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Personal Stories

My name is . I study in grade three and I am 12 years old. I study in SMD School. I am from Tsum which is situated in Gorkha district of Nepal. It is in the high Himalayas of the Western part of Nepal. My village is a small and poor because it is in a remote area of Nepal.

In my village, there is no proper road, hospital and school.

People over there, work as farmers and rear animals.

Their main occupation is farming. People live in the house made up of wood and stone. The weather is so cold there. People wear thick clothes called chupa and shoes called dochha.

Our village is so far away from Kathmandu. It takes seven days to reach there, one day by bus and six days by walking. The roads are very small and narrow. We have to sleep under the when we go home.

I am very happy here in school (SMD).I have many friends.

They are very helpful and nice. There are lots of teachers and amalas to take care of us. The food is very tasty and nutritious. I can play many games with my friends.

I am very happy that I got sponsor by the grace of Thrangu Rinpoche. I am very thankful to the school for providing me education and food.

My name is . I study in class L.K.G. I am six years old. My village is in Nubri which is in the northern part of Nepal and it is very far away from Kathmandu. My father’s name is Nyima and my mother’s name is Tsewang Dolma. My father and mother work in a farm. I used to help my parent in household work, animal grazing and collecting fire woods. Now, I learn many things in my class and I share it with my friends. I like to play football and swing. I like ice cream and momo. Lastly I would like to thank Thrangu Rinpoche and SMD for caring me. Thanks a lot!!

Tashi delek! I am and I am studying in grade 7. I am 15 years old. I have eight members in my family. I was born in Tatopani in Sindhupalchok district of Nepal; it lies in the northern part of Nepal.

When I was 5 years old my brother got sick. He was taken to a Chinese hospital at Khasa (across the border, in Tibet). He could not be cured so he passed away. It was the saddest moment of my life. After his death I had to look after the cattle and cut grass for them. Every morning I had to cut the grass, then have breakfast, pack lunch and go to school. Sometimes I became late for school and my teacher used to scold me very much. I studied in a local village school when I was child and in 1999 I was brought to Kathmandu with the help of my brother who is a monk at Thrangu Monastery. That’s when I joined SMD.

I went into Lower Kindergarten and it has now been almost been 8 years since I have joined this school. When I was first at SMD I was very amazed to see such a huge school and I was afraid too. In the village my school is very far but here in SMD it is very near, and so easy to go, because I’m a boarder.

In the village I used to write all five subjects in one copy (notebook) but in SMD we have different copies for different subjects. At the beginning I felt homesick but later on I could manage it. During these eight years I could find lots of change in my life. I am having a very good time at SMD. SMD School had helped me a lot in many ways: from the time I came here in this school I came to know about sports and other activities too. It wasn't all, I came to know about Buddhism and gained the knowledge that one should not harm others sentient beings and help those in need. Thus, I have successfully become a true Buddhist.

Thank you.

Hi, my name is and I am now studying at grade 7. I was born in the month of December in 1992. I am from Gorkha District, which lies in the Himalayas in the western part of Nepal. I was born in a village called Nubri, which is on the trail to Gorkha District. It will take nearly about 8 days to reach my village.

In Nubri I had to work hard for my family. All of us used to work in the fields until sunset. At that time I was just 5 years old. During that time all my brothers had already became monks so my sister used to go after the cattle in the forest for the day and had to collect the wood for fire. I had to look after my small brother, younger sister at home and also I had to go to cut grass for my cattle, had to bring water very far from my house. In the afternoon every day I had to go to collect firewood for 2 to 3 hours a day in the far, deep forest.

One day during dinner time, suddenly my parents talked about sending me to school, but it was impossible because of our financial problems. Anyhow by saving little amount of money, they managed to send me to the school. Luckily, one day my uncle who is a monk arrived in my village from Kathmandu for the vacation, and during that time my father talked about sending me back with him. After that my uncle took a picture of me and took it with him to Kathmandu.

After two years my uncle sent a message to my father that I have got chance to study at SMD School. When my father told me about that I felt very happy and family did too. But it is also very sad that there is no one to help my family. We were in a big hurry and came to Kathmandu for my study at SMD. It was a very hard time for me to depart from them.

After years, I got back to my village with my sister and brother for our winter vacation. When I came back to school again I realized that I used to think that I am very far from my parents but then also I got all the love and care by my teachers and my friends. I learn very much at this school and learn much about dharma. Now there are no such problems to me that happened when I was a little boy. In SMD I am deprived of nothing due to our very venerable Thrangu Rinpoche.

   

I am doing very well here and still I am going to a language institution. It's a very fun class and I always get a chance to speak about Thrangu Rinpoche’s school. I also talk about the life of Buddha and his teaching and also about his HH Dalai Lama and Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and all activities. 

For two days we had lots of talk about Buddhism and HH Dalai Lama because HH Dalai Lama was going to come to Toronto. I always enjoy the class since there are many different people from different countries. I’m the youngest one in the class.

Today (October 31, 2007) was the happiest day for me since I arrived in Canada. HH the Dalai Lama came to Toronto and he did the opening ceremony for the Canadian-Tibetan Culture centre, which is a very big hall for Tibetans. Early in the morning, around 6 o'clock I woke up and then around 7, my host parents and I went to that center. There were lots and lots of people, all Tibetan. Actually, it was for Tibetan people. So we stood in the line and then we entered and took our seats. Around 9, HH the Dalai Lama arrived and many Tibetan kids and people welcome him by dancing different dances like Tashi-shopa, lhamo and songs. Then he went upstairs where the centre’s office is, and he did the opening ceremony, and there he met many important people from Canada and other countries, like Mayor David Miller of Toronto. There was one Indian VIP who is the Defense Minister of India. HH Dalai Lama appreciated him and praised him a lot in front of everyone because he is always there for Tibetans, even since 1959. He was always supporting HH Dalai Lama.

One of the other things I felt very glad about is that both Mayor David Miller and that Indian VIP came and said hi! to all the Tibetans who were inside the hall. They came to each row. I found them very kind.

His Holiness’ talk for Tibetan people was about the teaching of Buddha and the importance of the culture, language and tradition of Tibet. He also told some news about what’s going on in Tibet.

Then in the Roger Center His Holiness’ teaching was about The Art of Happiness. There were 16000 people in that place.



To tell you the highlight of my time here in Portugal, I recently went to the 3-day teaching by H.H. the Dalai Lama. H.H also gave a general talk to the public on the 4th day.  

It was so amazing to see H.H so close for 4 days in a row! The atmosphere was so powerful when H.H. entered the hall. More than 1800 of us stood up hastily with our hands joined together in full respect. He affected all of us with his powerful nature of peace, honesty and humour. 

I hadn’t fully realised my respect towards H.H. and Buddhism. I had thought my respect was at the topmost level, but after seeing HH, I respect His Holiness the Dalai Lama even more, and as a follower of Buddhism I now I find myself at a higher level higher of devotion.

From Ugyen Karma, Grade 12, on scholarship at St. Julian’s School in Portugal