My name is Linda Robinson.I created Global Elder Project as a way of sharing information about elders living in communities around the world, identifying their needs and working collaboratively and creatively to help meet those needs.

The first project was a benefit fundraiser for the Old and Infirm People's Home at the Doeguling Tibetan Resettlement Camp in Mundgod, India. I visited this home in February 2011 and had the opportunity to meet many of the Tibetan elders who live there. They were very happy to greet me and invite me into their rooms. I found the elders to be happy and engaged spinning prayer wheels and prayer beads, walking around the stupa and playing table games outdoors, or visiting with each other in the outdoor veranda. The rooms were simple and each had an alter with a photo of the Dalai Lama and other objects. The day I visited, the elders were especially happy because they had a visit with the Dalai Lama that morning. The manager of the home told me that they listen to his teachings throughout the day and said "It is due to Tibetan Buddhism prayers that they are happy from inside." I asked the manager what the elders neederd and she said told me that they needed some repairs done to the outdoor stupa, the door to the prayer wheel and the cover to the water tower. She also said that they could use a washing machine to more efficiently wash the elders' clothes. I told her that I would try to raise some money for the home. It was out of this commitment that I started the Global Elder Project and made this fundraiser my first project.