Urgent Needs

Need for accommodations

The nunnery dates back from 1973. Many of the buildings date back from that time and are therefore in a very bad shape.

Because of the big population of 160 nuns, most of the buildings are used as dormitories for the nuns. Even the old wooden buildings that were built in 1973 are still used for this purpose.

Due to the bad climate in this part of Himachal Pradesh (heavy monsoon rains in summer, extreme changes of temperature during the year and bitter cold and rains in the winter time) the buildings are therefore in a very bad shape. In summer the monsoon rain pours down most of the walls inside the nun’s rooms. In winter the cold wind blows through cracks and holes in the walls and windows. The nuns have to face the elements even inside their rooms which sorely challenges their health.

A few of the older nuns have kidneys problems due to this. Besides the poor conditions of the nun’s dormitories, the nunnery also lacks enough class rooms for teaching. Teachers have to be creative with the spaces available, which sometimes interferes with other daily practices.  In the near future the nunnery would also like to be able to have decent accommodations available for staff members and teachers.

In Buddhist studies it is a tradition that after completion of the nun’s education they have the opportunity to go into retreat. Currently, the nunnery has insufficient accommodations for this purpose.

 Additionally, we would eventually like to build a debating court. The nuns debate everyday for an hour and have to do this outside. When the weather conditions are bad it is hard for them to concentrate on the debate, so we would like to build a shelter.

Finally, because of the lack of a consistent funding source, we can only provide the nuns with very basic food. This, in combination with the poor housing facilities poses many health challenges for the nuns of Geden Choling.

Phased reconstruction plan

We have devised a three phase reconstruction plan for the nunnery. In the first phase we are planning to construct a new building on the piece of land next to the nunnery, facing the street. This building will mainly be a dormitory for the nuns living in the old wooden buildings.

Phase 2 will be the rebuilding of the old original wooden houses. The nuns will first be relocated into the new building (phase 1). When phase 2 construction is

completed the nuns will move into this new dormitory.

Phase 2 also includes building two new classrooms

 on top of the library building, and building retreat rooms.

The phase 1 building will then be used as classroom, office space and housing for the staff members.Eventually we would like to reconstruct the other dormitories (phase 3)

Our plan is to finish the reconstruction work within five years.

For this plan to be realised, we will need financial assistance. So far we have been able to collect 50% of the money needed to implement the first phase.

Link to film about construction work (coming Soon)

We humbly ask for your help. If you would like to contribute to the nunnery, then please go to “How to help”.

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Another Project Donated by www.tibetech.org This site was last updated 01/22/08. Copyright 2004 Geden Choeling Nunnery.