, particularly English teaching. Work in Delhi brings together all these elements.

The project in Delhi is under the guidance of Amida staff. Based in a large house, it accommodates the Amida team, plus two Theravadin Bhikkhus and a number of visitors. There are likely to be ongoing opportunities for one or two, possibly three, suitable volunteers, particularly if they can offer suitable skills in language teaching or other relevant areas.

A recent email (written ten days after arrival in Delhi) reads: "The last couple of days we have been into the poorer Ambedkarite community and more outreach there looks possible. Much to take in, and complex practicalities balancing different teaching needs alongside visitors and visiting, but we are all enjoying it and having many laughs within our Amida/ UMF comunity and building delightful relationships with various Bhikkhus, Chakmas and Ambedkarites. The real pressure on me is to learn Hindi!!! Please find us some more volunteers - much is possible here.......... But we are working on the locals, C is going to get some of her advanced students to help teach the newer ones and we are juggling teaching and having conversation with different ability groups."

WORK IN VIETNAM
In Vietnam, Amida's partner organisation is a pair of monastic centres, one for men and one for women, adjacent to one another, in a village in the country just north of Ho Chi Minh City. These centres house a large number of children, many of whom are orphans or socially deprived in a variety of ways. Currently our involvement has mostly been by email and through fund raising. Amida West's Hawaii group have raised funds to sponsor the building of an accommodation block for the boys (who previously slept on the temple steps) We plan to send an Amida Order member to this centre later in 2005. A small number of suitable volunteers may also accompany. The work is likely to include English teaching as a main focus together with general child care and whatever work of a general nature is needed in the centres at the time. Volunteers taking part in these placements will be living in a monastic environment in the Vietnamese style.

ZAMBIA
We have had long term involvement with a health project in rural Zambia. This project has taken volunteers in the past with great success. There has, however been a change of staff at the project recently, so we will be waiting till we have found out more about the current situation before placing volunteers there.

GARDENING & LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT
With the recent establishment of the Irene Brazier Memorial Fund for Buddhist gardens, we will be commencing a number of gardening projects in the near future. The Amida retreat centre in rural France has 30 acres of land that requires maintenance and development and in 2004 we started new landscaping work to create a reservoir, terraced gardens and parking area. There is also work to be done on buildings to improve them for winter conditions. This centre, besides offering Buddhist practice, provides a lifestyle with an emphasis on rural living, organic gardening and the arts. The community is able to hold people with personal and mental health problems, so volunteers often need to be sensitive to their holding role as well as to the tasks in hand. We hope to open the French centre from Easter 2005 so are looking for suitable volunteers to help with these projects.

In addition to this work in France, we hope to create gardening projects in UK, particularly using gardening to work with disadvantaged groups. Initially such projects will be based in Leicester and run from The Buddhist House. There is also scope for other locally engaged projects depending on the aptitude of volunteers.

OTHER UK BASED WORK
There are a number of possibilities for volunteer work in UK. Amida Trust has involvement with those working with homeless people, asylum seekers and animal welfare. We also have involvement in organising a national Buddhist Arts Fortnight in June 2005 through the Network of Buddhist Organisations. We are looking for volunteers able to work in small teams to develop new work in these areas.

PRACTICALITIES

CONTRACTS
Amida Volunteers who are working overseas are asked to sign a contract. This outlines expectations and support systems. Anyone wishing to volunteer may ask to see the current contract, though they should bear in mind that details will be reviewed later this year when current volunteers return. The following areas are covered by the contract:

HEALTH: OVERSEAS WORK:
For overseas work in particular, you must be in good health. Volunteers are responsible for making sure they have appropriate health advice, receiving vaccinations and malarial prophylaxis as advised. All volunteers will be required to have travel insurance cover for health and possessions. We may be able to arrange group cover in some cases. Remember that tropical countries carry particular risks of certain diseases and that Western standards of health and safety regulations do not exist, so you may be exposed to higher risks from such things as road traffic, pollutants, faulty electric services, and other poorly maintained equipment. Although we will do our best to ensure your safety, we cannot be held liable for accidents or illness.

FINANCE: Amida Trust has limited funds to cover volunteer expenses. Volunteer may be asked to contribute something towards their training and travel costs, but we have some bursaries available for those on limited means and for those with special skills to contribute. Each person will therefore need to discuss their financial position with us individually.

APTITUDE AND AUTHORITY: Volunteers will be given written briefs describing their purpose in taking a posting, and the tasks appropriate to that role. You will be assigned a member of staff or contact person with whom you should discuss any difficulties. In most cases, this person will be "on site" with you. You are asked to consult with this person, who will normally be a member of the Amida community or someone well known to us, before undertaking tasks that go beyond your basic brief. This is particularly important where matters of safety might be involved or where political or religious sensitivities might be implicated. Volunteers will not teach religion or express opinions on politics without a clear mandate to do so. You should not give advice unless this is clearly part of your brief. Volunteers going to an existing centre in a foreign country should be respectful of established ways of doing things and of existing authority structures. Briefings on matters of this kind will be given in the pre-placement training phase.

SPIRITUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELFARE: Volunteer groups will hold regular "gatherings" to share responses to your work situation and to reflect on the spiritual lessons the work brings both individually and collectively. The work we are doing is itself important spiritual practice and as such reveals areas for personal spiritual development. At the same time, the work may be personally challenging and volunteers are asked to talk with a member of staff if they feel stretched beyond their personal limits. Those engaged in offering formal or informal psychological support to others should create opportunities to debrief with a senior member of their team or with the group.

CHILD PROTECTION: Volunteers will not work with children unchaperoned unless they have been given clearance to do so prior to leaving UK. Those going to placements that primarily serve children will be required to undergo clearance procedures. If you were to suspect that children were being abused in any way, you would be expected to raise the matter immediately with Amida staff.

USE OF EQUIPMENT: If you are involved in garden or landscape projects, you should not use heavy or powered machinery without specific authority. In France there are specific limits set out in the booking information and these will apply unless you agree otherwise with your contact person.

BUDDHIST PRACTICE: Volunteers are asked to respect and join in Buddhist practice at the centres where they work. Although you may be accustomed to a particular style of practice, on this scheme you will have the opportunity to experience other approaches. In Amida we consider all Buddhism good Buddhism, so when we stay in other centres, we join in the practice of those temples in priority to our own practice and volunteers will be expected to do likewise. At the Buddhist House in UK and at Amida France our own practice is Pureland. In Delhi both Pureland and Theravada practice are taking place. In other places, other forms of practice will predominate.

APPLICATIONS:
If you wish to join the volunteer scheme this autumn, please write to us giving the following details:

NAME
ADDRESS

EMAIL
PHONE
DATE OF BIRTH
INTEREST IN VOLUNTEERING



RELEVANT EXPERIENCE



BUDDHIST PRACTICE



HEALTH

FINANCIAL POSITION

PERSONAL STATEMENT



AVAILABILITY:

IF AVAILABLE NOW, PLEASE STATE FOR HOW LONG,

IF JOINING NEXT YEAR'S TRAINING: Please confirm (a) that you will arrive at The Buddhist house by Mid-September 2005 and give an estimated date of arrival (b) that you will be available for six months or longer.

SKILLS: Please list skills/qualifications that you have that you think are relevant and particularly mention if you have any of the following:

- Teaching skills (please specify age group and subject areas taught).
- Counselling, social work, community work, groupwork or similar
- Gardening, land management of any kind
- Building skills
- Cooking and catering
- Computers
- Arts and arts management
- Office and secretarial
- Organising and management