Annual Report 2010-2011:
It is our privilege to report the following activities and achievements of the Foundation, for the years 2010-2011:
Publication: A literature publication in December 2010, in memory of those who sacrificed their lives during the course of the struggle for democracy, human rights and justice in Bhutan.
Scholarship Program: Awarded Scholarships to Bhutanese refugee children, including a visually impaired girl, to attend higher secondary level schools in Nepal. Awarded Scholarships to Nepalese children from refugee-affected areas to attend primary and secondary level schools.
Empowerment program: Organized cultural programs, emphasising on ‘role plays’ by Bhutanese women who have been isolated and alienated, due to various social taboos rooted in the society.
Health and human rights: The Foundation also campaigned to terminate the ‘Fast unto Death’ program staged in Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal.
Relief package to vulnerable children: The Foundation coordinated to deliver a relief package to children, who lost their parents in a tuin-mishap in Gorkha district in Nepal.
Challenges and Solutions
Organizational: Being a relatively new institution, Punya Foundation is facing a number of challenges in multiple domains. The Board members of the Foundation are scattered across the Diaspora, which obviously creates problems of communication, coordination, organisation and decision making. Yet again, the challenges of transition and other chores of life mean that, not all of them are able to contribute meaningfully. Nonetheless, we have a growing pool of responsibilities. These responsibilities need urgent care and attention. In the interest of time and long distance coordination, we have decided to establish local units in different countries. Hopefully, this will ease or simplify the process of our working style, in the future. We are still evolving and like all organizations we will take time to grow and develop.
Financial: The Foundation is facing acute financial constraints. Going into the future, we only expect this problem to grow. The areas we work for – welfare, education, empowerment and awareness all dig into our resources.
We hope to raise some funds through our team expansion strategy. We do hope as well, that we may be able to raise some support through international networking. The Foundation also believes that partnership with the local organizations is necessary in order to execute our programs in the future.
Management: Our activities target developing countries. Some extremely committed Bhutanese and Nepalese individuals have generously assisted us in implementing our programs.
