Patron: Ringu Tulku Rinpoche
Rigul Trust Newsletter 7 Autumn 2011
100% of all donations received will go to fund Rigul Trust projects.
100% of expenses met by volunteers.
Tibetan School and Clinic Funding Report Autumn 2011
Dear Friends,
We are pleased to bring you the news that with the help of continued generous, ongoing support, all the children in Rigul, Tibet are receiving an education with two free, hot meals a day at school.
Not only are we funding the children’s education but also the five teachers, three cooks and the daily costs of running the health clinic and the salaries for Dr Chuga, Ani Choden, the nurse.We are funding Karma Tsisha’s medical training at a medical college, Karma Tsisha is Dr. Chuga’s assistant.
The school and the health clinic are totally dependent on aid from overseas, without our help these people wouldn’t have a school or clinic. We still need help and ongoing support as less is coming into the Trust than is going out! Our reserves are dwindling, and we wouldn’t wish to hit ‘rock bottom’ and not have a few pounds for unforeseen needs, especially in Rigul, Ringu Tulku’s village and homeland that we are committed to helping and supporting the health clinic and school every year.
The reports from Khenpo Sheng Gen, who spends months in Rigul, are that these people are extremely poor, their conditions are very challenging and the buildings and equipment are always in desperate need of repair and maintenance. We have just sent £15,000 for half a year’s funding for the education of the children, plus funding for 2 free hot school meals a day, the salaries of 5 teachers, 3 cooks, Dr Chuga, Ani Choden the nurse and daily running costs of the health clinic.Khenpo Sheng Gen also says that the people of Rigul would really like help with funding the following extras to our basic yearly funding:
Desks and chairs for 100 children cost – £2,000 £20 for one desk and chair.
Furniture for teachers’ hostel cost – £950
School building repairs and maintenance cost – £4,800
Books for school 100 children for one year costs – £950
Idea for Birthday/Christmas/Anniversary/Retirement Gifts:
If you would like to give a Birthday Gift to someone and would welcome help in choosing a really good buy that would help others, a win, win situation we can offer you the following choices:
Buy one desk and chair for £20.
Buy books for one child for £9.50.
Buy an education with 2 hot meals a day for one child for £25 for six weeks or £50 for three months
We can supply an appropriate card for your special person letting them know about their gift from you to celebrate their special occassion.
———————————————————————————
New – video link – Appeal by Ringu Tulku
Ringu Tulku has made an appeal for help with ongoing support for his people in Rigul, in Tibet and the other areas of help that we offer through Rigul Trust. To view click on:
http://www.youtube.com/user/rigultrust?blend=3&ob=5
Please forward this link and post it on facebook, twitter, blogs, websites, emails etc.
The Tibetan Children’s Education Appeal
Ringu Tulku wishes to have sponsorship for the children, the doctor, the nurse etc in Rigul. We have started with focusing on the children in Rigul and as you know from the last newsletter that we are trying to raise £12,000 a year for sixty children to receive an education with two, free hot meals a day at school. £200 will provide this for one child for one year and £25 will provide this for six weeks for one child. Many children have to walk up to an hour each way to school, some have to cross a dangerous river, some sleep on the floor at the school.
Again we are taking this opportunity of appealing for aid for these children in Rigul and attach a downloadable flyer, if you feel that you could download and distribute this flyer that would be wonderful. We are also adding a donate button for Paypal if you feel that you can share as little or as much as you can comfortably offer. To think that a mere 50 pence gives one child an education plus two meals at school for one day.
Photos from a Picturebox book made by David Curtis, trustee of Rigul Trust, using Francois Henrard’s images from his many visits to Rigul.
Click on this link to view: http://www.photobox.co.uk/1xC8C8A7/creation/358259911?cid=puksecs001
We wish to thank Ani Sherab for her wonderful and inspiring idea for celebrating the 3rd anniversary of Rigul Trust with offerings on Buddhist Festivals.
Offerings on Buddhist Festivals
We have been joyfully celebrating three years of Rigul Trust with suggestions for beautiful offerings that will accumulate merit in order to bring great benefit to the welfare of all beings.
By way of expressing heart felt gratitude to Ringu Tulku, Ani Sherab has dedicated her practice and made offerings of £108 to Rigul Trust on each of the major Buddhist Festivals when actions are many thousand times more powerful.
Ani-la invited us all, as part of Rinpoche’s mandala worldwide, to have fun by coming together where ever we were on these auspicious days, offering whatever we could joyfully using the auspicious number 108.
The Schedule taken from Kagyu Samye Ling Diary has been:
17th May – The Buddha reveals the Kalachakra Teachings
9 June – Birth of Buddha Sakyamuni at Lumbini
15 June – Enlightenment and Parinirvana
3 August – Teaching of the Four Noble Truths
13 August – Buddha’s entry into Mother’s womb
22 February – 7 March 2012 – Losar and the following fourteen days
This inspiring anniversary offering has allowed all of us to join in with the great spirit of belonging to one family worldwide, dedicating whatever practice we do and giving what we can on the Festival Days to Rigul Trust and to its continued success in supporting so many worthwhile projects.
