ROKPA TIMES

No. 3 / November 2019 / Volume 39

A Home

CONTENTS

Editorial 2

a HoME - My story 3 – 6

roKPa NEWS 7

BaCK - When a safe home does not exist 8

ROKPA INTERNATIONAL Board

Lea Wyler (Co-Founder and President) / Peter Fanconi (Vice-President) / Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche / Dorje Tarap / Gelong Thubten / Andreas Vollenweider

Imprint

Editorial team: Corinna Biasiutti / Andrea Hefti / Jyoti / Lea Wyler / Tina Zaugg Copy editing: Liane Brand (www.lianebrand.ch) / Claire Twigger English translation: Kaja Kurczewska Graphic design: Renée Reust / Staša Lampret Cover picture: © Lea Wyler Print run: 7’300 copies (German edition)

dear roKPa friends,

a journey to Kathmandu, completely alone. at the age of seven.

Can you imagine that?

this was just one of many challenges that the Nepalese girl Jyoti

went through. at the age of five, she lost her father, and her

mother lacked the money to send the children to school. From a

young age, life was not so good to her. What is more, she never

had a real home. But what is a home anyway? a place?

a feeling? or both?

For me personally, it is much more than a place to sleep and eat.

it is, above all, the feeling of love and security. Christmas time

reminds me of the privilege of having a home. at these times, i

think especially of children like Jyoti and of the fact that many in

the poorest areas of the world are without a home.

Jyoti, now 16 years old, has experienced things that we cannot

imagine in our worst nightmares. For me, this young, courageous

girl stands for all of the children we support in Nepal and africa

throughout their childhood and youth. Children who can give this

feeling to their siblings in the roKPa Children's Home and who

can also feel for themselves what they were unable to experience

in the past: love, security and the feeling of having a family and a

home. that is why we pay special attention to Jyoti's story in this

issue.

dear friends and donors, thanks to your commitment, stories like

these can take such positive turns. For that i send you my

wholehearted thanks and wish you a beautiful and peaceful

Christmas.

Yours,

Lea Wyler

Co-Founder and President of ROKPA INTERNATIONAL

Editorial

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Printed on recycled paper manufactured in accordance with the rules of “The Blue Angel”.

My story

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yoti

2The villagers torment my mother because she

has no husband

My mother suffered a lot from this loss. She

was accused of witchcraft which made it

difficult for her to live a peaceful life, was

beaten very often and was alone most of the

time. She had no one to share her worries

with. Gradually she became weaker and

physically unable to do heavy work. She

worked in the field and fed us – but she could

not afford education for us children. My

mother's parents-in-law tried to separate us

from our mother, but she fought for us and

moved with us to her parents’ house.

A hard and difficult life...

our grandparents let us stay in their home but did not treat us well

and never considered us part of the family. So my mother had to

leave the house and go to Kathmandu to look for work and a new

home for us. i was very sad and hurt that my mother left me

behind and only took my brother along with her. My grandparents

also told me that my mother would not love me because i was a

girl and that's why she had left me. after that i felt hatred towards

my mother.

Loss of daddy

i was born into a difficult family situation.

My family was superstitious. My mother

was tormented by her parents-in-law. She

worked hard and did all the household

chores, but she was never appreciated by

the family. i was about 5 years old when

my father passed away.

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a HoME

5Reunion with mother and brother in

Kathmandu

one day my grandmother told me that

my mother had called and wanted me

to come to Kathmandu.

My grandmother then borrowed money

from neighbors and sent me to

Kathmandu. i traveled all alone in the

crowded bus. i only had some fruits

and popcorn with me. it took me

about three days to arrive in

Kathmandu. i was startled when i saw

the crowd on arrival. i did not know

what to do or where to go. then i saw

my mother looking for me. the

moment i saw her, my hatred

vanished. i ran to her and hugged her.

We both cried. She looked very old

and thin. the next day she told me

that she had to leave me behind

because she did not have enough

money to pay for my bus ticket.

4No education

Since i had to take care of the cattle and cut grass

for the animals, i was only able to attend school

once or twice a week. i had to work really hard and

do whatever my grandfather told me to do. i felt

alone and missed my mother very much.

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a HoME

8Eating with everyone!

the next day i was dressed in school

uniform, got a school bag and was ready to

go to school. that was the biggest moment

in my life. in the roKPa Children’s Home i

have food, a bed to sleep in and so many

friends to play with. i never feel lonely in the

Children's Home. i have everything i need,

namely a family.

6First visit to the

ROKPA Children's Home

one day our mother bathed us, dressed

us tidily and took us to the roKPa

Children's Home. Mummy lea and the

other brothers and sisters welcomed us.

the moment i became a roKPa child,

my life changed.

A place full of sisters

My brother Bikal and i became part of

this big family. Chotti became my

roKPa sister and carer. Every child

has an older brother or sister. they

helped us with our homework, we

shared our problems with them, and

we asked them when we did not

understand something. Most

importantly, they took care of us and

loved us very much.

