Our 2019 Goal is $40,000!
So what will $40,000 accomplish?
Our priority for 2019 is to ensure the operations of all the schools are fully supported; teacher salaries, books, stationary, school uniforms, food, supplies, critical repairs etc.
Read our Request for Support for the 2019 School Year newsletter.
Read our August 2018 update newsletter.
2019 Projects in Brief
$8,000 for the school at Saldang, the school where Altitude Project started! We work in conjunction with a German non-profit, Freunde Nepal, to support this school.
Saldang will require support for general operations of the school and we will determine the exact portions of the budget that we will cover when I meet with Pema Wangyal in Dec of 2018. We expect that some of our funding will be allocated to project teacher salaries and some to school supplies such as books, pens, rulers etc., school uniforms (traditional chupa), warm socks (we like to supply warm socks each year!) and basic sporting equipment like skip ropes and footballs. There is a high likelihood that we will need to provide some funding for roof repair. A long term solution to this problem is needed but for now, we can cover existing structures with plastic to get through a year or two more.
$8,000 for the school at Komas (jointly funded with a group from Sweden and one generous German individual!)
For Komas in 2019 our support will be directed towards teacher salaries, student supplies and uniforms, as well as food supplies for school lunches.
Purchased foods would largely be rice and lentils to make dal bhat. Locally supplied foods would be yogurt, buckwheat (pancakes), barley (tsampa), potatoes and any other vegetables that can be grown many of which in a greenhouse (greens, carrots, cucumber, cauliflower, cabbage andsquash).
We have not been asked to help with any special projects for 2019, although that could change after I meet with the school coordinator in Dec of 2018.
$20,000 for the school at Karang. This school has lost all other funding sources so we hope to provide a much higher level of support to them this year.
We also hope to provide several of their graduating students with scholarships to continue their education beyond grade 5. Pema Gojor Gurung, the school coordinator for Karang, has been working tirelessly to find funding for a hostel in Kathmandu and to qualify his students for discounted school fees at the Tibetan exile school where Altitude Project currently supports Tenzin Norbu.
$2,000 for the school at Ku as another one-time grant. This extremely remote school was brought to our attention earlier this year by Peter Werth, a philanthropist who works building sustainable energy and water projects throughout the Upper Dolpo. We were able to provide a grant of $1,500. Together, with a variety of NGOs, we cobbled together enough funds to keep this school going in 2018.
In December we will be meeting with Pema Tsering Gurung, the coordinator of the school in Ku, to learn more about their needs.
Tenzin Norbu, Saldang Graduate
We will continue to support Tenzin Norbu as he enters class 9 at a Tibetan exile school in Kathmandu.
Saldang School only goes to class 6. The schools at Karang and Komas go to class 5. To continue their education, students must move to Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal and a world away from the Dolpo. Please read more, these are truly amazing kids!
$2,000 – to send more solar lights by LuminAID to villagers in the Upper Dolpo. Fire from yak dung is the only light source for most households here and these lights have proven to be extremely useful and durable. Please read more…
And, if we exceed our goal, we will contribute to a teacher training program that is currently being discussed by REED, Rural Education and Environment Development Centre. This training program will provide a huge benefit to the quality of education in the Upper Dolpo.
REED’s activities focus on imparting quality education through teachers’ training, child protection, environment and climate change, gender and social inclusion, and learning & life skills.
To celebrate our success in achieving charitable status in Canada we launched our 2019 fund raising appeal campaign early, on Mother’s Day. Read our newsletter.
We chose Mothers Day because, not only does a charitable tax receipt significantly reduce the after-tax cost to our kind donors but, we are hoping that the vetting done by the CRA will increase the confidence of new donors in our ability to help the children of the Upper Dolpo.
We are extremely grateful for your kind and generous support. We treat each dollar as the precious gift that it is and assure all donors that every donation is used directly for the projects described here. We never use your funds for any miscellaneous costs. Any such costs are borne by the directors of the non-profit society.
In Honour of Mothers
“It’s time to move the apostrophe so that it becomes not just Mother’s Day honoring a single mother but Mothers’ Day, an occasion to try and help Mothers around the globe as well.”
-Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times
It always seems impossible, until it’s done.
– Nelson Mandela.
And, if we exceed our goal, we will contribute to a teacher training program that is currently being discussed by REED, Rural Education and Environment Development Centre. This training program will provide a huge benefit to the quality of education in the Upper Dolpo.