Shuxiong School
About our cause
About the Region
Ladakh is India’s most remote and inaccessible region, a high altitude desert landscape sitting between the Karakoram and Great Himalayan mountain ranges in the country’s far northeast. Once part of the great Tibetan empire, it remains culturally Tibetan, it’s monasteries the heart of its communities, its stupas, mani walls and fluttering prayer flags evidence of its strong Buddhist religion. And Zanskar, far from any highways with an extreme climate has, by virtue of its utter remoteness, changed little over the past 800 years.
The People
Rangdum sits in a river valley in the heart of the mountainous Zanskar region, cut off by snow and ice from the outside world for seven to eight months of each year with no telephone or electricity supply. The people here are subsistence farmers, growing what they can during the short summer months to keep their sheep and yaks fed through the winter. Life is harsh (the photographs on this page were taken in June 2010) and money is scarce.
The Government
The region comes under the control of the Muslim Kargil local government which has proved unable to provide education since the teachers sent to the villages left after a few weeks, unable to cope with the harsh conditions. So the children remained illiterate.
The Work
The communities of the two villages near to the Rangdum monastery decided to take matters into their own hands and clubbed together to build a simple school block on the hillside below the monastery.
This basic building is only fit for use during the summer months; it is hoped that in time the school can be improved and used all year round.
The Childrens Journey
During these frozen winter months the older children undertake a hazardous trek along the frozen river to get to Leh to continue their schooling. (See Tim Allen’s pictures and blog, trekking with these children on his BBC Human Planet website. Also see the video of their amazing journey to the left:
The School
has around 50 pupils, boys and girls aged 5 – 18 yrs, studying in Bhoti (local dialect with Tibetan script) and English. The pupils are keen to learn and the standard is high.
The Problem
for the staff is keeping up attendance. The villages are a distance of 4-5 km / 2½-3 miles from the school which is too far for the little ones to walk and off-putting for the older ones when the weather is bad.
Falling attendance is always a problem for schools in remote regions.
The Need
We will be raising money to not only provide permanent transport for these children but also provide heating for the school and more classroom space so allowing more children to be educated.
The Cost
In the region of £1,000. The Shuxiong Schools Fund, which has a long history of building schools, community projects and supporting children in education in Tibet and Bhutan, has also contributed to a kitchen and cook to provide the children with a hot midday meal.
Link to a New Website Also Supporting Their Cause
You can find photos, videos and a wealth of information on the school at this new website here: http://www.educationisaright.it/
Responsibility
All matters relating to the school are managed by the Committee of the Rangdum Gompa Culture and Welfare Society, Rangdum, Zanskar. The school is not owned by any individual, is non-political and secular. The Committee undertake to purchase and maintain a suitable vehicle which will be for the use of the school and no other purpose.
Donations
If you feel you can donate some money to this amazing cause, no matter how small an amount, it would be much appreciated.