No. 2 / June 2014 / Volume 34

Annual Report 2013

ROKPA TIMES

Thank you

To our contributors

We thank our donors and all the foundations, parishes and state institutions that supported us during 2013.

We have received 3,706,100 Swiss francs in total

(US $ 4,130,000). It is your generous donations that

enable us to annually educate over ten thousand persons

per year, mainly children and young people, and to help

thousands more in other ways. Even the smallest

donation makes a difference and has a positive effect on

people’s lives. So thank you on behalf of the school

children, students, homeless and sick people who have

all been helped by your kindness through ROKPA.

To our volunteers

It is one of ROKPA’s principles to keep admi-nistrative structures as streamlined as possi-ble. We can then ensure the effective use of any donated funds.

This is only possible thanks to the many ROKPA volun-

teers around the world. Our volunteers have provided

27,533 hours of work in 2013. Calculated at an hourly

wage of 30 francs (US $ 33), this is equivalent to an

impressive total of 825,990 francs (US $ 908,590). So a

big thank you at this point to our volunteers for their

committed work.

Hours of voluntary work in 2013

4,182 hours voluntary work at head office

3,980 hours unpaid work on management board

13,315 hours unpaid work in ROKPA country offices

356 hours unpaid overtime by permanent and part-time employees

5,700 hours voluntary work in the soup kitchen in Nepal

TOTAL 27,533 volunteer hours in 2013

2

2013: Financial year figures

Donated income

ROKPA received donations of 3,706,100 Swiss francs

(US $ 4,130,000) for the different projects in 2013.

This corresponds to an increase of 7.5% compared to the

previous year (2012: 3,448,314 francs /

US $ 3,841,400).

Donations spent

1,529,496 francs (US $ 1,703,850) of donated money

were used for project work, including projects in India and

travel costs. In the Tibetan regions of China the project

situation has been postponed for the time being owing to

the passing away of Dr Akong Tulku Rinpoche, the

Presi dent of ROKPA INTERNATIONAL. Project expenditure

has therefore fallen somewhat in 2013.

The full annual statement can be found at www.rokpa.org/annualreport.

58,4 % Private Sponsors

27,9 % Foundations

10,9 % Companies

1,8 % Churches

0,8 % Public Sector

0,2 % Legacies

80 % Project Expenses

11 % Administration

9 % Fundraising

Number of donors 2013: 2,001 (ROKPA Switzerland)

Total donated income 2013: CHF 3,706,100

Number of projects 2013: 120

Total project expenditure 2013: CHF 1,529,496

Origin of donations, ROKPA Switzerland Use of donated funds

3

Tibetan areas of China

ROKPA supports people in need in the Tibetan areas of China, in particular in the remote areas of the Tibetan plateau, where living conditions are extremely hard. ROKPA focuses on education, basic medical care and the conservation of Tibetan culture.

Education – for example the Dechen Primary

School Project

114 pupils attend the Khünpen School in Dechen.

ROKPA supports 54 of these pupils and 3 teachers. The

decision about which pupils to support is made together

with the headteacher; children who have lost one or both

parents and those from the poorest backgrounds are

given priority. The youngest are 4 or 5 years of age and

attend preschool. Most of the children stay in the school

during the week and go home at the weekends. One of

the teachers supported by ROKPA, Tamdin Tashi, was

himself a pupil at this school in the late 1990s and now

he is teaching there.

Medicine – for example the Kepcha Gön

Medical Practice Project

Dr. Ani Yeshe is a nun and the chief and only doctor in

the Kepcha Gön Clinic in Nangchen, which is attached to

the nunnery that bears the same name. She provides for

the treatment of the nuns there and in surrounding

nunneries and monasteries, as well as for many patients

in the local population. She cares for and treats patients

in over 7,000 consultations per year. The sparseness of

the region‘s population means very long and arduous

journeys to the nearest doctor. The procurement of a car

suitable for off-road driving is therefore planned for 2014,

in order to be able to react with shorter delays.