We have been doing this individually and in groups making offerings, generating the merit and dedicating it to the welfare of all beings. We are pleased to announce that over £5,000 has been received by Rigul Trust as a result of Ani Sherab’s inspired idea of making offerings for these special Buddhist Festival days.
————————————————————————-
Yushu earthquake 2010
Last year we raised £15,000 for the survivors of the earthquake that occurred on the Tibetan plateau in Yushu. We sent immediate aid for emergency help for the survivors.
We are helping on a longer term basis with funding 15 orphan girls with food, shoes and clothing and also providing 50 bags of 50kg bags of good quality barley for survivors elsewhere in Yushu.
We have the good fortune to have linked up with Khenpo Damchoe Dawa and Sonam Tenzin Rinpoche who personally distribute the money and oversee the care of the orphans and the distribution of the barley.
100% of all donations received for the Yushu earthquake is going directly to survivors and the little orphan girls. Not a single penny goes in admin costs, volunteers fund 100% of all costs. This money is taken personally by Khenpo Damchoe Dawa who lives in Tibet and his cousin Sonam Tenzin Rinpoche lives in Australia and has a centre in Sydney and visits Tibet regularly.
Katia Holmes translates for us for Khenpo Damchoe Dawa.
Three of the fifteen little orphan girls taken in by the nuns at Chodrak nunnery.
Sara, Sonam Tenzin Rinpoche’s secretary, has sent the following reports about some of the affects of the aftermath of the earthquake in Tibet:
Dear Margaret,
Last year Sonam Tenzin Rinpoche organized 2 separate fundraising for the victims of the earthquake. He then undertook the trip to Tibet in May and worked with Khenpo Damchoe Dawa (who is his cousin, by the way) who supervised the rescue efforts. In Yushu, they distributed the money, bought tents, clothes, medicines, sleeping bags, etc.
The little orphans lost their parents in the aftermath of the earthquake last year.
The cost of providing food is 6 yuan a day per orphan This is 90 yuan per day for 15 orphans or 32850 yuan per year for all 15 orphans.
After the earthquake, there are still so many people who have lost their limbs, have broken backs etc… Our resident teacher Lama Nansai who also comes from Chodrak told me about one of his relatives who has 3 young children, has both legs amputated and a broken back after the earthquake. Her husband has been in a Chinese jail for over 3 years , no news from him (his whereabouts are unknown). So there is a lot of suffering. Lama Nansai does not know about percentages but he said that if you take 100 Tibetan people , maybe 3 will have a job. Tibetan people are not allowed to farm and have to buy all their food needs (barley, flour, etc.) and so the majority of them are completely destitute.
Lama Nansai says that, although there is a lot of suffering because of the earthquake, people are familiar with Dharma and do not complain or get depressed. They feel sad but continue to pray using their prayer wheels. The Chinese government puts a restriction on farming by Tibetan people. Instead they are obliged to buy wheat,flour etc.. Yet they have no money. Lama Nansai says that most people in this part of Kham are unemployed, have no proper lodgings or clothing and are on the borderline of starvation. According to a report by the United Nations, this area is the most economically disadvantaged area under Chinese control.
Yours in loving kindness,
Sara
—————————————————————————
Rigul Trust Publication
Chenrezig: The Practice of Compassion: A Commentary by Ringu Tulku
An inspiring and beautiful book by Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, it presents a complete approach for generating and working with loving kindness.
It is such a heart warming experience for us at Rigul Trust to now see the fruits of Rinpoche’s original oral commentary on Chenrezig in print in this very nicely produced practice book. So many people are very happy with this book and value this commentary and sadhana for a complete practice.
We would like to thank all the people who have helped so much in the distribution of this book at many of the centres that Rinpoche has visited this year on his European tour.
Samye Ling shop are very supportive and are selling the Chenrezig book and allowing 100% of the sale of this book to go to the health clinic, the school and the monastery in Rigul, Tibet, Ringu Tulku’s homeland.
Here are some photos taken by Jet Mort at Samye Ling with Ringu Tulku signing the books:
Bernie
A big thank you to Bernie Hartley who is an ambassador for Rigul Trust. Bernie took boxes of these books around the UK to centres where Ringu Tulku was teaching.
Bernie also provides all Ringu Tulku’s London teachings on CD/DVD and offers these for sale and gives 100% of the proceeds from these sales to Rigul Trust poverty relief projects. A great service.
If you would like a copy of this book please visit https://www.rigultrust.org/chenrezig_book.html and buy online, or order from Samye Ling shop www.sameylingshop.com
We welcome your help, feedback, suggestions and contributions.
If you are able to share with us anything that you can comfortably offer in the way of money, service or advice this would be most welcomed. And everything that you are able to offer will be of benefit to so many who are helped through Rigul Trust’s humanitarian and poverty relief work.
Be happy, be joyful, go well,
Margaret Richardson and the Rigul Trust team.
Rigul Trust 13, St. Francis Avenue Southampton SO18 5QL UK Tel: 023 8046 2926
www.rigultrust.org http://rigultrust.wordpress.com
UK registered charity no: 1124076