We are now trying to raise £40,000 to build a home, school and skills centre to get, at least, 100 children out of this ghetto and give them the chance of a decent life. A wonderful piece of land has been gifted to the local charity, miles away from the life of the railway tracks. This will allow up to 100 children, the target is 200 eventually, to prepare for a new life and future. They will be taught the basics of an education, which is denied to them at present, and taught skills like sewing, dressmaking, carpentry and bricklaying. It is anticipated that a garden and smallholding will allow a degree of self sufficiency and independence. They will also have to love and protection, in many cases sadly lacking, from people who care and are able to look after them properly.

This is the original Akaash Ganga, our Akaash Ganga, the only one of our projects that we run and fund. It costs £10,000 a year but the returns are immeasurable. We are able to offer the children the opportunity of a better life and a future. The backgrounds of some of these children were so desperate, one young orphan boy was found living on the local rubbish dump and fighting with a stray dog over a discarded chipatti. On their February 2010 visit John and Philip were pleased to see how the children are progressing so well in both their health and education. The input from Dhanraj is priceless and with the potential available with the attached skills centre things are looking very good for the future of the children. Lotus Flower Trust has now "stepped back" and is no longer involved in the running of the home. It is still running successfully but is administered by a local group.

The building and decorating of a new school, sponsored by "Duty Free News International". When finished the school will have four classrooms, a teachers room, four toilets and a kitchen. The February visit by John and Philip was met with an official request from the Forest Department to repaint from the pink with a colour more in keeping with a forest environment. Toilets had been completed but work on the verandah and kitchen had ceased, for the time being, because of the cold weather and there are poachers in the area, 2 tigers and a leopard have been killed, so a halt was called while the culprits were hunted down. Permission has now been given to continue and it is hoped that the 2 extra rooms will soon be finished.

The first stage of this project is complete, it is running so successfully that an extension is needed to allow more nuns, from all over India, to live and worship there. The nunnery is becoming the centre for the teaching of Tibetan Buddhism for women in Ladakh. Once the new build is complete it is hoped to accommodate about 40 nuns. Finance is still being sourced for this project but it is anticipated that construction will commence in the summer of 2011.

Our newest project, to build and furnish a home for young monks in Ladakh. Work has already started and John and Philip, with a team from People=Positive, are leaving on August 19th to help complete the home. Even though good progress had been made by the locals it was not possible to completely finish the building during the time of the Lotus and People Positive teams, but the official opening still went ahead and completion is anticipated within a few weeks. Four photographs, supplied by the monks in Shushakul have just been sent to us, they were taken on 30th September 2009. They show the building as completed, the interior construct is still to be undertaken. New pictures received from Gyaltsen in Shushakul (13-10-09) show continued progress on the home. More pictures have been promised but the area is heading rapidly towards winter and this may delay further images. The latest images are from the 1st and 10th of November, the boys are now, very happily, using their home. Snow has already fallen and the night time temperature is way below freezing! We have been promised a snow picture for mid December. New pictures, taken by John in July 2010, show the young monks enjoying their new surroundings.

This project will be the refurbishment of two dilapidated school rooms and the building of three further classrooms, teachers room, kitchen and toilets. The current school population is very much in favour of the girls (2 to1) as many of the boys work in the fields. With the new building it is expected that the numbers will increase to 100. It is hoped that improved education facilities will allow the young boys to come in from the fields where they are "child labour" Parents need to realise the benefit of education. There are two teachers at the moment but, with the new school and government regulations, this will increase to five. There was a dispute over land purchase but this has now been resolved (February 2010) and work on repairing the existing building and completing two new rooms, kitchen, water tank and toilet facilities hope to be completed by April. A wall will also be built around the property. John and Philip were pleased to attend the opening ceremony of the re-furbished site during their October 2011 visit. There are still 2 classrooms to be added but these are funded locally. It was wonderful to see the smart new site now complete with toilets and running water.

After two visits by the students of Winchester College a new school has been completed, there was not a school before, and is being enthusiastically used by, up to, 100 local children. The Headmaster of Winchester College was so impressed with the effect this programme had on the students that it has now become part of the sixth form curriculum and a new project is in hand for 2011.All the costs were raised by the students, and their parents, with varying forms of fund-raising.

There are, at present, 61 girls, aged 9 to 16, living in two large rooms with insufficient bedding and no heating. They are so cold that they get up at 3.00 am to warm themselves, partly by washing in cold water!! The girls are all destitute orphans and semi-orphans (their parents cannot afford to keep them) When completed the new building would be multi-roomed with bedrooms, an assembly room, dining room, kitchen and indoor toilets and washrooms. With a follow up visit in February 2010 by John and Philip the number of girls at the home has increased to 79 and it is expected that, after the construction of the new building, this will increase to 100. The project will, it is hoped, be a two storey building and include a skills centre to help promote the girls entry into the outside world. Weaving is already being done on two looms. Due to severe flooding on the proposed site we have had to move to a safer area within Kapkot. Since October 2011 the construction has commenced at the new venue.

