All the children have recently received new sneakers, due to a donation from a friend. They all are Korean made and are of decent quality, so hopefully they will lasts for some time (though we are not sure about Sanjay, hahaha…) Please enjoy the photos!

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Our event was better than we expected, especially since it was the first one! It was a little success for the new Swiss Jhamtse Club! Before the event, I contacted the Geneva Tibetan Friends Association and met a lady who was willing to sing for us. I was not sure if she would really come – she was very shy and reserved at my first meeting with her – but after I talked to her Swiss husband (a pioneer for the Tibetan cause), she came, along with another Tibetan singer.

We started the event with 6 wonderful girls dancing a classic Indian dance. The dance teacher came with her students after I visited her dancing class. One of the students was from my international school, and one girl was the adopted daughter (an Indian orphan) of my daughter’s violin teacher. This is how things came together.

After my Jhamtse presentation, the Tibetan singer was in tears and told the audience that she was an orphan too, and that thanks to schools like Jhamtse, she survived and became the woman she was now!!! You can imagine that everybody was so touched. I was in tears too…..and then they both sang wonderfully, with lots of emotion in their voices. Nobody – not even I – could imagine living moments like that! She was probably the reason for the amount of money we collected in our donation box!

We had wonderful Tibetan flags and decorations, and Jhamtse kids’ photos and drawings posted all over the room. All my friends and colleagues came with home-made cakes and we made real chai. Everybody wanted to drink it…no coffee for the next event! There were 3 laptops in different places in the room, sharing Jhamtse photos, and the lion dance video, and the videos about Jhamtse. It was like being in a museum. All my helpers did their jobs wonderfully! I think we will be an amazing Swiss Jhamtse team!! What a success! It will be repeated, that’s for sure!!!

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‘Art reflects the beauty of human soul.’ I read this line somewhere, and at that time I thought what is the beauty of a human soul? With time, I came to understand that art reflects the most undefined and abstract form of our soul.

So friends, Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community is flowing with the colors of beautiful traditional art on the walls of school classes. Pempa, the artist who worked on our Taj Mahal (aka Children’s Bathhouse), is back–this time to brighten up our classrooms. Let me share something about Pempa with all of you. Pempa is a very dedicated Tibetan artist with a very good understanding of traditional art and with a flair of mixing modern Tibetan art forms, especially from Southeast Asia, to create unique designs. His work has taken him all over India to work at monasteries and gompas (Tibetan temples), and he has always gladly accepted work at Gatsal because he finds working here just as rewarding and meaningful.

His work is such an inspiration for the children and they love to spend time with him and observing him as he works. Sometimes they also assist him. It pleases me immensely when I see a reflection of their time with Pempa in their own creations. Many students have also expressed a desire to learn Tibetan art, which would be the best way to preserve this traditional art form.

Pempa started painting the classroom walls in the last week of October. By the time of our Annual Day Celebration, he had finished one classroom, which our chief guests were very happy to see. They appreciated the idea of traditional paintings on the walls so our children could feel connected to their roots, culture and art.

All the classrooms are painted now and the brightened atmosphere is as much a pleasure for us to teach in as for the children to learn! Thank you, Pempa, for the wonderful creations that come alive with your hands, but are a reflection of your mind and soul.

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Michelle D., a visitor to Gatsal during the Fall of 2011, has a gallery of wonderful photos to share. Here are just a few of her favorites from the trip:

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This year, during the months of my visit to Jhamtse Gatsal, there was no PE teacher, so I took over and taught all the classes. This was making the kids so happy, and was a good opportunity to stay out of the classroom, as well as to learn some team work, movements and fair play. Some of this learning was not really necessary…the Gatsal kids are soooo good at team work, very nice together and such fair players. I was surprised (here in the West it’s not natural). Before, I taught only the KG kids, so when I started teaching the big Jhamtse kids, it was a wonderful experience to see what good players they all are. Some of them are so comical too! And it was the same with my  yoga lessons: fun, fun, fun! And please don’t forget, the students were only allowed to speak ENGLISH!!

At that time I was teaching PE, yoga and different ball games, one of the ball games, especially, was the HIT with the kids. My daughter, Dina, had given me the idea (via Skype) for a very good rules for a super good ball game. The Gatsal kids were just  crazy about it, and they asked me to play it every day!! Sometimes, the adults also played with them; especially talented were Ngawang and Tenzin Yangkey (the music teacher). Good times!

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A photo of Jerry Zadow (Jhamtse treasurer) and many members of the Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community, was recently published in the Concord Journal, a newspaper in Concord, Massachusetts. Pretty cool.

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Here’s the Answer!

