School association Lo - Manthang
Objectives:
The association is committed to improving the living conditions of the people in Mustang and Dolpo, in particular it is committed to the literacy and education of children, because children have without reading and writing even in the most remote mountain areas poor future prospects. For this reason the school association supports locally initiated, officially recognized schools that allow children a training based on their own Tibetan Buddhist culture. Other important goals are health promotion and counseling.
Find out more about the Mustang and Dolpo districts:
The small former kingdom of Mustang and also the remote Dolpo belong politically to Nepal and are located north of the Himalayan main range on the "roof of the world". The geographically remote, and politically exposed location on the border with Tibet results in Mustang and increasingly also in Dolpo to far-reaching economic, social and cultural changes, because the closure of the Tibetan border by China brought the collapse of existentially important trade and resulted or will lead to the impoverishment of the population.
Dolpo is one of the most remote areas of the world and is only accessible via passes over 5000 meters. The extreme climatic conditions and the lack of infrastructure make life extremely difficult. A high percentage of the population lives below the poverty line. The infant mortality rate is among the highest in the world. State medical care is not available. The illiteracy rate is around 50%, among women around 80%.
Our projects:
in Dolpo
- The school association is funding a primary school in Namdo/Upper Dolpo with currently around 75 children. The school is run semi-private, because two teachers' salaries are paid by the State. Public schools do not exist in the Dolpo. School attendance is free, but the local village representative must pay for the premises, and the parents have to help with the maintenance.
- The association is running a hostel with housemother in Kathmandu. Here talented young people from Dolpo are accommodated to allow them joining the Secondary School. This is otherwise not possible in Dolpo. For the future it is important for the Dolpo region that young people with better training of their own populations grow up.
Our effort in Dolpo comprises all costs of school operations, the hostel, the school fees of secondary students, and the salary for a nurse.
in Mustang
The school association supports two boarding schools, a convent school for boys in Lo-Manthang and one for girls in Tsarang.
Students come from very poor families. School attendance is free. The boys and girls receive in addition to the Nepali curriculum the traditional training as a Buddhist monk or nun. For the residents of Mustangs, the monastic schools are a source of their own culture and language and thus are an important point of reference in daily life for all of them. The school association participates in the cost of living of the boys and girls.
We mediate, among others things, also project and individual sponsorships. We are happy to answer your questions.
Schulverein Lo-Manthang, Eggmattweg 10, CH 4312 Magden, phone +41 61 8412851,
mail: info(at)lo-manthang.ch
Contact: Sonngard Trindler
Learn more on www.lo-manthang.ch or www.facebook.com/Schulverein-Lo-Manthang
Please donate to the Foundation's account under the heading “Schulverein Lo-Manthang”, and add the chosen project (Dolpo or Mustang)