Please help us complete the final major building of the Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute.

Home to over 200 nuns, Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute near Dharamsala, northern India is fully funded by the Tibetan Nuns Project. It is the first institute dedicated specifically to higher Buddhist education for Tibetan Buddhist nuns from all traditions.

Construction of Dolma Ling began in 1993 and the major parts of the nunnery were completed in 2005. The nuns themselves took part in the construction of the nunnery, laboring to carry bricks and mortar, to dig the foundations, and to landscape and create the lush flower gardens that are a refuge for birds and insects. Dolma Ling was officially inaugurated by His Holiness the Dalai Lama on December 8, 2005.

The new Center at Dolma Ling will allow the nunnery to expand its educational program, to further the nuns’ individual life skills and enhance their ability to generate income to help support the nunnery. The Center will empower these amazing women to tell their stories and share their wisdom. As someone once said, “”Technology in the classroom is important because it is the pen and paper of our time and the lens through which we experience much of our world.”

The Center is the last major construction project at the Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute  and is a multi-purpose building that will house:

1. The Dolma Ling Language Learning Center
2. Media and Computer Center
3. The Nuns’ Restaurant

The Language Learning Center will provide the nuns with a dedicated language learning facility to advance their Tibetan and English skills, as well as provide them with the tools and resources to learn Hindi, Chinese, and possibly European languages.

The Media and Computer Center will include a dedicated computer room equipped to enable the nuns to advance their computer skills including basic computing, digital media, video filming and editing, and publishing.

The Nuns’ Restaurant will be an income-generating café that will be fully operated by the nuns. The restaurant will serve healthy and nutritious meals to the local community and visitors.

The multi-purpose Center will be situated in front of the 6th nuns housing wing and next to the office. This building has been carefully designed to complete the visual impact of our female religious community development and to provide final essential facilities for the nuns and their teachers. The provision of these facilities will have the further advantage of freeing up two classrooms in the 6th wing, urgently required for regular classes.

The estimated costs for the building the Center is US $175,000.

The Media and Language Studies Program

Active media training has already been introduced to the Dolma Ling study program using one of the 6th wing classrooms. One of our teachers who was keen to take up this program has, along with volunteer assistants, trained several nuns in still and video photography, in interview techniques and in cutting and editing footage to make videos. They have already produced a series of videos on life at Dolma Ling, the Tibetan Nuns Project and Shugsep Nunnery. The present media room is also used for teachers to show movies to their classes, for the nuns to share the videos of various in-house events and to hold workshops.

Following the success of this pilot project, and the interest of many more nuns to participate in this course, we are proposing to create a purpose-built media facility which will include language learning facilities for students to study intensively with well-qualified and motivated teachers. English language learning has always been an integral part of the Dolma Ling program, but it is hard for nuns who are studying Tibetan language and philosophy intensively to also become fluent even in English. Chinese, Hindi and other European languages are presently beyond their reach.

Currently the nuns write, edit, and publish their own annual magazine and also prepare the annual Tibetan Nuns Project calendar that is an income earner for the nunnery. These are both achievements to be proud of since the nuns arrived with us unable to even read or write their names.

Nuns’ Restaurant

Of all the income generating programs introduced at Dolma Ling, the nuns most enjoy cooking and preparing food. They have frequently requested a restaurant. At times they have run a successful restaurant out of their storeroom that is presently turned into a thriving shop. However, this is an inadequate space without proper hygienic facilities and therefore this is not viable in the long term.

At present many nuns, local children and visitors buy packaged chips and other snacks from the nuns shop which are not good for their health and which creates a great deal of non-biodegradable waste.

We are therefore keen to greatly reduce the use of packaged snacks replacing them with wholesome food cooked with care by the nuns.

In addition, the nuns have successfully run a cyber café with 3 computers in a small room by the gate. However, this has had to be closed because the room was needed for the night watchman.

The surrounding area will be carefully landscaped to enable people to sit out in the sunshine during the winter. As the ground floor of this building will also accommodate the staff dining and lounge, the area will be designated for food and recreation. Visitors will be welcome. Toilets are also planned on the ground floor and first floor of the media center.

The estimated cost for the restaurant portion of the Center is US $22,826.

How You Can Help Complete the Nuns’ Center

There are many ways that you can help the nuns fulfill their aspirations to have a vibrant media and language learning center and income-generating restaurant at Dolma Ling Nunnery and Institute.

To donate you can:

• click here to donate online now
  
• call our office in Seattle at (206) 652-8901 any time from 10 am to 4 pm, PST weekdays
• mail a check to 815 Seattle Boulevard South #216, Seattle, WA 98134
 USA

Here are 3 others ways you can help:

1. GIVE YOUR TIME: If you’d like to host a house party in aid of the nuns, we have an information kit with everything you need to host a successful event. Contact us at info@tnp.org.
2. GIVE YOUR ART: If you’re an artist, why not join the community of other TNP supporters who are donating all or a portion of the sale of their work to the nuns.
3. GIVE YOUR INFLUENCE: Please spread the word about the Tibetan Nuns Project and our programs to your friends and family and via social media. If you have ideas for possible funding sources for the nuns, we would greatly value your advice.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE CENTER:
Dolma LIng Nunnery – Media and Language Center Case for Support 2013

DOWNLOAD THE PRINT VERSION OF THE CENTER:
Dolma LIng Nunnery – Media and Language Center PRINT VERSION

CONTACT US FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tibetan Nuns Project
815 Seattle Blvd. South, Ste. 216
Seattle, WA 98134 US
Tel (206) 652-8901
Email: info@tnp.org