In January 2012 I visited the Bonpo Monastery in Dolanji.
It was still very cold and the recently constructed nunnery on the North facing slope of the valley - and made from concrete - was cold as an icebox. A few German friends promised to send some money and so we bought hot waterbottles and a few rolls of insulation material to put under the thin carpets in the girls' rooms.
There are 54 girls and 20 young women living there and they also take care of 5 seniors. The kids come from poor or broken Bonpo families from all over the place, Sikkim, Kinnor, Bhutan, Nepal, Mongolia etc., often orphans or semi-orphans.
On the other side of the valley there is a similar situation for the boys, they live in the monastery, which has been established a long time ago. Further there is a hostel for kids who don't want to be either monks or nuns. All the kids go together to the same school. In total, the Lamas here take care of the education and livelihood of more than 700 children.
So after having bought the insulation and the hot water bottles, there was still money left over and a steriliser for wound dressings could be purchased, a bulk quantity of homeopathic tissue salts to deal with the day to day small ailments and reference books, a set of Bachflower remedies also with books and shirts and socks for everyone.
Still there was money. At one visit I heard that the solar hot water system wasn't working and after enquiring about the details it turned out, it had no antifreeze and the pipes needed repair: AND there was enough money to do it! Towards the end of the meeting, where the monk in charge had explained all this, he came out with the real trouble. He said: "The biggest problem is, that there just isn't enough water at all."
The nunnery had had not so many people before and they had taken their water from a spring. However the spring dried out during summer and even at the time in January it just had enough water for cooking and drinking. There was no water for toilets and bathrooms and therefore it had made no sense to repair the hot water solar system. A well would need to be drilled to fix the situation permanently.
After a pause i asked about how much that would cost and they gave an estimated sum of around 8100.-Euro. At that time there were about 900.- Euro left in the donation account. I thought about how readily people had given and also, that there just was no alternative. The nunnery needed a well urgently.
So I promised to find the funding for it and asked they should take all the necessary steps to get the work under way without delay. I was guessing that raising 7000 Euro would probably take a little longer, but I decided to advance the money from my savings, if necessary.
Soon it became apparent that time was even shorter than I thought. The Indian police, on behest of the Indian Central government cleared all foreigners out of the Tibetan settlements just before Losar, the Tibetan New Year. They used a very old rule, according to which foreigners need to obtain a "protected area permit", when visiting Tibetan settlements. This rule had never been enforced, overseas Indian consulates and embassies had no idea about it, but we had to leave, like NOW, or else face arrest. However the authorities were generous enbough to accept our PAP applications in Delhi and didn't make us fly home to our home countries as is required by the letter of the law, where it is stipulated that one ought to apply for a PAP from one's home country 3 months in advance of the intended journey.
The PAP's were issued after around 4 weeks and so I could return here. This whole diversion had slowed the momentum a bit, but now things are going ahead. A geologist came and assessed the site. He said there will be enough water for generations to come. The roads have to be made safe for the heavy machinery and if all goes well, drilling can start in the first week of April.
happy greetings
Inge
In April I had to head back to Germany, before the work on the well had begun. In June 2011 came the news that the well had been completed and the nuns now have enough water. Here some pictures:
It was still very cold and the recently constructed nunnery on the North facing slope of the valley - and made from concrete - was cold as an icebox. A few German friends promised to send some money and so we bought hot waterbottles and a few rolls of insulation material to put under the thin carpets in the girls' rooms.
There are 54 girls and 20 young women living there and they also take care of 5 seniors. The kids come from poor or broken Bonpo families from all over the place, Sikkim, Kinnor, Bhutan, Nepal, Mongolia etc., often orphans or semi-orphans.
On the other side of the valley there is a similar situation for the boys, they live in the monastery, which has been established a long time ago. Further there is a hostel for kids who don't want to be either monks or nuns. All the kids go together to the same school. In total, the Lamas here take care of the education and livelihood of more than 700 children.
So after having bought the insulation and the hot water bottles, there was still money left over and a steriliser for wound dressings could be purchased, a bulk quantity of homeopathic tissue salts to deal with the day to day small ailments and reference books, a set of Bachflower remedies also with books and shirts and socks for everyone.
Still there was money. At one visit I heard that the solar hot water system wasn't working and after enquiring about the details it turned out, it had no antifreeze and the pipes needed repair: AND there was enough money to do it! Towards the end of the meeting, where the monk in charge had explained all this, he came out with the real trouble. He said: "The biggest problem is, that there just isn't enough water at all."
The nunnery had had not so many people before and they had taken their water from a spring. However the spring dried out during summer and even at the time in January it just had enough water for cooking and drinking. There was no water for toilets and bathrooms and therefore it had made no sense to repair the hot water solar system. A well would need to be drilled to fix the situation permanently.
After a pause i asked about how much that would cost and they gave an estimated sum of around 8100.-Euro. At that time there were about 900.- Euro left in the donation account. I thought about how readily people had given and also, that there just was no alternative. The nunnery needed a well urgently.
So I promised to find the funding for it and asked they should take all the necessary steps to get the work under way without delay. I was guessing that raising 7000 Euro would probably take a little longer, but I decided to advance the money from my savings, if necessary.
Soon it became apparent that time was even shorter than I thought. The Indian police, on behest of the Indian Central government cleared all foreigners out of the Tibetan settlements just before Losar, the Tibetan New Year. They used a very old rule, according to which foreigners need to obtain a "protected area permit", when visiting Tibetan settlements. This rule had never been enforced, overseas Indian consulates and embassies had no idea about it, but we had to leave, like NOW, or else face arrest. However the authorities were generous enbough to accept our PAP applications in Delhi and didn't make us fly home to our home countries as is required by the letter of the law, where it is stipulated that one ought to apply for a PAP from one's home country 3 months in advance of the intended journey.
The PAP's were issued after around 4 weeks and so I could return here. This whole diversion had slowed the momentum a bit, but now things are going ahead. A geologist came and assessed the site. He said there will be enough water for generations to come. The roads have to be made safe for the heavy machinery and if all goes well, drilling can start in the first week of April.
happy greetings
Inge
In April I had to head back to Germany, before the work on the well had begun. In June 2011 came the news that the well had been completed and the nuns now have enough water. Here some pictures:
