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THRANGU RINPOCHE’S AIMS

Thrangu Rinpoche’s Vision for Empowering Himalayan People Through Education and Healthcare Thirty-six years ago, SMD opened to serve the needs of the forgotten children of the Himalayas. A Tibetan lama founding a school for lay children was unheard of, but Thrangu Rinpoche’s compassion was vast and his vision far-reaching. He established SMD to help Himalayan folk preserve the language, culture, …

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LOSAR TASHI DELEK! 2023

Happy New Year – The water rabbit year 2150 By the blessings of the truth of the Three Jewels and Three Roots, As this New Year of the Female Water Hare dawns, May all misfortune of illness, famine, and war be pacified, And may the glorious qualities of an age of perfection grow. -Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Namo Buddha, Nepal Losar …

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SMDers To The Rescue

SMDers To The Rescue The school year started with 70 unsponsored boarders. We put out a call to all our SMD graduates who are overseas, asking for help. These heroes jumped up! Dawa Dolma Sherpa and her sister Sherab Dolma sponsored a little Sherpa girl (SMD’s blind choice). It turned out the little girl is their niece! Tsering Namgyal was …

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A Story of Karma supports SMD

A Story of Karma

A Story of Karma, a new book written by long time SMD School supporter Michael Schauch, sheds light on life for children in the Himalaya, and the important role of SMD School. In 2012, Michael Schauch and his wife, Chantal, undertook an expedition deep in the Himalaya of northern Nepal, into a remote valley that had been closed off to …

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Online & Village Classes Continue

SMD School classes in the mountains

Online & Village Classes in full Swing Our SMD School campus continues to be closed but our students (all but 11 who are too remote) have been able to still access education, either online or in the village classes in the mountains. SMD alumna Tsewang Dolma Lama immediately returned to Ripchet when she heard the children were begging for classes …

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COVID-19 Update – Sept. 2020

SMD School teaches in villages during COVID-19

Schools across Nepal are still closed Across Nepal, schools have been closed for five months. Even though public schools are not offering any education, not even online, teachers are getting paid. Private schools were trying to offer online instruction, but the government didn’t allow them to charge tuition for it; so, staff didn’t get paid and classes had to stop. …

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Healthcare for Nar Phu Villages

Opening of new health clinic in Nar Phu

SMD School alumna, Choden Yangchen Lama, worked with Dr. Gosia Trubshaw to reopen the clinic in Choden’s home village of Nar in the District of Manang. Following is a report of Dr. Gosia and a short film that exemplifies the background of the Himalayan Children at SMD School. *** MEDyARTE Charity has recently reopened Thrangu Rinpoche’s Nar Satek Monastery Clinic …

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Pasang reflects on SMD School

Senior student reflects on SMD School

Thrangu Rinpoche established SMD School to help Himalayan children preserve their own language, their culture and their Buddhist way of life. He encourages our students to go into education and healthcare—both sorely lacking in the mountains of Nepal. And, another triumph! Pasang Lhamo Lama B017 is leaving us to work on a degree in Public Health. She writes: “Subject: Thank …

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Gyurme’s Vision for Lho, Gorkha

SMD alum Tsewang Gyurme in Lho village, Gorkha Nepal

SMD alum Tsewang Gyurme from Lho village, Gorkha district, started Grade 11 in the Management stream last July at HIMS (Himalayan International Model School), about half an hour’s walk from SMD in Boudha. While he still gets to board at SMD, he and six other alumnus are finishing their grade school education at HIMS, as we are too crowded to …

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Film for Change

SMD alumna, Dolma Tsering Lama, recently finished the IB (International Baccalaureate) program at UWC (United World Colleges) ISAK in Japan. She won a full scholarship at Wheaton College MA in the USA to study film as of fall 2018. As so many people are still illiterate in the mountains of Nepal, she thinks short films are a way to bring …

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TD receives UBC Scholarship

Tsewang_Diki_SMD_School_Alumna

SMD School alumna, Tsewang Diki (‘TD’), recently graduated from grade 12 at Shawnigan Lake Boarding School in British Columbia, Canada. Not only did she do so with flying colours, but she also won a full-ride, four-year scholarship to the University of British Columbia (UBC; among the top 50 universities in the world) in Canada to study sciences. TD says that …

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SMD Health Assistants Save Lives

SMD_Dolma_Sherpa_Health_Assistant

Pran Maya Khadki comes from a small village called Namo Buddha, where our founder, Thrangu Rinpoche established Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery. This is also where SMD Branch School for monks is. After she finished Class 10, Pran Maya took the three-year Health Assistants (paramedic) training.  When the earthquakes hit in 2015, Lama Sangay, one of our monks in Malaysia raised …