VE Liberation Program 2013

              VARADA EFFORT 2013 LIBERATION PROGRAM

As Buddhists, we practice the paramita of generosity and what can be nobler than the gift of life?  In June 2013, Varada Effort will be liberating 108 heads of cows in Sri Lanka in batches. These cows will be purchased from the local slaughter houses and after the blessing by the monks in a simple ceremony; they will be distributed to the poorest families in various villages.

These families will be able to benefit from the milk produced by the cows and also use the cows to help in farming. However, the families have to pledge that they will not sell nor kill the cows during their lifetime and take care of them till their natural demise.

For this liberation, it is more meaningful than the usual, because we intend to use this as a birthday gift to our beloved guru by dedicating the merits to the long life of His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama. We will also request His Holiness to arrange for a puja by the lamas of Namgyal Monastery for the blessing of all our donors.

This program will not only save the lives of 108 cows but also help in the livelihood of 108 households. Assuming that each household has an average of 4 persons, approximately 540 sentient beings will be helped. Therefore the merit accumulated is many folds.

Since the number of cows is relatively large, we intend to stagger the timing of the liberation over several weeks in June. Those who intend to witness the ceremony in Sri Lanka and with a mini pilgrimage tour thrown in, may call us at +65-96731648  or;  write to: varada.effort@gmail.com  to register. The details of the itinerary and cost will be announced in Feb 2013.

Cost for liberating one cow:

 S$350/-

How you can contribute:

You may take up one cow by yourself or join with other members of your family or friends to take up one. Those who would like to contribute but not intending to purchase a cow may do so at any amount of your choice. At the end of the collection, we will pool the money collected and purchase a cow in a collective name to liberate. Therefore, no matter what amount you can afford, you can still take part and benefit from this liberation.

After the whole event is over, we will post the photos of the ceremonies and the new owners with their cows on line. The donors will be able to see their names printed on the placards displayed in front of each cow. Those who are interested may download the photos as souvenir.

 

 

Our inspiration

Took me nearly two years to realise that actually Buddha and Bodhisattva have already shown me the way. Just that I did not look up and see.....
Rita

A memorable tea party and a good way to start a new year

On Jan 1st 2012, an auspicious day in any calendar, Varada Effort hosted a tea party in Mahayana Hotel in Boddhgaya to meet up with some of the heads of organisations that we have helped since the forming of the group. We have never met most of them in the past but always managed to connect with each other through phone or emails.  Therefore this was a good opportunity to get together and share some ideas face to face.
At the same time, we were honored to have the presence of Mr. Dawa Tsering, the MP who is very well known for his social work in Dhramasla and Serkong Rinpoche, a supporter to our effort in training the Tibetans to help their own youth.
Our guests were delighted to have a taste of the Kueh Lapis and Pineapple Tarts brought all the way from Singapore for the occassion. It was a fruitful gathering for VE as we learnt much about how to go about in helping the Tibetan youths and the areas that we can render our service to their community in the future.

New top up for the Students" Pocket Money Fund for TCV

Thanks to the new donors to this project, today we managed to transfer a total amount of Rs 62,323 to TCV. This, with our balance of Rs 3,600 leftover from the previous donations, we will be able to provide at least 131 students this year, a sum of Rs 500 each, when they take part in 2012 year end winter programme. Gratitude to the following people for their generosity:
Mrs. Shirley Hoe    $300/-
Mr. Jason Chan        $50/-
Ms Yong Mee Hiong   $1,000/-
Ms. Chung Ay Neo   $200/-
I am sure you all can see the smiles on the students' faces in your vision for your gift. Thank you once again. 

An Adjusted Balance of Statement for our Students' Pocket Money Fund

From the latest statement from TCV HQ, only 78 studetns have participated in the winter programmes. Each of them were given 300rs as pocket money out from our total fund. Therefore there is 3,600rs remaining in our accounts for the future use.
Also two of our VE members have also contributed 1,500rs during their Dec/Jan stay in Bodhgaya as pocket money for the 5 students from TCV Selakui who came to cook for the pilgrims during HHDL's Kalachakra initiation.

As a result, 28,500rs was actually contributed from various parties during the year 2011/12 till today and a total of 83 students who were coming out of TCV for the first time to visit various parts of India during their winter holiday benefited from this programme. 

Unusual Venues for Training

From Dec 29, 2011 till Jan 3, 2012, VE started conducting the lifeskill workshop in Bodhgaya to a group of prospective trainees and students of various background at different venues. First we started at the public tent constructed for those pilgrims who were attending the Kalachakra Initiation.
This was the first time that our trainers encountered a venue with no airconditioning facilities, not much of light (except one lone light bulb) and no running water. On top of that we were subjected to a weather change of more than 15 degrees dofference within the 9 hours that we were there. Not to mention we had to sit on a floor lined with straws underneath a thick sheet of PVC with no chairs and tables. Projectors? Power point presentation? That was a dream!
But the response and finding were very fruitful for the team. A more profound understanding and insight was gained into their outlook in life due to their past experiences.
Later on, we decided to move the training venue to our hotel room and guess it was a first time experience for the Tibetans to be trained in such an informal setting. Nevertheless, besides theory training, role play, sharing of life journey and personality tests were done and hopefully the two sucessful trainees will in turn train the youth in the coming months so that the benefit will be spread to a greater community.

Our New Logo and Letterhead

Our Logo

2011 has been quite a year for VE. In order to further our future projects abroad we are working towards the registration for the status of NGO in the near future. With the help of our friends and supporters of VE we have adopted the following as our logo and letterhead for our future correspondence. Blue colour was chosen to signify compassion and the mudra has been stylised to give a modern feeling.