Diamantweg-Stiftung der Karma Kagyü Linie Dieburger Str. 148 a, 64287 DarmstadtTel: 0 61 51-71 37 89,

info@diamantweg-stiftung.de

Stiftungsprojekt

Uruguay

Tätigkeitsbericht 2005

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Inhalt

1 Indroduction 3

2 Location 3

3 DWS Representative of project 6

4 Works done 2005 with funding by DWS 6

5 Photos 7

6 Plans for the future 7

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1 Indroduction

In 2003 after the first Mahamudra course in Uruguay Lama Ole expressed his wishes for a retreat place in Uruguay or Argentina. Uruguay was voted the ideal location due to its strategic location and proximity to the nearest sanghas of Bue-nos Aires and Porto Alegre. On the day the Mahamudra course was coming to an end the signs seemed quite auspicious as an enormous double rainbow ap-peared touching the horizon on both ends. Later on lama Ole pointed out on a map of Uruguay where he felt the ideal loca-tion would be. The sate of Lavalleja northeast of the capital Montevideo. Laura and Eduardo from the Montevideo sangha set out to begin the search and coincidently the first and only property visited fit the purpose perfectly.

2 Location

On 1th August, 2003, the DWS bought a plot of land of 54 hectares in a very good location in Lavalleja, in the rural area of the 7th judicial section of the state men-tioned, consisting of Fraction No. 1 registered with No. 6.116 (approx. 47 hec-tares) and Fraction A registered with No. 15.089 (approx. 7 hectares). Two major rocky hills set at its westerly situated entrance, with an approx. height of 348 meter above sea level, slope down eastwardly forming various plateaus in between. Two steep creeks run along the northern part of the terrain and a flat land lies on southern part of it. A very fertile humus soil allows for extensive grass fields to cover the whole property. The taller vegetation is composed mainly by old bushy needle trees: Coronilla (Scutia buxifolia) and Espinillo (Acacia cuvenia), providing excellent firewood Different races of young bulls, sheep and horses have been and still are grassing on the terrain and keep the meadow short contributing to a neat land-scaping. A small eucalyptus forest was planted approximately 5 years ago along the southern boundary which is shared with the neighboring farm. The geological components are mainly granite rocks from the neoproterozoic era and are associated with the opening of the South Atlantic. A long ridge runs up to 150 km southeastwards meeting the ocean by Punta Ballena ( Cape of whales ) a place just 20 km south of the mentioned city of Punta del Este. The landscape surrounding the property in general consists of grassland distrib-uted along rocky hills and we may say it is one of the most mountainous and beautiful parts of Uruguay.

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It is a mild subtropical climate zone with abundant rains in the fall and winter months ( April to September ) Very little precipitation and occasional draughts mark the summer months ( December to March ). The temperatures average highs of 25 C and lows of – 2 C in the winter time and up to 38 in the summer time with lows at around 15 C.

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Location and access

The retreat place lies about 200kms northeast of Montevideo the capital of Uruguay. Inter State Route (ISR) 8 is the main highway which connects Montevideo with the city of Minas, the capital of the sate of Lavalleja where the retreat place is located. Recently completely overhauled and repaved, it is in excellent driving con-dition and allows for a quite speedy and comfortable drive of about 2hrs until reaching the first gravel road access to the property which is about 30 km northeast of the city of Minas on ISR 8. In total there are three access roads which lead to the retreat place from the highway. Two of these access roads are the most useful although they differ in conditions and distance to the retreat place. Both start as major gravel roads and narrow down to basically farm roads that need the opening cattle gates to pass through. The first is about 30 km long from the highway to the retreat place and serves approximately 15 to 20 neighboring farms. The second one is 19 km long and serves approximately 10 to 15 neighboring farms. Following is a list of approxi-mate distances to the most important cities: Buenos Aires 380 km W / Porto Alegre 550km NE / Montevideo 200 km W / Minas 50 km W / Punta del Este 150 km SW / Villa Serrana 26 km W.

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3 DWS Representative of project

The project in Uruguay is a direct project of the DWS Germany, acting on behalf of the mentioned organization Eduardo Pintos and María Laura García, who were empowered and authorised to represent it. It is the intention of the fundation to lease the land to the Diamondway Buddhist Center of the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Uruguay that will be acknowledged by the uruguayan authorities in short. Mr. Eduardo Pintos, Magariños Cervantes 1972 bis Phone: 598-2-487.82.55 Postal code: 11.610 E-mail: montevideo@diamondway-center.org

4 Works done 2005 with funding by DWS

Existing Infrastructure

In april 2004 for Lama Ole Nydahls visit to Uruguay a 6m x 6m wooden post structure with a tin roof was constructed. The purpose was to save the extremely high costs that would have been spent in renting a knock down gazebo like tent for Lama Ole Nydahls reception and use these funds in a way that this structure could be further developed into a future gompa. The existing construction men-tioned before is used as gompa, dormitory, storage room and cooking facility. In april/may 2005 the wooden structure was closed off with encompassing brick walls and at the moment it is in the process of getting the finishing paint and floor-ing. Already 2 retreat courses have been held here with Michaela Fritzges and Klaus Neukirchen and other Travel Teachers like Frank Huhn and Eduardo Herrera have given one day lectures here. Also periodic / sporadic meditation retreats by members of the different sangha’s have been held here.

