Namaste, Friends and Supporters of dZi,

In July 2006, Bob Bandoni and Mike Beerntsen, from The Vail Mountain School, approached me to see if the dZi Foundation could support their Global Ethics Program. I had given a dZi Foundation presentation six-months earlier to the VMS students, and was impressed by the students' genuine interest and desire to travel overseas.

The mission of the VMS is to provide a sound academic education in an environment that nurtures the students' social and emotional growth. A key component of this mission, and ultimately of the students' dZi trip, is character development and instilling a global conscience in each student. An expression that is used quite often these days is that an experience is life changing; for these students, that is the only comment that accurately states their experience.

Taking ten high school students to India for an entire month is not to be taken lightly, no matter how well traveled and experienced you are. As with many things in life, the risks are directly proportional to the rewards. These rewards are wonderfully expressed in a letter from Mike Beerntsen below.

On a separate track, a local Non-Governmental Organization called the Young Star Club (which has been working in Nepal for 25 years) established a community radio station called Solu FM in 2004. Solu FM is based in the Solukhumbu district capital of Sallerie, and currently reaches approximately 100,000 listeners.

In partnership with the Young Star Club, we funded a pilot radio education and tutoring program that began in July, 2007. The half- hour program is broadcast once a week, and is comprised of fifteen minutes of educational journalism, and fifteen minutes of a specific tutoring program. The tutoring program is a new concept for Nepal. Our vision is to offer a tutoring program that focuses on a specific subject and a specific grade level. We are currently researching which areas are the most difficult for the students in our target audience, and that contribute to school dropouts.

Midway through the year, we will evaluate the effectiveness of the program via listener surveys and field visits. If our pilot year is viewed as a worthwhile program, we will then partner with the District Educational Office and World Education to refine our tutoring curriculum and develop a textbook to be distributed via Radio Listener Groups. These groups will form in coordination with schools across our target areas.

We anticipate the listenership to increase to around 150,000 once the new relay tower is completed. This innovative project will reach some of the most remote areas across Solukhumbu, Okhaldungha, and Khotang districts of Eastern Nepal.

The budget for this pilot project is $5,600 for the first year. If this project resonates with you, and you would like to help, please contact me at jim@dzifoundation.org. As always, your support is immensely appreciated!

All the best.

Jim Nowak
Executive Director

Reflections on the Vail Mountain School Trip to Ladakh

Below is a letter by Mike Beerntsen, a VMS educator who accompanied the students on the trip to Ladakh.

[In the photo at right, Christina of the Vail Mountain School shares a photo album with Samina, a 'middle school' student in Ladakh.]

Throughout the month of June, I had the opportunity to participate in a comprehensive service and educational program with ten of my high school students from Vail Mountain School. Over the course of the 30 days that our group spent working with dZi in Ladakh, we helped to build the first two handicapped-accessible Ladakhi dry-toilets; decorated and delivered over a dozen hand-washing stations to local schools; and completed a significant clean-up of the Marka Valley trek. With Bill Liske as our incredibly knowledgeable guide, we also had ample opportunities to learn a great deal about the magnificent culture that we were immersed in. Now that the journey is complete, it is impossible to fully define or describe the impact that our month with dZi had upon my students and me, but there are several experiences that undeniably had a significant effect on all of us.

First and foremost, everyone was profoundly affected by the week that we spent building the handicap-accessible toilets at the Chushot hostel and neighboring school. Prior to our arrival, Bill Rohs and Neena Jain had facilitated a partnership with the King of Ladakh's organization to build these toilets. In retrospect, it is readily apparent to me that this project altered my students' thinking, and opened their hearts more than I ever could have anticipated. Every morning, my students eagerly anticipated our arrival at the work site, where they knew that we would immediately be greeted by the glowing smiles of the kids at the home when they ran out to meet us. And during every lull in our work, they could always seize these opportunities to simply play with the kids who had wandered out to check on our progress. These priceless interactions continually served to remind my students of the importance of our work in enabling some of the kids in wheelchairs to gain an additional degree of dignity and independence in their daily lives. And more importantly, the students tangibly experienced the simple fulfillment and joy that can come from developing heartfelt relationships with other kids who literally live on the opposite side of the world.

In addition to each of our valuable work projects, we were also incredibly impressed and affected by our interactions with all of the talented and dedicated dZi staff. Bill and Neena not only kept my students busy and engaged, but they also provided these kids with an invaluable model for the positive impact that invested individuals can have on the world. And without Bill Liske, none of us would have learned half of what we absorbed during our month with this veritable walking encyclopedia. Finally, it was inspiring to work with all of dZi's in-country staff. The prodigious efforts of Kelsang, Stanzin, Tashi, Gyatso, and Angchuk were instrumental in making every portion of our trip memorable. My students definitely learned the most from having the opportunity to work beside all of these dedicated individuals. Not only did they learn a great deal about the diverse cultures and perspectives that exist in India, but they also were able to witness how the best and most successful service work is that which has significant local investment, guidance, and support.

Update on the Hygiene Education Project -- Ladakh, India

Below is an update on the Hygiene Education Project from two of the dZi staff in Ladakh: Stanzin and Tashi. Both Stanzin and Tashi are locals and dedicated to school sanitation and hygiene education.

This is Stanzin. I would like to tell you about the Hygiene Education Project. Health education that is very important for the members of the community. In our health and hygiene education classes, not only students and teachers were involved, but some parents were also involved. In fact, the parents were so impressed, they stated that every school should have at least one educator to teach hygiene.

The details of the hygiene program is outlined below:

Day 1: Positive health and meaning of health and hygiene.

Day 2: Principles of health education and methods of health education.

Day 3: Disease caused by virus, bacteria and other organisms, which are harmful for the health. Also, the meaning of health slogan "PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE".

Day 4: Games related to the health. All students and teachers who participated that day wanted to call it "fun day of the month". Plus, basic hygiene education to small kids up to 7 years (i.e. brushing teeth, cutting nails, washing cloth, bathing, hair cutting, wearing clean clothes, etc.).

Day 5: Education on infectious and non-infectious diseases, and also dental health: how to keep our teeth strong and clean, a demonstration of how to brush teeth, and how many times to brush our teeth.

Day 6: History of dangerous diseases such as AIDS, TB, and how we can control such type of dangerous diseases.

Note: There was good feedback by the people of the community, and the strength of the schools were (number of people attended):

Since we started our Hygiene Education Project we have visited 23 schools and have had 1,235 students attend.

Rest. Everything is going perfectly.

STANZIN and TASHI.