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Projects in support of young Monks and also Nuns in Bhutan
By initiative of some of her loyal donors, “Pro Bhutan” has begun to support poor young Monks and also Nuns in their Monasteries in Bhutan with practical aid:
Main Temple of the Dechen Phoedrung Monastery
As a first project, we have ordered the production of 80 tables and 80 benches for the newly built dining hall of Dechen Phoedrung Monastery in Thimphu. The wife of our architect and Project-Coordinator Baumgartner, Mrs. Pema Sherpa, who gives already, on a regular basis, medical assistance to the Monks, had found a reliable local carpenter. In this huge dining hall, more than 450 young Monk-students eat every day, in shifts, with their teachers. One unit of the Bhutanese style tables and benches seats 2 – 3 Monks. Before the gift of the tables and benches, the Monks had to sit on the bare concrete floor, in the long winter at temperatures near or below freezing point.
The new Dining Hall of the Monastery from outside
During a small ceremony, Harald N. Nestroy, Executive Chairman “Pro Bhutan”, accompanied by Angelika Nestroy and Pema Sherpa, handed over the tables and benches, symbolically with a “Khada”, the white ceremonial scarf used for gifts etc., to the Abbot of the Monastery. The Abbot expressed, in the name of the Monks, his deep gratitude to the donors and „Pro Bhutan“. He emphasized that this donation is extremely valuable for the health of the Monks.
During the following lunch in the packed dining hall, the young Monks showed their gratitude with folded hands and their radiant smile.
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Happy young Monks in the new
Dining Hall |
Their teachers |
We are preparing another, similar project in support of very poor Nuns in a Nunnery above Punakha, also to replace doors, windows and floors, at present totally rotten, of the Nunnery. This project is not easy as the Nunnery lies high above Puankha in an mountainous forest and can be reached only by walking several hours steeply uphill. But we have already found a carpenter who soon will present a quotation.
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