Our first crowdfunding campaign is underway! We are raising funds to build an ice-skating rink and a prototype gravity powered artificial glacier (ice-stupa) at Crystal Mountain School. These projects will be led and constructed by the students and will be included as part of the winter school curriculum. We are also raising funds to redesign the school infrastructure with passive earth and earthquake resistant technology. Help us reach our campaign goal on GoFundMe.
Due to extreme weather in winters, schools in Dolpo run for seven months only from mid-April to mid-November. Although Crystal Mountain School (CMS) has also been conducting winter classes for grades III and higher since 2009 in our passive solar building, the winter program is so far quite limited in scope, with very few opportunities for students to engage in normal school activities. Moreover, as government and private non-local teachers leave the school during the winter, classes have to be managed by local youths and alumni who volunteer for three months from mid-December to mid-March.
In order to run for the full calendar year, CMS will need proper classroom and school infrastructure to withstand the harsh winters as well as to effectively engage students, staff and community members during the winters. Following our vision of implementing sustainable development practices in Dolpo, we are in the process of designing infrastructure for a residential high school to replace and improve CMS's current infrastructure. The design will include features like passive solar technology for heating using local resources, solar and wind energy resources, locally inspired architecture, waste water treatment and bio-toilets, and ample learning spaces and facilities for extra curricular activities for all seasons.
This campaign seeks to raise funds that will help initiate research and design of some key infrastructure for the school. About half of the funds raised will go towards the initial (3D) design of the school working together with passive solar and education experts. This project will supplement and incorporate the design of a residential building for about 60 students, that is currently being worked on by Action Dolpo. The design full will be validated by government entities for the eventual construction of the full infrastructure within the next 5-10 years. The rest of the fund will go towards the construction of a seasonal (do-it-yourself) ice-skating rink and a gravity powered artificial glacier (ice-stupa). Both of these projects will be led and managed by senior grade students at the school, under the guidance of teachers and local masons and builders.
As a small grassroots NGO, Vision Dolpo is excited to launch its first ever crowdfunding campaign. These types of campaigns help us to tackle projects and programs, which are otherwise difficult to carry out due to lack of funds or government bureaucratic hassles. We are committed to full transparency and to utilizing the funds raised for the direct benefits of the students and the local community.
Visit our GoFundMe. page to learn more about the campaign, donate and share with others. Thank you for your time and support.
Gyalpo Dolpo
President, Vision Dolpo
We are engaged in a variety of sectors in Dolpo.
We help run Crystal Mountain School in Dho Tarap, work with partners for overall development of education in Dolpo, and promote and develop innovate education programs while working on locally relevant and contextual curriculum for schools in Dolpo.
We run a primary health center in Dho Tarap, hold regular health camps throughout Dolpo in partnership with multiple local and foreign partners, and help promote traditional Amchi medicine.
All our projects adhere to climate sensitive practices. We provide and promote solar and wind power for schools, health centers and introduce new green technologies such as passive solar heating in the region.
We work with local families, partners and other organizations to build greenhouses for vegetable farming, and for warm indoor space during the winters. We are also working on building and promoting artificial glaciers to support irrigation in areas with depleting resources.
Through regular and meaningful engagement with local communities, our programs foster local innovation, leverage indigenous knowledge and local resources, and enhance the regional economy while respecting and promoting local lifestyles and community needs and vision.
We assist with local level planning and help in capacity building for the three locally elected governments in Dolpo. We work with all three Rural Municipalities (RM) in the region: Dolpo-Buddha RM, Shey-Phoksumdo RM, and Chharka-Tangshong RM.
Established in 2009 by the first graduates of Crystal Mountain School, Vision Dolpo works with local communities to primarily ensure inclusive and quality education for the children from the region and facilitate better health care services, as well as to eradicate poverty in all its forms, ensure food security and improve nutrition, enable better access to sustainable and modern energy, promote indigenous knowledge, vernacular architecture, and to influence the equitable and sustainable management of natural resources to conserve, and to preserve and promote the local culture and values. With support from Action Dolpo (France), Dolpo Buddha Rural Municipality (the local government), community members and friends of Dolpo, Vision Dolpo is engaged in a wide variety of activities to implement the above objectives. We work in coordination with other schools and health projects of Dolpo, and also we wish to work together with other two Rural Municipalities of Dolpo.
Crystal Mountain School was the first formal school in the upper regions of Dolpo established by Action Dolpo and supported by Government of Nepal, and for nearly a decade, it was the only school in the region to provide free education to children from Dho-Tarap and surrounding villages of Dolpo. Learn more.
Dho Tarap Health Post was started to provide basic health care and awareness to the pupils and the villagers from 2005. It was upgraded to a birthing center when a passive solar house was built in 2009 and a nurse and a health assistant returned to work after completing their studies in 2011 from Kathmandu. Learn more.
The pupils who complete their lower secondary education in Crystal Mountain School(CMS) join Snow Leopard Residence (SLR) in Kathmandu for further studies where they live together in a typical Dolpo atmosphere. They go to different schools and colleges during the day. Learn more.
We provide financial support to high school graduates of Crystal Mountain School to enroll in undergraduate (bachelor’s) programs. Both living and tuition expenses are covered. Learn more.
