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The Druk White Lotus School
Druk White Lotus School is a project that was started at the request of the people of Ladakh, high in the Indian Himalayas, where a large proportion of the population still maintains Tibetan Buddhist traditions. In Shey (Ladakh), the Druk White Lotus School project began in 1992. Its remit is to provide a mixture of traditional and contemporary education to help the next generation of Ladakhis to maintain their culture and develop the skills necessary for them to survive in the modern world.
	Currently in the second phase of construction the school site, designed by Arup Associates, is beginning to attract world-wide recognition for both its aesthetic and engineered qualities, including some innovative ideas for energy conservation. By the time of completion in 2010, the school will provide facilities for 800 children aged between 4 and 16.
The people of Ladakh wanted a school that would help maintain their rich cultural traditions while equipping their chlidren for a life in the 21st century. They asked the Gyalwang Drukpa to help them achieve their goal.
The school building, designed by Arup Associates, combines local building techniques and materials with leading edge environmental design to make it effective in the extreme climate. Druk White Lotus school is being built in stages. The first stage, the Nursery and Infants School, opened in September 2001. The Junior School is now being built.
The school will offer a broad education, initially in the Ladakhi language and later in English. Residential blocks will allow children from Ladakh's remote hill areas to attend, and a programme of sponsorship will make sure even the poorest are not excluded. The school is being managed by the Drukpa Trust and financed with money raised in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in the West. If you can make a donation or fundraise for the school, please contact us. For more detailed information on this project visit the Druk White Lotus School website.