Bön Children’s Welfare Centre

The Bön Children’s Welfare Centre (“BCWC”) is a Tibetan boarding school for orphans and disadvantaged children located in Dholanji, India.  The BCWC’s mission is to provide for the “care and education of children from the Himalayan regions of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, Mongolia, and Sikkim” and to preserve the Tibetan culture and the Bön religion.  The BCWC currently houses about 150 boys from K-12.  Many of them are orphans or half orphans (i.e., have only one parent).  Some come from families that simply cannot afford to raise them, let alone give them an education.  The children live full-time at the BCWC and go to school at the Bön Children’s Home, which is a short walk down the hill from the Monastery.  The BCWC provides free room and board, uniforms, school supplies, healthcare, medicine, and other essentials.  Working with the BCWC, ProtoStar Foundation identified that the Centre’s immediate needs were the replenishment of its Healthcare Fund and the sponsorship of children for their care and education.

In July 2017, ProtoStar made a $5,000 USD grant, which was divided as follows:  (1) $1,200 USD to sponsor three children @ $400 USD per child for one year; and (2) $3,800 USD to go into the Bön Children’s Healthcare Fund.

In June 2019, ProtoStar made an additional $3,500 USD grant to BCWC to purchase winter clothing for the children there.  The funds went towards purchasing red color shawls, which are worn typically by monks and novices (young monks-in-training), and, for warmth, inner thermal sets to wear beneath the shawls.

In March 2021, ProtoStar made another $4,200 USD grant to BCWC for the purchase of approximately 150 sleeping bags of various sizes for the children ages 6-18.  The pandemic highlighted the need to provide the children, many of whom are orphans, with warm sleeping bags to brave the cold winter months in Northern India.  Additional pillows and blankets were also purchased.