Tarayana Foundation

Tarayana Foundation is a Public Benefit Organization, registered with the Civil Society Organization Authority of Bhutan. Tarayana Foundation believes in maximizing happiness and harmony among all Bhutanese people by providing opportunities for life improvement to the vulnerable communities in Bhutan. By helping community members learn and integrate new skills, Tarayana Foundation promotes self-empowerment and the importance of serving each other.

Tarayana’s interventions are categorized into four main areas:

• Community mobilization through awareness raising, capacity building, collective actions through self-help groups (mostly women), and promoting volunteerism both at the community as well as in the schools;
• Enhancing access to basic needs and services through housing improvement, facilitating access to health and basic water and sanitation services such as organizing annual corrective surgical camps for cleft lip and palates, burn victims and victims of wild animal attacks and piloting eco-san toilets;
• Increasing opportunities for education through supporting deserving students (mostly girls) to pursue tertiary education;
• Enhancing livelihood prospects through income-generating activities, facilitating micro-credit for establishing micro-enterprises, and marketing of artisan’s products.

The Foundation works in remote, rural villages to bring about holistic community growth and development serving the needy communities. The Foundation serves to bridge the gaps between larger national initiatives and local grassroots requirements. It focuses on social mobilization, capacity building and empowerment processes wherein communities make the main decisions for change they want to be effected in their villages.

The difficult terrain and the scattered nature of our communities make it very challenging for many communities to access social services and markets. The incremental cost of reaching the benefits of development is particularly challenging for remote and isolated communities. Tarayana Foundation with its focus on grassroots development lends itself well to serving the small and remote communities, one community at a time. Tarayana strives to improve rural livelihoods by promoting participation in mainstream development initiatives and enhancing income generating activities. Social mobilization and empowerment of local communities to take charge of developmental initiatives in their own localities have also gained importance over the years.