Limi survived the Cultural Revolution with its Tibetan culture intact but it cannot survive another generation of illiteracy. The need for education is URGENT.

"The right to development is an inalienable human right by virtue of which every human person and all peoples are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realised."

Article 1, UN Declaration on the Right to Development (4 December 1986)

"Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another."

Gilbert K Chesterton

In November of 2008 we began a women's literacy program at the hostel learning center. For the first time women will be able to read Tibetan texts.

Villagers at work in small garden of greens.

Antahkarana Society International, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, was formed to give aid and assistance to Tibetan children in the remote and rugged Himalayan regions of Nepal. Our work is focused on education through our Sponsor a Tibetan Child program.

Antahkarana refers to the creative thread of life woven heart-to-heart connecting all life. When one has a sense of antahkarana there is a realization that all life is inter connected and there arises a new and expanded sense of social responsibility.

Tibetan culture in Himalaya

Forgotten and underserved, indigenous Tibetans struggle daily for the simple necessities of food and shelter. Seemingly caught in a time warp, they persevere in a way of life barely different from that of the Middle Ages. No water or sewer systems, no communications, and the nearest market a two-day walk on treacherous mountain trails to a border town with Tibet. There have been no schools for generations.

Without education and new economic opportunities there is little chance that life will change for indigenous Tibetans of the Himalayan region.

How is Antahkarana Society helping indigenous Tibetan culture in this Himalayan Region?

Antahkarana Society International is helping the people of this region in three ways...providing schools, improving living conditions and developing cultural-tourism to boost the local economy to sustain village life.

A school and more

Our first school project is for Limi, Humla, Nepal and serves three villages.

In extended meetings with villagers, it was decided that for the children's safety and immediate access to education, we would sponsor them into private Tibetan schools in Kathmandu where they receive an excellent education in top rated schools.

They are learning Tibetan, Nepali and English and all other subjects of elementary and secondary education in a setting that protects and encourages all elements of their Tibetan culture.

There are thousands of children in the region in need of our help and waiting for an opportunity to attend school. We are expanding our work as quickly as funds are received.

Youth leadership program

We have implemented our long term plan to prepare Limi youth to take leadership roles and return to their villages to become teachers in primary schools. Three new village schools will open in 2008-2009 school year with Limi youth serving as teachers.

A Women's Literacy Program

Women are now learning to read and write Tibetan and English during adult study time at the Limi Youth Hostel.

Boost Local Economy

Antahkarana helps villagers identify and develop new sources of income. We are teaming up with agricultural, business and acacemic specialists to work with local people to move toward moderization and an expanded economy. A revenue stream is created when villagers introduce cultural-tourism into the region. Income is generated by providing shelter, food, guides, porters and pack animals to trekkers. If you would like to join a trek to Limi or one of our less trenuous tours or a pilgrimage of holy places click here

How can you help?

Sponsor a Tibetan child or

Donate to Youth Hostel Project

Sponsor a Tibetan child

School begins in April each year. Because the villages are snowed in from November to May, the children arrive in Kathmandu at the end of October. They are cared for at our hostel until school begins. A full year's tuition with supplies, books, uniforms and medical and dental care for one child for one year is $500. For pictures and bios of the children who have newly arrived click here.

Donate to Youth Hostel Project

Antahkarana Youth Hostel cares for indigenous Tibetan children during school breaks and for special occasions. Youth who are beyond school age are offered English, Nepali, Tibetan language classes and computer classes.These basics will lift them from a marginalized status, give them basic job skills and prepare them to participate in government. With trained youth, the Limi economy can be stimulated for the necessary growth needed to preserve their village and Tibetan culture. Donate now.

Gifts of securities

Gifts of stock, mutual funds, real estate or other securities not only continue the vital work but also provide contributors with significant tax benefits.

Planned Giving
Give a gift that "keeps-on-giving".  A donation to the endowment fund will create a legacy that lasts throughout time.

Wills, trusts and estate plans are all ways that you can leave a planned gift and a personal legacy for the benefit of others. Call or write for more information on how you can contribute to the Antahkarana Endowment Fund. Your gift to the endowment fund keeps on giving year after year as only the accured interest is used for the work while the principle remains intact.

Join the Service/Travel Trek to Limi

A trek to Limi, Nepal will be a highlight in any adventurer's life. Few westerners have ever visited this remote Himalayan region. Perhaps the Shangri-la of  western imaginations! The people are remarkable, the beauty awe inspiring and the travel breathtaking and rigorous. An expedition is planned for August 2008 If you are interested in joining the trek click here

Join an Anthkarana India Adventure and Pilgrimage

Each year Antahkarana will host an annual travel adventure to key spots in India with a traditional pilgrimage In the Footsteps of Buddha. If you are interested in this journey of a lifetime send us your contact information in an email.

