about the tulsi trust
In 1992 a small group of westerners was invited to the area around Kapsi in Central India. They travelled with their Bengali friend and guide Sri Vinod Vihari Goswami and stayed with the local villagers. The people of this area are either Bengali refugees, or belong to the indigenous Adivasi tribes.
Whilst travelling, the founders of The Tulsi Trust were touched by the deep love, kindness, hospitality and rich culture of the locals, but also by the great suffering they witnessed, which was caused by poverty and a lack of medical and educational facilities. Some were so deeply moved by the plight of these people that they decided to dedicate their lives to help this community. And none more so than our beloved Tira Brine-Andrews who passed away in September 2011, and without whose efforts The Tulsi Trust would not have been born.
Today, we fund a small clinic that sees hundreds of patients every week and a school attended by 400 children from Bengali and Adivasi families.
Our project is located deep in the heart of the jungle, seven hours from the nearest city, Raipur. It was to this area of Central India that 40,000 Bengali refugees fleeing from East Pakistan were resettled in the mid 1960s to 1970s. These once prosperous people were forced to leave their homes under traumatic conditions and arrived in India with nothing. After surviving the overcrowded refugee camps in Raipur each family was eventually given a small plot of land in the jungle.
In 1971 George Harrison, Ravi Shankar and friends staged a benefit concert to help raise funds for these people.
Despite many efforts, 40 years later thousands of Bengali refugees still live in poverty and are struggling to rebuild their lives. Conditions in the area are harsh, with limited education and little primary health care. Hospitals are several hours drive away over rough roads on overcrowded buses, and children and adults become crippled for lack of medical attention after simple accidents. There is no maternity care. People die from malaria which is hyper-endemic as is dysentery; TB, cholera and typhoid are also common; chronic anaemia and iodine deficiencies are widespread due to dietary inadequacies.
We have close links with our sister charity, the Sri Radhey Seva Trust in Vrindavan, whose president Sri Rashmay Das has been doing humanitarian work in the area were we operate for the past thirty years. He himself, is from a Bengali refugee family and no one could have a better understanding of the needs of these people.
Whilst travelling, the founders of The Tulsi Trust were touched by the deep love, kindness, hospitality and rich culture of the locals, but also by the great suffering they witnessed, which was caused by poverty and a lack of medical and educational facilities. Some were so deeply moved by the plight of these people that they decided to dedicate their lives to help this community. And none more so than our beloved Tira Brine-Andrews who passed away in September 2011, and without whose efforts The Tulsi Trust would not have been born.
Today, we fund a small clinic that sees hundreds of patients every week and a school attended by 400 children from Bengali and Adivasi families.
Our project is located deep in the heart of the jungle, seven hours from the nearest city, Raipur. It was to this area of Central India that 40,000 Bengali refugees fleeing from East Pakistan were resettled in the mid 1960s to 1970s. These once prosperous people were forced to leave their homes under traumatic conditions and arrived in India with nothing. After surviving the overcrowded refugee camps in Raipur each family was eventually given a small plot of land in the jungle.
In 1971 George Harrison, Ravi Shankar and friends staged a benefit concert to help raise funds for these people.
Despite many efforts, 40 years later thousands of Bengali refugees still live in poverty and are struggling to rebuild their lives. Conditions in the area are harsh, with limited education and little primary health care. Hospitals are several hours drive away over rough roads on overcrowded buses, and children and adults become crippled for lack of medical attention after simple accidents. There is no maternity care. People die from malaria which is hyper-endemic as is dysentery; TB, cholera and typhoid are also common; chronic anaemia and iodine deficiencies are widespread due to dietary inadequacies.
We have close links with our sister charity, the Sri Radhey Seva Trust in Vrindavan, whose president Sri Rashmay Das has been doing humanitarian work in the area were we operate for the past thirty years. He himself, is from a Bengali refugee family and no one could have a better understanding of the needs of these people.