Issue 31 / April 2011

Dear ROKPA- friends!

CONTENTS UN World Conference on Women

Giving Girls and Women a Voice 3

Tibet

Education: The Key to Happiness 4

ROKPA Switzerland

Open Day 6

Lecture Evening on Tibetan Medicine 6

Why ROKPA?

How You Can Help Us 7

Testimonial Ralph Williams 7 Editorial director: Marie-Luce Le Febve de Vivy kommunikation@rokpa.ch Visual design: Volker Haller, www.vhvk.de All photographs and texts: © ROKPA INTERNATIONAL Print Run: 8000 copies

ROKPA INTERNATIONAL has been certified by ZEWO since 2004

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, As I am writing these lines, I am in New York - for two weeks and for the first time in my life. Following an invitation by the renowned US psychiatrist and best-selling author Jean Shinoda Bolen, I am participating in the World conference “UN Women” (see page 3). Three years ago, Jean appointed me to the circle of advisors of “5WCW” (www.5wcw.org), an organisation served and endorsed by prominent and celebrated women such as Isabel Allende, the -famous writer from Chile, or the African American writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker. For years, 5WCW had tried to bring about a fifth UN World Conference on Women –the last one having taken place in Beijing in 1995 But what is 5WCW all about? The organisation aims at providing an international platform to promote gender equality, thus addressing allimportant problems such as women’s rights and the struggle to ensure equal opportunities for women and girls around the globe. Providing education figures paramount amongst the issues covered. ROKPA has been focusing on this very issue, the education of girls for thirty years ever since it has been founded. Unfortunately, girls and women are still considered to be inferior in most countries where ROKPA is actively involved. This means as well that their education is neglected. Instead of being at primary school, they are treated as cheap manpower and even worse, they are being led into prostitution deceived by wrong promises whilst still being under age. For this very reason ROKPA is committed to ensure year after year that orphans and girls living in extremely poor circumstances are able not only to attend primary school but will also learn a profession - a profession that protects them from exploitation and enables them to lead a free and independent life (page 4). ROKPA also supports mothers who end up on the street as they are left by their partners because of the increasing number of their children and for other reasons. ROKPA provides them and their children with warm food and medical care throughout the winter months. More importantly though, ROKPA helps them earn their livelihood - by providing seed capital to assist them in getting self-employed or by giving them a job in our workshop for women in Kathmandu. The colourful pillows, bags and mobiles created by these mothers are on sale in our shop at our HQ and at our Open Day in our main quarter in Switzerland on 17 April 2011 celebrating the visit of our president Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche. We have prepared an interesting programme for you (page 6) and would like to cordially invite you, your children and your friends to spend that Sunday with us. I am looking forward to seeing many of you there! Sincerely,

Lea Wyler

The Aim of the United Nations

Giving Girls and Women a Voice

UN World Conference on Women

and Joseph Deiss, former member of the Swiss Federal Council and incumbent President of the United Nations General Assembly. The latest UN organisation is committed to the rights of women and can be compared to UNICEF, an organisation committed to the rights of children. Executive Director is Michelle Bachelet, former President of Chile, a very impressive woman. On the highest level, UN Women has made room for the possibility that the voices of the silent, and invisible, the left out and neglected may in fact be heard. But will they really be heard? We know that this will take time. But one thing is certain: Thanks to your help, ROKPA will continue the work started 30 years ago and keep on supporting suffering and disadvantaged girls and women.

At some events, you could go to the microphone up front and talk to 1000 women and the highest dignitaries of this UN assembly. All concerns, every single one of them regarding the great number of displaced and left out people on our planet, was written down and solved or forwarded to a higher level. During those snowy days in New York, the thought that we REALLY are just ONE world, ONE people, ONE human race became more tangible than what all the books, films and discussions about the world could ever have imprinted in one’s mind. Women who, without this conference, would never even have met, participated in lively discussions and found new friends - some for life, some just for a day. Historic inauguration For me, another great moment was the official inauguration of the new organisation UN Women with people such as Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Princess Cristina of Spain, Ted Turner, Actress Geena Davis

Please help us! With your donation, you yourself can contribute to making sure that orphaned girls and single mothers receive a school education that will let them escape povertyand give them an opportunity to live an independent and respectable life. Thank you for your donation! Please send your donation marked “Education for girls” to: Our bank account: Clariden Leu AG, IBAN: CH70 0506 5045 5090 1100 1 Our post office account: 80-19029-5 Or donate online at www.rokpa.ch

From 22 February until 4 March 2011, ROKPA Vice-President Lea Wyler participated in the historic launch of the organisation UN Women in New York.