Conservation of Culture – for example the Palyul

Woodblock Printing Shop Project

The traditional art of woodblock printing does not need

electricity or modern machines. It is included on

UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Huma-

nity. In cooperation with the few traditional printing shops

still active, ROKPA collects woodblocks and uses them

for printing again, where demand exists. Young people

are also trained in cutting the woodblocks, in order to

conserve this unique printing art for future generations.

This project therefore not only helps to safeguard

valuable knowledge and a part of Tibetan culture, but

also creates jobs at the same time. ROKPA makes the

prints available to students and universities free of

charge.

4

Expenditure in the Tibetan areas of China 2013

The three central points of education, medical care and conservation of culture form the largest items of expenditure. ROKPA has in particular promoted the initiation and long-term support of several urgently needed Medical Centres in sparsely populated regions in the past year.

9,6 % Conservation of culture

CHF 109,335

20,6 % Medical Care

CHF 233,578

0,8 % Orphans and

Street Children

CHF 8,690

8,4 % Other

CHF 95,034

60,6 % Education

CHF 685,681

Number of projects 2013: 98

Total project expenditure 2013: CHF 1,132,318

5

Nepal

In Nepal, ROKPA mainly supports children from the poorest backgrounds and single mothers. Former street children find a new home in the Children’s Home, mothers learn a craft in the Women’s Workshop, to enable them to earn a living. Never again will these children or women resort to return to begging in the street again.

ROKPA Children’s Home

During 2013, 52 children were living in ROKPA’s

Children’s Home, most of them between 6 and 16

years old. Girls and boys each account for about 50%

(at the last status update at the end of 2013 there were

28 boys and 24 girls). Five children were admitted

during 2013, while six children left the Home. The

number of solar panels on the roof has been increased

this year. They are now providing the house with

electricity in addition to hot water, enabling the children

to study, read and play at the beginning and end of

each day, something that has not always been possible

before because interruptions to the power supply are

frequent in Nepal. These so-called blackouts are now

bridged with stored energy from the solar panels.

ROKPA Women’s Workshop

The ROKPA women’s workshop is a social business

project. Its aim is to give poor and homeless mothers and

their children a better future. ROKPA has been offering

vocational training to women since 1996. Practice-orien-

ted training enables the women to use their skills in an

effective and productive way. The project is so successful

that ROKPA is currently looking for partners to finance a

new building and to assist with marketing. This will

enable ROKPA to offer even more women a secure job.

ROKPA Guest House

The ROKPA Guest House is situated only a few meters

from the Children’s Home and the Women’s Workshop, in

a central location close to the famous Stupa in Boud-

hanath. In 2013, it was partially renovated and the

rooms were newly refurbished. It is well worth a stay

– particularly as the Children‘s Home benefits directly

from any profit made by the Guest House. You can find

more information on the ROKPA Guest House on the

website: www.rokpaguesthouse.org.

6

2013 Project Expenditures in Nepal

ROKPA’s Children’s Home – established for former street children – remains ROKPA’s flagship project in Nepal. For years, the Soup Kitchen has provided poor people with two hot meals per day. The Women’s Workshop offers mothers a job and therefore a secure income. New projects, such as the cultivation of organic vegetables, are being developed.

Number of projects 2013: 7

Total project expenditure 2013: CHF 305,667

3,3 % Women’s Workshop

CHF 10,000

5,2 % Soup Kitchen /

Medical Tent

CHF 16,000

1,5 % Orphans and

Street Children

CHF 4,649

21,5 % Other

CHF 65,679

14,7 % Guest House

CHF 45,000

53,8 % Children’s Home

CHF 164,339

7

South Africa/Zimbabwe

ROKPA’s African projects all stem from initiatives by former pupils of ROKPA’s Presi-dent Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche, who died in 2013. They plan and implement projects in cooperation with the local ROKPA organisa-tions. The high prevalence of HIV/AIDS presents a major challenge both in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Nursery in Zimbabwe

AIDS orphans and children from the poorest social

conditions attend the Chikukwa nursery in a slum of

Harare, the capital city. The three to seven-year olds

receive breakfast and lunch in addition to being given the

opportunity to learn and to play. Every day, around 50

children are cared for in this way. In many cases, the

food they receive in the nursery is the only food they can

get.

