Bhutan is a land-locked country located in the Eastern Himalayas – which means many areas are hard to get to thanks to the terrain. Access to medical care is difficult and facilities that cater for the disabled are hard to come by. Children with special needs are generally under-served.
Opening Your Heart to Bhutan is a UK-based charity set up by Emma Slade – a Bhuddist nun who came to talk to our Club some time ago. Through its work the charity aims to bring “children with special needs joy and the opportunity to build meaningful lives.” The charity believes in “education as a means of empowerment” and is supporting the digging of sewage systems, building of hostels and improvement of facilities at Draktsho, a vocational training centre in Tashigang, Eastern Bhutan.
Currently, the charity is fundraising to build walls, ramps and wheelchair-friendly pathways for the disabled around the Draktsho school. The £500 our Club donated via our international committee represents about 4% of the project cost.
Sue wrote to us expressing delight on hearing of our donaton, which brings the charity much closer to its objective. The project is a significant one for them as it will unite the whole school and allow all the students access to education and lifelong opportunities.
To find out more about their work or to make a donation, visit Opening Your Heart to Bhutan’s website here.
Click here for another article from us about Opening Your Heart to Bhutan.
Picture: Special needs teacher Tshering Dolkar assists a student at the school. Picture credit: Opening Your Heart to Bhutan (reproduced with permission).
