Loden Foundation
Encyclopedia
Loden Foundation is an organisation established to support education and promote learning and entrepreneurship in Bhutan
and other Himalayan
areas and to promote Bhutanese culture and religion in other parts of the world.
The foundation is dedicated to fostering a happy and enlightened society through educational intervention at preschool, school and post-school levels. Its main programmes include the Loden Early Learning Centres, Loden Sponsorship Scheme, Loden Entrepreneurship Programme and Loden Knowledge Base. The foundation also organizes educational and cultural programmes to raise awareness of education and learning.
Today, the main office is based in Thimphu
and run by a board of trustees composed of prominent citizens but the foundation has a working team in the UK. The Loden Foundation became a registered charity no. 111476 in the UK and is the first registered charity in Bhutan. It is a partner of the Bhutan Foundation and Helvetas
, and a pilot member of the Prince's Youth Business International.
In 2007, the Loden Foundation opened its own office in Thimphu, it being run from Karma's base in Bhutan and the UK until then. In the same year, the Loden Foundation launched its early learning and entrepreneurship programmes.
The Loden logo symbolized giving knowledge and wisdom. It is a Himalayan book in the rectangular poti format. The book on open hand symbolizes the gift of knowledge, which, the Buddha said, is the best gift.
The Loden motto is ཆོས་བདག་མེད་ཀུན་ལ་ཐོབ་ཐང་ཡོད། (chos bdag med kun la thob thang yod), a Buddhist proverb that knowledge/truth is without an owner and everyone is entitled to it.
Currently, the foundation has 16 projects running with its support.
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
and other Himalayan
Himalayan
Himalayan can refer to:* The Himalayas mountain range* Himalayan , the type of cat* List of rabbit breeds#Himalayan, the breed of rabbit* The Himalayans, a band...
areas and to promote Bhutanese culture and religion in other parts of the world.
The foundation is dedicated to fostering a happy and enlightened society through educational intervention at preschool, school and post-school levels. Its main programmes include the Loden Early Learning Centres, Loden Sponsorship Scheme, Loden Entrepreneurship Programme and Loden Knowledge Base. The foundation also organizes educational and cultural programmes to raise awareness of education and learning.
History and beginnings
The Loden Foundation was originally founded in 2000 by the Bhutanese scholar Lopen Karma Phuntsho. Karma came to study as a graduate student at Balliol College in 1997, when he met Robert Miles, the head porter of the college. Mr. Miles offered to sponsor the school education of a young child in need. He himself did not finish school education in his youth due to financial circumstances. Karma found a bright girl from a poor family for Mr. Miles to support. Following this example, many friends of Karma showed interest to support education of poor children. Meanwhile, Karma's former school headmistress and acclaimed Bhutanese writer Kunzang Choden who was living in central Bhutan, joined him to identify children in need and distribute funds. In 2000, Karma formalised the process by founding the Loden Foundation with the help of some friends but the organisation was constituted in Bhutan in 2003.Today, the main office is based in Thimphu
Thimphu
Thimphu also spelt Thimpu, is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's dzongkhags, the Thimphu District. The city became the capital of Bhutan in 1961...
and run by a board of trustees composed of prominent citizens but the foundation has a working team in the UK. The Loden Foundation became a registered charity no. 111476 in the UK and is the first registered charity in Bhutan. It is a partner of the Bhutan Foundation and Helvetas
Helvetas
Helvetas is a Swiss Association for International Cooperation. It was founded in 1955 as the first private organization for development co-operation in Switzerland...
, and a pilot member of the Prince's Youth Business International.
In 2007, the Loden Foundation opened its own office in Thimphu, it being run from Karma's base in Bhutan and the UK until then. In the same year, the Loden Foundation launched its early learning and entrepreneurship programmes.
Loden and its logo
Tibetan/Bhutanese word Loden (བློ་ལྡན་ wylie: blo ldan) literatlly means "possessing intelligence". It is an epithet of the learned and wise. It is one of the names of the Buddha of Wisdom, of Padmasambhava, who brought Buddhism to the Himalayan region and a term for Bodhisattva, an altruistic being who seeks enlightenment for the whole world.The Loden logo symbolized giving knowledge and wisdom. It is a Himalayan book in the rectangular poti format. The book on open hand symbolizes the gift of knowledge, which, the Buddha said, is the best gift.
The Loden motto is ཆོས་བདག་མེད་ཀུན་ལ་ཐོབ་ཐང་ཡོད། (chos bdag med kun la thob thang yod), a Buddhist proverb that knowledge/truth is without an owner and everyone is entitled to it.
Loden Programmes
The Loden Foundation runs three main programmes.Loden Entrepreneurship Programme
The Loden Foundation is one of the pioneers in promoting entrepreneurship in Bhutan. Aimed at benefitting young graduates from schools and colleges, the foundation runs business training programmes, gives interest-free capital funds to start businesses and provides support through its mentorship programme, monitoring scheme and resource centre. The programme launched in 2008 in order to help promote entrepreneurship in Bhutan through the inspiration and support from Loden's longstanding friends Gerard Tardy and Anne Tardy. As thousands of young people leave schools and colleges, unemployment started to grow. Civil service which was the main employer in the past is now saturate and private sector is still only beginning. The programme aims to help self-starters in business. It also aims to help develop a very responsible and sustainable entrepreneurial culture in Bhutan, inspired by the visionary and altruistic Bodhisattva ideals.Currently, the foundation has 16 projects running with its support.