our first 2008 jai bhim international project was to provide 20 students with scholarships of $25 each to attend the december nnby youth conference in bor dharan, central india. the scholarships were awarded to 10 students from bodh gaya, the place of the buddha's enlightenment, and to 10 students from the southern states of kerala and tamil nadu, a region that i visited on my first trip to india a year ago, a place that holds a special place in my heart!

we are so pleased to be able to assist these 20 students in traveling the long distance across india to attend this conference, make new friends, learn new skills, and return energized to their own communities. the students in the south are from communities where buddhism has not yet flourished, and they are eager to expand their network and build a strong sangha, inspired by the buddhist dhamma and dr. ambedkar's message of social justice. i was impressed by these southern youth leaders, their intelligence, their clarity, and their vision. it is not easy for them to join an event like the nnby retreat, as most of them, coming from the south, are not fluent in hindi. so communication with their peers is a particular challenge. but their presence was felt all week, and i was quite aware of their gentleness, their kindness, and their friendliness, which endeared them to youth from other areas. i even saw beginning english students from our session practicing their english with them! on the last night the southern students offered a drama presentation, a martial arts demonstration and sang some beautiful songs. we will all remember what they shared that night. 

bodh gaya is a particularly poor region in india, and it is tragic that in the area where the buddha gained enlightenment, an area where thousands of tourists visit every year, the local people struggle to find any work at all. i was so happy to reconnect with 2 bodh gaya students who i'd met on the dehra dun retreat in may, who have formed a sangha and are living with other mitras on buddhist land as a community. several of them are in the ordination process, practicing as gfr mitras. these students are working hard, practicing together, building a sangha with their local community, and offering tours to international visitors. we are very inspired by their model of a right livelihood business, and see many opportunities in this model to provide work for local buddhists, invest money and other resources within the local buddhist economy, connect our international sangha, and encourage one another in our buddhist practice. it is especially hopeful that it is these buddhists who are providing tours of the holy sites, so that buddhist history is represented accurately and that business is conducted ethically and with kindness. we hope to visit this community next year and work more intensively with these students. 

we are very excited by the example, the motivation, energy and creativity of these 20 youth, and by their friendship with one another. we look forward to hearing from them about their projects over the next year. we will be collaborating with them again very soon. jai bhim.