Rokpa UK Newsletter Spring 2006
Rokpa
Registered Charity No. 1059293
Tibet Nepal Zimbabwe South Africa
How to cope with the loss of a loved one?
When someone we care about dies, extracting something positive from the situation can aid the healing process. One option is to suggest donations to charity in place of flowers at the funeral.
We can now offer a memorial page on our website donation section, featuring details of the person who has died, for one month.
Just send us their name plus up to 50 words, and if you supply a photo, an SAE for its safe return.
Donations made in this way on our secure site will be clearly noted as being in their memory. At the end of the month, we'll let you know how much was raised in their name and hopefully you'll take comfort in the knowledge that others were helped.
You can use this link to visit the In Memory Page or use the navigation panel above.
Last year we offered donation gift cards as Christmas presents. Hundreds of you chose to honour your friends and family with gifts such as 82 hot meals and health checks at the Soup Kitchen in Nepal or a sewing machine for Nangchen Middle School in Tibet.
These gifts are just as good for birthdays, weddings, new babies etc. so if you would like an order form, do please contact us.
Training for independence in South Africa
About 300 people now live in the rural area around the Tara Rokpa Centre near the border with Botswana. The Centre provides a place for therapeutic and spiritual renewal, as well as being a training centre for locals.
Official figures for the local area portray a dire situation: unemployment at 80%, adult literacy at 25%, HIV/AIDS infection at 40%, all adding to the usual problems associated with abandoned orphans and child-headed families.
The Centre's building development involves local labourers who receive wages and skills training in environmentally friendly techniques. Elke Leuschner, a volunteer from Germany teaches sewing skills for a money making project of the women’s own choosing. Jeanette Senosi continues to teach basic literacy skills to the local community, but part of her role is to get to know everybody so that further skills training can be matched to their needs.
Already some members of the community have asked to learn about sustainable vegetable growing and marketing. The Centre has made some good land available, bought some tools and seeds and given the first course. The first steps are being taken in establishing sustainable marketing projects.
Funds are needed for equipment and salaries.
ROKPA UK Overseas Projects
Kagyu Samye Ling, Eskdalemuir, Langholm, Dumfriesshire DG13 0QL
Telephone: 013873 73232 Ext: 3
Fax: 013873 73223
email: charity@RokpaUK.org
ROKPA Trust Reg. Charity No: 1059293
