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Our Current Cause: From April through June, 2007, we will be supporting Amicus Foundation, a volunteer-run non-profit that supports a variety of projects in Bhutan. We will be providing funds for one of their specific projects, the Simtokha school and orphanage. The cost per child at this school is approximately $10 per month. Please use WNF for searching and shopping, and spread the word so we can help the children at Simtokha school and orphanage in Bhutan. | ||||||
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The country is Bhutan, but Bhutan is rapidly changing....
A Bhutan Treasure 
Of the many projects that Amicus supports, perhaps one of the most compelling is the Simtokha Orphanage in Thimpu, Bhutan. Many orphans in Bhutan are too poor to afford even a free education, and the Simtokha Orphanage takes care of them, providing a unique blend of traditional spiritual education with a modern secular curriculum. Simtokha Dzong was built in 1627 by Shabdrung Rinpoche. It is situated high on a ridge just south of Thimpu, Bhutan's capital, and is the home of the Institute for Language and Culture Studies.
A small organization with a big heart 
Amicus Foundation was founded by James Winkler, a Physician Assistant in Hawaii who visited Bhutan many times as a student of Bhuddism. His "root teacher," the high Tibetan Buddhist lama Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche, encouraged him to pursue enlightened activity, and in response Winkler founded what eventually became the Amicus Foundation in 1986. "Spiritual practice requires the blending of one's insight with action," Winkler says. Amicus is a small organization, with no paid staff, dedicated to their work with orphaned children, destitute families, disenfranchised women and imperiled cultures in Bhutan, Tibet, Nepal, and Thailand. Nearly 100 percent of the money they raise is passed directly to their projects.
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There is a country that proudly claims to be the happiest country in the whole. A country that uses "Gross National Happiness" - a term coined by their King in 1972 - to measure quality of life. This is a country that is home to the highest unclimbed peak in the world, Gangkhar Puensum (22,623 ft), upon which climbers are not allowed lest they disturb the spirits. A country that strives to stay true to their spiritual and unique cultural values above all else.