June newsletter
A critical situation you can change
Ratnadhi
Ratnadhi lives by herself in Mexico City. She has worked to support herself from a young age and experienced financial hardship along the way, but now faces the most critical situation she has known.
Ratnadhi is a freelance graphic designer but work has very nearly dried up in the past 18 months and she finds herself at age 60 having exhausted her savings and unable to meet her rent and living costs, including food. The mental stress of this has been significant too as you can imagine.
Abhayaratna Trust has supported her immediate need for food, rent and bills this month, but she needs our collective contribution to effect longer term change.
Please help by contributing so together we raise £4,000 (MXN$ 94,000). This will give Ratnadhi 5 months of breathing space; time to recover her health and then find alternative income in Mexico City’s tough economic climate.
Your support today will have a big positive impact on Ratnadhi’s life tomorrow. Thank you.
You can donate from within the UK here (for other options see below).
Ratnadhi’s private preceptor, Paramachitta, writes: ‘I have known Ratnadhi for some years before ordaining her in 2016. From then until now, I have come to know and trust her practice, her determination to follow the path of the dharma and her integrity. Ratnadhi has been and continues to be actively involved in the activities at the Mexico City Buddhist Center.
‘She has had to face health problems as well as economic ones more recently, as has been mentioned. We in Europe are able to enjoy the benefits of an established Welfare State, something that is lacking in Mexico; support when one is sick, housing benefits and help when work is not available, and if it were not for sangha, friends and the Order, life would be significantly more difficult. I wholeheartedly support this request for help towards covering her needs.’
Your donation will help others too - 10% of everything you donate today, plus any gift aid if a UK taxpayer, will support Order members who apply for a grant to go on retreat or meet their living or health costs. Please give generously.
How to donate if you bank outside the UK:
Donate in US $ here, AUD here , EUR here, MXN$ here, or email jinavamsa@abhayaratnatrust.org for international bank transfer details.
An offer of help
Heather
Taradakini writes: We have had a generous offer of expert help which I want to share with you: Heather, a sangha member in London, is a qualified Occupational Therapist working with physical and cognitive disability in adults, in particular neurological conditions such as stroke, brain injury, Parkinson, Multiple Sclerosis and so on. So she has plenty of experience of helping people including carers/family members to access social services, identify equipment for home adaptations, form filling and blue badge schemes.
If you or someone you are close to needs some friendly advice in this area, having first been in touch with your GP, email me in the first instance to outline your request – taradakini@abhayaratnatrust.org – and I will get in touch with Heather.
From the heart
Abhayaratna Trust recently made a grant to Guhyaprabha so that two of her close family could travel to visit her at her care home. Maitrivajri requested the grant on Guhyaprabha’s behalf and after the visit she wrote to say:
‘A HUGE thank you to the grant made by the Abhayaratna Trust to help Guhyaprabha’s daughter, Josie, and granddaughter, Leni visit Guhyaprabha from New Zealand.
It was a brief (just over a week) and beautiful visit. Guhyaprabha loved seeing them both but particularly Leni. I experienced the visit as bringing joy to Guhyaprabha, and life. Living in a care home is not for the faint hearted, even a caring one such as where Guhyaprabha is, so Josie and Leni brought family love, connections, news and youth with them.
‘Guhyaprabha left New Zealand to live in the UK [and work in the Movement] when Josie was still a teenager. I think it has been healing and comforting for Josie to see the Order in action: not just the financial support given to help her come over but also the care and support her close friends and Cambridge Order members give her Mum.
‘I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. You have done a good thing and I rejoice in you for it.’
Why I’m leaving a gift to the Abhayaratna Trust
Maitrisuri writes: ‘I’m leaving a gift in my will to the Abhayaratna Trust, because I see increasing need amongst Order Members as the demographic of the Order changes. I remember that many people have dedicated their lives to teaching and helping others, and some don’t now have the help they need as they age or become unwell. A legacy is an easy way to keep contributing to the future of our Order and the Dharma. Helping change a life helps all of our lives.’
Thank you Maitrisuri. Find out more about including Abhayaratna Trust in your will here.
Communications Support: jinavamsa@abhayaratnatrust.org - for your questions, ideas and feedback.