Soup Kitchen in South Africa

The soup kitchen is organised all year round in two

different locations in the centre of Johannesburg, and is

open every Tuesday. All logistics, such as the procure-

ment of ingredients, the preparation, loading and

transport of food to the site and the recruitment of soup

kitchen volunteers is handled by volunteers. A tasty

vegetable soup with rice is prepared and served with

peanut butter sandwiches. Hundreds of poor people form

long queues at both sites; frequently, there is not enough

food to cater for all the hungry people.

HIV Self-help Groups in Zimbabwe

The Tara ROKPA therapy enables people with HIV to

improve their living conditions by offering a range of

workshops and self-help groups. In addition, drugs are

dispensed to people infected with HIV, helping them to

contain the consequences of their disease. Activities have

included the organisation of 30 therapy training work-

shops over a period of 3 years, with each workshop

having around 25 participants.

Number of projects 2013: 14

Total project expenditure 2013: CHF 38,373

8

169 Francs (190 US $) are

required to enable an orphan to

go to primary school for one

year and to provide accommo-

dation and board.

DONATION TARGETS

568 Francs (639 US $)

enable a Tibetan youth to

study at university for one year.

For 131 Francs (147 US $),

10 people can receive

traditional Tibetan medical

treatment for one month.

A one-year literacy course

for 10 adult women costs

530 Francs (596 US $).

77 Francs (87 US $) gives

a nun in a nunnery enough to

eat for one year.

A field worker in ROKPA’s organic garden is paid 157 Francs (177 US $) for three months.

A former street child can

go to school for one year for

545 Francs (613 US $).

The monthly health care

costs for all the children in the

Children’s Home run to 219

Francs (246 US $).

A trained seamstress in the

Women‘s Workshop receives a

salary of 260 Francs

(292 US $) for three months.

Offering food for 100

people in the Johannesburg

Soup Kitchen costs 153 Francs

(172 US $) per day.

The school fees for a

disabled child in Zimbabwe is

310 Francs (349 US $) for one

term.

Medical treatment for 10

people in Zimbabwe costs

356 Francs (400 US $).

The salary of a teacher in

the nursery is 475 Francs

(534 US $) for three months.

ROKPA Donation matrix 2013

1

4

8

11

7

2

5

9

12

3

6

10

13

4

1

8

11

7

5

2

9

12

6

3

10

13

NUTRITION

EDUCATION

CULTURE

MEDICINE

AND MEDICINAL

PLANTS

WOMEN

AND CHILDREN

TIBETAN AREAS OF CHINA

DO

NAT

ION

FO

CU

SES

NEPAL AFRICA

9

Administrative Office ROKPA

The ROKPA INTERNATIONAL umbrella organisation consists of 18 ROKPA inter-national representatives worldwide and is responsible for the organisation and actuali-sation of all ROKPA projects. The ROKPA Switzerland Association is engaged in fundrai-sing in Switzerland. These two organisations are both situated in Zürich and the staff members of the administrative offices are employed by ROKPA INTERNATIONAL and ROKPA Switzerland share the cost by contri-buting 50% each.

Main Secretary Corinna Biasiutti (since October 2013)

Pia Schneider

Fundraising Gabriele Lenk

Employees Jeannette Alison

Brigitte Böhle (until October 2013)

Romano Renner (since October 2013)

Thomas Stettler

Volunteers Harald Ammeter, Manuel Bassi, Anna-Katharina Bosshard,

Robert Diener, Piroska Gajdon, Maya Helbling, Monika

Imfeld, Lotti Kobler, Tereza Konate, Ivo Loretz, Marlis

Lüscher, Georgios Mazarkis, Laura Munzel, Ciro Parlato,

Amrita Prasad, Romano Renner, Bea Schmutz,

Janusz Skonieczny, Margrit Stahel, Gisela Weisner,

Elisabeth Weiss

Translations:

