Schools in Upper DolpoGIVE CHILDREN A FUTURE“

in cooperatio

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In 2016, the founders of the German based‘HUMAN Foundation’ and the ‚Dolpo TulkuCharitable Foundation‘ (DTCF) in Nepalsigned an agreement with the aim tostrengthen education in the Dolpo region.

As a consequence, we decided to finance the‘Winter School in Saldang’ which is located at4.053 meters altitude. In order to understandthe relevance and impact, it helps to know theproject environment. The project is fully inline with HUMAN-Foundation’s vision:‘Give Children A Future’p to the 18th century, the Dolpo regionbelonged to West Tibetan Royal and Princesdynasties. Until 1993, the Upper Dolpo was arestricted area and foreigners are onlyallowed to visit it since then. In the north,Dolpo is neighboring to Tibet and it is one outof 77 districts in Nepal, even the largest dis-trict with roughly 8,000 square kilometers andaround 36,000 inhabitants, whereas in theUpper Dolpo live about 8,000 people.All villages are located above 3,500 metersand you can only reach them after 8-10 dayshiking from Juphal.Besides Humla, Dolpo is the only district with-out roads and even without a road link to

other areas. To reach the Upper Dolpo youneed to walk 7-8 days from the closest airportin Juphal and to cross passes above 5,000meters. The Dolpo area is one of the remotestpopulated mountainous regions in the worldand is known for its wilderness and loneli-ness. Dunai is the seat of the district magis-trate and has 3,000 inhabitants. Our familiarInfrastructure like electricity, internet and(mobile) phone is not available.

Many people recognize the Upper Dolpo nowas the real preserver of the Tibetan culture, asthe Chinese Government attempts to destroyBuddhism and the Tibetan culture in Tibet.Immerse yourself into the wonderful sceneryof the Dolpo area.

The way to Upper DolpoThe climate in Upper Dolpo is very arid withsparse vegetation. The name Dolpo comesfrom the Tibetan dol“, which means abun-dance. This refers to the natural and mineralresources and the manifestation of the religi-ous tradition.The Dolpo-pa - as the inhabitants in UpperDolpo are called - are predominantly active inagriculture. People in the Dolpo growspotatoes, corn, wheat, millet, Tibetan barleyand local crops.Local agriculture is vital to having enoughfood over the long winter, although it is notsaid to last every winter.

Throughout Dolpo the path is marked by con-stant ups and downs. Up to the higher moun-tain villages there are actually only two routesfrom Juphal, both of which are in the SheyPhoksundo National Park.As these are the only connections, remark-able gradual climbs are built with significanteffort along the way with some steep cliffs.After 5 days, at 4,000 meters altitude, you willreach the wonderfully located Dho Tarap val-ley.

Here is also the Jampa Gompa and the housewhere Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche lived andgrew up until his 10th birthday. Today hisbrother lives there with his family and theiraim is to preserve the gompa and the Tibetiantradition. Meanwhile, the broken Choerten arerebuilt.The further way from Dho Tarap to Saldang,our first school, becomes steeper and thearea more lonely. It takes almost two days toreach the next village and you need to crossthe first pass over 5,000 meters with a mag-nificent view of the Dhaulagiri massif.

One comes then into areas, in which there aremany Himalayan blue sheep and very isolatedalso snow leopards, which however, can onlybe watched with good luck.The houses of Saldang, which are terracedon the mountainside, can be seen from faraway. It is a 45 minutes walk from the riververy steeply up to reach the place where the‚Shel Ri Drugdra‘ school is located. The vil-lage of Saldang is only 23 kilometers fromTibet. The location of the school area and theview of the mountain are awesome.

In eight small rooms, the children from Sal-dang can attend classes 1-6 beside the ‚kin-dergarten / play group‘ and the ‚preschool‘.

Since the winter of 2016, 60-70 childrenhave been attending the newly foundedwinter school.Some families leave the region in winter, sothe number is reduced by about 10-15% ofthe students in the winter period. There is aformal ‚compulsory schooling‘ of 5 years, butno control over it.The winters in Upper Dolpo are very cold andlife in the villages is extremely hard. Peopleare cut off from the lower regions for months.

Winter School in SaldangThe Samye Choeling Gompa is the heart ofSaldang. Next to it is the ‚clinic‘ of the AmchiDhondup Lama, which heals people almostexclusively with herbs, as well as the nervoussystems on the fingers, eyes, ears andtongue.

The school in Saldang exists since 1999and was built by Lama Karma Dhondupwith the great support of ‚Friends of Nepal‘.The School Coordinator Pema Wangyaland his staff members teach at the schoolwith great dedication in this very remote area.As in all mountainous regions of Nepal, thisschool would not exist without any foreignsupport.

70% of the inhabitants stay in the villageover the winter, 30% go with their yaksinto deeper areas or try to find work.The yaks are allowed to return to the villageonly after the harvest in fall, because theywould destroy the seed. On the way back theyaks bring heating material, such as collectedwood, which is used beside dung and localshrubs for heating during the winter.

It is not possible to send a letter to UpperDolpo by postal mail.

Karma Dhondup is Head of MunicipalitySaldang“. Nepal was always centrally gov-erned. A stronger decentralization of respon-sibility has been prevailed in the last elec-tions, which is good. Two representatives ofDolpo have now seats in the parliament.

Lama Karma Dhondup Lama Pema Wangyal

Winter School in Nyisal

Three teachers teach at the winter school inNyisal. One of them is Nyima Tashi Gurung,who can also sing beautiful Tibetan songs.

