Doris Eddelbüttel
NEWSLETTER FEBRUAR 2006
As I flew to Leh on the 19th January I was greeted by an exceptionally snowy
Ladakh- more than 40 centimeters, which is quite a lot for a desert. Temperatures
were as low as –32° Celsius at night but bearable in daytime when the sun
was out.
In September 2005 the first eleven nuns moved into the five completed rooms of
Gaden Chhatnyanling. Each rooms has a wooden floor, light yellow walls and a
nice cozy atmosphere with a little oven being the center of the rooms at this
time of year.
There is a sheltered access to two Ladakhi toilets via a hallway on the north
side of the rooms. I was very happy to see the quality of the building and the
seven nuns that were present at the time of my visit are very happy. They are
so grateful to all the sponsors that they chant for them every night. Ten of
the nuns are elderly with one nun in her twenties supporting them.
Mr. Ishe, the project manager, showed me around the building site. Five more
rooms are waiting to be completed in the new season now having roofs and window
frames but no windows, plaster and floors yet.
19.000 bricks are also ready to be used as soon as it gets warm.
The plan for 2006 is to build a kitchen, community/school hall, storeroom and
four bathrooms to provide adequate facilities for a community of around 20 nuns
by the end of the summer.
De Dharma Gaia Trust (Budhist peace fellowship) has started building a mudbrick
wall around the vicinity of the nunnery to protect the future garden and orchard
from wandering cows and nibbling animals. It is now 60% complete.
For the contents of the future kitchen a local sponsor has already been found.
Part of my mission was to get a better understanding of the whole project, the
cost involved and the priorities in the years to come. The complete future nunnery
will consist of a two-story hostel with twenty-five rooms and bathrooms and dining
facilities. There will also be separate buildings of a lecture/school hall, an
office, a guesthouse and a gompa.
The cost of the complete project will be around 330.000 Euro. This seems quite
a lot at first but the plan is to have a really nice and big nunnery with a strong
community at this auspicious site. The spirit at Nyerma is to be patient and
persistent and make it happen in the long run and let the divine step in and
help us. And the first five rooms are proof that it is working!!
The following days were filled with a lot of number crunching. Mr. Ishe explained
how the funds have been spent so far and is working with the LNA accountant to
satisfy both government officials and the sponsors.
Some expenses like a 1300 RS (25 Euro) lunch seemed a bit baffling at first but
the story behind it is, that this was spent on food for 200 villagers who had
been carrying stones all day to fill the foundation.
So it was an excellent deal and the support by the villagers with labor, materials
and food is amazing.
Mr.Ishe answered all questions to my full satisfaction and we are lucky to have
such a committed project manager.
During my stay I became aware of two gaps in our current fundraising strategy.
While we are doing our best to spread the word of the Ladakhi nuns in Europe,
many tourists in Ladakh go home without ever becoming aware of the existence
of nuns and their needs and whereabouts. Therefore I worked on a draft for a
leaflet to be laid out in restaurants, guesthouses and projects in Leh to inform
the tourists about the nuns and offer them weekly presentations at the LNA center.
The presentations will be held by Dr. Palmo’s assistants, who are cheerful, intelligent
nuns in their early twenties.
The other gap arises between what the nuns at Nyerma
need the most (accommodation, food, a meeting room) and what foundations in Europe
are prepared to sponsor (schools, lecture halls, office buildings). It seems
that we have a very busy year ahead of us raising funds for the more profane
parts of the nunnery while simultaneously writing grant proposals for the educational
bits.
If you feel inspired to get involved,
please do so. We need your help!
top
2008
Powered by:
Webdesign SoleiL