month

Children Who Have Recently Been Sponsored

The children shown here have all been sponsored over the last few months, their stories are typical of those who still remain on the waiting list. Pictures show before coming to the school on the left and after on the right.

		B505 Pema Chokyi, girl 12 years Special Opportunity Class Pema Chokyi is from Gorkha district, another regions that lies in the north of Nepal. Her part of Gorkha is called Nubri. It borders right on Tibet. Like all Nubri people, Pema Chokyi's mother tongue is a dialect of Tibetan (Nubri was Tibet, less than 100 years ago). If asked, Nubri kids always say they are Tibetan. Pema Chokyi just started school this year. She'd had no previous schooling (most Nubri people have no access to school. The nearest roads are at least a week's hard trek from the villages.) Pema Chokyi has been placed in one of our three Special Opportunity Classes which are especially for older kids coming to school for the first time. Pema Chokyi's younger sister has been at SMD for several years, and is now in Class Four. Pema Chokyi doesn't mind this: she says she's just happy to be here. (She looks thrilled.)
		B516 Lhakpa Tsewang boy 8 years Special Opportunity Class C Lhakpa Tsewang's from Nubri in Gorkha district, a remote district in northern Nepal, bordering Tibet. Like most Nubri folk, Lhakpa’s parents are subsistence farmers. They are very poor people who cannot afford to send Lhakpa to any school except one like SMD, which is totally free. Lhakpa Tsewang is an exceptionally bright little boy; he has been at school less than a year and is already speaking English (his second language) and Nepali (his third). His mother tongue is Tibetan. Lhakpa says that he likes it here at SMD School. He likes to study English and Tibetan because they are easy. The Hostel Teachers are his favourite teachers. He likes to play football and Basketball.
		Tsering Gyaltsen B409 boy 10 years NOW HAS A SPONSOR He is from Manang, in the North of Nepal. His father lost one of his hands and unable to help the family, has left. The mother is mentally unwell and only able to work sometimes.
		Norbu Samdup B408 boy 13 years NOW HAS A SPONSOR He is the youngest brother of one of our monks. The family is from Gorkha, a district of Nepal hard-hit by fighting. The family is semi-nomadic but is hampered by the father's alcoholism.
		Dolma Sherpa B402 girl 14 years NOW HAS A SPONSOR
		Dawa Dolma Sherpa B013 girl 9 years NOW HAS A SPONSOR