What we do
Revival of the spiritual and cultural traditions of Sumthrang Monastery and implementation of vocational training to improve local education and the working skills of younger generations
Countries
Fields of intervention
- Opening date: January 2021
- Closing date: April 2022
WHERE
Bhutan, Ura District, Sumthrang village
CONTEXT
The project aims to revive the tradition of Sumthrang through the creation of a learning centre designed to preserve and transmit this spiritual tradition and to improve the knowledge and skills of local youth, offering them solid opportunities to enhance their economic and social conditions. The project shapes a welcoming and vibrant place, organised into various spaces: dormitories with offices and a teacher's residence; a multi-purpose building with residential areas, kitchen and dining hall; a library; classrooms; a hostel for visiting teachers and students; toilets and showers; a courtyard for ritual dances and cultural and spiritual activities.
Two phases are planned: a first phase dedicated to the construction of the multi-purpose building and sanitary facilities, and a second phase to complete the library, classrooms, hostel and courtyard. This intervention concerns the first phase.
OBJECTIVES
General objective
To preserve and transmit the spiritual and cultural tradition of Sumthrang to future generations of Bhutan.
Specific objective
A spiritual, cultural and professional centre for nuns, monks and lay people, with classrooms, dormitories, kitchen, dining hall, toilets and showers for up to 50 students, built in the village of Sumthrang, with secular and temporal educational activities successfully launched.
PROJECT ACTIVITIES
- Establishment of a project committee with representatives from the Monastery, the Nyo Foundation and ASIA to manage project activities
- Construction of a 117 sqm guesthouse with six rooms to accommodate visiting scholars, teachers and guests, equipped with necessary facilities and basic furnishings
- Construction of a building housing a library and classrooms, totalling 172 sqm, equipped with necessary facilities and basic furnishings
- Construction of a 2,500 sqm courtyard and roads, pathways and green areas covering 1,250 sqm
- Organisation of training sessions on logical framework, project cycle, budget control and monitoring
RESULTS
An operational committee has been established bringing together representatives from the monastery, the village, the Nyo Foundation and ASIA, ensuring shared management of activities.
A multi-purpose building has been constructed in the traditional architectural style and equipped with advanced technologies to increase energy efficiency, complete with furnishings and equipment suited to educational activities.
Toilets and showers with solar panels for hot water have been built, and the hygiene conditions of the nuns have improved thanks to specific training and the distribution of basic kits.
At the same time, the capacity of Nyo Foundation staff in project assessment, management and monitoring has been strengthened, and a remote support programme dedicated to the most vulnerable nuns has been launched, ensuring continuity and support beyond the duration of the intervention.
BENEFICIARIES
Direct: 15 permanent students + 50 temporary students attending short courses each year + 5 permanent teachers
Indirect: 280 people (families of students and teachers)
PARTNERS
Druk Nyo Foundation