Permission has finally been given to demolish the old home that John first saw some five years ago. This will now mean that the 74 little children, 50 boys and 24 girls, may be moved out of their one roomed hovel. There is still some legal work to tackle but, generally, this should complete about April (2010) It is anticipated that work could start in the autumn with a "foundation stone ceremony" possibly in September. Late than anticipated, construction of the new school is now underway, the new pictures show a visit by John and Philip in October 2011 with completion expected (remember, this is India) for Spring 2012.

After the success of the first nunnery at Saboo Ayu it is intended to build a much larger facility to house, up to, 100 young nuns. A group of 12 young girls, aged up to 13, have already joined as novices. Funding will be given by the students and parents of Winchester College as part of their ongoing participation in Lotus Flower Trust projects. A target sum of £60,00 has been set.

It was one of the worst things imaginable, a landslide has gone through the back wall of a primary school, trapping the class and leaving 18 young children dead. The upset and suffering by the families was immense. The site would never be used again for teaching as, the locals believe, the spirits of the dead children remain. It has now been designated a memorial to the departed youngsters and a new building is under construction across the valley away from the cliffs. It will also incorporate a library for the use of the locals. This new project is privately funded by Mel Morris and her friends.

Situated in the far north east of India this project is subject to political problems being close to Tibet (and China). The previous school was built using cow dung and dirt in the traditional fashion, but with an annual rainfall in excess of 650 inches it would never be permanent. The new school will be constructed with brick, to better withstand the weather. It will be a large school for primary and middle school children, with an intake in excess of 300 pupils. The very damp atmosphere means that all books and teaching implements will need replacing after five years of constant and energetic use. It is hoped that a community centre can be built adjacent to the school to give the villagers a much needed permanent meeting place.

This will be our most ambitious project to date. His Holiness Togdan Rinpoche and Tswang Norbu Vivek, President of the International Fellowshio of Buddhist Youth have asked that we help to develop the ability of Ladakhi people to converse in, and understand, English. With access for only four months of the year, and only then by plane or a four day trek, very few students have the opportunity to meet and converse with the outside world. The intention is to build an all year round centre with qualified staff and the facilities to teach, at least, 250 teachers and students a year. This will have a massive effect on the teaching, and learning, of English to primary and middle schoolchildren across Ladakh.

His Holiness, Togdan Rinpoche has asked if Lotus Flower Trust could help him build a home for some destitute children. This will also be a school for 100 children from the most remote and desolate areas where no schooling is available. It has been agreed that the school will be built to the same design as Shuchakul monks home and he has donated the land. It will be built in Saboo Ayu, not far from our nunnery.
THE NEW FOUNDATIONS WERE WASHED AWAY IN THE AUGUST FLOODS. WORK WILL BEGIN AGAIN.

Tarsaal is situated in the foothills of Nanda Kot, a Himalayan peak that overlooks the village. There is no proper school at present, children are educated in a villager's house and a couple of tents. Our project will be to build a new school, it will be a 2/3 visit construct. We are happy that Winchester College will sponsor the building and groups of their boys will work on the construction. The initial visit will involve laying out the site and removing all the (not too little!) rocks and levelling the hillside site. There will be 100 pupils in the school, about the same as now. The new school will, eventually, have 4 classrooms, toilets and a bathroom, and a teachers room. On a February (2010) visit to the site by John and Philip, they attended the official inauguration of the school by the District Education Officer. The ceremony was attended by 100 locals and guests. A plaque, in Hindi, was unveiled. The event was promoted in the national and local press. The boys of Winchester College arrive on March 25th to complete their part in the project.

These pictures show the visit of 22 students and two teachers to build the first stage of the new school sponsored by Winchester College.

Our trip to three areas of India to review new projects

John's recce trip to Ladakh to prepare for the team visit in August

Visiting 8 projects and co-ordinating building programmes.

With the severe damage caused by the heavy rains and mud slides this visit was to assess the damage to our projects, and to ascertain where our limited funds could best be utilised.

This gallery contains the details of the various books available for sale from Lotus Flower Trust. All books are produced to order and have a 2/3 week delivery. Any or all of these publications are available at cost on request.

Keep up to date with the events behind the scenes that help keep the charity running successfully.

A few pictures of Gaurav, so tragically taken from us at only 24. He was a wonderful young man and he will always be sorely missed. FLY HIGH MY FRIEND

If happiness was a measure of wealth, then these would be the richest children in the world.

So many characters, all with a story to tell.

Just some of the images you will see of life in India

All part of the beauty that is India

Just some of the wildlife and tamelife of India