By Lea Wyler The days we spent in the offices of the United Nations were big, important days and moments - for the women, the world and, on an entirely different and much smaller scale, for me and my work for ROKPA. Every day of the conference saw around 25 to 30 events organised by groups of women from all over the world. It didn't matter where they came from what did matter was, that all of them felt united because they were committed to the same causes: to the freedom of women around the globe, to gender equality, to the better protection of young girls in developing countries and much more. All of these issues were presented and discussed in panels

With Dr. Jean Shinoda

30 years ROKPA-30 years help

Education: The Key to Happiness

On verification visit in Tibet: Nowadays, young people who want more than poverty or minimal wages need a higher education - and the money to pay for it.

By Barbara Pfeiffer

With less than 20 miles per hour, we are covering between 1200 and 1800 miles, travelling through narrow river valleys and over bumpy mud roads. It is a dusty journey, a journey that takes us to a different place every two or three days and has us sleeping in houses with bad sanitation. Why? Because we are visiting the projects ROKPA is carrying out in Tibet. At every station there is a bombastic reception with children forming a guard of honour, children waving and lots of singing and dancing. Then our work begins. Dr. Akong Rinpoche negotiates and checks the situation, while we interview the headmaster of the school and some of the children. And that's always where the routine ends and the real life starts, with all its cruelty and full of suffering. We meet children whose stories we can hardly believe, stories that make us inexplicably sad, but at the same time show us what a “project” really means for them.

She never went to school Today, we are sitting in the middle school in Dzamthang, Aba. A school where ROKPA has been supporting young people for many years. A little more than half of the 500 pupils are girls. ROKPA supports 100 young people in different grades. It is the end of October. The iron stoves in each classroom have not yet been lit, but stacks of wood are already waiting for the winter. Wrapped in warm jackets, the pupils sit in class, listening attentively and taking notes. Damchog is 18 years old and in the first level of higher secondary education, which corresponds to 10th grade in Western school systems. Her family lives in a small village two miles from here. Her mother died three years ago and her father is already 68 years old. “My mother had been ill and on medication for a long time”, says Damchog. Because her father is too old to work and her two brothers are still in school, the livelihood of the entire family depends on the income of her older sister. She works on a construction site and never went to school. Families like Damchog's are not uncommon. Compulsory education and support for needy families were only introduced a few years ago. Yet the percentage of young people who never went to school is still high. Though working physically hard they barely earn enough to support the entire family. let alone assume additional

No money, no higher education Compulsory education in the Chinese school system consists of six years of primary school followed by three years of secondary school. Financial support from the state is only provided for these nine years and rather limited in scope. Any further education is not funded at all. Pupils usually receive approximately $ 20 per month from the state. This is for very basic food, but not enough for textbooks, clothing and medical care. At the same time, nine years of basic schooling are just sufficient for a badly paid job. Pupils with money or ROKPA funding can go on to a higher secondary school for another three years. Here, the curriculum consists of Tibetan, Chinese, English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Geography, History, Politics, Arts, Music and Computer Science, altogether 35 hours per week. Good grades are rewarded with the so-called “Gao Kao”, which is comparable to the university-entrance diploma in Western school systems and allows students to go to a higher College or University. But that requires money, too.

