Marlies Bosch
NEWSLETTER FALL 2005
Activities summer 2005
We are happy to inform you about the development of the DFLN-activities during
this last summer. Although three weeks before departure (on June 5th) it seemed
we could only bring close to 3000 Euro to Ladakh, all of a sudden donations came
pouring in and we were able to take 7000 Euro and 1000 Dollar to Leh.
Three Wesleyan students from Middletown, CT in the United States had arrived
the day before Marlies did. It took three weeks before they could actually start
working, but they adapted wonderfully, were relaxed and respectful. Once they
moved in with Mr. Yeshe, who supervises the undertaking of the building of Chhatnyanling
Nunnery at Nyerma, they started on filling in the holes of the foundations for
the rooms. A few weeks later the bricks arrived and the students could start
helping with the building of the next five rooms. In the mean time the inside
of the first five rooms were painted, windows and cupboards were installed and
at the end of August the floors will be ready as well. Ten beds are already made
to be moved into the rooms where in the middle of September the first ten nuns
will move in. The organization has planned a welcome-ceremony, at which the Rinpoche
of Thiksey will be present.
It was decided by the LNA board and Mr. Yeshe that the two Nyerma nuns who will
manage the nunnery, that is the 'two Tashi's'
(Lobsang Dolma and Lobsang Dolkar) will each receive 3000 rupees (about
60 US$) per month for their living expenses while supervising the building of
the nunnery.
During a Board meeting with the board of the Ladakh Nuns Association the problem
of getting the funds to Ladakh was discussed. This year the starting of the building
activities was delayed until Marlies went to Ladakh. Ladakh only has a short
span of summer time. That time is precious, so it is important to use it well.
We need, therefore, to get funds to Mr. Yeshe before the summer season so that
he may order necessary building supplies in due time.
Volunteers
We have learned a great deal from the experience of having volunteers coming
over to help with the actual building process. Two Dutch students came over in
March, and that visit was not very successful. There was no money available to
buy materials, so there was nothing they could do. We realize that we do need
to apply criteria to LNA visitors who want to be active and we need to prepare
people of the culture in Ladakh. Things can change quickly and appointments are
not always being followed up. Being mature and flexible is important. If you
feel you would personally like to help to build next summer:
let
us know.
For next year, we already have three volunteers:
One woman from Holland is going to teach the nuns a bit about cooking for 'spoiled' westerners
who will come and stay there 'all inclusive'
in the future.
An American woman, who has been teaching at the International School in Groningen
(Netherlands) for a long time, will go to Leh for at least three months to develop
a curriculum for teaching English to, and for, nuns so there will be consistency
in teaching.
Another American woman will do research on the situation of the nuns in Ladakh,
past and present.
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Sponsors' puja
On the initiative of the Ladakh Nuns Association, a very special ceremony was
conducted by ten monks (the nuns do not yet have instructions in how to perform
such a ritual) in honor of the sponsors of the Nyerma Nunnery project. The puja
took all day and the monks prayed for the benefit of all present and future sponsors
of the nuns. During the prayers (see photos) the dough Buddha and figures were
set upon a plate by a monk and at the end carried outside. There the blessings
could be sent in all directions on earth, so they could reach all benefactors.
The nuns received lessons from their Geshe, Geshe tarchen, for a whole week.
That is very unique, and all nuns felt very blessed. Some of the older ones know
some prayers by heart, and now they will start learning how to read and write.
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Special Helpers
The DFLN benefited this year from the help of two special women.
Doris Eddelbüttel, a German woman who spent last summer in
Ladakh and helped the LNA, has sent 700 flyers and posters to Buddhist Communities
in Germany. As a result, we are still receiving donations from Germans, which
have already added up to
€700. A friend of Marlies' went to Ladakh and she took the money
to hand it over to Mr. I-she or Dr. Palmo. It is meant for the nunnery materials.
She also sent a letter to a number of German Roman Catholic nunneries. As a result
some nunneries respond by sending us large gifts.
Nel Willekens, who built the Temisgang nunnery with a number
of Dutch volunteers, was one of the people who made it possible for us to come
up with the amount of money for Nyerma as we did, and now she is willing to supply
the DFLN with the addresses of the sponsors for Temisgang so we may approach
them with a letter, telling them that Nel is now working with us. She will also
give us addresses of the skilled volunteers who actually helped with the building
of Temisgang, so that we may ask if anyone of them is interested in helping out
with the building in Nyerma. We will ask Amchi Thupstan (Abbess of Temisgang)
if we can use some of the equipment they left behind.
A Dutch couple,
Henk and Ada Knol, that is running a camping
in France, called
Les Matherons », has decided to donate
their 'tip-box' of this summer to the DFLN. They also
'adopted' a nun, who lives in a LNA shelter in Leh for a period
of three years and sold postcards for the benefit of the nuns.
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Sponsoring 4 young nuns
Right now we want to show you the photos of 4 nuns, who right now are desperately
looking for sponsors due to personal circumstances. They are staying in Kathmandu,
they study at the Kopan nunnery of Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa, but that nunnery
is full so they need to rent a room to live in. If you feel connected to any
of these 4 courageous young women, please
contact us.
We will send the money to them through the international FPMT account. After
they finish their studies they will go back to Ladakh and start a new nunnery
for at least 11 young nuns who are waiting to join them. They lived at the Mahabodhi
nunnery before.
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Activities to come
We will attend the Tibet day in Almere on December 10th and Marlies Bosch will
give a power-point presentation there about the unique situation of the nuns
in that area.
We will follow the example of Doris Eddelbüttel and send a letter to the Dutch
Roman Catholic nunneries. It is important for us as a foundation to keep the
flow of funding coming in. We hope to finish the building at Nyerma within the
next three years, but a lot still has to be done. On this website you can see
the plans for the nunnery. We also include the information about the estimated
prices of square meters of each part of the building. We would like to invite
you to
'buy' a piece of the building, and help the nuns out for the
next three years. You can also decide to 'buy' kitchen equipment, robes
or books for the nuns.
We will include at least 5 guestrooms. Having paying meditation-vacation guests
in this beautiful spot of Ladakh will ensure the future of the nunneries and
the nuns: they will be totally independent of foreign donations.
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Special Call
Please, if you ever decide to give a donation or become a sponsor, leave
us a message on our website at:
info@ladakhnuns.com.
Sometimes generous gifts come in, and on the (international) Postbank statement
sent by IBAN code we cannot see who has sent it to us. We would like to be able
to keep in touch with you and keep you informed about our progress.
Our website is visited around 1200 times a month, and sometimes people offer
their services through the site. You are welcome to let us know if you have any
interest in helping us out in any way you see possible.
The board of the DFLN
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2008
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