INTERNATIONAL. Women in Travel Retail (WiTR) has chosen the Koma Karanth Foundation as its charity to support for 2023.
Founded by actor, producer, writer, humanitarian and comedian Maitreyi Karanth, the Koma Karanth Foundation’s mission is to build a community in the impoverished municipality of Gloria, Oriental Mindoro (Philippines).
It provides homes, education, community centres, medical support and support for single women as they strive for self-sufficiency.
The WITR charity was proposed by ARI Middle East (ARIME) Project & Design Manager and Sustainability Champion Tracy Ross, who has known the foundation’s founder for over 25 years. WiTR aims to raise at least €15,000 to cover the cost of building three homes for the community.
To date, the Korma Karanth Foundation has built 24 homes, an old age community centre and a tutoring centre for children as well as providing solar streetlights, drilled water wells and connections into water tanks for the tribal community of 26 families.
The charity also provides transport for the tribal children to go to school and their lunches. Other projects have included building and equipping convenience stores for single mothers to own.
In 2024, the Foundation is aiming to build a self-sustained compound with 30 homes, including the three funded by WiTR, with a proposed completion date of 2026. The houses will be named WiTR 1/2/3 respectively in recognition of the funding provided.
“I am delighted that WiTR has chosen to support the Koma Karanth Foundation this year,” Ross said. “Maitreyi is an amazing woman who has never forgotten the support she and her family received from Filipino women and continue to do so. She is now determined to give back and help wherever she can and this project is extremely close to her heart.”
WiTR Chair Sarah Branquinho commented: “Many thanks to Tracy Ross for proposing the Koma Karanth Foundation as the next charity for WiTR to support. It’s an incredibly worthwhile cause which we are more than happy to support.
“The aim will be to raise funds to cover the building of these much-needed homes through a number of WiTR meetings throughout this year, culminating in our ‘main event’ at TFWA World Exhibition in October.
“We’ll also closely follow the project as it goes into action, reporting on progress at every stage,” she added. 
The Koma Karanth Foundation was established after Maitreyi Karanth came across a family with a young mother, Marilyn, who had suffered a stroke and was living in a hut with no toilet.
The first home was named ‘Marilyn’, while others were named after the labourers who assisted in construction work. |
Karanth put together a team of labourers and started building a house for them. Sadly, Marilyn did not live to see the home completed, but this tragedy gave Karanth the drive to continue building homes for the poor people of Gloria, Oriental Mindoro (Philippines).
