2011 conference : WEBA award winner
The Buddhist Council of the Midwest is pleased to
announce the recipient of the
2011 Women and Engaged Buddhism Award (WEBA)
The Buddhist Council of the Midwest is pleased to announce the presentation of the 2011 Women and Engaged Buddhism Award to Venerable Pannavati-Karuna to support the work of My Place, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a positive youth development program for homeless and at-risk youth that heals the whole person.Ven. Pannavati founded My Place two years ago at the Embracing Simplicity Buddhist Hermitage in Hendersonville, NC. Since that time more than 60 homeless youth have stayed in the home environment of a residential, transitional housing program. They receive training in self-responsibility, positive self-expression, the arts, meditation, educational/career training/work readiness, interaction with adult mentors and referral for crisis intervention.
Ven. Pannavati-Karuna founded
My Place two years ago at the Embracing Simplicity Buddhist Hermitage in Hendersonville, NC. Many other people and organizations in the area have collaborated to support this work.
This award will specifically support
Meditation as a Praxis of Cognitive Healing for Homeless Teen Victims of Incest. Over the past two years, over 90% of youth, females and males, living in residence at the monastery were victims of family sexual abuse. An intensive 8 week meditation training and support program will deal specifically with healing for incest victims aged 16-21 with a focus on compassion and present-moment, mind-body awareness. Participants will learn and practice techniques to overcome destructive emotions while cultivating thoughts of self-acceptance and self-esteem. While understanding the shame, anger, guilt, denial and sense of helplessness of teens who have been victims of incest, Ven. Pannavati believes that through meditation and support, these teens can begin to love themselves, to be compassionate towards the perpetrator, realizing his ignorance and pain, and to be able to take appropriate actions to protect themselves and their siblings who may still be at home.
For more information visit
www.myplacewnc.org or
www.embracingsimplicityhermitage.org
The Women and Engaged Buddhism Award is given to recognize and encourage initiatives in Engaged Buddhism by women. It is intended to nurture young or little known projects that are underway at the time of the application. This year's award carries with it a guaranteed monetary grant of $1,000.
The Buddhist Council of the Midwest’s mission is to be a vehicle of mutual aid and fellowship for Buddhist organizations throughout the Midwest, to celebrate the diversity of Buddhist philosophy and culture, and to represent and advocate for the Buddhist community in the public realm, confronting misunderstandings or misrepresentations of the Dharma and engaging in inter-religious dialogue.
Past WEBA Winners
2010
Tibet Girls School Project -
A program of the Tsogyaling Meditation Center of Evanston, it seeks to educate young women in the name of freedom and peace, in an area of Eastern Tibet where lack of education contributes to high rates of maternal and infant mortality.
2009
In 2009, the WEBA was presented to Rev. Kalen McAllister, Sensei of Shinzo Sangha, St. Louis, MO, and Executive Director of Inside Dharma, to support her work
offering Buddhist practice in Missouri prisons.
2008
The 2008 WEBA went to Sensei Joan Hoeberichts of the Heart Circle Sangha, Ridgewood, NJ, and Charika Marasinghe, PhD, of
Sarvodaya, Sri Lanka, for their initiative in partnering to create the Psycho-Spiritual Healing Project to train Sri Lankan counselors to provide psychological support for tsunami survivors and others needing aid.
more »
2007
The 2007 WEBA was granted to the Maekhao Chanthasomphone and Maekhao Keo for the Wat Sila Salalam Pokam school for girls, in Laos, with general recognition given to Venerable Karma Lekshe Tsomo and the
Jamyang Foundation for their long term commitment to address the issues of poverty, literacy, and gender discrimination in some of the neediest and most remote parts of the world.
more »
2006
In 2006 the first Women and Engaged Buddhism Award (WEBA) was presented to Venerables Molini and Dhamma Vijaya of
Dhamma Moli in recognition and encouragement of their efforts to prevent the trafficking of girls in Nepal.
more »
