April 21, 2025
Himalayan Children’s Fund News
Dear Friends,
Exams for the 2024/25 school year have come to an end for SMD and both Shedras and everyone has done well. The 31st Annual Thrangu Mani Dungdrup Puja is in full swing at SMD and after it concludes on the 23rd, the 26th Nepal Kagyu Monlam Chenmo (three days of prayers for world peace) will begin.
I would like to calm any concerns there may be regarding HCF and federal funding cuts. HCF does not receive any support from federal grants, only from individual donors and a few small foundations. However, while we are safe from federal cuts, we are not immune to job loss and reduced charitable giving. HCF will remain to support those in need as long as we have our caring sponsors and donors. Please: give us a wonderful review on: Great NonProfits!
Thank you ~ Debra
Ann
SCENES FROM THE MANI AT SMD Hover
nished and the Karmapa’s spring teachings will end on the 28th. All but one class of the shedra monks have just returned to Namo Buddha for the summer and VVI has shared a few photos and a video of the monks singing the
SMDBS or SMD Monk $480.00
Monk $600.00 Nun (base sponsorship) $240.00
Additional for school nun $240.00 Monk (base sponsorship) $240.00
*We will always accept any amount toward sponsorships and find additional sponsors to complete the full fee amount. For more information, or to arrange a sponsorship please contact HCF. himalayanchildrensfund@gmail.com
Thrangu Rinpoche’s reliquary stupa and the room in which it will be housed are nearly ready for the consecration in June. It will be a place to pay respect, pray, circumambulate and meditate. As explained by Padmasambhava: “All those who rejoice in the stupa will generate every single quality of a buddha in their mental continuum.”
Photos to the right of the building show the preparation of the sokshing or Tree of Life which is major element inside a stupa.
Namo Buddha
for video
Tenzin Lhamo Gurung was born in Tsum Valley in 2007 and was very happy to join SMD in 2012 with the help of a monk uncle. While in school she participated for one year each in Thrangu Express and Eco Club. She played flute for 3 years in the school band and was on the school football team for 2 years and winning competitions. Tenzin Lhamo also likes to run and has run in marathons in grade, 4, 8, 9 and 10. She also enjoys basketball and hopes to be able to continue to play. During the Covid lockdown there were no classes when she returned to her village so she worked in the fields with her mother. When the precautions were lifted, along with other students, she studied intensively for 3 months and then passed an exam to move to the next grade level. Tenzin Lhamo says that sitting for the SEE exam in 2024 was not hard and she is satisfied with her result. Unsure of what she wanted to study in High School, Tenzin Lhamo thought that taking a gap year to give service would be good for her especially since she knows Nubri and could work together with her friend Niruta. She has been teaching math, Nepali and English for grades 2 and 4 and plans to continue her education at SMD after completing her service. Her experience of teaching has shown her the struggles that teachers have!
Niruta Magar was born in Thankot in 2007 and enrolled at SMD in 2013. Since her parents are monastery gardeners in Namo Buddha she was quite excited to come to Kathmandu and study at SMD, especially since the government school in her area was not the best and only taught in Nepali. Niruta says it was lonely during Covid to study online, but she participated in many school activities before and after. She loves to read and write poetry, and as a library member worked organizing books on weekends and wrote for Thrangu Express in grade 9. She was TV manager and room captain for a year and participated in Tibetan cultural dance. Niruta said the first of the SEE exams made her nervous, but she got used to it and had good results. Since many school friends were from Nubri, she chose to volunteer at Nubri Hinang for a new experience and to know their lifestyle. She has been teaching Nepali and English for grades 2, 4 and 6 in the monastery, looking after the children and sometimes cooking. She said it was hard to teach but the children are good and the village people are so very kind. Niruta will attend 11 and 12 when she returns to SMD and study in the medical field. When thinking of her past and where she is now, she says: “ it’s unreal ~ I can’t believe it!”
