Ways to Help
The Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development now has more than 17 years of experience in the field of education and a proven track record of value for money.
Our standing with the Indian government agencies at both state and national levels that support our efforts is high but they are not able to meet anything like our total expenses. It is the generosity of many kind people that has made it all possible. The fraction of the children of Spiti who are under our care are getting an immensely better chance to study with us than they would elsewhere, and most of them are from families with very little income. We have a long way to go. For now we need your money to help these children have a voice, a hope, a future.
You will be assisting children who will be the best educated in their community, thus helping a remote and marginal Indian tribal community find a place in the modern world which increasingly impinges on it. Your money will go a long way in India. You can make a general donation or help out with a particular project. Also, sponsoring the education of one of the children with a regular monthly sum is a wonderful way of helping. Click here to find out more about how to sponsor a child.
Outside UK
Enquiries about giving and one-off donations please send to:Ven. Tashi Namgyal, General Secretary
Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development
Spiti Complex, Rakkar Road
Sidbhari - 176057
Distt Kangra, H.P.
India
Email: spitieducation1993@gmail.com
Checks and drafts should be made out to the Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development, and marked a/c payee only. The a/c no. is 40088304497 and the a/c is held at,
State Bank of India
11 Sansad Marg
New Delhi - 110001
Account Name: Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development
Account No: 40088304497
Swift code: SBININBB104
If sending money, please notify Tashi Namgyal by letter or email to enable us to keep track of your donation. Please indicate if you wish your donation to go towards a particular project.
Within UK
In the first instance, please contact Diya Gupta at the following email address:
aidforhimalayaneducation@gmail.com
Enquiries and donations by post please send to Mr Graham Woodhouse, Aid for Himalayan Education at the address below, cheques/drafts made out to Aid for Himalayan Education:
Mr Graham WoodhouseElectronic transfer to:
Aid for Himalayan Education
36 South Street
Chester CH3 5DR
England
Aid for Himalayan Education
Sort code: 089299, Account no.: 65417366
Email: aidforhimalayaneducation@gmail.com
Please indicate if you wish your donation to go to a particular project. If you send money, please notify us by email to enable us to keep track of your donation.
Volunteer Opportunities
There are opportunities for volunteer teachers to teach in Spiti and in our hostel in Sidbhari, near Dharamsala, depending the candidate’s suitability. Many visitors have had an enjoyable and rewarding experience working with our children. Candidates will not normally be considered unless they can do a six-month stint in Spiti. Please contact our office in Sidbhari. In UK contact Mr Graham Woodhouse, Aid for Himalayan Education, grahouse00@gmail.com .
Both species of chough have brightly coloured bills, one yellow, the other red. Their feathers are all glossy black as befits members of the crow family. They are a familiar sight in Spiti, playing continually in the mountain breezes, noisy but stylish. They love to soar about the roofs and pinnacles of a lofty monastery, alighting to eat the scraps of discarded offerings put out for them. The Alpine chough (yellow billed) has nested at 6,500 m (21,300 ft), higher than any other bird species.
The Himalayan snowcock is the biggest ground-feeding bird in Spiti, a burly bird over 2 feet long and up to 3 kg in weight. It has distinctive face markings and its white hind feathers are noticeable as it walks and feeds with tail cocked. It favours steep slopes and high mountain meadows and plummets whistling downhill into space at amazing speed if alarmed.
The largest and heaviest bird in the Spiti skies, though the lammergeier may have a longer wingspan. It may not look handsome on the ground when squabbling over a carcase but in the air it soars more magnificently than the golden eagle on the rising air currents created by the sun and the mountains, scarcely needing to flap its finger-feathered wings. It does not kill in order to eat, humbly content with a scavenger’s way of life.