March 22, 2020
Himalayan Children’s Fund News Dear Friends, Having recently returned from Vajra Vidya Institute I can assure you of Thrangu Rinpoche’s good health and the protections put in place for the children, nuns, and monks. In Sarnath, Rinpoche’s teaching finished as planned on March 13th and as the foreign students departed, VVI closed the gate to all outside visitors. Internally, the shedra students are currently engaged in final exams and the young monks will be tested soon. Thrangu Rinpoche and the shedra monks will be remaining in Sarnath until they are permitted to travel back to Nepal. In Nepal, the monasteries and the Abbey are also closed to outside visitors and everyone is very aware of sanitizing and keeping distance. At Tara Abbey, final exams for the shedra students have already been completed and Khenpo Chonyi has proudly announced the results: all nuns have passed! At Shree Mangal Dvip Boarding School, the in-house, year-end exams were pushed forward, during which time no visitors were allowed and the children and staff were well versed in how to protect themselves and others. Once the exams were completed the school closed with all but a few children returning to their village homes. Graduation exams for Class 10 students are given annually by the government of Nepal and are now postponed indefinitely. SMD is hoping to be able to reopen May 1, but that, of course, will depend on what the circumstances are at that time. As always, we will keep you updated whenever we have any relevant information. Meanwhile, we do have other stories to share and hope you will enjoy the news. With thanks for your kind support and prayers for the well-being of everyone. ~ Debra Ann
SMD UPDATE AND APPRECIATION The water filters you provided with our last matching fund campaign have been installed. The large set near the kitchen has been replaced and a new filter system has been positioned on the roof of C Block, near the teacher’s staffroom. This filter also provides fresh water access for the children through a new outside water tap area between C and B Blocks. Everyone is very pleased and the school principal, Acharya Wangchuk Tenzin, says that the water tastes very good. Many thanks to our HCF donors for providing this essential equipment!
Himalayan Children’s Fund P. O. Box 15644, Beverly Hills, CA 90209 USA 310.395.6616 himalayanchildrensfund.org