Chhimi Youden Lama was born in 2006, in Nar, Manang and joined SMD in 2012 when her Uncle, Lama Dawa Tashi, carried her on his shoulders for the two-day trek down the mountain. At first it was difficult to adjust, being so far from her parents, but having a friend from her village at SMD made it easier. While in school, Chhimi liked basketball and competed in badminton and football. She was room captain in Class 10, participated in cultural dance, math games in the library, and learned to play the guitar. Sitting for the SEE exam in April of 2024 not only was good, but ‘better than she thought’. Being from Nar, Chhimi volunteered to give service at Nar Satek Thrangu Monastery thinking it would be easy to live there and the villagers could be a little proud of her. (Her parents are very proud!) She has been teaching second grade Nepali, general knowledge and fourth grade English to 13 monks between the ages of 8 and 17, alongside her classmate Phurbu Dolma Sherpa. Responsibilities also include helping with guests in the kitchen, bathing and looking after clothing needs for the small monks. For 6 months, during the harsh winter, all the monks and teachers relocate to Namo Buddha so she has also been teaching computer at SMDBS. Speaking of her experience thus far, Chhimi says it feels amazing to look after small kids, to play with and be responsible for them and: “Since little monks can be naughty, I had to learn different ways to encourage enjoyment of learning.” When her year of service is finished, Chhimi will return to SMD to study science in 11 and 12 and has her heart set on nursing.
Phurbu Dolma Sherpa was born in Bagam, Sindupalchowk in 2005. After studying in a government school for three years, she joined Class 2 at SMD in 2014. At first she was homesick, but with a sister also at SMD she quickly made friends. She describes herself as a ‘non-sport’ person. Her school interests included, Helping Hand, and Eco Club before COVID. Later Phurbu Dolma was Eco Club Captain for 2 years, room captain for 4 years, taught prayers to the small children for 2 years and participated in Tibetan Cultural and Dance programs. Sitting for the SEE exam in 2024 was a little a little scary but went well; she hoped for an A and received an A+! Phurbu Dolma had planned to give service after graduating grade 12, but her uncle encouraged her not to wait and hearing that there was a lack of volunteers, she decided to apply for the assignment in Nar. Trekking to Nar was hard, with dangerous roads and bridges to cross, and the environment was unfamiliar, but she adapted well with the help of her classmate, Chhimi Youden. She has been teaching grades 2 and 4, English and Math, Social, and Nepali and says that being a teacher is not easy work ~ ‘the students are very noisy and ask silly questions!’ Phurbu Dolma says that Nar is great and the villagers are very kind. She is happy to be in Namo Buddha for the winter and says the place and people feel like home. She is also glad to study at SMD and will enter the Business Management stream for grades 11 and 12 with hopes of doing business in the future.
Ngodrup Palbar was born in Chhekampar, Upper Tsum in 2007. At age 7 his father brought him and his sister to enroll at SMD, but instead he chose to become a monk and was accepted at Thrangu Monastery. After joining at the Boudha Monastery he spent one year in India at VVI to learn basic reading, writing and monastic conduct after which he rst to SMDBS in Namo Buddha and then to SMD. Ngodrup says he thinks India is his favorite place ‘because the environment there is very big and one can do anything’. He is grateful to be in school and likes math class and quizzes. During his time at SMD he was House Captain of Sagarmata, and after lockdown, Captain of Eco Club. He competed in the in-house football competition (and won), Tibetan poetry competition and also was a captain in the Gompa, looking after the younger monks and helping them to study. Ngodrup Palbar sat for the SEE exam in April of 2024 and shared that the first day was hard but the remaining days were easy. He made the choice himself to volunteer and give service at the monastery in Namo Buddha feeling it would improve his own mind while also helping younger children. He wanted “outside knowledge-beyond the book”, and has been teaching Nepali and English for grades 1, 3, 4 6 and special class at SMDBS. Ngodrup says teaching was difficult at first, he found himself faltering a bit especially since teaching older students felt like teaching his friends. Now he is more comfortable, the students are friendly to him and he also feels friendly. He is grateful to be in the peaceful surroundings of Namo Buddha and appreciates how the older teachers are friendly, kind and helpful.