Conditions Where Some Children Come From
Dolma Tsering
Dolma is one of several children. She is the
daughter of extremely poor farmers. The family is in a village
called Nar, in northern Nepal in a region called Manang.
Manang is high altitude very dry country. There is famine
in Manang right now. Dolma and her family never have had
enough to eat and they can't afford warm clothing or bedding
for the harsh winters. The whole village is poor; 98% of
the villagers are illiterate, there are no roads and it's
more than 7 days' walk to the nearest road.
Dolma is quite undersized because of malnourishment, but
she is a spirited little girl and very protective of her
younger brother and sister who came along to the school
with her.
Dolma Chodron
Dolma Chodon's parents are high-altitude subsistence
farmers in a village called Nar in northern Nepal. The district
she comes from is called Manang. You can see from the photos
how difficult farming must be in Nar. Manang is extremely
poor...there is famine every year. Most of Dolma's villagers
are unable to read or write (only 2% are literate, and they
are all lamas). There is no electricity and there are no
roads.
Dolma Chodon and her sister and brother are all quite undersized
(Dolma Chodon is 9, but is the size of a 5 or 6 year-old
Canadian girl) because of malnourishment. All the children
seem intellectually unimpaired, though.
Nyima Dorja
Nyima Dorje is from the mountains in the north-east
of Nepal, just across from Tibet proper. He is from a part
of Nepal called Nubri, which is in the district called Gorhka.
Not even a hundred years ago, Nubri was Tibet, but it became
Nepal after some border adjustments.
Nubri is poorer than many parts of Nepal...only one out
of four babies survives to be a year old. Nyima's village
is at least a week's walk from the nearest road. Most of
the villagers except the lamas are illiterate...there is
no school.
Nyima's oldest brother is our (almost khenpo) monk Karma
Chogyal. Karma Chogyal is one of the teachers at Thrangu
Rinpoche's shedra (university for higher buddhist studies).
Their parents are semi-nomads.