Nyi Chün just wants to be a normal girl

Construction work - the only option for many

Instead of a bathroom

“I just want to be normal!” Damchog dreams of becoming a translator for English and Tibetan to support her family. Sönam is fourteen years old. Her mother has to work in construction, because her father died when she was six. She can hardly remember him. Her dream is to become an English teacher. And Nyi Chün, who looks like twelve, is already fourteen years old. She has a crooked back, but is very happy to be able to go to school here. “I like everything here, especially the food. We get rice soup for breakfast, rice with vegetables for lunch and noodle soup with bread for dinner. At home, there is only tsampa, and hardly enough for everybody.”

Her only wish is humble and yet so great that it goes straight to the heart: “I want to learn Tibetan, because at home we almost only speak Tibetan. And I just want to be a normal girl.” These young people are aware of the wonderful opportunity they are given by ROKPA and by the donations of our contributors. They hardly lose any time in every day life, most of them concentrate exclusively on studying, even on the weekends, when the laundry is done and the rooms cleaned. They know that the same rule applies as everywhere else: If you want a better life, you need a higher education.

Give Tibetan Girls and Boys a Future! Fund one adolescent's education, including food, clothing and medication (mark your donation “School Tibet”) For 1 month: CHF 80 For 1 year: CHF 960

Thank you for your donation! To our bank account: Clariden Leu AG, IBAN: CH70 0506 5045 5090 1100 1 To our post office account: 80-19029-5

Online: www.rokpa.ch

Even with limited space the students concentrate on studying

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___________________________________________________

Open Day

ROKPA Switzerland Events

Sunday, 17 April 2011,

from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hottingersaal,

Gemeindestrasse 54, 8032 Zurich

Lecture Programme 10.00 a.m. Opening and welcome 10.30 a.m. “Why I support ROKPA as an International Ambassador” Star harpist Andreas Vollenweider 11.00 a.m. “What kind of help does Tibet need and how does ROKPA differ from other help organisations?” Roger Schawinski, director of Radio 1, interviews ROKPA founders Dr. Akong Rinpoche and Lea Wyler 1.30 p.m. “Monasteries in Tibet – centres of social life” A personal view by Barbara Pfeiffer 2.30 p.m. “From street kid to star actor” An interview with ROKPA kids Pema und Sumchog 3.00 p.m. “ROKPA kids in Nepal” A presentation by O.C. Honegger (Swiss Television) 3.30 p.m. Raffle drawing Admission free

• Interesting lectures

• Slide shows • Music

• Talks

• Sales booths with Nepalese handicrafts and Waldorf dolls

• Supervised kids' corner • Raffle with attractive prizes

• Tibetan food “momos” • (throughout the day)

Tibetan MedicineFriday, 15 April 2011, from 6.30 p.m. to 8.30 p.m. at Lavatersaal in Lavaterhaus Zurich (St.-Peter-Hofstatt 6, 1st floor, lift)

In cooperation with PADMA, we would like to cordially invite ROKPA friends and experts to a lecture evening entitled “Tibetan medicine - a discipline between science and transcendence” in Zurich. The event will be opened with the lecture entitled “Tibetan medicine in modern science” by Dr. Herbert Schwabl, chairman of the board of PADMA AG (www.padma.ch), Europe's only producer of plant-derived remedies based on Tibetan formulations. Then, Tibetan physician Dr. Mingji Cuomo (University of Oxford / Tibetan Medical College, Lhasa) will explain in the first place how traditional

Tibetan medicine defines the concepts of health and illness. Afterwards, she will elaborate on one of her fields of expertise: “The effect of prayer on mind and body”. Finally, physician and ROKPA President Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche will answer any questions from the audience. An interesting evening for everyone interested in the opportunity of getting more first-hand information about this centuries-old healing system. Numerous experts regard Tibetan medicine as the supreme, most efficient medical discipline of Asia. Admission free!

