Children's Stories and Photos

The following photos and bios are of children who are already in SMD school.

They are all sponsored. The photos and stories give you some idea what hurdles Himalayan children face, just to survive. Education is their only hope.

At this writing we have more than 70 children in school still needing sponsorship. However, there is no more room in the school. More than 200 children are waiting to get in. they have no other chance at education.

Pema Chokyi

Pema Chokyi (12 year old girl) Special Opportunity Class

Pema Chokyi is from Gorkha district, a region 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.) Here's what she has to say (translated from Tibetan),

"I was so happy when my mum told me I was going to go to school with my sister in Kathmandu. This school is good in every field and it's helping everyone a lot! Everyone here is good, they all help when someone has a problem. I'm really lucky to be here, because when I was in my village I had to very hard all the time. Here I've got some time to play. I like basketball.

I am very interested to learn the Dharma (the Buddha's teachings). And when I finish school I want to go back to my village to help people there."

Lhakpa Tsewang

B516 Lhakpa Tsewang (8 year old boy) Special Opportunity Class C

Lhakpa Tsewang is 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.

Here's what Lhakpa Tsewang has to say (translated from Tibetan),

"I was excited when I heard I was going to go very far away from my father and my village. We don't have any school in my village. I didn't go to school, I had to find firewood for my father. So I like this school, I'm lucky! I have nice classmates and friends! I like to learn English and I like the food, too. When I'm big, I want to be a monk and then spread the Dharma all over the world."