Property:Othercommunitywork
From Tsadra Foundation Advanced Contemplative Scholarships
This is a property of type Text.
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I have been passionate about community work since a very young age. From April 2016-2018 I lived at Haley House, a soup kitchen in Boston that provides free meals for people experiencing homelessness. It is run by volunteers that live in community together in the building. During this time I would spend summers at Gomde CA in retreat and as a volunteer. Since 2018, I have been teaching Yoga in every community I land in. I now teach in 11 locations, including studios, senior centers, businesses, free outdoor classes, classes for the queer community, meditation circles and Dharma talks. This is currently the spaces where I feel most able to connect the Buddhist teachings with the needs of my immediate community. +
2016-2021 I lived as part of the Dharma community in the Rigpa center in Berlin and participated in community work like shopping, cleaning, gardening, preparing and holding daily practice as well as practice days and yearly drupchös, events with guest teachers and so on. +
I have volunteered with the local food bank administration, but stopped 2 year ago when I got a new job. I still dedicate my time during foodbank activities at nearby supermarkets, kindly asking customers to consider purchasing something for those in need. +
As a translator, I have been working with Translators Without Borders since 2021, offering translation of humanitarian texts. +
Cidade Escola Ayni (2015-2016):
At 18 years old, I volunteered for over 4 months during the inception of 'Cidade Escola Ayni' in Guaporé, Brazil - a community school project based on libertarian pedagogical principles, built entirely using natural construction methods.
Volunteering in Nepal (2016):
During my first trip to Nepal at age 19, I volunteered at a children's school and orphanage in Kathmandu for several weeks. While I later became aware of the problematic aspects of some volunteer tourism (such as displacing local workers and creating dependency rather than sustainable development), I was genuinely motivated to help at the time.
Education Fundraising (2018-2019):
I helped fundraise among RYI students and Dharma friends to support a young Nepali friend's high school education when his family faced financial difficulties.
Atlantic Forest Açaí Documentary:
Upon invitation from friend Tomaz Martins, I helped produce a short documentary about the sustainable use of Açaí Jussara in Brazil's heavily deforested Atlantic Forest. I worked on fundraising, conceptual planning, and locating communities for filming. The project aimed to raise awareness about transforming the Açaí palm from an endangered tree (illegally harvested for palm hearts) into a sustainable food source, featuring stories of a former illegal cutter turned local producer and the indigenous community Guyra Nhendu. This work aligns with my belief in finding solutions that promote sustainable human presence while preserving nature in Brazil, where colonial legacies continue driving environmental destruction for agribusiness profits, turning the country into one of the world's largest food commodity exporters while actively promoting hunger among its own population.
Rio Grande do Sul Flooding Relief (2024):
While I was away in Nepal, Rio Grande do Sul was hit by unprecedented flooding caused by global warming, affecting parts of the state totaling roughly the size of England, including 10 days of flooding in areas of my city Porto Alegre. Besides making donations, I helped compile lists of affected marginalized communities - including indigenous communities, Quilombolas (communities formed by fugitive slaves during Brazil's slavery period), and MTST solidarity kitchens - sharing these with friends and Dharma communities in Brazil and abroad for targeted assistance.
Worked with Wim Hof to build his winter retreat center in Poland. +
Volunteering with Nature Conservancy, Speaking at Colleges and Universities on the topic of plant medicine. +
Periodically volunteering at a foodbank to distribute food to those in need. +
I’ve cared for friends and relatives who have needed support, including my elderly parents for many years. I have also served as ad hoc and formal volunteer, such as when a director of a local chapter of the Schizophrenia Society of Nova Scotia (now Hope for Mental Health). +
I volunteer in Hyde Park, Chicago, visiting Bradford Lyttle, a 96-year-old blind former peace activist, at his home once a week. +
I have been involved in efforts to feed the homeless in the past with "Creations for a Cause". +
Other than this, I have during my time at RYI served two consecutive years as student society chief representative. In this role, I have been a support for students, organized events such as end of semester dinners and so forth, as well as facilitating a sanskrit chanting group with materials prepared by me and a few other friends. Moreover, I have been engaged in tutoring local Nepali professionals in English, and currently teach Tibetan to a Taiwanese monastic aspiring to be a Tibetan-Chinese translator in the Kumārajīva project. +
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Volunteering with Nature Conservancy, Speaking at Colleges and Universities on the topic of plant medicine. +
I'm part of the Buddhist community at HDS but don't hold any official role. I'm broadly involved elsewhere in promoting nonviolence and peaceful conflict resolution skills, especially at the moment through my work-study position at Harvard Hillel. In 2017-2018, I'll be working 15 hours a week to develop a program to educate local high school kids about antisemitism and malevolent prejudice, and try to help them be kinder to each other. +
I have been passionate about community work since a very young age. From April 2016-2018 I lived at Haley House, a soup kitchen in Boston that provides free meals for people experiencing homelessness. It is run by volunteers that live in community together in the building. During this time I would spend summers at Gomde CA in retreat and as a volunteer. Since 2018, I have been teaching Yoga in every community I land in. I now teach in 11 locations, including studios, senior centers, businesses, free outdoor classes, classes for the queer community, meditation circles and Dharma talks. This is currently the spaces where I feel most able to connect the Buddhist teachings with the needs of my immediate community. +
Volunteering at local animal shelter (Nantucket Safe Harbor for Animals) (Nantucket, MA - 2019-2020)
Dreamland Stage Company - Youth Mentor, Stage Assistant, Photographer and Filmmaker (Nantucket, MA - 2019-2020)
Residence Caretaker and Kitchen Service - Vipassana Meditation Center (Various locations - 2018 - 2019)
Event Preparation - Nantucket Unitarian Universalist Church (Nantucket, MA - 2020)
YMCA Youth Leader (Taunton, MA - 2021 [employed])
Service worker at Nantucket Food Pantry (I volunteered for 2 years before being hired) (Nantucket, MA - 2019-2020) +
I have been participating to different student projects promoting nature and literature during my College years. I also participated in the foundation of a new alternative high school in Brussels in 2017-2018, le Lycée Intégral Roger Lallemand. If I was paid, it was also a community work in which I gave myself fully and intensely, much more than one would do for a normal job. We were creating a very new way of teaching, and it was a beautiful year. The school has been growing since and has currently over 700 students, who have the opportunity to learn and study in an environment that promotes openness, kindness and sharing. +
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various publications in German: Milarepa's biography, Taranatha's Golden Garland, Sadhanas, etc. +
