Naropa University’s Contemplative Education Department Hosts
Benefit for Burmese Orphans and Student Fundraiser for Nicaraguan School

BOULDER, Colo. (February 22, 2010)—Naropa University’s mission of contemplative education challenges students to engage with the world in meaningful and effective ways. In keeping with this mission, Naropa’s University’s Contemplative Education Department is hosting two events aimed at empowering others. The first, a benefit for Burmese orphans of the Cyclone Nargis, will ensure the children’s continued education; the second, an auction to raise funds for building a vocational school in Jalapa, Nicaragua, will transform the lives of children living in the streets.,

“The Children of the Storm”: A Benefit for Burmese Orphans
February 26, 2010, 4 p.m.
Lincoln Hall, 2130 Arapahoe Ave., Naropa University
$20 Suggested Donation; $10 Students

On May 2, 2008, Cyclone Nargis swept across the Irrawaddy Delta, destroying bamboo and thatch villages with 135-mile-per-hour winds. What was left was washed away by a 12-foot storm surge of seawater. “The Children of the Storm” exhibition was conceived by Myint Zaw and Doug Cosper, who just returned from five months in Burma, to help ensure that 76 Nargis Orphans from the Kun Chan Kone area will be able to attend school. Hosted by Naropa University’s Contemplative Education Department, the exhibit consists of artwork by the Nargis orphans, as well as photographs and histories. All of the proceeds from the exhibition will be sent to Burma to pay the children’s school fees and help their guardians, usually aging grandparents or monks at the local monastery, feed and clothe them. Refreshments will be served. 

Build it for the Children: 5th Annual Champagne Brunch & Live Charity Auction to Benefit Nicaragua
Sunday, March 7, 2010, 10:00 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.   
Aji Restaurant, 1601 Pearl St., Boulder
$40 Adult; $15 Child; $90 Family (2 adults and 2 children)

Using the proceeds from this charity auction, Americas’ Association for the Care of Children, Naropa’s Early Child Education students, local Nicaraguan citizens and Boulder community members are building a vocational school for the children working and living on the streets in Jalapa, Nicaragua. The second poorest nation in this hemisphere, Nicaragua is still struggling to rebuild its infrastructure from the destruction of their war 30 years ago. The school will provide formal education as well as vocational knowledge and skills through classroom instruction and a community mentorship program. Some of the items and services available for auction include massages, evenings on the town, home décor, vacation stays, gift certificates and much more.

Naropa’s “Poverty Matters” class, taught by Deborah Young, first visited Jalapa, Nicaragua six years ago. During the course’s two-week residential portion, students explore how the cycle of poverty takes hold and that the road to change begins with education.  With education, people can learn and make informed choices and decisions about their lives. This year, during spring break, Naropa students will start to build the new vocational center. The Contemplative Education Department sees service work as a powerful way to help create a peaceful world.

For more information about either event, please contact Naropa University’s Contemplative Education Department Co-Chair Deborah Young at 303-245-4681 or send an email to dyoung@naropa.edu. For further information about Naropa’s Early Childhood Education program, contact Michael Girodo at (303) 546-5288, or mgirodo@naropa.edu.

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, Naropa University is a private, nonprofit, nonsectarian liberal arts institution dedicated to advancing contemplative education. This approach to learning integrates the best of Eastern and Western educational traditions, helping students know themselves more deeply and engage constructively with others. The university comprises a four-year undergraduate college and graduate programs in the arts, education, environmental leadership, psychology and religious studies.

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