Sian Edwards, Bettina Grieser Johns, Anne Jungi,

Yael Katz, Katrin Klein, Elaine Knoerich, Chris Michalski,

Susanne Reiche, Karin Stutz, David Tonge

Executive Board ROKPA INTERNATIONAL Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche (President)

Lea Wyler (Vice-President)

Gerry Leumann

Catherine Brown

Andrea Widmer

Pim Willems

Executive Board ROKPA Switzerland Gerry Leumann (President)

Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche

Lea Wyler

Andreas Vollenweider

Gelong Thubten

10

In order to help people in need in the most remote regions of the world, ROKPA depends on your support. Whether you make a single donation, collect money for ROKPA at your workplace, become a regular donor for a particular project or include our international charity in your will would help us to continue our work. We thank you from our hearts. Being a registered charity, ROKPA is exempt of tax, this enables you to deduct your dona-tion from your income before calculating your tax.

What ROKPA needs most urgently

Most of all you are helping ROKPA and the people we

support by making a ‘free donation’. What is a ‘free

donation’? It is one where we can place the contributi-

on exactly where the greatest need happens to be at

that moment. If a particular project is very close to your

heart, you can also make a commitment for that

specific project.

Project Sponsorship

Project Sponsorships have the advantage that your

donation goes specifically towards an issue that is

important to you. At the same time we remain flexible

enough to use your donation within the project exactly

where it is most urgently needed. At the moment we

offer 4 different Project Sponsorships:

Education of Disadvantaged Children

Medical Basic Care and Emergency care

Women’s Fund

Preservation of Tibetan Culture

Application and more info

www.rokpa.org/donate-a-project

Legacies

Many donors who support people in need want to

continue their support even after their death. The easiest

way to do this is through a legacy, which means a fixed

sum specified in a will. Here ROKPA’s tax exemption is

also applicable so that legacies will go towards our

projects without any tax loss. Please feel free to contact

us for further information about this.

Donations for Specific Occasions

You are about to celebrate your birthday or an anniver-

sary and do not know what to ask for as a present? Then

take up the example of many of our donors and ask your

family and friends to donate to ROKPA in your name.

Losing a loved one is very painful and means an

enormous loss for all relatives and friends. In their

memory to continue his or her social engagement in a

sustainable way, make a donation on their behalf to

ROKPA’s charitable projects. If you wish, our ROKPA

children will write the name of the deceased on our

memory wall at the entrance of the ROKPA Children’s

Home in Nepal.

We are very happy to answer any further questions

about how to make your donation by phone

+41 44 262 68 88 or E-Mail info@rokpa.org.

For Switzerland you may order payment slips with one

click here: www.rokpa.org/payment-slips

This is how you can help

11

Thanks to ROKPA, many children and young people in Tibet and Nepal – at present nearly

10,000 – receive an education every year. This is only possible with your help.

Thanks to your donations, we can exert a positive influence on countless lives. Over 55 children

currently live at the ROKPA Children’s Home in Kathmandu. We provide vocational training at our

workshop for mothers who have fallen on hard times and help them to stand on their own two feet.

With your financial support we can provide effective support to the poorest of the poor. Please help

us to give them a better chance of leading a dignified life.

You can make a donation to this account:

455090-11-1, Credit Suisse, CH-8070 Zurich, Switzerland

IBAN CH73 0483 5045 5090 1100 1, clearing number 4835, BIC CRESCHZZ80A

Thank you!

In Switzerland, donations to ROKPA are exempt from tax.ROKPA has been ZEWO certified since 2004.

Giving a better chance for lifeSMS donation

of up to CHF 99.–

ROKPA XX

(amount, numbers only)

to 488.

Example for donation

of CHF 20.–:

ROKPA 20 to 488

Helping wherehelp is needed:sustainably,for over 30 years. ROKPA

ROKPA INTERNATIONAL | Böcklinstrasse 27 | 8032 Zurich | Switzerland

Phone +41 44 2626888 | info@rokpa.org | www.rokpa.org | facebook.com/ROKPA.org