Drikung Kagyu Foundation

The goal of this project is to complete construction of the Shantideva School, which provides housing and transport for 200 girls who cannot otherwise find safe housing near schools in Leh, the joint capital and largest town of Ladakh in India. Many of these girls come from rural areas around Leh and thus cannot stay in town safely without family, thereby forgoing education. As you can see below, while the building is done the interior, furniture and bathrooms are not nor is the hot water heating or solar. In Leh where the Winter can be -15C having hot water and heating is very important. The video above was made on the 3rd of December. 
 


This is why Ladakh has not just relatively high illiteracy rates but an enormous gender gap in literacy and education. A combination of remote villages without schools and lack of boarding options near schools makes it very hard for young women in rural areas to get access to education. Literacy rate for women in remote rural areas is only 59.13% compared to 74.86% for women in urban areas and 92% for men in urban areas (India census 2011  ). 

Photo of reforestation fields near the Shantideva School.

Closer Map showing the school near Fiang village approximately 12km from Leh.

The school enveloped in snow in the winter.

Image of the school under construction.

Front entrance of the school.

Construction of the Shantideva School which comprises of four blocks with double story building commenced 18 months ago. The first block houses the sleeping quarters, the second block is the kitchen and store rooms, the third block is the reading room, dining room, recreation room, and fourth block is the common toilets. All rooms will be equipped with solar heating systems to keep the place warm during chilly winters.

The Shantideva School will be managed by the Drikung Dharma Foundation , a local charitable organization whose facebook page can be found here . 

If you like any of the following: 

- Helping disadvantaged girls go to school
- Helping orphaned children have a home and complete their schooling
- Helping alleviate rural poverty and illiteracy
- Making Ladakh stronger, better educated and more secure

This project is for you.

Q&A

Who is the Drikung Kagyu Foundation?  
The Drikung Kagyu Foundation  is a 501c3 charity that is associated with the Drikung Kagyu order of Tibetan Buddhism. This project while it is being implemented by a religious charity will facilitate normal education programs. Much as many charitable organizations in the West are associated with Churches, in predominantly Buddhist areas of Ladakh the charities are often associated with Buddhism. You can read all about them here.

Where is Leh, Ladakh?
Ladakh is located in Northern India. It used to be part of Jammu and Kashmir but is now separate. Ladakh has been described as "little Tibet" for its predominantly Buddhist population and the extraordinary number of monasteries and temples in the area. The scenery is also stunning - like Afghanistan but a lot safer. Its economy runs on subsistence farming but also tourism so if you want to visit you would be most welcome. TripAdvisor as some good information and here is a good guide to some of the monasteries in the area.

Why is my card payment not going through?
We have found that US, Australian and European card payments are going through fine but Singapore is not. This is because Paypal / Gofundme's payment network previously included Wirecard, which was a large financial fraud and shut down and banned from operating in Singapore. We will be setting up an alternative site for donations from Singapore.



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Update! We did it! School is taking enrollments. Gofundme raised some, Chuffed raised more and we had a few larger direct donations. Thankyou for all your help and tashi delek!