Please help provide safe, comfortable rooms for elderly nuns at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute.

The Need for Housing for Elder Nuns at Dolma Ling

The Tibetan Nuns Project was founded almost 40 years ago in 1987. The nuns are aging and need suitable accommodation. The Dolma Ling nuns have asked for your help to build 20 double rooms to house 40 older nuns in a purpose-built two-story building. The aim is to create a comfortable living space for older nuns while fostering their sense of community and caring for each other.

The 10 ground-floor rooms will be easy for those who have difficulty with stairs and will be wheelchair accessible. All the rooms will be slightly larger than the regular rooms at the nunnery, and each will have a private bathroom and a small kitchenette. Handrails will be provided in the bathrooms, the risers on the stairs to the upper floor will be shallow, and a bell system will be installed in vulnerable nuns’ rooms.

Thanks to generous donors, the foundation of a two-story building has been funded so now we are raising funds for the rooms.

Why Housing for Elderly Nuns is Urgently Needed

Dolma Ling was built to accommodate 200 refugee nuns in double-bed rooms but is now home to about 277 nuns, so the nuns are very cramped. Whilst some senior nuns who hold administrative and teaching positions in the nunnery can live in staff quarters, the majority continue to share two per room, while the 55 junior nuns live three to a room, giving them very little space. There is now no more space to take in new nuns in 2025. It is necessary to maintain a regular annual intake of young nuns to keep Dolma Ling’s highly regarded and ground-breaking study program alive.

Please help build safe, comfortable rooms for older nuns!
To help you can:

1. Make a gift online
2. Call our office in Seattle, U.S. at 1-206-652-890
3. Mail a check to The Tibetan Nuns Project, 815 Seattle Boulevard South #418, Seattle, WA 98134 U.S. (note that it is for the Housing for Elderly Nuns)
4. Donate securities
5. Leave a gift in your will to the Tibetan Nuns Project

Make a Donation

The Nunnery is Their Home

Despite the heartache of losing their homeland, the senior nuns at Dolma Ling have persevered through the hardships of life in exile, and some have attained the highest degree in their tradition, the Geshema degree. The nunnery is their permanent home and is different from a university or college from which graduates pass out and leave. Around ten of Dolma Ling’s Geshemas are now working as teachers in schools and other institutions. However, Dolma Ling is their only home and they will return when their term of service is concluded or they retire.

As the nuns age, it is necessary to maintain a regular annual intake of young nuns as far as possible to keep the study program alive. Most young nuns wishing to enter Dolma Ling come from the Himalayan areas and nunnery schools such as Dorjee Dzong in Zanskar. These are our future Geshemas.

“Many years ago, I realized I couldn’t do much to change the world, but with the Tibetan Nuns Project, I could move the dial a bit for one woman on the other side of the world from me. I am grateful for the opportunity to do so.” Cathy