Linked with the Consortium for Street children, with Khuphuka Project and with Dharmagiri.
- The Mandala Trust is a member of the Consortium for Street children – a UK based network of NGOs working to promote and protect the rights of street associated children in the developing world.
- The Mandala Trust is a UK based NGO working in partnership with a variety of grass roots organisations overseas. We have a particular focus on projects which support vulnerable children and are currently active in Southern Africa, Cambodia, India, China and Peru.(Homepage).
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Address: The Mandala Trust, The Stables, Langham Place, Rode, Somerset BA11 6PL, England;
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History: Things were set in motion when a man travelling in India met and became friends with a local man who worked as a shoe wallah. The two would sit together each day on the side of the road as the Indian man worked, drinking chai (sweet tea), sharing stories and eventually becoming good friends.
One day the shoe wallah failed to turn up for work, after a few days of this his new friend became concerned. Eventually he discovered that this man and his family lived in a nearby shanty town which the local police had entered a few nights before, forcibly dismantling many shelters. The tarpaulin which had acted as a roof for this family was so old it had simply ripped to pieces and the family were left without shelter during monsoon season.
In an effort to help, the man purchased a new tarpaulin and bamboo and another temporary shelter was built. The family invited their new friends for food to express their gratitude. On arriving in the shanty town and witnessing the startling poverty and suffering the man found himself deeply affected. The children were in rags, noses and eyes weeping due to viruses and sores on their bodies caused through infection. Packs of diseased, starving dogs ran in and out of shelters without doors. Many once proud parents had descended into alcoholism and families were splintered. In the midst of this, the man found himself witness to profound humility and generosity from the family who now offered him food.
That night, walking back up the hill from the shanty town towards the lights of the guest houses and hotels it struck him that he had to help. He immediately found a phone and called two friends in the U.K. That night the three friends made a strong commitment to housing the family of the shoe wallah and immediately set about raising money. The friends had all at some time experienced significant suffering in their lives and had been deeply grateful to the kindness and compassion they had received from others. This shared experience of suffering and belief in the power of such kindness and compassion acted as a fuel for the work involved in what soon became the Mandala Trust … (full text).