great compassion boarding school lo-manthang

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GREAT COMPASSION BOARDING SCHOOL
LO-MANTHANG (MUSTANG)
NEPAL
Complete renovation of a flat roof in soil/straw of a school for
75 children in Lo-Manthang
Due to the impact of global warming
OME asbl – Rue de la Sapinière, 35 – 1170 BRUXELLES
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I.
Introduction : quick reading of the project
The GCBS (Great Compassion Boarding School) has two bases in Nepal : one in
Pokhara, second city of the country after Kathmandu, and the other in LoManthang, in Mustang, a district in the north of Nepal, bordering with Tibet.
Upper Mustang is a Himalayan region with a particularly arid climate. Its altitude
varies between 2900 and 6000 meters high. This region used to receive monsoon
rains only in rare occurrences, when the monsoon was strong enough to cross the
natural barrier of the Annapurna range. This has been so for centuries, and for
centuries, the inhabitants of these regions built their roofs with local natural
material adapted to the climate.
Over the last two decades, things have gradually changed due to global warming.
During the last decade in particular, the monsoon reached Mustang on a regular
basis, with more intense and more frequent rains. Traditional roofs, ill adapted to
these new conditions, do not protect walls as they should anymore, and many
buildings are damaged, or even partly threatened.
In the GCBS, the roof is damaged in many places, causing infiltrations, and the
building risks suffering irreversible damage if no solution is found.
After a visit on the spot with some experts during the summer 2014, OME asbl has
committed to raise the necessary funds in order to make a durable repair. Our
willingness is to preserve the unique and traditional character of the building by
putting in place a durable and ecological solution.
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II.
Elements of geography
Mustang is one of Nepal’s 75 districts. It is located in the north-east of the country
and borders Tibet (China). Its territory spreads over some 80 km from north to
south and 45 km in its biggest width for an area of 1200 km2. Due to its altitude it
can be classified as a subarctic zone from 3.600 to 4.100 m.
Mustang is a formerly independent kingdom which is an integral part of the
Nepalese territory since 1951. The capital of the kingdom is the village of LoManthang, and the capital of the administrative district of Mustang is situated in
Jomoson (or Jomsom). Upper Mustang starts in Jomoson and is a region of high
Himalayan plateaus.
Upper Mustang is a particularly difficult to reach region. Jomoson is the last
accessible communication hub and last small airport before engaging in the valley
of the Kali Gandaki towards the capital Lo-Manthang. Upper Mustang has hardly
any means of communication apart from trails and a road that is under
construction, and it still takes 5 to 8 days of walk to reach the capital.
Situated behind a mountainous barrier, Mustang was traditionally isolated from
the Indian monsoon. It is a largely arid region, with normal annual rainfall from
250 to 400 mm. Due to this drought and despite the average altitude (around
4000m), snowfalls are scarce.
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The Kali Gandaki river takes its source on the territory of Mustang at an altitude
of 5000m and spreads its valley, dividing its territory in a north-east/south-west
direction towards the Nepalese Terai. This valley used to be a commercial route
between India and Tibet, in particular for salt. A part of the Kali Gandaki valley,
the Thak Khola, is the deepest canyon in the world. In the south, on the Nepalese
side, two access ways, and among them the deep canyon separating the
Dhaulagiri (8172m) from the Annapurna (8078m). In the north, towards Tibet, the
lowest pass is 4270m high, two months by walk away from Lhassa. In the east and
west, the mountainous ranges make it impossible to go through… (Wikipedia).
III.
Climate change
Due to its extreme geographic situation, Mustang is a victim of global climate
change. One of the most striking examples is the village of Sam Dzong. This village
situated at 3800m above sea level used to get its water from one of the glaciers
which overhang the village. Through a simple but efficient irrigation system, the
villagers lived for centuries out of agriculture and cattle breeding. Due to global
warming, the glacier has significantly reduced. Sam Dzong does not have access
to water anymore and cannot survive.
These phenomena are particularly well described and shown in the movie from
Manuel Bauer, a Swiss photographer who fell in love with Mustang and who is
deeply interested by the impact of climate change in this region of the world.
