KRF Development is a humanitarian initiative that began over thirty years ago under the inspiration and guidance of Kangyur Rinpoche (1887-1975) and works through the Kangyur Rinpoche Foundation and selected NGOs. One of its main activities has been to provide resources and infrastructure to support the economic and cultural development of Tibetan refugee communities in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sikkim, and, since the 1980s, of Tibetans inside Tibet.
KRF Development safeguards the identity of Himalayan communities by reinforcing the means by which their cultural heritage can be transmitted. It also targets specific projects related to groups who do not benefit from international aid programmes.
The turning point for Tibetan culture
The new millennium is a turning point in the situation of Tibetans in exile. Among the 111,000 Tibetans who sought refuge in India in the late fifties and early sixties were some of the last authentic holders of a wisdom tradition thousands of years old. As there are now so few of the “elders” left, it is vital to provide them with the means to pass their unique inheritance on to the younger generation of Tibetans — and to the rest of the world, which has so much to gain from it.
Preserving Tibetan culture: KRF’s approach
The preservation of Tibet’s cultural and spiritual traditions involves helping its people survive and develop – both in Tibet and in exile – and supporting the continuation of their traditions, spiritual practice, knowledge and wisdom in three main ways:
- Ensuring Tibetans’ basic survival and economic autonomy, through projects involving direct support.
- Underpinning the conditions necessary for Tibetan cultural traditions, especially the extraordinary learning and wisdom of Tibetan Buddhism accumulated over so many centuries, to be preserved and passed on to the next generation.
- Providing resources in the West to make Tibetan Buddhism available and accessible to people of all nationalities and cultures.
In its efforts to help preserve Tibetan culture and support impoverished Tibetan and other Himalayan communities, KRF is currently focusing its efforts on the following projects:
- Sitapaila: Construction of a Tibetan monastery near Kathmandu, Nepal
- Do-ngak Choling: construction of a Tibetan monastery in Lumbini, Nepal
- The library project, Dordogne, France
- Maratika school project
- Support for Tibetan refugees
- Student grants in India, Nepal and Tibet for the under-privileged
- Projects in Tibet
Our photo gallery brings you to Nepal, India, Bhutan, and other countries where KRF supports the preservation of Tibetan culture and assists Tibetan refugees and impoverished Himalayan people. The gallery offers you a closer look at KRF's latest projects and activities...
View Songtsen's videos of KRF Development projects, as well as a collection of YouTube documentaries on poverty in Asia and issues affecting Himalayan populations.
