childhood poverty


Rosy’s Story

Rosy is nine-years old and has been a model student at Buddha’s Smile School since she was four. Her story like many other children of Varanasi’s über-poor is one of exploitation, neglect and abuse. Rosy lives at a beggar community in Varanasi’s Cantonment area with her fourth stepfather. Her mother died from kerosene burns. This more…

Gunja wins first prize

“I’m so excited,” Rajan Kaur Saini, founder of Buddha’s Smile School said. “I want to tell everyone how Gunja recently won first prize in her school’s art competition and was selected the best student in art for the whole school.” Gunja attended BSS for many years and is now one of their  middle school students. more…

Children who are forced to beg

Varanasi is a colorful but impoverished metropolis overflowing with cultural significance yet haunted by the many hundreds of thousands of untouchable children. Children who are forced to beg, living their lives in poverty, ignorance and abuse. Buddha’s Smile School (BSS), founded and directed by teacher Rajan Kaur, feeds, educates and nurtures 350 of Varanasi’s untouchable more…

Vanessa Turner: Dream in Sarnath

In February 2005 Vanessa Turner wrote an article about Buddha’s Smile School for Yoga & Health — Europe’s best selling Yoga magazine. Jane Sill, the Editor of Yoga & Health kindly agreed to send us the article so we could make it available for download here. Here is a excerpt: Dream in Sarnath: Buddha’s Smile more…