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5 Photos

6 Plans for the future

Future Development

The main use envisioned for the development of the project is a retreat center. Nevertheless other activities as small regional courses given by Travel Teachers as well as bigger events like regional/international Mahamudra or Phowa Courses could be held here in the future. The different phases of construction and development described below, point to gradually adapt the constructed infra-structure to the needs and financial possibilities of the participating sanghas. Note: A non profit organization in the form of a civil association/non-profit is cur-rently being formed in order to manage the funds, coordinate the development of the infrastructure and organize and administer future activities and give the whole project a legal frame. Its constituent members will be the members from the sanghas of Porto Alegre, Montevideo and Buenos Aires.

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Construction Phases

The construction phases mentioned below are laid out to adjust to available fund-ing and to go along with the needs arising from the increased use of the retreat center and are mentioned in order of priority. Another consideration in having laid out the project this way is the active participation of sangha members in the con-struction and the raising of funds needed for the project. First each phase will be explained in detail and finally a cost projection for the different phases is presented. A tentative timetable is presented next to each headline.

Phase 1: March 2006 – December 2006

Access

b. Water

c. Electricity

Repair and renovation of most the affected parts of access road mainly the ones mentioned, 1 to 2 km before main entrance of property as well as filling and build-ing interior car roads. As mentioned previously two gravel roads allow access to the property. Parts of the access roads are in bad condition and will need repair. The first covers a distance of 30 km and presents a good driving condition along its first 25 km. The remaining 5km may occasionally flood on two or three identi-fied spots turning it into a quite slippery muddy passage. The second one covers a distance of 19 km. Its driving condition is quite good for the first 10 km but presents some parts subject to flooding thereafter, making the path impossible for normal vehicles during or after heavy rains. Both access roads meet at a cattle gate and from here there is a distance of 3km until reaching KDL. This last part of the access is actually the one in worst shape, having a moderate slope uphill made out of some very uneven and sharp stones, which makes it an impassable mud pond during rains for normal vehicles. Efforts are underway through a petition to the mayor and the Town Hall of Minas by several neighbors, to be able to get Municipal road machinery to the spot to fix it.

Contracting of company for location and drilling for fresh water, building of water deposits and piping for distribution of it. According to the information given by an engineer, who was contacted at the moment of purchase of the property, groundwater is available at an approximate depth of 30 m-45 m. A first visit of a water dowser (water diviner) revealed the previously mentioned creeks as main groundwater sources. Two additional

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dowsers will be contacted for advise and a digging company will conduct geologi-cal studies in order to determine the most suitable drilling spot. The drilling is a standard procedure consisting of a drilling crane that is placed over the selected spot. A hole will be drilled and galvanized steel pipes lowered to groundwater level. For the extraction of the water different options are possible: A submergible electric water pump, a wind propelled pump. Both options are be-ing studied for cost – efficiency, durability and means of implementation. For both options, electricity will be needed to pump the water into a tank positioned at higher level, from where it would be distributed to kitchen and bathrooms. No electricity is available for now on the property nor the neighboring farms. There are good perspectives to make electricity available as neighbors are inter-ested in sharing the costs to be able to lay cabling from the closest currently available spot which would be about 9 km. Public electricity network is government run and under Uruguayan laws must be subsidized if enough users are available. At the moment contacts are being made with neighboring farms and so far five of them have expressed interest in diving the costs. If this option is achieved there would be no need for the only other available op-tion which is the purchase of a generator. In this case many types are available and for cost-efficiency reasons it would make sense to purchase a diesel fueled generator, which has lower maintenance and fuel costs something to consider in a country with no oil production and where fuel prices are among the highest in South America. In general diesel fuel run generators are more powerful.

Phase 2: January 2007 – Dec 2007

a. Toilets / Showers – sewage system, water tower

b. Kitchen unit

c. Storage room

Toilets and showers are essential to be able to make longer retreats possible and for that reason they have been considered priority developments and included in Phase 2. Two showers and two bathrooms are foreseen in this construction phase, along with a water tower holding two 1000 liter tanks which were bought already and are at the land. The basic idea behind the concept of gradually adapting the constructed infra-structure to the needs and financial possibilities of the participating sanghas calls for adapting the constructions for simultaneous purposes according to the flow of funding. An example for this would be using the outlined plan for bathrooms, as a bath-room with toilets and showers on one side and as kitchen on the other side. This is convenient as the kitchen would use the same piping and sewage system

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without the need for an additional building. In a subsequent construction phase the provisory kitchen would be easily dismantled reusing the structure for the expansion of the toilet and shower facilities (kitchen facility not pictured). A small storage room or tool shed would also have to be considered as it would make more space available in the existing gompa (not pictured).