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a HoME

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10Going to school with my sister!

Thank you Mummy...

i am now in Grade 9 in one of the

best schools here in Kathmandu. i

would like to become a doctor and

help others, just like roKPa helped

my mother when she was ill. i would

like to thank dr. akong tulku

rinpoche, Mummy lea, the entire

roKPa family, the team, and the

donors for helping me change my life.

9Taken in as a ROKPA child

roKPa not only helped me but also my

mother. after six months of training, she now

works in the roKPa Women's Workshop. She

no longer has to carry heavy loads, she has a

fair income and she can look after my siblings.

today she is feeling better and looks happy.

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a HoME

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Project update

Building-Award 2019

in June roKPa, together with the

partner engineer Gianfranco Bronzini,

received the Swiss Building-award in

the "Special award" category, celebra-

ting the creative achievement of our

new building, the akong rinpoche

Memorial Center in Kathmandu, Nepal.

By combining local construction methods with the modern rules of civil engineering,

the seismic safety of Kathmandu's typical frame structures could be massively

improved.

Disaster relief in Zimbabwe

in March of this year, Chikukwa – one of

our new project areas in Zimbabwe – was

hard hit by cyclone "idai". Next year, we

will report on our commitment to those

affected.

ROKPA’s 40th Anniversary

in the coming year, we are celebrating a

big anniversary: four decades have

passed since dr. akong tulku rinpoche,

lea Wyler and dr. Veit Wyler founded

roKPa in Zurich. the celebrations will

kick off at roKPa in Boudha on the

actual anniversary, March 27, 2020.

Meetings with the children and special guests, a banquet, film screenings and other

performances are part of the program. We invite you to celebrate with us and ask

you to register early as well as reserve a room (info@rokpaguesthouse.org). We look

forward to stepping into our 40th year with you as a long-time supporter!

ROKPA welcomes a new employee at Zurich headquarters

Since 1 September 2019, andrea Hefti has been responsible

for communications and marketing, replacing thomas Stettler

and tina Zaugg. andrea studied Business Communications in

Zurich and specialized in copywriting for marketing and

online as well as visual communication. after most recently

leading the marketing and communications division of a

digital consulting firm in St. Gallen, she left for toronto,

Canada, in early 2019 for a language study visit. after her

return to Switzerland andrea, who is originally from the

eastern part of the country, moved to Zurich definitively. andrea's interest in global

issues and sustainability as well as the desire to work in a meaningful environment

finally brought her to roKPa. We give her a warm welcome!

Merry Christmas! the roKPa team wishes you a

wonderful Christmas. We hope that

you can enjoy a peaceful and happy

time with your family and wish you a

healthy and joy-filled 2020.

We thank you very much for your

support.

roKPa NEWS

7

In Switzerland all donations to ROKPA are tax-free.

Yam Kumar is only 15 years old and

already knows what it means to have

no home. He was born with deformed

feet and will never walk. that's why he

moves by crawling. today, tomorrow –

the rest of his life. His father was

paralyzed and bedridden. His mother’s

spine and ribs were so badly injured in a

fall that she still has pain today. the

family were driven from their homeland

in a village high in the Nepalese

mountains – Yam’s father died and

mother and son were left homeless and

destitute.

Hoping to find work, Yam’s mother

moved with Yam to Kathmandu. the two

were homeless and lived on the street.

then they finally found a simple place to

stay – but how could they pay for this

new home? Every month, mother and

son laboriously collect the money they

manage to earn by begging in the

streets. there is a light at the end of the

tunnel however: Yam now goes to

school. He studies hard, so that he can

later learn a trade and earn money.

roKPa supports him and his mother,

including in medical matters. a safe

home is not a given for many people in

our project countries. Help poverty-

stricken people like Yam Kumar and his

mother with a donation.

thank you very much!

When a safe home does not exist

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How you can donate:

Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AG:

iBaN: CH73 0483 5045 5090 1100 1

BiC/SWiFt: CrESCHZZ80a

Postkonto: 80-19029-5

or find the account information for your

country on www.rokpa.org.

Project No. 8750

For food/living costs

Project No. 8150

For medical care

Project No. 8100:

For education

Project No. 8000:

For urgent roKPa Projects

We are deeply grateful for your generous support!

SMS donations

up to CHF 99

GO ROKPA XX

(amount, figure only) to

target number 488

Example for CHF 20.–:

GO ROKPA 20 to 488

To be able to move around the house,

Yam Kumar has to walk on all fours. As a

safeguard, he bandages his legs and

protects his hands.

Helping where help is needed: sustainably, for almost 40 years. ROKPA

ROKPA INTERNATIONAL | Böcklinstrasse 27 | 8032 Zürich | Switzerland | telephone +41 44 262 68 88

info@rokpa.org | www.rokpa.org | facebook.com/roKPa.org