( http://www.compass-film.de/index.php/projets.html - use the password
qwerty). On the same subject, the 5 reports of the G.I.E.C. illustrate well the
ongoing changes. They are available here :
http://www.ipcc.ch/home_languages_main_french.shtml
Thanks to the action of Lama Ngawang Kunga Bista, a monk who is very
committed in Mustang (see further) and to the many funds collected notably in
Switserland (http://samdzong.org/ ), the village has been re-built down on the
riverside, on a land given by the king.
Two other villages are presently threatened in a similar way.
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Another obvious sign of a changing climatic pattern: the monsoon, coming from
India, reached Mustang only occasionally and lightly. Nowadays, it crosses more
and more regularly the Himalayan barriers. Year after year, rains are stronger and
more frequent in Lo-Manthang. It damages traditional buildings which have not
been built in a way to withstand such a climate.
This is the case for the Great Compassion Boarding School, as explained further
on.
IV.
Lama NGAWANG and the GCBS
Lama Ngawang Kunga Bista is a monk born in Mustang on 20 October 1971. As is
often the tradition in Tibetan culture, his parents decided to entrust their son to
the monastery in order to give him an education. In this time, the monastery in
Lo-Manthang has no school and at the age of 8, the young Ngawang is sent to a
monastery in India in order to receive the education corresponding to his lineage.
The climate is totally different from Lo-Manthang: he goes from 3000m and an
arid climate to a much lower altitude, with high temperatures and a very wet
climate. Separated from his parents, whom he will not see any more until the age
of 18, the young Ngawang will live this part of his life as a traumatic experience.
He wants to go back to Mustang and will do anything he can to avoid sending
other young people from Mustang to live through this ordeal. He uses some
money given to him by his mother, who comes and visits him for his 18th birthday
to leave the monastery and go back to Lo-Manthang.
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Upon his return in Lo-Manthang, he goes back to his first monastery (Choede) and
decides to open a school. His superior supports and encourages him in this
initiative. Shortly after, he realises that the homework is rarely done because
there is no follow-up at home. He understands that unless you educate women,
this situation is not likely to change, because mothers are alone at home during
the agricultural season and are unable to help their sons.
He then asks the permission to his hierarchy to welcome girls in the monastic
school he opened, but the superior refuses.
In the meantime, the young monk became a lama and began studying English. He
got in touch with the first tourists and trekkers visiting Mustang after its opening
in 1992. He then decided to ask for help, and this is how he was invited several
times to Germany, then to Switzerland, where he builds sand mandalas and
collects funds.
A foundation is created in Switzerland, the “Himalaya’s Children Foundation”,
thanks to which Lama Ngawang builds his own school in 2000: the “Great
Compassion Boarding School”. Out of the monastery, this school can welcome
girls.
The boarding school welcomes children from the poorest families from all over
Mustang and offers a comprehensive, official education, completed by teaching
of Tibetan language and courses of Buddhist philosophy, thereby contributing to
the transmission of their ancestral culture. Only condition to be admitted: the
parents must be financially incapable to pay for the studies of their child as is the
case in a traditional school.
Today, the GCBS has two implantations (Pokhara and Lo-Manthang) to follow the
seasonal migration of the population. Indeed, from October to end of March, the
population goes down to the cities of Pokhara or even Kathmandu to escape from
a harsh winter.
The school welcomes nearly 240 children, among whom a majority of girls, and
some thirty of them have now reached college. The latter are about to be hosted
in a newly built hostel and entirely financed through the Swiss foundation.
The cost of schooling for the children is financed through a significant network of
private sponsors, mainly in Switzerland, but also in Austria, Germany, Italy and
Belgium. There are even a few sponsors in Japan.
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GCBS Lo-Manthang, view of the playground and the classes
GCBS Lo-Manthang, view of the playground and the dining hall
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OME not-for-profit organisation is nowadays responsible of a network of 14
sponsors. It is also going to establish soon a computer room for college students
in the newly built hostel.
Lama Ngawang has a vision which is at the same time very comprehensive and
sustainable for Mustang. He has become a highly appreciated figure thanks to his
very committed action in favour of education and health. More recently, he has
thrown himself with conviction in ecological projects, notably by leading the
plantation of several thousand trees and by managing the move of the village of
Sam Dzong.