The teaching scheme in Nyisal is congruentwith Saldang: repetition of the subject matterfrom the summer school and intensification ofTibetan traditions. At the end of the winterperiod, what you have learned is alsochecked so that you are well prepared toswitch to the regular summer school.

ognition for the people for whom education inthese mountain villages is personally impor-tant is all the greater.We want to financially support the operationof the winter school in Nyisal for as long aspossible.

School in Lhuri

Since 2021 we support now the ShreeTripitak Lower Secondary School in Lhuri.

The village of Lhuri (3,900m altitude), fourhours from Nyisal, consists of three villages:Ke, Lhuri and Sungjer. This school was thecentral and most accessible place for thechildren from these villages. The school inLhuri was closed during the civil war inNepal (1999-2006) and never reopened.

The old Lhuri school building is in a verydilapidated condition and not a safeenvironment for children's education.Before schools reopened, children had toeither go to school in the next village, whichtakes a day, or stay at home to help theirparents.Dawa Phuntsok, who grew up in Lhuri, hada vision to get the school up and runningagain. As a teacher, he recognized theproblems when children do not have accessto education. But the ailing infrastructure andpoor school conditions affect studentperformance and learning.In 2021, 23 students attended the school.Since the children have not had any regularlessons up to now, there has not been anyclass assignment. From 2022, 11 children willbe in the care (nursery), 5 children inkindergarten and 7 children in the 1st grade.With each additional school year, the nexthigher class will start, so that class 5 can be put into

If you walk a few hours north from Sal-dang along the Nagaon River towardsTibet, you will come to the village ofNyisal on the right hand side.Since the winter of 2019, up to 40pupils have been able to attend thenewly established winter school inNyisal.The basic conditions for the school andthe life of the people in Nyisal are prettymuch identical to the village and schoolin Saldang. Nyisal is 3,800 meters abovesea level.

Regular discussions with Pema TseringGurung, as head of the school committee,help to clarify the needs and necessarychanges as well as the annual need for sup-port. It is not always easy to recruit teachersfor this work in the harsh winter, so the rec-

Old school in Lhuri Dawa Phuntsok

Pema Tsering Gurung Nyima Tashi Gurung

The rapid implementation is made possibleprimarily by generous donations from Gabyand Matthias Wahl to the HUMAN Founda-tion.

The school is built in memory of her lateson Alexander Wahl.Alexander was fascinated by the people andculture of Tibet and Nepal. Through this workwe will forever remember him.

Together we want to run the school and thusenable the children in this region to get afuture through education.

operation in 2026. In total we will employ up toseven teachers.

In the long run, an increasing number ofstudents is to be expected, since thechildren from Sungjer and Ke are also beingtaught. The children from Sungjer will sleepat school because of the long journey. Theschool runs from April to October.

A total of 12 buildings are planned to beerected by 2024: 7 classrooms, two bed-rooms, 1 kitchen, an office and a larger roomfor further training purposes. The construc-tion of three rooms has already started.

The HUMAN Foundation has agreed toensure the operation of the school for at least20 years.

Further Projects

Depending on the need and usefulness, wealso support other projects.We provided financial support during theearthquake in 2015 and also during thepandemic in 2021. Together with our partner,the DTCF and other NGOs, 755 families inUpper Dolpo were provided with food. Due toCovid-19, the living conditions for the needypeople in Nepal have also deteriorated.

Humanitarian support for people in pov-erty and need is the basis of our work.

Edith and Karlheinz Neumann initiated HUMAN Founda-tion in order to support poor and needy people, in particu-lar children.‚‚GIVE CHILDREN A FUTURE‘ is our vision.We allocate 100% of all donations to our projectsBank Account: HUMAN-Stiftung,IBAN: DE59 7025 0150 0027 9484 70www.human-stiftung.org

Our administrative partner in Nepal is the Dolpo TulkuCharitable Foundation, founded by Dolpo Tulku Rin-poche.The DTCF is aimed at supporting people in the Dolporegion in all aspects of their life, either by education, medi-cal care or improving their living conditions.

www.dolpotulku.org

At the end of class five/six, the children haveto pass an exam. If successful, they areallowed to go to Kathmandu into the (higher)Secondary school. These schools and hostelsare also funded by private organizations. Sofar, all children from Saldang successfullypassed the exam, which is also a result of thewinter school. Four students from Saldangcan go to Kathmandu every year. So far, how-ever, there has been no problem.

How can we now exactly influence child-ren’s and people’s life in this region withour project?

The children learn to read, write and math,learn to speak and read the Tibetan, Nepaliand partially the English language.

They get general knowledge and a deeperunderstanding of Tibetan culture. They get achoice how and where they want to livetheir life.

The young adults are able to organize livingconditions in the village and to managetheir farming more effective. They get amuch better relation to money and live aconscious life. Women dare to ask for helpat birth, children give their parents supportwhen they are facing problems. They are pre-pared to manage daily life in the village.

Children, who start school in the cities, returnless often back to home compared to thosechildren, beginning school in the villages.They have a much stronger relationship andresponsibility for their families and are moreopen for Tibetan culture.

There is no violence in the schools but asocial togetherness.

We have the certainty that with the support ofthe schools in Upper Dolpo we are on theright track and that we are setting the rightaccents. Together with the teachers in the vil-lages and our administrative partner DTCF,many children are able to lead a self-deter-mined life.

The visits to the villages encourage us inour actions and are an unforgettable expe-rience.

Anyone who can spend three to four weeks inthis indescribable mountain landscape withthe Dolpa-Pa can count themselves very luckyand collect impressions that will last a lifetime.

The HUMAN Foundation completelyfinances the operation of the two winterschools: the teachers and the kitchen staff,the daily meal as well as some learning mate-rials. All costs are covered for the schoolin Lhuri: construction and maintenance of 12school buildings as well as all running costs ofthe school.

Summary