Moving Mountains Nepal

Bupsa Monastery The monastery is completely finished now and looks fantastic. It was recently painted red. Our resident teacher Lama Rinji (top picture on right) is very happy working there and lives in the lodge at Karila Pass with his wife and child. We are paying Lama Rinji 8500 rupees per month and he is working every day running the School for Monks. The monastery is very popular with the villagers from as far as Khari Khola and festival time is very busy, with the gompa raising local donations for additional work, for example they recently had new electric lights installed with 36,000 Rs of donations made on the birthday of Buddha.

School for Monks is very popular and has ten children attending at the moment. In Nepal, children start at aged 6 or 7 training to be a lama and spend the first four years of their studies simply memorising all the words of the teachings of Buddha. This is followed by 5 years of ‘dharma’, which is understanding the teachings of Buddha. After this there are various options available to lama students. We talked about sponsoring the kids plus some older lamas to visit the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala in February which was extremely popular as an idea.

Vision: to provide a hostel for future monks to study and live if they do not come from local areas, and to increase the number of students to 14. In two years Lama Rinji will have reached the full extent of his own learning, so we will need to look at sponsoring a higher qualified lama which in turn will bring great kudos to the village of Bupsa. Work to be done in the coming 2 to 3 years: Finish the retaining wall around the monastery before it collapses Put in a water supply Build hostel for up to ten monks including toilets, shower and kitchen Accept 4 more children into School for Monks Repair and paint the stupa Paint the ‘mani’ room Purchase 2 more lengths of carpet and 8 low tables Take the monks and lama Rinji to meet the Dalai Lama in February 2010

Cost of above: ~ £9600.00

Bupsa School We have been sponsoring two teachers here and over the years have done some minor work to the buildings which are in a state of moderate disrepair. 95 children study here to a standard of class 5 (primary school) and there are now 6 teachers, 3 of whom are paid by the Government, two by Moving Mountains and one new teacher whose salary we will supplement (she currently walks 2 hours to school and back and every day on a Govt salary of £15.00 per month).

The teachers we pay on full salary of 9250/- are Sharmila Rai and Sumitra Rai who live in Bupsa and teach up to class 5 level. The new teacher who looks after kindergarten and class is called Suzata Rai. We also supply all teachers with a suit or sari.

Vision: to renovate the existing 5 classrooms and build classrooms over the coming years to allow the school to teach children up to class 8 (junior secondary school) and provide teachers for same. Also to build a teachers hostel and kitchen with school office, new toilets and provide a water supply. Eventually to see the number of children in school increase to around 150. The school has large grounds so we can build in the shape of a large ‘L’ and have a huge play compound in the front. We can also provide a school development fund through teaching students in the future, and provide an annual grant for stationery and books. Work to be done in the coming 2/3 years: Put in slate floors in all old classrooms, plus paint and varnish existing wood

walls Replace old slate roof with corrugated tin roof Build 3 classes, a hostel for 3 teachers, kitchen, office, toilets and shower

block Provide water supply Plaster outside of old classrooms and provide wood panelling in all classes Provide annual grant for books and stationery

Cost of above: ~ £10,000

Bumburi Gompa We have just finished renovating the monastery at Bumburi and I was at the opening puja. The same lama who opened Bupsa, also opened Bumburi. This gompa is one of the oldest in the region and attracts huge interest from the local villages, partly because of the amazing magic coat which is now on display in a glass case which allegedly allowed the lama to fly to Thyangboche.

Vision: to allow the gompa to become a major part of local life in the solu Khumbu region and to start a Bumburi Monk School.

Bumburi School This school is in the final stages of being completely renovated and turned into a junior secondary school. Final touches will be done in October by the visiting HimalayaCamp group. The school has 95 students and 5 teachers at the moment but this will increase once the intake next year in April includes teachers for classes 6,7 and 8. We also will start a kindergarten section. The two level school runs in a single block for 100 metres and also has an office attached. Extra land was donated by an Adventure Alternative porter. Future plans include a medical clinic behind the school and a view to including more classes up to class 10 in the future.

Vision: to see Bumburi School become a high quality secondary school in the region with sponsored teachers and facilities for science, IT and sports. Also to provide new water tanks and supply for the village, and eventually a medical clinic and a conference hall for local cultural events. Bumburi is now a model village for the Khumbu region with all the facilities, including electricity, improved cooking stoves, income-generating businesses, nurseries, a monastery and now a school. The idea is to attract more students and high quality teachers to this village, as well as income and an environmentally sound crop rotation. The school is part of bigger plan to turn Bumburi into a desirable place to bring up families and educate children, over a ten year period. What to be done in the coming 2/3 years: Provide grants for extra teachers – science, English, kindergarten Provide grants for books and stationery 2 toilets on site Painting and varnishing finishing touches General repairs and maintenance

Cost of above: Capital School bond in order to register – 37,000 Rs 2 toilets – 150,000 Rs Painting/varnishing – 80,000 Rs (25l primer, 25l sky blue, 10l white, 60l varnish) Water tanks – 230,000 Rs Ongoing costs: Kindergarten teacher from Oct 2009 – 5000 Rs per month Class 6,7,8 teacher from April 2010 – 10,500 Rs per month English teacher Navin Bhattaria – 9,250 Rs per month Maths teacher Kaji Sherpa – 9,250 Rs per month + supplement to 3 other teachers of 1,000 Rs per month Books/stationery - ~ 100,000 Rs per year Capital: ~ £4500.00 Annually: £5400.00

Pictures