In a forgotten part of Tibet, near Shigatse,
the work to reconstruct a monastery continues

Peace Times 11

Inauguration ceremony beginning the work on Gangchen Monastery, in front of the ruins of the ancient building

Planting of trees
around the village

Construction work on the first
floor of the new building

Close-up of the work
on the first floor

Local children sponsored
by «Help in Action»

One hundred villagers working on the site of the new construction. Two months after the first stone was laid, the first of four floors has already been completed. In course, a massive reforestation intervention. Also planned in the village, are both a new school and a dispensary

In just two months, since the inauguration of the site for the new building with the laying of the first stone, the construction of Gangchen Monastery (thirty kilometres from Shigatse, in Central Tibet) is already well underway with the first of four floors already completed.

The beginning of the «Gangchen Village Project» (which is also to include the building of a school and dispensary) has seen an amazing trans-formation in the local area - once a quiet and deserted ghost town, it has now changed into a bustling hive of community activity. The team of architects, builders and carpenters working on the new construction, have been inundated with daily help from more than one hundred local people anxious to see the realization of the project recently initiated by Lama Gangchen.

Villagers have also planted hundreds of fruit trees - transported from the Yarlung Valley - in the vicinity of the village and in a particularly arid part of Tibet they are also actively working on finding practical solutions to the problem of irrigation.

The enthusiasm and efforts shown by the local people is a testimony to their hopes that the «Gangchen Village Project» will offer not only a place for the study and preservation of the ancient and profound Buddhist teachings and Tibetan culture, but that it will also provide this forgotton part of Tibet with much needed social, educational and medical necessities.

Sharon Dawson

Here’s how to support the LGWPF project

A worldwide fund-raising campaign which will allow the «Gangchen Village Project» to become a reality as soon as possible is already underway. Thanks to the first generous donations, work is quickly continuing on the ancient Gangchen Monastery (founded five centuries ago by Zangpo Tashi, the favourite student of the first Dalai Lama and a previous incarnation of Lama Gangchen) which was destroyed in 1959.

Any donations towards the cost of the work, which is expected to be around 400 thousand dollars, can be made through Lama Gangchen Kiurok Tsochun - Pro Monastero di Gangchen. Account number 7770/67, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, Agency 13, Abi 5696, Cab 1612, Swift POSOIT22MIL.

Already completed are four of the five Buddha statues which are been sculptured in Borobudur (Java) by the Indonesian artist Kasrin. Organisation for their transportation to Tibet is already being planned.