The Dhamma Dipa School (DDS) was founded by Dr. Ven Dhammapiya, a Buddhist monk who earned his Ph.D from the University of Bombay and returned to Tripura. At the urging of local people and Government officials he took on the responsibility to stay back in Tripura and help uplift the community. He is a strong believer in education being the backbone for development of a society. He works as an Asst. Professor in a Govt. Degree college and donates his salary to the school. The school was formed with the goal of providing residential schooling for disadvantaged children in Southern Tripura. These children hitherto have had no access to education. The school intends to prepare them for opportunities outside their tribal communities in attempt to help them overcome poverty. Most of the children are tribal children from the Mog tribe. The school has to support the instructional, boarding and lodging requirements of the students. The school caters to children grades K-4. The vision is to add one additional grade every year until it reaches grade 12. The future plans include addition of library, labs, and incorporating revenue generating activities like weaving, farming to make the school self sustainable.

 
DDS was inaugurated in May 2002. It started with 50 students in year one, 80 additional students in year 2 and has currently over 150 students with a target for 2005 of 200 students. Every year a new grade is added. DDS students are primarily boys and girls between ages of 6 thru 13. DDS caters primarily to people from the 'Mog' tribe. The tribal students arrive by boat across the river every Monday and stay at the school through Friday. Presently, classes are held in temporary bamboo structures built using local construction techniques. DDS is spread over a flat piece of land that extends onto a hillock that is separated from the village by a deep natural moat. Dr. Dhammapiya also intends to have concrete structures for classrooms, since the area is vulnerable to fierce winds. In one instance one of the classrooms was adversely affected by the winds and the kids were lucky enough to have a narrow escape with minor injuries. The boarding and lodging facilities include the kitchen and dining halls which are separate from the instructional area. There are huge water tanks for bathing purposes. A neat row of toilets and urinals have been constructed. The girls hostels have extended halls that were built under the BADP - Border Area Development program. Significant help in terms of free labor was obtained form the local community.  DDS has a principal, administrator and 7 teachers with cooks, and matrons to assist the residential needs of the school.


 
Proposal Information


Goal of WAH project:

 

Asha Stamford plans to continue its support to the DDS project this year. The objective is to fund the project with an amount of $7800.

This funding will help support the following:

 

1.     Salary for 4 Teachers ($3428)

2.     Cover the total cost of all the books needed by the school children ($2380)

3.     Cover the cost of additional books for the library ($2000)

 

The specific goal for the WAH project is to raise the monies required to cover the cost of the school books and the library books.


a. Total Amount Required: $7800

b. Target Amount from WAH 2005: $4500


Beneficiaries of the project: Over 200 children of the school will benefit from this initiative as it will fund the entire cost of school books and the books needed for the library.


Expected outcomes for people served by the project:

 

The creation of the library at the village for the children grade K-4 with books covering a wide range of topics will spur interest in reading and writing. As this is a residential school the library will also serve a central resource to help encourage both recreational reading and to allow the students to enrich their areas of interest. As the plans for the school are to grow till the objective is to add more resources to the library.

 

How long will the benefit last: The supply of books needed for the academic year will last for one academic school year and texts will be reused for subsequent years. The benefits realized from the donation to the library books will accrue immediately and last for a long time.


Number of people reached: 200

 

Provide itemized budget for WAH project: ~$4500

 

S.No

Description

Amount in Rs.

Qty

Total in Rs

Total in $

1

Books

500

200

100000

$2,381

2

Library Books

 

 

84000

$2,000

 

Total

 

 

 

$4,381