Guiding Star Monastery School

The Guiding Star Monastery School is a fine, community based organization dedicated to now providing education for 220 high school students.

The full story is here.

So far they have done a marvelous job of raising the funds from the local community to get their current construction to about the 50% point. Right now they need our help to complete this new building. We need an angel to step forward with the $20,000 needed to complete this facility and relieve the crowding (50 to 60 kids per classroom) in their current facility.

Since that entry was written in 2016 much has happened at this wonderful monastery school. The building has been completed, two new social enterprises have been funded and become fully operational, and enrollment has been expanded. You can read about how this monk entered the rice harvesting business here.

Since then, with the addition of a second rice harvesting machine — and funding a new social enterprise so the monk can enter the mud-brick wholesaling business, this school has become essentially self-sufficient. Along with ongoing community support, the Guiding Star Monastery School will be able to educate 220 students each year without having to ask for outside donations to cover their operating costs.

We think this is an outstanding example of what is possible when entrepreneurial practices can be introduced in concert with good-hearted social work — all with the goal of breaking the cycle of poverty for those people that simply need a bit of help.

Now, to add one more important element to this wonderful school, the SE Asia Foundation has recently provided the first university scholarship to a deserving student. At a cost of about $4500 for a full four-year university education we think this is a great bargain. (You can read about how our Scholarship Program works by clicking here.)

Perhaps you’d like to sponsor one of those deserving kids. If so, just click click here, and note that your donation is for Guiding Star Monastery School and we’ll make sure that it gets to them right away.