Children’s Cultural and Educational Program
In 2020, Mustang Bon Foundation funded the purchase of a newly-built, spacious 23 room hotel in Jomsom, Nepal. This hotel is now the home of Mustang Cultural and Education Center, the children’s boarding school and the Tibetan Medicine Clinic. The Mustang Cultural and Education Center is overseen by Geshe Sonam and receives significant funds from the Mustang Bon Foundation.
Boarding School
The Mustang Bon Foundation (MBF), in partnership with the Mustang Cultural and Education Center (MCEC), has supported the education of Tibetan refugee children since 2012. Together with MCEC, our long-term goal is to teach this next generation of children their own Tibetan language and spiritual practices, and thereby preserve Tibetan Bon customs in Mustang.
Our emotional, physical and financial support bridges the gap between the Nepalese educational requirements and the cultural needs of the exiled Tibetan community in the Mustang Valley. Our Foundation currently sponsors 46 children from the region, allowing them to live at the MCEC boarding school in Jomsom to ensure their ongoing education. These students come from poverty-level indigenous families; and, their parents write a letter to request the acceptance of their child. Once admitted, students are sponsored for the entire program, from kindergarten all the way through University. The students return home in the summer to be with their families, help with farming, and share what they have learned. The program has been so successful that there is currently a waiting list as Tibetan families are desperate to have their children maintain their language and culture.
During the day, the boarding school students attend the local government-required Nepalese grade school where they learn reading, writing, science, and math. Before and after school, they are taught Tibetan history, language, songs, customs and traditional prayers. Grades K-8 live at the boarding school in Jomsom. In 2022, donations from MBF funded the rental of a hostel in Pokhara. This hostel allows for six of the 46 students to continue their education at the high school, and for one of the students to attend University. As Pokara is over six hours by bus from Jomsom, access to higher education for these students would not have been possible without the support of our generous donors.
The cost per student per year for grades K-8 is $1,200 per year; grades 9-12 is $2,200 per year and University is $3,000 per year inclusive of all lodging and food. If you would like to sponsor a child, or support the boarding school, please donate below.
