Zangdok Palri Project Newsletter - January 2009

In Dzogchen

School life continues as before. A number of the boys are continuing their studies at the Dzogchen monastery, as it is customary for each family to send at least one of its sons there. Life at the monastery not only provides these youngsters with a Buddhist spiritual education, it also ensures a certain income for them. As the population increases, monks are more and more often invited to conduct ceremonies and traditional rites, for which they receive a modest compensation.
As always when pupils leave the school-orphanage, new children swiftly took their places.

The school expansion project is still a priority and is coming into focus. Because of the local community's very rapid development, it has become virtually impossible to purchase building terrain around the school, unless at highly inflated prices. We will therefore scan the area around Dzogchen village to find a suitable spot for the new school building.

In the meantime, we will continue to invite Khenpos (teachers) several times a year to come and teach at the school-orphanage for a week or more, as an addition to the regular classes by our two woman teachers.

In Longchen Geje

In 2005, Zangdok Palri initiated and financed the building of a primary school and orphanage in the village of Longchen Geje in the Amdo region, to the northwest of Dzogchen. This school has now been taken over by our partner the Swedish Tibetan Society for School and Culture.
We wish all the youngsters in Longchen the best of luck with their studies!

In Europe

At our arts & crafts stands, we are often asked where we get our goods. We are very happy that more and more of our customers are becoming aware of fair trade principles and sustainable development. These are crucial considerations for us when buying products to sell on behalf of Zangdok Palri, and we are more than happy to present to you the fair trade partners responsible for virtually all the products we offer at our stands.

Mahaguthi (Nepal) markets the products of over 2.000 artisans, who not only receive above-average wages for their work but also technical training, medical care, retreat facilities, glasses, free eyesight checkups as well as interest-free loans. Annual profits are divided among the employees, but a large part also goes to the Tulsi Mehar Mahila ashram, which offers food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, schooling and technical training to women and children without means.

Sana Hastakala (Nepal) and Pekerti (Indonesia) operate in a similar fashion. They contract assignments for marginalised artisans in rural areas, enabling them to stay with their families in their villages while at the same time finding an outlet for their products.

Asha (India), which means "hope" in Hindi, protects the livelihood of thousands of artisans through their active promotion of fair trade.

We also work with a number of European suppliers who have over the years gained our trust in matters of ethical business. They visit the areas of origin regularly to ascertain the fairness of their various products.

Our Tibetan incense originates from Tibetan monasteries in India. Its traditional manufacture ensures that only herbs are used and no chemicals are added. The same exceptional quality is found in our braided incense, guaranteeing a reasonable income to the Nepalese families who produce it.

Our Christmas cards are produced by an artisan cooperative from a paper type based on Daphnae bark, a shrub that is grown on the hills of Nepal with the utmost care for sustainable development of forest resources. Proceeds are used by this cooperative for development activities within a Unicef/Nepal-based programme.

Our postcards and notebooks come from the Tibet Image Bank by the Tushita publishing house, which donates part of its profits to socio-cultural projects in Asia. A number of our other products, including handkerchiefs, bags and other woven artefacts, we buy directly from the Tibetan community in exile in Dharamsala (India).

So, with our sales stands we aim to benefit those less fortunate both before and after: procuring our goods and spending our profits. Our goal is to effectively contribute to a network of solidarity, which you too support each time you visit our stands.