ROKPA International
An international humanitarian organisation providing education, healthcare, nutrition, child welfare, and livelihood support to people in need.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
ROKPA International is an international humanitarian organisation established in Zurich in 1980 by the Tibetan lama and physician Akong Tulku Rinpoche, Swiss actress Lea Wyler, and her father, Swiss physician Veit Wyler. Its name comes from a Tibetan word associated with helping or friendship. The organisation was formed after the founders encountered severe poverty among children and limited access to basic medical care during a pilgrimage to Nepal and India. ROKPA initially concentrated on individual sponsorships for Tibetan refugees and disadvantaged children, but developed into a broader aid network with national offices and branches in multiple countries. ROKPA’s work is directed at improving living conditions regardless of religion, nationality, or cultural background. Its principal areas include education, child protection, women’s empowerment, healthcare, nutrition, emergency assistance, and income-generating activities. Nepal has been one of its most visible operating locations, particularly through projects in Kathmandu. These have included a soup kitchen for people living in extreme poverty, medical and clothing support, a children’s home for vulnerable and formerly street-connected children, mobile medical services, and vocational training. ROKPA has also operated or supported social enterprises intended to create practical employment and help finance humanitarian work, including the ROKPA Guest House and the ROKPA Women’s Workshop. The organisation expanded its activities into Tibetan areas of China during the 1990s and continued supporting projects there through 2016. These activities included education, orphanage support, healthcare, and initiatives connected with local cultural continuity. ROKPA also developed programmes in Zimbabwe and South Africa, including food-security work, support for disadvantaged communities, and assistance for mothers of children with disabilities. Its operating model combines direct services, sponsorship, local partnerships, emergency relief, and longer-term efforts to increase self-sufficiency. A notable emergency response followed the 2010 Yushu earthquake on the Tibetan Plateau. ROKPA worked with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to provide heated tents for communities exposed to severe sub-zero temperatures. After the death of Akong Tulku Rinpoche in 2013, Lea Wyler assumed the presidency. In 2018, ROKPA opened the Akong Rinpoche Memorial Centre in Kathmandu. The centre expanded the organisation’s vocational emphasis by providing hotel-management training in cooperation with EHLsmile of the Lausanne Hotel Management School, while also supporting training and production by women working as seamstresses, knitters, and weavers. Revenue from the ROKPA Guest House and Women’s Workshop contributes to the centre’s operation and wider charitable activities. ROKPA is therefore best understood not as a conventional consumer brand but as a humanitarian organisation whose identity is expressed through a network of charitable programmes, local facilities, social businesses, and international partnerships. Its present scope and exact country-by-country programme portfolio may change over time; the organisation’s public profile remains particularly associated with Nepal, Tibetan regions of China, Zimbabwe, and South Africa.
History
ROKPA International was founded in Zurich on 27 March 1980 by Akong Tulku Rinpoche, Lea Wyler, and Veit Wyler. The organisation emerged from the founders’ experience during a pilgrimage to Nepal and India, where they saw extreme poverty among children and a lack of basic medical services in remote communities. Its earliest activity centred on individual sponsorships, especially for Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal. ROKPA was formally registered as a Swiss charity in 1982. Akong Tulku Rinpoche’s return to the Tibetan areas of China in 1983 helped shape the organisation’s subsequent programme development. He encountered significant poverty and began planning aid projects in eastern Tibet. During the second half of the 1980s, ROKPA expanded beyond Switzerland, establishing branches or national structures in the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. This internationalisation created the basis for a wider network supporting projects in Asia and Africa. In Nepal, ROKPA moved from sponsorship into direct community services. A soup kitchen opened in Kathmandu in 1990, followed by a clothing depot and medical facility between 1991 and 1993. In 1993, the organisation inaugurated its first supported orphanage in Yushu, in Qinghai. A Kathmandu children’s home was established in 1996 to provide accommodation and education for street-connected and otherwise vulnerable children. These initiatives became representative of ROKPA’s emphasis on combining immediate assistance with education and protection. The organisation also broadened its geographic reach. In 1994, Akong Tulku Rinpoche made his first formal visit to Zimbabwe, where ROKPA initiated food-security projects serving people living in informal or squatter settlements. In southern Africa, the organisation supported work for families affected by disability; the Batsiranai Cooperative in Harare is identified among the associated initiatives. Across the 1990–2016 period, ROKPA managed more than 100 projects in Tibetan areas of China, including programmes involving education, healthcare, child welfare, and cultural preservation. Emergency relief became another part of ROKPA’s portfolio. After the 2010 Yushu earthquake on the Tibetan Plateau, the organisation collaborated with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to supply more than 100 heated tents. The response addressed the immediate risks faced by communities in a region where winter temperatures can fall well below freezing. Akong Tulku Rinpoche’s death in 2013 marked a major leadership transition. Lea Wyler, one of the organisation’s founders, subsequently took over the presidency. ROKPA continued to combine charitable programmes with social-business activities intended to support organisational sustainability. Its Guest House and Women’s Workshop in Nepal provide examples of this approach: the former generates income and training opportunities, while the latter supports women’s practical skills and marketable production. In 2018, ROKPA opened the Akong Rinpoche Memorial Centre in Kathmandu. In cooperation with EHLsmile of the Lausanne Hotel Management School, the centre provides hotel-management training for young people. The related women’s workshop offers training and production opportunities in sewing, knitting, and weaving. The centre is partly financed through income from the ROKPA Guest House and Women’s Workshop, linking vocational development with the financing of humanitarian services. ROKPA’s continuing identity is based on assistance offered without regard to religion, nationality, or cultural background. Its principal fields remain education, children’s welfare, women’s empowerment, healthcare, nutrition, emergency relief, and livelihood development. The organisation’s public materials associate its work especially with Nepal, Tibetan regions of China, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, while its wider network has included branches and national headquarters in numerous countries.
