pema´s friends in remote villages

Many of the smaller and larger project activities concentrate on far off regions of Nepal and the North East of India (e.g.Lumla). Even small donations help to make a large contribution in human development and can influence and enhance everyday life of the poverty-stricken people of such regions.

The most recent of these projects and activities were to support the village of Rathankot in Nepal. Pema Dorjee regularly visits this village and its people and closely supervises progress there.

One of the main goals is to stimulate trading in Rathankot and to set up various infrastructural, agricultural, educational and health projects. Many of pema´s friends from the US, Netherlands, Belgium, Scandinavia, Israel, and elsewhere also frequently travel to the region, and they intend to sustain it in the long run (project overview). Get a profound impression. You are welcome to also see two longer videos on Rathankot.

building of a community hall

The aim is to give the Rathankot villagers and the people from surrounding areas a venue for cultural and social events as well as for workshops and teachings on various themes. Two guest rooms will provide accommodation for visiting experts and teachers. The building also contains a Prayer Hall for Buddhist teachings and practices. The Community Hall has now been finished and has been in use for teachings and workshops since summer 2010. The official inauguration of the hall will be May 17 2011.

health and illness prevention activities

The focus clearly is on the basics and first priority topics to help villagers in everyday life.

• Teach first aid and donate first aid equipment
• To prevent lung and eye diseases, various cooking facilities are to be implemented (gas – chula)
• Install toilets for 40 families in Rathankot

funding education, books, school fees

The building of the first 2 classrooms at Rathankot village has just started. With regard to the two other classrooms, the first phase of collecting information and making a report for the Province is in progress.

various aspects of fundraising:

• Financial support for school materials, school fees
• Participate in education (sports – games – health – nutrition – handicap – the human body)

environment, planting and pollution prevention

In the future hopefully villagers will buy all home grown fruits and vegetables directly in Rathankot and people might be able to sell their harvest at the markets in Kathmandu (only possible in big quantities). In doing so, farmers can get a reasonable price for their fruits and vegetabless and the community might keep a small profit.

Another project is building and maintaining a greenhouse. One of the villagers offered his land for the construction of the greenhouse. He will receive a very small income for maintaining the butter seeds and the greenhouse.

Furthermore, the building of 10 Garbage Collection is being planned and designed. This is considered a great start for implementing a waste management system.

Another major topic is a water distribution fund. During Monsoon people are in danger due to extreme water pollution. A water distribution system would prevent such difficulties. In addition to planting 1300 to 2500 trees and fruit trees, necessary steps will be taken to raise awareness about deforestation at the same time.

various topics of fundraising:

• Waste prevention, and raise awareness about environmental conservation
• Purchase of a corn pealer powerd by a bicycle
• Explore the possibility of installing biofermentation systems in the village

women’s handicraft project

Friends from England, Sweden and the Netherlands are developing a project for the women of Rathankot village and the surrounding areas to produce local handicrafts for sale in Nepal and abroad. The women will meet and work in the new Community Hall of Rathankot, initially to receive instruction and assistance before starting their own production. The project will start on a low scale using locally sourced materials when possible. The project will be based on our creative experience, advice from designers and other creative professionals.

for more information and contact:

Norway:          Siri.Weirum@gmail.com (S. Weirum)
Netherlands:  bodong.lumla@gmail.com (C. W. Stuyvenberg)
Belgium:         www.support4nepal.blogspot.com, flamez@skynet.be
Israel:              http://www.dharma-friends.org.il, miriarama@gmail.com (M. Arama)