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A day at Phugmoche School – April 1997 |
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At seven
o'clock, one hour after being woken up by the bell there is the appetising
smell of steaming hot early morning tea. The boys and the twenty girls at the
school hurry up as they know that time until breakfast at nine will pass
quickly. The adult students, first of all 25-year-old Dawa, but younger and
very young children as well enter into the twilight of the Gonpa to exorcise
the demons of the night by reciting and chanting the rituals of the morning
puja. Other children concentrate upon their homework. Their noisy friends,
who laugh and chat and wash their clothes in the chill of the morning, do not
disturb them. At ten
o'clock the day-scholars have climbed up the steep hill to the monastery.
Together with the boarders they gather in the largest classroom in order to
receive the blessing from Lama Ngawang Jinpa or Ang Gyalbu who teaches
religion and Tibetan. After checking the students' presence and saying the
morning prayer the children attend the different classes. Visiting
Phugmoche School you feel the atmosphere of friendly care and guiding
assistance among the students themselves. The teachers educate with kindness
and humour. During the period of settling down the children are looked after
tenderly. The elder children and the adults slip into the role of an elder
brother or an elder sister lovingly caring for the younger. Our students are
between five and 25 years old. For those young people who have passed the
normal age of a school child this school is a last chance to receive the
qualifications enabling them to survive in our modern society. It was
Ngawang Jinpa Lama's idea to found this school which at the start, after
1992, was unique in the area. It is well accepted by the inhabitants of
Solu-Kumbhu (north eastern Nepal). The Lama feels obliged to help preserve
Sherpa Buddhist tradition. In the meantime the school has become much more
than a religious institution. Thanks to the Lama's mental flexibility and his
exceptional character Phugmoche School has become a living organism which
grows and undergoes changes. The Lama has understood that only teaching
Dharma, religion, is no more sufficient nowadays. So besides Dharma and
Tibetan all the subjects of the Nepalese curriculum are taught at Phugmoche.
The standard is comparatively high. The Lama also invites girls to study at
his school. As the mothers of the coming generation they will have a key role
transmitting values to their sons and daughters. Among the eight teachers
there are two young women and three Hindus of the ethnic group of the
Chhetri. Franziska and Analena, two German students, and Peggy from Canada
brought a wind of change by teaching English conversation. Other volunteers
followed. Most of
the students come from very poor families. Their parents' main worry is
feeding the family. It is the Lama's wish to give an education to those young
people. But we also need your help. This is why we ask to you to sponsor one
of the students. 20 Euro only are needed to send a child to school
in Phugmoche. |
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