She Yün helps children in Sikkim with their schooling
Created in 2014, She Yün is an organisation made up of volunteers that support children in their schooling in Sikkim, one of the northern states of India. Children are admitted to our school support programme regardless of their social, ethnic, gender or religious background. She Yün means “education” in Tibetan. Lama Zeupa – the inspiration behind She Yün – considers education to be one of the major keys to personal liberation.
The organisation is structured around two legal entities: She Yün asbl in Belgium (aka She Yün Belgium) and She Yün Society in Sikkim (aka She Yün Sikkim):
- She Yün Belgium, incorporated as a non-profit association, provides the funds needed to cover the school fees of children who, without this support, would not be able to attend school, for reasons of financial means and/or geographical accessibility. The region is mountainous. It also works to ensure that the partnership relationship is part of a legal and transparent framework.
- She Yün Sikkim, in coordination with She Yün Belgium, takes full responsibility for implementing the project on the ground.
A long-term mutual commitment
She Yün Belgium
Initially, She Yün supported five children. There are now twenty children of all ages – ten girls and ten boys – in two centres: Ravangla and Yangang. Fourteen of them live in boarding facilities that provide support, accommodation, and food.
The support that She Yün Belgium provides to these children is long-term: we are committed to accompanying them until the end of their studies or vocational training. For their part, the families undertake to support their children as far as possible in their education.
The heart and lungs of She Yün Belgium are its donors. Without their donations (individual or collective), almost all of which go to She Yun Sikkim, we would not be able to achieve our organisational objectives.
We also carry out frequent fund-raising initiatives to finance our projects (charity meals, concerts, sales of incense, homemade jams and so on).
She Yün Sikkim
The necessary steps were taken to set up a sister charity organization in Sikkim (She Yün Society, alias She Yün Sikkim). The activities for which She Yün Sikkim is responsible are fundamental: meeting the children and their families to assess their motivation(s) and needs. A vulnerability assessment is also carried out. Once approved, the children are integrated into the programme. She Yün Sikkim monitors the children’s school results, looks after their accounts (managing and paying the bills for the schools and boarding facilities), and looks for craft products that we could sell in Belgium for the benefit of the non-profit organisation. And much more besides.
Diki, the person in charge of She Yün Sikkim, regularly sends us news (and beautiful pictures) of the children and their families. You can find them on our Facebook page.
Future Projects
At the request of Lama Zeupa, we want to continue to expand the group of children who benefit from our programme, as well as create other centres to welcome new children.