30 years ROKPA-30 years help

How you can help us! Your donation helps people in need With more than 150 projects in Tibet, Nepal, Zimbabwe and South Africa, financed exclusively by your donations, we support orphaned children as well as homeless, ill and elderly people. With immediate effect, YOUR donation helps underprivileged people to escape the grinding poverty trap. Whether you give a one-time donation, support one of our projects for a longer period of time or consider ROKPA in your last will - we appreciate EVERY single donation. Company donations As an entrepreneur or CEO, you can send a positive signal by making a donation to ROKPA. For example, instead of giving out gifts to customers for anniversaries or Christmas, you can support people in need by making a sustainable company donation. Your generous gesture will surely be applauded by employees and clients alike. Donations instead of flowers Instead of giving flowers, you can also make a donation to ROKPA on behalf of another person, who will receive a lovely gift certificate from ROKPA for each donation of CHF 100 or more. Donations instead of funeral wreaths To lose and carry a beloved person to their grave is a very painful experience. Give mourners the chance to pay their last respects in a sustainable way by making a donation toward ROKPA's aid projects. Making a bequest to ROKPA Maybe you have at occasions thought about settling your estate, but put it off again and again. Making out a last will is something we all are afraid of. However, by making a bequest to or designating ROKPA as a beneficiary in your will, you can relax now and be sure that your generosity will help orphans and homeless children not only today, but also in the future. ROKPA is recognised as a non-profit organisation in all cantons of Switzerland and exempt from taxation. And in all the countries where ROKPA has a seat. This way, your donation is not subject to inheritance or gift tax and benefits ROKPA's projects entirely, without any deductions. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us on +41 44 2626888. We are happy to provide you with any additional information you require. Talk about ROKPA Talk about ROKPA at work, in the street, with your neighbours or at school, and awaken people's interest in our work. Please call us on +41 44 2626888 if you would like to receive further information or pay-in slips for your friends.

Why ROKPA?

Ralph Williams “Some people call me a nomad. Others think of me as a creative guy with an eye for beauty and a flair for transforming spaces. I suppose these things are true, but here at the ROKPA HQ in Zurich, the staff just know me as RALPH, that big friendly American with the bald head who’s renovating the rooms upstairs. I’m originally from Austin, Texas in the States, but for the last 6 years, I’ve been on a self-initiated service pilgrimage that has led me through a host of spiritual centres and Buddhist organizations in the US, England, Scotland, Holland, Germany, and now Switzerland! I have a Masters degree in Psychology as well as a background in artistry, interior design and museum exhibition design--so these are the skills that I carry with me at all times when I travel. I first learned about ROKPA in 2007 while working at its sister centre in London, “Kagyu Samye Dzong”. But it was actually the Yushu earthquake in 2010 that connected me directly to ROKPA. I was in Germany at the time the quake hit, and when I heard the news, I thought, “Isn’t that where ROKPA runs its school?” I sent an email to offer my assistance, and given my experience, ROKPA’s Vice President, Lea Wyler, asked me if I’d be interested in doing some renovation work on their headquarter in Zurich. And I said: “Sure!”

Last summer, I did a complete overhaul on the cellar and shrine room, and now I’m in the process of repainting the central areas on floors 1 & 2. Everything is currently draped in plastic, but I think it’s going to be lovely. I enjoy thinking about interior spaces and colors and arrangements. I also love the process of taking a room that “needs help” and turning it into something better. So that’s what I’m doing here at ROKPA-Zurich—I’m working over this wonderful building and giving the workplace a bit of a facelift. “Helping where help is needed”…it sure is wonderful to work for an organization that has the same motto as me!”

“I support ROKPA because …”

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We need your help!Let’s give to orphans and street children a better future! Now!

All donations to ROKPA are tax-exempt in Switzerland and most other countries. Since 2004 ROKPA is certified by ZEWO, Switzerland’s official certifying foundation for non-profit organisations.

Please donate to ROKPA: Post Office Account: ROKPA 80-19029-5 Bank Details: Clariden Leu AG, Bahnhofstrasse 32, P.O. Box, CH-8032 Zurich Bank Account: ROKPA, 0065-455090-11-1, IBAN: CH70 0506 5045 5090 1100 1 BIC: CLLECHZZX X X

ROKPA INTERNATIONAL | Böcklinstrasse 27 | 8032 Zurich |Switzerland

Phone: +41 44 262 68 88 | Fax: +41 44 262 68 89 | info@rokpa.ch | www.rokpa.org