A School Where None Existed:
The people of Payingdem village in the northeastern tip of India live in severe poverty, and nearly half the residents are illiterate. Before the establishment of Lhundrüp Topgyé Ling School, children in this mountainous region had little access to education, even at the most basic level. The Lhundrüp Topgyé Ling School opened its doors in June 2002, and a year later the LTL Nursery was added. With Vision Builders’ financial support, the residents of Payingdem pulled together in an incredible community effort to construct the school, nursery and eventual medical clinic. The school project now provides essential academic training and basic medical treatment while striving to preserve the region’s cultural and artistic treasures.
Our first project takes flight…
We’ve been very happy to support the Lhundrüp Topgyé Ling School. Our partner, Lopön P. Ögyen Ten’dzin, has created a ground-breaking mountain school project and medical center where none existed before. Why wasn’t there a school up there? In addition to severe poverty, the extreme remoteness of the village was an obstacle! It took tremendous effort and (by local standards) cost to transport all the building materials and water-purification equipment up the mountain. Over the past decade, Vision Builders has helped Lama Ten’dzin overcome these challenges to create an entire infrastructure—everything needed for a sustainable school.
Now, with facilities in place, the Lhundrüp Topgyé Ling School functions on its own to improve the lives of the children on the mountain—our ultimate goal! They now organize their own independent fund-raising efforts to focus on covering ongoing operating costs. Vision Builders is committed to providing technical support to Lhundrüp Topgyé Ling as they continue to expand their own fund-raising efforts—look for a website soon!
Snapshot of Innovation: The Lhundrüp Topgyé Ling Nursery School
In many parts of the world, simple economics and persistent gender bias continue to prevent girls from getting an education. Families rely much more heavily upon girls for household and childcare labor, so the loss of a girl’s time to schooling is often a price poor families cannot afford to pay. Providing infant care for younger siblings while parents work outside the home is an overwhelming reason girls are not in school.
The Nursery School at Lhundrüp Topgyé Ling School was built to address this problem. With the cooperative nursery school in place, everyone benefits. Village families have a safe, nurturing environment for their preschoolers, and their school-age daughters are free to take advantage of the educational opportunity available. Thanks to this small nursery project, gender parity in educational opportunity—a challenge still grappled with the world over—has been achieved.
“My goal is not to merely start a school but to help the whole community there thrive.”
Lopön P. Ögyen Ten’dzin, Head Master
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