Dear Supporters,

We would like to thank you again for your generous donations and support for an essential project for our youngest students at the school.

With your support, we have graduated from the GlobalGiving Accelerator Program ranking 47 out of 632 participating organizations, and raising $8,095 in just about 2 months from 75 different donors. The first disbursement ($6,635) has been sent to our local bank account in Nepal by GlobalGiving, allowing us to start this important project

This report is meant to define the larger vision of the project, highlight some of the work that is currently being done, and outline the program calendar for the project. 

This project is an essential step in our vision of building sustainable and warm infrastructure for Crystal Mountain School to enable running of classes even through the winters, and promoting sustainable building practices to build economic and climate resiliency in the region. The passive solar classrooms built during this project will not only serve 50 of our students directly, but also provide valuable experience and research data for future classrooms and other school infrastructure. As well as serve as a great site for local community members to experience and learn about the effectiveness of passive solar technology in reducing fuel costs and keeping indoor temperatures warm throughout the winter nights.    

The funds raised so far (about 54% of the total target) has enabled us to start researching and designing passive solar classrooms, with help from sustainable building experts in Nepal and Ladakh. We are also beginning research on effective interior design for young students, and looking for ways to enhance their learning experience through mindful design practices. 

This winter, we are doing some initial on-site research to identify and gather local building materials, and record daily temperature variation data from existing (but not effective during winter nights) passive solar classrooms. 

Since construction during winters is also difficult and we are still trying to meet our funding target of $15,000, the tentative plan is to start construction in March 2022. 

Meanwhile, we would like to request you to continue supporting this project. You can either directly contribute again by going to our project page (also accessible via our website visiondolpo.org), or share our project with your friends and family. Sharing your reasons for supporting this project can sometimes be more meaningful and effective in highlighting the cause.

We will provide regular updates throughout the duration of this project (see attached calendar). Thank you again for your support. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any queries or comments.   

** This report was published on GlobalGiving on Mar 8, 2022.