Entrance of the school of Lo-Manthang
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Implantation of Pokhara
V.
OME asbl
Ouvertures et Mieux-Etre asbl is a not-for-profit association born from the
encounter of three worlds: (1) Buddhism, (2) personal development and wellbeing, and (3) education and training in underserved settings, and most notably
in languages.
The association wishes to favour, through its different activities, the opening to
one-self and to others, as well as the resulting well-being.
Openings
Open to one-self, discover one-self, accept one-self is of course the first decisive
step. The activities proposed by OME asbl tend to favour this knowledge and this
opening: workshops, seminars, conferences, meditation, consultations in psychoastrology. It is obviously as important to open to others. All our activities go in
that direction, in particular our language courses, seminar or linguistic travels
abroad.
OME asbl – Rue de la Sapinière, 35 – 1170 BRUXELLES
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Better being
We live a hectic era, very destabilizing for many people. Powerful energies are at
work and many find it hard to follow, to question themselves and to find serenity,
joy and balance. All this is however possible, against all appearances and the
beliefs that hamper or agitate us. This is what OME asbl tries hard to mitigate
through its activities, by trying to make well-being available to all.
In summary, and as a motto: opening to oneself, to others in order to feel better
while serving a wider aim…
The statutes of the association have foreseen since its creation that the benefit of
its activities would be directed to support projects, both at national and
international levels. These projects should preferably have a humanitarian or an
educational aim.
In Belgium, the association finances a system of self-learning (e-learning) aimed
at underprivileged schools (schools for underprivileged students) in the region of
Brussels as well as Dutch classes for students recently arrived in Belgium.
In Nepal, the association has developed activities in two sectors: education and
access to health care. In education, OME finances the rent of the hostel for the
students of GCBS who have begun college. This support will be transferred in 2015
to the running costs of the new hostel which is currently being finalised.
Additionally, the association coordinates a network of sponsors who finance the
schooling of GCBS pupils. The extension of this activity during 2013 and 2014 has
motivated the submission of a request for acknowledgement to the Ministry of
Finance to obtain a tax deduction for the sponsorship of these children.
On the medical side, the association sends money to finance the medical transfer
of people from Mustang who cannot pay the travel to the closest hospitals or
health centres.
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VI.
The roof of the GCBS in Lo-Manthang and climate change
As mentioned above in point III., due to changing climatic patterns over the last
years, Lo-Manthang is increasingly affected by the monsoon from India, and the
rainfall is more and more intense. The techniques used to build the roofs are
traditional and take into account the fact that climate in Mustang has always been
arid. The roofs are made of beams of local wood (poplar) and split branches, with
straw and clay sealing off the mixture. All this used to resist well the sporadic and
light rain such as the traditional climate would experience.
This picture allows visualising the technique used for the roof
Side view of the layers constituting a traditional roof (clay/soil, straw and vegetal material, wood)
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Rare poplar plants. A durable solution will avoid an excessive use of this wood
Since the rain intensified, the roof has been regularly attacked and damaged in
several parts, in such a way that the walls are now threatened. During the summer
of 2014, a delegation of OME asbl travelled to Lo-Manthang and could realise the
extent of the damage, taking several pictures:
OME asbl – Rue de la Sapinière, 35 – 1170 BRUXELLES
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Flat roof covered with soil and sur-elevated due to a temporary repair with plastic
Damaged parts before opening
OME asbl – Rue de la Sapinière, 35 – 1170 BRUXELLES
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Opening of the roof showing a plastic in poor state and rotten straw
General view of the northern side of the roof with temporary iron sheeting
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Detail of temporary corrugated iron sheeting
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Detail of the southern part of the roof (sur-elevated with corrugated sheeting blocked with adobe bricks)
Same with view to the north
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Detailed view
Temporary repair in corrugated iron sheeting to preserve the building
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VII.