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Phase 3: January 2008 – Dec. 2008

a. Dormitory

A dormitory unit is planned to accommodate students on retreat or Lama Ole and Hannah or other travel teachers in the event of a course. This would free up the existing gompa as sleeping facility, giving people the chance to meditate in more privacy or as an extra sleeping shelter in winter. The picture presented below is a structure of 7.6 by 3.6 meters. This provides for two rooms with the possibility of accommodating 3 bunk beds for 6 people or one bunk bed and one double bed if the bunk beds are dismantled and put together. This would be twelfe people in total for longer retreats or in the event, taking out all the beds altogether and sharing the sleeping space with a major group.

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Phase 4: January 2009 – Dec 2009

a. Kitchen - Eating Facilities

Once the need arises for a bigger kitchen the old one would be dismantled and added to the eating facility pictured below. The facility would accommodate 50 people sitting on 5 tables inside and provides for another 60 seats under a roof outside for events in milder weather, for a total of 110 people. The Kitchen would hold stove and refrigerator run on natural gas.

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b. Additional Dormitory

An additional dormitory is planned to accommodate another equal amount of people as described above.

Map of Project layout

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Cost / Budget Projection

The estimate or projection of costs is based on the experience of constructing the gompa which is already in place. The total cost of this construction was divided by the amount of square meters constructed to arrive at a bulidng cost per square meter. We have to note that the gompa was made out of exceptional construction materials such as the wood for the roofing and wooden windows used. One can expect the following cost projection to be lower if cheaper materials are used. Labor, social security and taxes where also considered in this calculation and can be expected to also diminish in the final cost since a lot of the work is expected to be done with the participation of sangha members.

Phase 1

Access

no cost estimate since the needed work will be requested of the local authorities.

Cost: U$S 0.00

Water

The drilling cost estimate by San Antonio drilling company is U$S 60 w/out taxes (25%). Water is to be found within 30 to 40 meters underground. 35 mts x 60 U$S 2100 + taxes U$S 525

Cost: U$S 2625

Plastic pipes 1,5in.: U$D1.25 x 250 mts (aprox.)= U$D312.5. transportation = U$D 42.5 Cost: U$S 355

Pump: Modelo EAL 24, submergible, 1,5 HP: U$S 615. Diesel Generator: U$S 1.660 Cost: U$S 2275

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Electricity: the cost will be divided by the neighbors willing to participate.

U$S 3.500 x km (aprox.) We are currentlyinvestigating the closest Electrical powerlines. According to preliminary Estimates about 9km. U$S 3.500 x 9km = U$D 31500. we expect that about 5 to 10 neighbours will participate. Worst case scenario - Cost: U$S 6300

TOTAL COSTS Phase 1 U$S 11555

Phase 2

a. Toilets / Showers – sewage system, water tower

Toilet house: 5 x 5.3 = 26.5m2 x U$S 270

Cost: U$S 7155

Toilets and shower artifacts: USD 530 Labor (specialized): U$D 400 Plumbing materials: U$D 600 Cost: U$S 1530

Sewage system: U$D 1600

b. Kitchen unit

Kitchen dimensions 5.3 x 3 m = 32m2 32 m2 x U$S 270 Cost: U$S 8640

c. Tool shed

3 x 3 = 9m2 = 9 x U$S 135 (raw construction)

Cost: U$S 1215

TOTAL COSTS Phase 2 U$S 18540

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Phase 3

a. Dormitory

7.6 x 3.6 meters = 27.36m2 x U$S 270

Cost: U$S 7387

TOTAL COSTS Phase 3 U$S 7387

Phase 4

a. Eating Facility - Kitchen

Eating facil. 15.5m x 6.5m = 100.75m2 x U$S 270

Cost: U$S 27220.5

Kitchen 6 x 5 = 30m2 x U$S 180 (costs est. lower due to sharing of roof)

Cost: U$S 5400

b. Dormitory

7.6 x 3.6 meters = 27.36m2 x U$S 270

Cost: U$S 7387

TOTAL COSTS Phase 4 U$S 40007

TOTAL COST of PROJECT U$S 77489

Additional Information:

Sewage System

The type of subsoil allows the implementation of a 3 chamber septic tank sewage system. The first chamber would collect solids that would be decomposed using anaerobic bacteria. Excess water would overflow into a second chamber which also would be collecting dirt water from kitchen and showers undergoing a similar process as described for the first chamber. All overflowing excess water would run into a third chamber were it would flow through decantation into the subsoil.

Dirt water originating from kitchen would flow through a degreasing chamber be-fore reaching the septic tank to avoid grease and soap to clog the system and reach the subsoil.