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Sri Henepola Gunaratana Scholarship Trust - Henepola, Sri Lanka

This trust was established by Ven. Henepola Gunaratana (Bhante G) to provide scholarships and/or financial assistance in meeting educational expenses such as text books, exercise books, educational materials, uniforms, tuition class fees, for poor students of underdeveloped areas, as a means of long-term development and poverty alleviation of the villagers. And to provide financial and other assistance for any kind of human resource development, education, development of skills, improvement of knowledge and empowering people to be economically, financially and socially independent. This program was begun in Bhante's home village of Henepola but he hopes to expand it to other rural villages.

During Bhante's July 2006 visit to Seattle, we were able to collect over $1600.00 for the Trust. This money will support the educational expenses for a full school year for 9 children in Sri Lanka who would otherwise not be able to attend school. To donate to and learn more about the SHGST, click here.

The Uganda Buddhist Centre - Kampala, Uganda

The Uganda Buddhist Centre was founded by Venerable Buddharakkhita on April 10, 2005. It was created to introduce and preserve the Buddha's teachings within the context of African culture. The Uganda Buddhist Centre is the first Buddhist Centre in Uganda. It is located on two acres of land at Garuga, Entebbe (about 6 km off Kampala-Entebbe main road) overlooking Lake Victoria. The Temple is still under construction. It will include a library, meditation Hall, and  two self-contained rooms. The centre is open to all people who wish to cultivate peace, harmony and happiness. The vision of the Centre is: To propagate the teachings of the Buddhism in Uganda and other African countries. To establish Buddhist Temple where monks, nuns and other people can live and practice the Dhamma in Uganda. To offer organized insight meditation retreats and Buddhist study programs to the general public. To provide a space for a limited number of lay people, who will assist in running of the centre. To organize social, and cultural activities. In April 2005,  the Venerable Bhikkhu Buddharakkhita who is the first  Buddhist monk in Uganda introduced Buddhism in the country. Currently, there are eleven Ugandans who have already adopted the Dhamma and  taken the Five Precepts. In addition, there are five Thais, two Burmese and forty-five Sri Lankans who live in Uganda and support the Centre.     Bhikkhu Buddharakkhita was born in Uganda (East Africa). He became interested in Buddhism while he was a business student in India in 1990. After working in sports business in Thailand, he became disillusioned with the unsatisfactoriness of the business world. He began to travel and search out Dhamma more seriously. He has learned from various masters in India, Burma, and the US and was ordained by the late Burmese monk Sayadaw U Silananda in 2002. In 2005, he founded the Uganda Buddhist Centre in Kampala, Uganda, the first Buddhist Center in Uganda. He is the author of Planting Dhamma Seeds: The Emerging Buddhism in Africa.  Since 2002, he has been a resident monk at the Bhavana Society  Forest monastery in West Virginia, U.S.A. Bhante Buddharakkhita may be reached at the e-mail address: buddharakkhita@bhavanasociety.org or bbuddharakkhita@gmail.com   The Uganda Buddhist Centre is located at: Plot 31, Garuga Road, Bulega, Entebbe P.O.Box 16650, Kampala, UGANDA Tel: 256-0782-159985 The Uganda Buddhist Centre needs your support in order to come to fruition. Please join us in supporting these efforts to build a Buddhist Temple and Dhamma community in Africa. Donations can be made for the purpose of building Uganda Buddhist Centre wire transfer according to the bank details below: Account Name: Uganda Buddhist Centre Account Number: 010 201 310 1000 Bank: Standard Chartered Bank Uganda Limited, 5 Speke Road Branch, P.O. Box 7111, Kampala, UGANDA Telephone No. 256-041- 258211/7 Fax: 256-041-342875, 231473 S.W.I.F.T. Address: SCBLUGKA