B-1. Dharmarajika Orphanage and Schools

Orphanage Program: In 1972, our Monastery established the Dharmarajika Orphanage, our first of many community oriented programs initiated to address the many needs of the country as well as the surrounding area. In an effort to provide support to displaced boys living on the street who had no where to go, we felt it was our responsibility to open our doors, thus providing food, shelter, and an education to these victims of war trodden poverty and neglect.

At our peak in 1995, our orphanage had over 1,200 boys living and attending school on our complex, thus helping them to become successful as self-reliant men. As a result of this program, we have been able to assist hundreds of boys in becoming good, contributing citizens of our country. In fact, today many of these same boys have gone on to become successful doctors, teachers, engineers, and government officials. Because of our present funding constraints, however, we are only able to take in a few boys a year when an opening arises. As a result, the number of boys remaining at the orphanage had dropped significantly to 450 in recent years.

While the cost of providing food, shelter and medicine for these orphans in Bangladesh is relatively low, with 450 boys in residence, these expenses begin to add up. For example, the amount of funds needed per boy, per day is approximately 75.00 Taka (US$1.00). With 450 boys each requiring this amount for an entire year, the Monastery must provide 121,50,000 Taka per year for just food alone (US$162,000) (Ex.Rate USD1.00 = BD.Tk.75.00). With much of our funding coming from private donations, this is a large sum of money for us to raise on an annual basis.

In addition to the above mentioned recurrent costs, over the past five years, we have been unable to upgrade our dormitory complex which requires paint and some structural repair following the flood of 1998. Likewise, we are presently in need of new mattresses, blankets, beds and mosquito nets to replace a percentage of those that are no longer in adequate condition.

Dharmarajika Orphanage Management Committee

Dharmarajika School and College:

In addition to the orphanage, the Dharmarajika complex runs a primary school, a secondary/high school and a technical school. The secondary/high school is operated with some financial support from the Government of Bangladesh.
While our schools were initially set up to provide an education for our orphans, in recent years, the doors have been opened to the local community, thus allowing both boy and girl students to attend. With the status of the female child being so low in Bangladesh, we felt that it was our responsibility to see that they also benefited from the fruits of a good, sound education.
At present, 150 boys from the orphanage attend the primary school. The five teachers that run the classes are entirely paid for by the Monastery. For the secondary/high school, a total of 350 boys presently attend and 100 attending Technical School,College & University. To cover the cost of the 16 teachers needed to run this school, the Government of Bangladesh graciously provides 80 percent of their salaries. The Monastery covers the remaining amount.
Along with the 450 orphan boys, additional 100 girls and 100 boys attend the school from the outside (please note that students from all religions are welcomed within our schools). At present, the tuition fees for all of the girls students are being covered by a grant from an international non-government organization (INGO). The boys from the outside pay 50 Taka per month, which is used to help cover some of the teacher's salaries. Over the years, we have found these various funding mechanisms to be of great help to us. In the future, we will explore other options to assist us in becoming even more self-reliant.
In addition to salaries of the teachers, the Monastery is also responsible for providing funds to cover the cost of books, educational materials, and upkeep for the school. This represents a great burden for our Monastery.

Although our Monastery has a technical school that provides on-the-job training in printing and metal works, these classes have had to be significantly reduced in recent years due to our present financial constraints. It is our hope that with a small amount of funding, we will be able to once again utilize our fully equipped classrooms on a full-time basis. In a culture where a skill is essential to getting a good job, providing this type of training is very important.

Future plans:

In an effort to reduce the financial burden of running the orphanage and schools, the Monastery is looking at different options, including:
Seeking annual sponsorships for individual students. For example, for as little as 1200Taka (US$ 200) much of what an orphan needs can be covered for an entire year;
Seeking small grants to cover the cost of our teacher’s salaries. For example, for only US$ 7,200 a year, the salaries for all of our teachers can be covered. Receiving this support would be a great help to us;

Seeking funds for an endowment that would allow the Monastery to fund students using the interest only from a sum of money set-aside for this purpose. In other words, the capital for this fund would remain untouched- the Monastery would only draw down on the interest;
Upgrading our printing and metalwork facilities to provide contract services to the local community. In other words, the older students would be trained to carry out simple printing and metal tasks that could allow them to earn money for both themselves as well as helping us to subsidize our various programs. There are a number of advantages to this approach. First, this would give the students hands-on work experience. Second, it would help the Monastery to subsidize the operations of the technical school in the long run. Third, it would teach the students how to acquire business skills, thus preparing them for a profession in the outside world. In addition to this training, we are considering sending some of our students for two-month non-paid internships located at more extensive printing and metal shop facilities to give them a chance to apply what they have learned. Once again, this would help them to gain the experience needed to compete for a job on the outside.

Continuing to seek donor support from organizations that feel that the work we are doing is important and worth investing in. In this case, we would welcome either large or small grants from interested groups – any amount would be greatly appreciated.

Dharmarajika School and College Managing Comittee