Painting (A) of the Tawang monastery was done by the boys of class 7! (Sangey Tsering, Dorjee Norbu, and Rinchen Tsering)
Painting (B) is by the girls! (Rinchen Lhamu, Phurpa Yangzom, and Tsering Wangmu A)

It’s so excellent, what the kids did, that I also proposed to Lobsang that we frame the two monastery paintings to hang them in the office or maybe in the guest house! I am so happy about all this incredible art talent; teaching here is just a pleasure. The creativity of the Gatsal kids is amazing! I am quite sure that our western society should try to learn from this “simple” life that Jhamtse Gatsal kids are living.

I also have had the opportunity to see class 7 also doing extra work, like cutting stones for our extended school entry; or washing walls and painting windows and doors and classrooms! Here is the best “life” school. I agree totally with Lobsang that these kids will one day go out into the world with so much practical knowledge.

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It was the morning of November 23, when the school was in normal session, and we got two items of bad news for the Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community. Unfortunately, it was the news of two deaths. We lost the grandfather of our very esteemed and devoted teacher Ms. Gombu Lhamu, who had been battling kidney failure for seven years; and one of our very old supporters, Mr. David Prifti, who had a great attachment to our community. David Sir had been valiantly fighting cancer for a long time. It was a painful shock to receive both the bad news on the same morning. We stopped classes to honor the departed souls. Some of staff members left for Tawang with Gombu Lhamu to support her and her family in their loss and the rest of us and children started prayers for the peaceful passage of the souls.

Holy prayers were continued until the next day with traditional butter lamps and Monlam chanting. All of us at the community stand beside the families in their moments of grief and pray that they will find the strength to bear the loss.

In the last few months, our community has faced the pain of losing loving family members and dear supporters. We are supporting each other to overcome this pain and sadness, and we keep all beings struggling with the pain of losing loved ones in our thoughts and prayers. We ask the same of all our blog readers too.

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Children’s Day was celebrated at Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community in an amazing style! As you may know, we celebrate Children’s Day in India on 14th November, the birthday of our first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Pt. Nehru was very fond of children and, when he was alive, he always spent his birthday with children from all over the country. Pt. Nehru also did some genuine work for the welfare of Indian children and was always concerned about children’s issues. So since his death in 1964, his birthday, 14th November, is celebrated as Children’s Day every year.

So, we celebrated the day with lots of fun and entertainment for the children. On the evening of the day before, 13th November, a big children’s party was organized. After dinner at 7 pm, all the children and staff got together in the school ground for the party. There was a special bonfire arranged there, as it was a very cold evening and very soon everybody felt warmed. In fact a little rain started but nobody was in mood to move indoors…so rain moved on! The children were so excited that they were screaming as they sang (kind of like the Diwali pooja, for those who attended that) and nobody stopped them because it was after all their time.

Then, the music was ready and the dance party started…all the children and staff hit the dance floor with their funny and wild dance steps…but who cared…everybody was busy dancing and having fun. Some snacks and juice were served at the party.

It was an amazing moment of my life to be a part of a party like this! In fact this party was a symbol of the beautiful relationship that goes beyond the student-teacher relationship, closer to the deep essence of love and joy of our pure soul…

The next day, on 14th November, everybody wished each other Happy Children’s Day. We had a short programme, which started at 10 am in the morning. Everybody gathered in the big prayer hall. We decided to celebrate it in a different style. We announced to the children that since it was their day, all the staff members were their to respond to their  wishes and demands, and demand they did…in their clear, loud voices! Some were asked to dance, others to sing and no one was spared! In the middle of the programme, the traditional, delicious sweet rice recipe of bresi was served. Three children – Pema Drolma, Tashi Drolma and Raju did a poetry recitation also. We were having so much fun that 2 hours and 30 minutes went by like a moment and we had to stop the party in between because it was the lunch time.

All in all, it was a great day with moments full of joy and happiness. We wish that the memory of it remains in the air of our lovely Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community…until we can do it again!

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Many supporters of Jhamtse Gatsal will be happy to hear about the recent additions to the Jhamtse Gatsal staff and skill set. We now have a very skilled carpenter on staff who has been working on creating some beautiful and high quality wood furniture for our classrooms and kitchen. Please see some examples of his handiwork here. He has also accepted to take on our older children as apprentices and teach them the trade.

During the summer, the community also acquired a stone cutting tool, which Ngawang (campus manager) and Dorjee Lama (driver) have been putting to skillful use to cut stone for paving the area in front of our academic blocks. During their free time the older children apprenticed under Ngawang and Dorjee Lama and later helped lay the foundation and the stone to create this wonderful pavement. Thanks to the help of the staff and children of Jhamtse Gatsal, this paving was accomplished in mere seven days! Who says Rome can’t be built in seven days? When hearts, minds and muscles come together, anything is possible!

In closing, I’d just like to say that starting next academic session, we will be offering carpentry and stone cutting and paving as experiential learning opportunities in our academic calendar!

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About Our Community
Jhamtse Gatsal, Tibetan for “Garden of Love and Compassion”, is a children’s community located in the Indian foothills of the Himalayas. Opened in 2006, it is currently school and home for 75 children from disadvantaged family situations in the nearby villages. Read More...



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