KEEPING THE CHILDREN SAFE
HIGH-RISK SEISMIC ZONE
Shree Mangal Dvip Boarding School for Children, Kathmandu, Nepal

* AN APPEAL FROM CANADIAN ENGINEERS *

---

Education for Himalayan Children
In 1987 the highly respected Tibetan Buddhist master, Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, founded Shree Mangal Dvip Boarding School in Kathmandu, Nepal to serve the needs of impoverished children from the Himalayas, and until recently, Tibetan refugees. Nepal no longer allows safe passage for refugees.

SMD schools, which are also endorsed by the His Holiness the Dalai Lama, offer education, housing, medical and dental care to hundreds of mountain kids. The children are from the North of Nepal, but culturally and linguistically they are Tibetan. Nepal has the lowest literacy rates in Asia and one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. There is little infrastructure in Nepal, and none in remote Himalayan villages where there are no roads, electricity, telephones, sanitation, running water, hospitals or schools. In the period between 1996 and 2006 civil war raged in Nepal, and SMD was inundated with admission requests. In 2002, Rinpoche opened SMD Branch School to relieve classroom crowding.

The Kathmandu Valley lies in a high-risk seismic zone where a massive earthquake is expected any time -- similar to the recent event in Pakistan. SMD’s most vulnerable is the school’s oldest building, a four-storey dormitory block. It houses over 300 children and staff members. In 2003, a similar school dormitory in Bingol, Turkey collapsed in a heap of rubble killing many children. The same could happen in Kathmandu.

Seismic Retrofit Project: Phase 1 Complete
Thrangu Rinpoche asked Karma Tashi Ling, his centre in Edmonton, Canada to focus on helping the school. We have responded to this in part by initiating a ‘seismic retrofit’ for the Dormitory Building by strengthening it with new columns and reinforced concrete walls. The design of the seismic retrofit was prepared by Canadian volunteer engineers in Edmonton, Alberta, and the Nepalese National Society for Earthquake Technology played an advisory role.

Fundraising for the first phase of the project was successful, and work was completed for the central section of the building. Ten Thousand Dollars was raised through Canadian and U.S. charities, which brought Phase 1 to completion in early 2007.

This present appeal is to complete the retrofit for the remainder of the work. The price of materials continues to escalate, and our goal is to complete this in a timely manner.

Until all phases are complete, the risk to the children in the event of an earthquake is high. Statistics reveal that a major quake is overdue, and the United Nations is promoting awareness in Nepal. All the school’s buildings are at risk. In particular, the four-storey dorm building would collapse like a deck of cards.

Why Support This Project?
Why donate to the Seismic Retrofit Project at Shree Mangal Dvip Boarding School? First, this school offers education and shelter to Himalayan children and in particular, helps to preserve the culture, language and Buddhist way of life of the Himalayas. The children come from impoverished families – subsistence farmers and nomads. The emphasis is on improving villagers’ lives. The graduates commit to spending time back in their villages to help improve these communities. The school provides protection for girls, otherwise at risk to traffickers to brothels in India. This is a Nepali school where the curriculum conforms to the Nepal Ministry of Education requirements. English language is the medium of instruction which gives kids an advantage in the global village. All of the 500 children at the main school are sponsored by people outside Nepal, in 32 different countries. There is strong Canadian involvement in the school; the Founder, his secretary and the Director are all Canadian, as are many sponsors. Thus, the school itself provides an excellent opportunity for the future of the mountain peoples. By protecting those children who live at and attend the school in the same way that we would protect -- as best we can -- our own children here at home, it is obvious that the seismic retrofit project is a necessary and worthy undertaking.

How you can Help
We have undertaken to make this URGENT APPEAL for funding the completion of the project. Donations can be sent to the following non-profit organizations of Thrangu Rinpoche. They can issue tax receipts. Project contact: Andrew Mitchell (780) 437-3688; andrewmgmitchell@shaw.ca

PLEASE INDICATE THAT YOUR DONATION IS FOR: “SMD Boarding School Earthquake Safety Fund”

CANADA
Vajra Vidya Foundation
Public Fdn Reg. # 888437621 RR 0001
C/O Director Martin Evans
PO Box 46898, Stn. D,
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6J 5M4
martin@mrevans.com

UK
Thrangu Rinpoche Trust
C/O The Treasurer
42 Magdalen Road
Oxford OX4 1RB, UK
Phone: 44-1865-24l555
Fax: 44-l865-241555 (0l865 inside U.K.)
treasurer@thrangu.clara.net

USA
Himalayan Children's Fund
C/O Debra Ann Robinson
P.O. Box 15644
Beverly Hills CA 90209
USA
debraannr@mac.com

The EU
Karma Kagyu Charity
Vajra Vidya Centre,
c/o Wolfgang Schmid
Wackerstr. 47d,
88131 Lindau, Germany
Tel: 49-8382-6807
VajraVidya@gmx.de

For further information, contact us directly:
Shirley Blair, Director
Shree Mangal Dvip Boarding School
PO Box 1287, Tinchuli, Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal
Tel: 977-1-4472-007; Fax: 977-1-4497-253
Email: himalayanchildren@yahoo.co.uk
Visit our website: www.himalayanchildren.org

THE NEPAL POST OFFICE IS UNSAFE: DO NOT SEND ANYTHING YOU VALUE THROUGH THE MAIL.

Return to  Main Menu