- 2018
Akong Rinpoche Memorial Centre opens
[1]ROKPA opens a Kathmandu centre offering hotel-management and women’s vocational training, supported partly by income from its social enterprises.
- 2013
Leadership passes to Lea Wyler
[1]After Akong Tulku Rinpoche’s death, co-founder Lea Wyler assumes the presidency.
- 2010
Yushu earthquake relief
[1]ROKPA works with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation to distribute more than 100 heated tents after the Yushu earthquake.
- 1996
Kathmandu children’s home established
[1]ROKPA establishes a children’s home in Kathmandu to provide housing and education for street-connected children.
- 1993
First supported orphanage in Yushu
[1]ROKPA inaugurates its first supported orphanage in Yushu, Qinghai.
- 1990
Kathmandu soup kitchen opens
[1]ROKPA opens a soup kitchen in Kathmandu to provide hot meals to people living in extreme poverty and begins formal projects in Tibetan areas of China.
- 1985
International branch expansion begins
[1]ROKPA expands its international presence, establishing structures in countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands during the late 1980s.
- 1983
Planning begins for aid in eastern Tibet
[1]Akong Tulku Rinpoche returns to Tibetan areas of China and begins planning aid projects after observing local poverty.
- 1982
Swiss charity registration
[1]ROKPA is formally registered as a charity in Switzerland.
- 1980
ROKPA International is founded
[1]Akong Tulku Rinpoche, Lea Wyler, and Veit Wyler establish ROKPA in Zurich on 27 March after witnessing poverty and limited medical access in Nepal and India.
Products and positioning
A non-sectarian international humanitarian organisation combining direct aid, education, healthcare, child protection, women’s empowerment, vocational training, and social enterprise to support long-term self-sufficiency.
Child welfare · 1996
ROKPA Children’s Home
A Kathmandu-based residential and educational programme for vulnerable children, including children who had been living on the streets. The home represents ROKPA’s shift from sponsorship-only work toward direct, sustained child protection and development services.
Healthcare
Mobile medical clinics
Mobile healthcare services designed to reach communities in remote regions where fixed medical facilities are limited. They form part of ROKPA’s broader healthcare and basic-needs work in Asia and Africa.
Social enterprise
ROKPA Guest House
A social-business operation associated with ROKPA’s work in Nepal. Income from the guest house helps support humanitarian activities, while the wider vocational model links hospitality with practical employment opportunities.
Women’s empowerment and vocational training
ROKPA Women’s Workshop
A workshop supporting women through practical training and production in activities such as sewing, knitting, and weaving. It is also described as a social enterprise whose income contributes to ROKPA’s charitable work.
Vocational education · 2018
Akong Rinpoche Memorial Centre
A Kathmandu centre opened in 2018 that provides hotel-management training for young people in cooperation with EHLsmile of the Lausanne Hotel Management School. The centre also houses or supports expanded women’s workshop activities.
Disaster relief
Emergency relief programmes
Short-term humanitarian responses to disasters and severe living conditions. A documented example is the provision of heated tents after the 2010 Yushu earthquake, carried out with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Brand decisions
2018
Launch of the Akong Rinpoche Memorial CentreProduct launchBackground
ROKPA sought to extend its humanitarian model beyond direct relief by providing practical education and livelihood opportunities in Kathmandu.
Action taken
The organisation opened a centre offering hotel-management training in cooperation with EHLsmile and expanded vocational activities for women through its workshop.
Aftermath
The centre became partly supported by income from the ROKPA Guest House and Women’s Workshop, linking vocational training and social enterprise with charitable financing.
2013
Leadership transition after Akong Tulku Rinpoche’s deathStrategyBackground
The organisation faced a leadership transition following the death of co-founder and long-serving leader Akong Tulku Rinpoche.
Action taken
Co-founder Lea Wyler assumed the presidency and continued the organisation’s humanitarian and social-enterprise activities.
Aftermath
ROKPA retained its focus on education, healthcare, children’s welfare, women’s empowerment, nutrition, and livelihood development.
Recent events
- 2018
ROKPA opens the Akong Rinpoche Memorial Centre in Kathmandu[1]
Other
ROKPA opened a Kathmandu centre combining vocational training, hotel-management education, and women’s workshop activities, with support from EHLsmile and income from ROKPA social enterprises.
- 2013
Akong Tulku Rinpoche dies and Lea Wyler assumes ROKPA presidency[1]
Leadership change
Following the death of co-founder Akong Tulku Rinpoche, co-founder Lea Wyler assumed the presidency of ROKPA International.
Sources2 sources
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