Nepal's "Singing Nun" uses her talents to fund childrens' charity.

A Nepalese nun funds her school for orphans by singing her way into the international charts.

SHOWS:

(ASIA) VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS (VARIOUS DATES) (HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)

1. MUSIC VIDEO FROM THE ALBUM "TIME"

(ASIA) PHARPING, NEAR KATHMANDU, NEPAL (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

2. CHILDREN AT BUDDHIST "ARYA TARA SCHOOL"

3. CHILDREN IN COURTYARD OF SCHOOL

4. FOUNDER OF THE SCHOOL AND SINGING BUDDHIST NUN, ANI CHOYING DOLMA, POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS WITH CHILDREN

5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGING BUDDHIST NUN, ANI CHOYING DOLMA, SAYING:

"The singing part comes just somehow. I did not really plan for it, but somehow it came up. It happened and then once I realised the benefit of using my own skill or whatever I'm blessed with and to be able to use it for the benefit of others. So I feel more productive."

6. CHILDREN IN COURTYARD

7. CHILDREN LIFTING HANDS TO THE AIR AND SMILING

8. CHILDREN ENTERING SCHOOL

9. CHILDREN WALKING UP STAIRS

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGING BUDDHIST NUN, ANI CHOYING DOLMA, SAYING:

"Everything is free here. As a parent takes care of their children, I try to do that."

11. POSTER OF ANI CHOYING DOLMA ON BUILDING

12. MAN LOOKING AT ONE OF DOLMA'S CDs IN A SHOP

13. COVER OF CD

14. CDs ON SALE

15. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGING BUDDHIST NUN, ANI CHOYING DOLMA, SAYING:

"That CD actually established me in the international music field I should say, as a Buddhist nun, as a singer. The singing nun, as they call me."

(ASIA) UNKNOWN LOCATION, NEPAL (RECENT) (HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)

16. DOLMA PERFORMING TO AUDIENCE WITH OTHER MUSICIANS

(ASIA) PHARPING, NEAR KATHMANDU, NEPAL (RECENT) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

17. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGING BUDDHIST NUN, ANI CHOYING DOLMA, SAYING:

"This is something what I want to do. In fact I am fulfilling my own wish, so what would make me more happy than fulfilling my own wish."

18. DOLMA IN COURTYARD OF SCHOOL

19. EXTERIOR OF SCHOOL

20. DOLMA ENTERING SCHOOL

21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) SINGING BUDDHIST NUN, ANI CHOYING DOLMA, SAYING:

"I want to live life to the fullest and make really meaningful of my existence in this world."

(ASIA) VARIOUS FILM LOCATIONS (VARIOUS DATES) (UDAY SIJAPATI HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL)

22. MUSIC VIDEO FROM THE ALBUM "TIME"

STORY: Rather than just relying on prayer, a Buddhist nun is using her voice to help needy Nepalis in one of the world's poorest countries.

Ani Choying Dolma, a 37-year-old Tibetan-Nepali known as Nepal's "singing nun", has soared to global fame with her eight albums of Tibetan and Sanskrit meditation songs.

She has performed more than 50 concerts in Europe, Asia and the United States, and more are lined up for this year in Germany.

"The singing part comes just somehow. I did not really plan for it, but somehow it came up. It happened and then once I realised the benefit of using my own skill or whatever I'm blessed with and to be able to use it for the benefit of others. So I feel more productive," said Dolma, her hair cut very short, and wearing a golden watch.

The income from her CD sales has helped Dolma build the Arya Tara School, which has 58 students drawn from poor Nepali families, including some from neighbouring India and Tibet. They study Buddhist philosophy, Tibetan language, English and mathematics.

Young nuns also learn the art of Thanka wall painting.

"Everything is free here. As a parent takes care of their children, I try to do that," she explained.

Dressed in a burgundy T-shirt and a maroon lungi, Dolma sipped tea under the fluttering prayer flags by her religious school.

Dozens of young nuns wearing saffron singlets looked from the balconies of the five-storied white-and-red brick house that she helped build.

Estranged from her sculptor father, Dolma entered a nunnery at the age of 13. She was later advised to sing by an American musician who was impressed when she hummed tunes.

But since her debut in 1998, Dolma has never turned back.

Her CDs included "Cho", "Dancing Dakini", "Choying", "Moments of Bliss", "Selwa", "Smile" and her most recent, "Inner Peace". Some of here songs have also featured in the well-known "Buddha Bar" collection.

"That CD actually established me in the international music field I should say, as a Buddhist nun, as a singer. The singing nun, as they call me," Dolma said.

Dolma said tragic love songs were not her forte and she never sang to entertain.

"This is something what I want to do. In fact I am fulfilling my own wish, so what would make me more happy than fulfilling my own wish," she explained.

Dolma wants to set up a kidney transplantation hospital in Kathmandu in the memory of her mother, who died of kidney problems.

She also longs for peace in Nepal, which is just emerging from a decade-long Maoist civil war and years of political unrest.

"I want to live life to the fullest and make really meaningful of my existence in this world," she said.

All of the proceeds from Dolma's record sales and performances go directly into the Nuns Welfare Foundation.

ENDS.