Milestones from most recent to past:

1. We are currently working on a proposal for a school at Simikot, Nepal to serve the people of this new region. Local Tibetans approached Antahkarana to assist them in building a school to meet the needs of their children. Thousands of children currently languor without educational opportunities. The faster we grow the more we can help.
2. In January of 2008 we implemented an adult women's literacy program. Tibetan women are learning to read and write in their native language and English.
3. In April 2008 we enrolled fifteen additional students into Tibetan schools in Kathmandu. All had achieved entry level competence through the excellent preparatory work they did during their stay at Limi Youth Hostel.
4. In March 2008 our first group of Limi children completed a successful year at Namghal school. They achieved excellent grades and several received highest honors.
5. In November of 2007 we completed the expansion of the Limi Youth Hostel to accomodate twenty four additional children
6. In November of 2007 fifteen new children arrived at the youth hostel and were accepted for training to enter our program.
7. In June of 2007 we learned that the village farmers had been denied visas to enter the US for the greenhouse project Antahkarana had arranged with Montana State University. It is possible that we will send people to Limi in the fall to do this work on site.
8. In April of 2007 fifteen Limi children entered Namgyal Boarding School. Antahkarana provided tuition, uniforms, books, and medical fees for all of the children.
9. In November of 2006 the Youth Hostel was completed and ready to receieve the children from Limi, Nepal. Some had walked as long as 17 days to arrive before the snow would have bound them in for the winter. Three children with their parents turned back because of bad weather.
10. Antahkarana and Kailashzone staff cared for the children and prepared them to enter Namgyal Tibetan Boarding School at the first grade level. This required teaching elementary skills in Tibetan, Nepali English and math. All fifteen children achieved the required skills by the opening of school in April 2007.
11. During the winter and early spring of 2007, teachers at the Antahkarana Youth Hostel taught English and computer skills to Limi youth who were beyond school age.
12. In fall of 2006, Antahkarana made arrangements to sponsor eighteen Limi children into a Tibetan Government School in Kathmandu.
13. We have begun renovations for a youth hostel in Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal to house students during vacations, illness or special events and to serve as an adult education center.
14. In summer of 2006 arrangements were made with Montana State University to hold a training classs in summer of 2007 for Limi villagers. They will learn to build and maintain a greenhouse suited to the high Himalayan climate. Antahkarana will sponsor three villagers into this program.
15. In August and September of 2005 Antahkarana Executive Director, Deanna Campbell and Khenpo Tashi Kailash made the first on-site visit to Limi, Nepal to discuss the school project with village elders. Land was donated for the school site. It was determined that futher planning on the buidling project would be required as the first selected site had been appropriated by the government for other uses.
16. In November, 2004 Antahkarana Society raised money for the purchase of building materials for the school in Limi.These funds have been deployed to lease hold improvements for the youth hostel in Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal.
17. Flying Horse Communications, a business-consulting firm in Bozeman, Montana, has joined our team of professional advisors to the people of Limi,Nepal and has commenced communications with a representative of the village.
18. Tom Blake, PhD, Barley Breeder, Montana State University has offered to examine the barley production system and barley heads of grain grown in the Limi area to assess the potential to design a participatory plant breeding project to improve yield and/or nutrition of the current crops.
19. We have formed an association with Nepali Technical Assistance Group (NTAG) They will assist us in making valuable contacts with non-government resources that are compatible with our project.

More about Limi, Nepal

Limi is representative of villages across the region

For centuries, Limi has been a part of the Ngari region of Tibet, an area enveloped in mystery and renowned as “the top of the world". Ngari is the land of sacred Mt Kailash, the precious mountain of heaven. It was an early center of Buddhism and the ancient Kingdom of Guge.

Amidst the sea of ice and snow, the land is dotted with sacred mountains, sacred rivers and sacred lakes. After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1961, a border was drawn to divide Ngari, in Western Tibet and Humla, in northwestern Nepal and Limi arbitrarily came under the authority of Nepal.

Independent, isolated and ignored by the governments of China and Nepal Limi survived the Cultural Revolution and retained every aspect of their Tibetan culture, tradition and religion that were almost lost to Tibetans.

The people practice the Drikung Kagyu Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, a school that dates back to the ninth century. Limi is tied to the Gyangdak monastery situated at the foot of Mt Kailash in Ngari.

Limi is a common name for three villages, Til, Weltse and Zang situated in a beautiful valley at approximately 12,000ft altitude. The population is approximately 1700.

All travel is by foot, horse or yak through mountainous terrain on paths barely a meter wide. The nearest towns are Purang, Tibet, a 25 km two-day trek and Simikot, Nepal a 52km three-day trek. Each year hundreds of tons of goods are carried in and out of Limi on these ancient trading routes.

There are no telephones in Limi and hydro-electricity is available just three hours in the evening. The village is snowed in from November to April with no passage in or out.

The villagers have small farms with domestic animals, such as yaks horses, goats and sheep. Their main crop is barley for Tsampa (roast barley flour) and Chang (barley wine).

The villagers earn so little from either agriculture or animal products that the men must travel to a remote forest in Northern India for the winter where they make wooden bowls, furniture and other objects to sell in India, Nepal and Tibet. Most men are home just one month of the year leaving only the women and children to tend the crops and animals.

Volunteer Opportunities

Our work is ongoing and is currently accomplished by volunteers in America and Limi Nepal. If you would like to enter into a hands-on relationship with Antahkarana Society International, click here.

Treks and Pilgrimages to Mt Kailash, Lhasa, Limi and India

If you are interested in travel to Tibet and Nepal or India, click here.

Donate on line. (Click here.)

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"Be quick to do good.

If you are slow,

The mind delighting in  

   mischief,

Will catch you."

From the Dhammapada

Ram Shrestha, founder of Nepali Technical Assistance Group says,

  "I like the approach that Antahkarana Society is taking. It is wholistic, working with the villagers to determine their needs and resources and involving them in the process of building and sustaining a school and community center. It is good not to just go there and give money."

NAMGYAL SCHOOL

KATHMANDU, NEPAL

For pictures and stories of Tibetan children click here.

Site of Antahkarana Hostel for indigenous Tibetan children, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Original site of hostel

September 2006 view from street.

Courtyard of expanded hostel April 2008 New classroom and dormitory room sit where grass and rock appear in picture above.

Renovations in progress for additional shower house and room for house parents.

    
Finished shower house and additional water tank.

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