Jamyang Choling

AN EDUCATION PROJECT

FOR HIMALAYAN WOMEN


Jamyang Choling is an innovative education project for Himalayan women. It aims to help women pursue learning that is harmonious with their personal interests and unique Buddhist cultural background.

There are currently 6 Jamyang Choling study programs: 2 in Dharamsala, 2 in Zanskar (Ladakh), and 2 in Spiti (Himachal Pradesh). The 165 students, aged 11 to 52, are women from remote Himalayan areas. They have had little, if any, schooling. The reasons are significant: girls are often kept home to work and education is often considered irrelevant for them. Moreover, the only schools in the region teach another culture in another language. The students are from Tibetan Buddhist cultural backgrounds; the government schools are in Hindi and Urdu.

Livng conditions in these remote mountain regions are incredibly harsh, with 9 months of isolation due to heavy snowfall. Temperatures regularly dip far below freezing. Food and drinking water are often in short supply. Education and medical facilities are practically non-existent. Women's lives are filled with perenial hardship.

To address these problems, students study math, health and hygiene, English, and Hindi, as well as Tibetan language, Buddhist philosophy, and meditation. After completing their studies, these women will serve as teachers, health care workers, community workers, and mentors to others. They will create similar study programs in their homelands and other needy areas. They will be able to help their people and help revitalize their special cultural heritage.

These study programs are rapidly changing perceptions of women throughout the Himalayas. The study programs are also helping preserve and revive Buddhist culture in areas where it is declining dangerously due to secularism, cultural encroachment, and economic hardship. Students from diverse nationalities and ethnic backgrounds--Tibet, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Mongolia--develop a strong sense of community and purpose. Many more young women have applied for admission, but must wait until more facilities can be built.

A full scholarship for a deserving student costs only $20 per month. In addition to sponsoring scholarships, there is a great need for more housing and classrooms. Your kindhearted contribution can also provide a year's training in primary health care. Health care education is desperately needed. This practical training will help relieve the suffering of entire communities.

For $240 a year, you can prepare a woman to take a leadership role in a desperately poor and culturally endangered region of the Himalayas. Please lend your support!

Two Jamyang Choling schools are located in the snowy land of Spiti, a desolate region surrounded by high Himalayan peaks. Life is arduous in this frozen climate.

Due to heavy snowfalls, transport and communications to Spiti are impossible much of the year. Economic hardship, particularly disruption of the wool trade from occupied Tibet, has led the men of Spiti to seek jobs in Indian cities. Women now shoulder a heavy responsibility for both family and livelihood.

Intense cold and high winds prevail outdoors, so handicrafts and Buddhist practice--meditation, teachings, and prayer--are favorite winter activities. The solace of these spiritually-enriching activities helps offset the sufferings of the harsh environment.

Traditionally women's work has centered around the home--spinning, knitting handcrafted clothing, and caring for the family, animals, and fields. Women's education and spirituality have also centered around the home. Buddhist culture has flourished here since the 8th century, but there has never been a traditional learning center for women.

In 1985, a group of courageous young women from Pangmo village took the initiative to establish Yangchen Choling, the first school for traditional and contemporary learning especially for women. Originally located in caves above the village, the students are now struggling to build teachers' quarters, classrooms, and student housing with their own hands.

Sherab Choling is the second school for women to be established in Spiti. Traditional values are still strong in this area, which has been home to a unique Buddhist culture for over 1000 years. Loving kindness and care for the young, old, and infirm has been the core of women's spiritual practice over the centuries. Rarely, however, have women emerged as spiritual leaders, due to a lack of educational opportunities.

With the Tibetan border now sealed and access to their cultural heartland denied, the threat of cultural extinction in Spiti looms large. Social and economic changes seriously endanger traditional values. It is now more urgent than ever that women be granted equal social and educational opportunities.

The work of establishing schools has not been easy for the women of Spiti. Plagued by poverty, they face many social and personal obstacles. Gradually, however, through shear determination, these obstacles are being overcome.

With diligence and dedication, these women are struggling to overcome their educational and social disadvantages. With increased confidence and training, they are becoming community leaders, making valuable contributions toward cultural preservation, environmental protection, health, and community development.

Undaunted by unimaginable hardships and disappointments, these women bravely persevere. The goal of their endeavors is to serve others. To do so, it is important for women to get both modern and traditional education. Unaided by anyone in their struggle, their greatest obstacle these women face now is economic.

Please help these women fulfill their dreams!

Fill out and send in the Pledge Card.


Students of Jamyang Choling - Dharamsala

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For more information contact Karma Lekshe Tsomo, e-mail tsomo@hawaii.edu.

This page is maintained by Brian Wagner, e-mail brianw@electriciti.com