Buddha's Smile School

On June 7 and 13, Amistad International will be staging a special Concert and Art Auction in New York City for Buddha’s Smile School. Performers include a mix of world, jazz, rock, and contemporary classical musicians combines with an extensive group of well know artists.

The following is part of an informal trip report by Karen Kotoske, Executive Director, Amistad International: Buddha’s Smile School (BSS) is located in Sarnath and is only a short walk from the historical site where Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha delivered this first sermon. Amistad International has been the primary sponsor of this school since 2004 when BSS had only 60 students. 239 now attend this free school for the poorest of the poor children in the area.

From Kolkata I took a train fifteen hours west to Varanasi (India’s most holy city) where Rajani Kaur and her husband, Sukhdev, met me at the train station and took me to their apartment above her Amistad International funded school for 200 children from the slums. I awoke the next morning to witness Rajan’s students, [...]

I first met Rajan Saini and her husband Sukhdev in 1999 when they were living in Ashapoor and I was visiting the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath. At that time, that which is now the Buddha’s Smile School was a bare patch of brown land, on the far side of which were [...]