A message from Nadine Donnet the new Director of Programs for Karuna-Shechen (replacing Isabelle Pastor who retired in August):

In spite of 35 years of a long professional life, divided between being a university teacher and a researcher, and after 15 successful years as a humanitarian project manager, I thought that the time had not yet come to rest; I had not done enough to enrich my personal professional experience.

Therefore, I offered Karuna-Shechen my peaceful retirement years at home in France, and accepted the position of Director of Programs in the Himalayan areas with the personal wish to learn more.

I would like to devote myself to Karuna-Shechen: to developing further the quality of its activities, to launch new projects, some involving environmental concerns, and to learn from Karuna-Shechen’s compassionate philosophy and therefore develop greater wisdom for myself.

Nadine Donnet        France     August 2010

Last spring Karuna-Shechen pledged to assist earthquake victims in Yushu, eastern Tibet for this winter. To accomplish this we are partnering with a small local organization that has 15 years of experience working in development projects in the area and that is fully capable of implementing this relief aid program. 

Karuna-Shechen has sent $70,000 to be used to assist more than 250 destitute families (from among 3,000 families in a population of 1,5000) in the Yushu earthquake-zone. Individuals from the most vulnerable groups such as single parents and elderly families will be carefully and fairly selected to receive direct support and aid. Winter boots, Tibetan chubas (dress worn by men and women), cooking implements, tents, and tracksuits will be among the many necessities distributed to those in need. 

Last April, at a conference in Zurich, Matthieu Ricard met Bunker Roy, the founder of the Barefoot College. This meeting led to a new milestone in Karuna-Shechen’s work to improve the quality of life and health in villages in Bihar, India.

The Barefoot College, based in Rajasthan, India, has been a leader in sustainable, community development since 1972. It provides basic services and solutions to problems in rural communities with the objective of making them self-sufficient and sustainable. The college believes that for a rural development to be sustainable, it must be based in the village as well as managed and owned by those it serves.

Men and women who are barely literate or not at all, have trained there to become teachers, solar engineers, mechanics, accountants, and so on.

The “barefoot strategy” for bringing solar electrification to poor villages is based on empowering women. Grandmothers, or widows or single women (maximum 45 years old), literate or illiterate, are trained at the Barefoot College for 6 months to become solar engineers. The training builds the women’s self-esteem and self-reliance.

Five grandmothers from our villages were chosen to take the training.

In rural Bihar, women are not respected and are still under total male domination. Our challenge was how to convince the husbands to let the women go over 1000 kilometers away for training.

The staff of the Barefoot College understands this problem and sent a number of women who had  already trained to convince the husbands and local population of the benefits of the program. It worked, and five grandmothers set out to begin their 6-month training in July.

Our village grandmothers will learn how to build solar panels, how to make individual solar lamps, how to follow the maintenance, how to build solar cooking tools, and other training. The Barefoot College and the Indian Government pays for the training and transportation K-S pays for materials. Donations for this large expense are welcome!

When their 6-month training is finished each woman engineer will install and maintain 50 solar electrified houses in her village. 

We look forward to our grandmothers’ return so there will be light for the children to study at night after working in the fields, hot water for sanitation, and all the many other benefits of electricity that can transform the life in the village. As Bunker Roy says, they leave their villages downtrodden women and return as women engineers respected in the community and with a unique skill that benefits all.

Karuna-Shechen is undertaking an exciting project in eastern Tibet. For the last eight years its Shechen School has been very successful and the school’s alumni do well. However, the facilities are just too small and, most importantly, not earthquake-resistant (it is located about 3 hours from where the last earthquake struck). An increasing number of children have applied to enter the school as quality education is a primary need in the area. 

One hundred and eighty students (soon to be 200) from the nomad areas surrounding Shechen Monastery in eastern Tibet are enrolled in the school. Classes are conducted in Chinese but a strong focus on Tibetan language is maintained throughout the curriculum. Learning in both Tibetan and Chinese languages preserves their heritage and provides a better opportunity to go on to higher education. Food shelter, education, books and supplies, medical care, and clothing are all offered at no charge.

Shechen School needs more classrooms and an expanded dining area.

Under the guidance of a German engineer and architect, K-S will build a new the school to replace the present one using special materials to provide a safe, comfortable, and upgraded environment for the more than 200 children who will study and live there. The budget is $450,000, and so far we have raised about $225,000.

Education of the young is one of the most important contributions you can make to the people of Tibet. Please help us continue to provide education for Tibetan children who are disadvantaged in their own country by pledging to this important building fund.

Thank you.

Frederick Lichtenstein, the designer of the Karuna-Shechen website and the founder of Filmages, has made a short film on the Bamboo School in Jorpati, Nepal. View it on the Karuna-Shechen home page.

 Matthieu Ricard and boys from the bamboo school

Charles-Mathieu Brunelle, the president of Karuna-Shechen Canada, has extensive experience in managing cultural organizations and enterprises. He is the Executive Director of Montreal's Nature Museums (Biodome, Insectarium, Botanical Garden and Planetarium) and was appointed by the city of Montreal to reinvigorate this prestigious group of institutions.

Over the years, he has been a guest speaker at many conferences on creativity, representing the Canadian government throughout the world. He has been part of several activities that have shaped Montreal’s cultural scene.

 “My involvement with Karuna- Shechen is definitely a heart connection - helping people in need and preserving a heritage that is one of humanity's most precious treasure.”

And indeed he and his team in Canada have worked hard to create very successful conferences and events for Karuna-Shechen. He has introduced its work and vision to a whole audience and raised considerable funds for its projects, most recently for a new bamboo school in Nepal.