<div>Dolpa is one of Nepal’s remotest, most isolated regions. This part of the Himalayan range is sparsely populated with some of the highest permanent human settlements. To the north, Dolpa borders the Tibetan plateau. This upper part of the Dolpa district is commonly known as Dolpo. To the east, west and south, Dolpa borders the Nepali mountain districts of Mustang, Jumla, Mugu, Myagdi, Rukum and Jajarkot.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Dolpa is widely known for its stunning natural beauty and sacred pilgrimage sites. It is home to turquoise lakes, sacred mountains and a stunning biodiversity that includes yartsa gunbhu, snow leopards, musk deer, blue sheep, and a wide variety of plants used for medicinal purposes. The gonpas (monasteries) and stupas spread across the Dolpa landscape are often centuries-old and continue to play a central role in the life of the Dolpopa (people of Dolpa).
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/69750525_1670377755918837_r." width="100%" />
<div>But like many other communities worldwide, the Dolpopa are losing their cultural and natural heritage due to ongoing foreign demand. To put it simply: people outside of Dolpa pay a lot of money for Dolpa’s cultural heritage, such as statues, thangkas, and other cultural and religious items. Because of this, cultural items are stolen from sites of worship or people’s houses and sold for profit. These items then end up in private and public collections elsewhere, such as museums.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>When I travelled to Dolpa for the first time last year to research the looting and trafficking of its cultural and natural heritage, I was struck by its stunning natural and cultural beauty. The rugged landscape provides the backdrop for the amazing cultural expressions of Dolpopa. The gonpas and stupas that are scattered across the landscape, and the traditions and rituals that surrounded them, were such a privilege to experience. Dolpa's cultural and natural heritage have inspired many outsiders. But this means that Dolpa's cultural objects have been and continue to be looted. There was no gonpa or stupa I visited in Upper or Lower Dolpa that did not have one or more incidents of theft. Talking about this is painful, but necessary to work towards solutions. And so as a <a href="https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/staff/emilinesmith/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">criminologist</a>, I became interested in community-based opportunities for crime prevention.
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/69750525_1670378869993009_r." width="100%" />
<div>As part of a project for the University of Glasgow we developed a storybook about this topic, titled <a href="https://www.stolenstatues.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pema and the Stolen Statue from Dolpa</a> . <strong>The storybook is about Pema, a brave and confident girl from Dolpa who goes on an adventure to return one of Dolpa’s many stolen statues. The illustrated story, with text in Tibetan, Nepali and English, highlights the beauty of Dolpa’s unique cultural and natural heritage, and how we should all come together to protect it. </strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We hope that this trilingual storybook will stimulate awareness and knowledge exchange around looting and trafficking of cultural objects within Dolpa communities and ultimately inspire increased custodianship and protection. <strong>This storybook, beautifully illustrated by Krisha Tamrakar of Artudio (Nepal), is the first of its kind to address this issue - not only in Nepal, but globally. </strong>The storybook was launched in Kathmandu on 3 December 2022 at the Taragaon Next, and accompanied by an exclusive museum exhibition of four Dolpa artists (curated by Emiline Smith).
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Most books in Dolpa schools are in Nepali or English instead of Tibetan (Dolpa's main spoken language) and do not reflect the realities of Dolpa life. We therefore specifically intended for the illustrations in this book to be as representative of Dolpa as possible. This book was a passion project, supported financially by the ESRC in the UK, but more importantly, generously supported by countless friends who gave their time to proofread, translate, and advise and provide a more in-depth understanding of Dolpa. <strong>The book is distributed for free to all Dolpa schools and communities. </strong>
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/69750525_1670378911669439_r." width="100%" />
<div>But more help is needed to assist Dolpa communities in the protection and repatriation of their cultural and natural resources. <strong>With your donations, we will purchase stronger locks and other security measures to protect gonpas and cultural objects across Dolpa. </strong>And so we ask that you donate whatever you can to support these efforts.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Please note: no raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or returns on investment are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.
</div>

Ralf Diersch

Anonymous

Claire Hanrahan

Jenn Gaskell

Katrina Edwards

Avi Brisman

michael mccormick

O D Akinbolue

Valerio Scuro

Alesia Koush

Clare Harris

Ann Bates

Elena Cooper

Janine Ewen

thomas wiesemann

Protect Dolpa's Cultural Heritage

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Just £499£501£500£499£498£497 to go! Make an impact.

Protect Dolpa's Cultural Heritage

Just £499 to go!
Make an impact.