Implementation of a solution
During the same travel, different possible solutions were examined with Lama
Ngawang. One of them would consist of generalising the use of iron sheeting
as was made temporarily in the parts most affected by the last monsoon. This
solution is of course cheaper but it is less respectful of the traditional
architecture and above all, very noisy, which is ill adapted to a school
environment. This solution is therefore discarded.
Rebuild the roof in the same traditional way is also excluded, because it would
only represent a two-year respite, at best.
A third solution is put forward by a member of the group, expert in durable
building. It would consist in removing the upper layer of clay/soil and fix
underneath a thin, light and very resistant material. It is a rubber sheet of the
Tridex brand. Its resistance is perfectly adapted to the conditions observed on
the spot.
Scheme of the proposed solution
Above the poplar logs and the layer of poplar branches traditionally used, a layer
of barley straw is covered by another layer of filtered soil so as to remove any
cutting or sharp piece. On this basis, an EPDM Tridex layer is disposed to make the
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roof fully waterproof. Above this, a layer of DrainotechG20 plays the role of water
drainer and brings rainwater to the 15 collectors spread on the whole length of
the roof to evacuate it. Above this Drainotech, a layer of soil/clay is disposed as
on traditional roofs, which can be used to grow vegetables, or simply as vegetal
layer.
It has to be underlined that this solution, which is an absolute first in this region,
could be spread throughout Mustang both for collective buildings and individual
houses.
An extension of the mission is already envisaged to establish a contact with
authorities with the aim of including this concept in training curriculum. Indeed, a
well-trained team will be able to extend this implementation to other buildings. A
person in charge will be trained to make sure that the implementation of this kind
of rubber layer can be perpetuated with the aim to save old architectural
archetypes.
A link between this person in charge and the expert will be ensured to transport
the material on the spot. A control of the quality of the implementation will be
put in writing.
VIII. Budget
First of all, it is to be underlined that the works on the new roof will not imply
labour costs, since the local manpower will be provided by the school itself.
However, the transport of the materials up to Lo-Manthang will represent a
significant amount. The least costly is by boat. However slow, this is the
preferred transport mode for budgetary reasons. The operation is planned for
May 2015, during the dry season.
The budget can be broken down in the following budget items:
- Purchase of the material.
This will take place in Belgium, because this material is only produced in
Europe.
- Transport
For budgetary reasons, the transport will be by boat. This solution takes
longer but is much cheaper.
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- Coordination by and travel of the expert
The expert/coordinator is the person who accompanied us during the
summer 2014 and assessed the damage during our visit.
On the next page, you will find a breakdown of the different budget items and
the consolidated budget.
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Detail of the budget :
1. Purchase of the material
- Cutting of Tridex epdm 1,00mm : 7,00m x 9,5 m. Price for 15 pieces + 1
roll 1m x 20m.
Special price 5 pieces
11.692,80
Special price 1 roll
508,08
- Water collector EU-EPDM
diametre 90mm – 600mm x 17
280,47
- Tridex KS87 – 600ml x 36
537,02
- Mastic pump
18,68
- Drainotech – 950 m2 4,05€ x 950
3.847,50
Item Total
16.884,55
2. Transport (provision)
Item Total
4000,00
3. Expert transport and coordination of the work
- Transport expert A/R
- Tax for stay in Mustang
- Daily costs
Item Total
800,00
850,00
500,00
2.150,00
GENERAL TOTAL PROJECT
23.034,55
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Financing
In order to finance this project, OME foresees launching a call for funding towards
different charities and its members and sympathisers.
The producers of the materials that will be used have already brought a significant
contribution through the special prices they grant, which allows the budget to
remain below €20 000.
During the spring and fall 2015, two big fundraising actions will take place:
- A big concert during which songs of Jacques Brel will be performed
- A projection of the movie “Drought in Mustang” followed by a
conference/debate and a Nepalese meal
During these events, a shop will sell several Nepalese items.
If necessary, other events will be organised.
IX.
Planning and implementation
The planning of the works is as follows :
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February 2015
April 2015
Mid-May 2015
Mid-May to mid-June
sending of the materials by boat
last coordination meeting with the school
departure of the OME expert
implementation of the works
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X.
Annexes
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OME asbl – Rue de la Sapinière, 35 – 1170 BRUXELLES