From the Fields of Mugu to a Classroom

Joining this school changed my whole childhood. I came here in 2017, when I was just nine years old.

Before that I lived in my village, in a remote part of Mugu district. My childhood there was hard and painful. At home there was no one to help my parents, and they worked in the fields all day. I was very small, but I still helped them in whatever way I could — sometimes with my mother in the fields, sometimes with my father in the jungle, sometimes out with the cows and the sheep. There was no education there, and no school of any kind. Whole days at work, and nights at home. Working the fields and battling rain, insects and jungle was our daily routine.

Towards the end of my childhood my parents decided that I should have a good education. They told me I must learn to read and write and become someone in the future. They asked one of my uncles, a lama, to find a school for me. He found this school, read a little about it, and brought me here for admission. He explained to my parents that we did not have the money to enrol me in a private school.

He also told them that this school gives us both a modern and a Buddhist education. I decided to study here rather than anywhere else — because of my family's financial situation, because of the Buddhist teaching alongside ordinary lessons, and because of this beautiful, clear place. The other reason was simple: every other school was too far from home.

When I arrived I was shocked, because I had never seen a building like this before. At first I felt so alone. But slowly everyone in the school became friendly with me, and I grew happy here and had a great deal of fun with them.

Looking back from where I am now, I feel lucky to be studying in a school and living in a hostel like this. I have a lot of memories, good days and bad, and they have given me cheer and good experience. This school gave me many opportunities to make my life and my future bright. It taught me how to solve problems and how to face challenges. I have enjoyed every subject and every activity the school has organised, and I have learned a great deal from them.

In my opinion, all the teachers here are good and friendly with each and every student. They support us like our own family, like parents, in each and every problem. My friends are like my own brothers and sisters: they take care of me whenever I am in trouble, they understand my weaknesses, and they never hurt me. With them I feel I have a mother and a father here, and a whole family that never lets me feel far from home. They give us as much warm love as our own parents would.

Beyond academics, my school has taught me more things than I can count. The ones I have enjoyed most are Buddhist debate and thangka painting, extracurricular activities, different languages, trips to different places, and dancing in school programmes to traditional, classical and modern songs. We also train physically — martial arts and karate — and we meditate. Sometimes we do experiments, work on the computers, or read in the library. This school changed a little child from a remote area and gave her a bright future, as it has for thousands of students like me. It turned a girl from the jungle into a girl who is gentle, wise and able to think.

All of this, my whole life story, is because of His Excellency my godfather, Khen Karchoe Rinpoche. Without him my whole life would have been dark and full of pain and sorrow. I am here only because of what he has given. I know how much he puts himself through for us; his hard work and what he gives are more than anyone can count or see, and whatever I give back can never compare. We see his pain, his anxiety, his stress and his tension, and there is nothing we can do about it right now. But in my future I will become a great, successful person and stand beside him at every step. I will help him, and I will make him proud. All my success will be his, all my happiness will be his, and whatever name I make will be his too. Making him proud is my aim, my dream and my goal.

This whole story belongs to a student in grade ten, and her name is Lhenzom Toma Lama. She comes from a middle-class family of eight. She is deeply grateful to her godfather, to everyone at the school, to the love she has been shown here, and to her memories of it — and she is proud to be a student of Padmai Ga-Tshal Choiling School.