Two of the best gifts I could have received
This week I received two of the best gifts I could have hoped for… they nearly brought me to tears.
The first was a most humbling message from a young lady named Konjyok Lhamo. Konjyok is from Humla, in the far far northwestern part of Nepal (seldom visited), what is likely the most remote and economically challenged area in all of Nepal, where educating girls is discouraged. Konjyok defied the odds however, and graduated from Shree Mangal Dvip School (SMD). Following that she received a scholarship to finish her Grade 11 & 12 at the Red Cross Nordic United World College in Flekke, Norway. She’s now completing her bachelor's degree in Business administration from the College of Idaho. Although we’ve never met, Konjyok recently read A Story of Karma, and wrote the below note about it. She’s now taken it upon herself to read the story to the younger kids of SMD over the internet. Thank you Konjyok for being such a great light in the world, a leader for your people, and an inspiration to me.
“As a student at SMD until 2016, I was no stranger to the Buddhist concept of karma, but reading it from Michael's perspective made a familiar thought new. In his book, Michael has beautifully articulated feelings into words. I found A Story of Karma much more than just about Karma, Pemba, Michael, and Chantal. It is a story of love, compassion, and hope, a story of a personal journey finding a balance between tradition and modernity. It is story that reflects the reality of Himalayan children and their parents. A story that many of us at SMD can relate to.” ~Konjyok Lhamo
The second was an update from Pemba from Nar Village, about her older sister Palma teaching class to the younger kids. Since the spring, Covid has hit Kathmandu hard. As a result, all the schools in the Kathmandu Valley have had to close their doors, including SMD, and many of the children made the long journeys back to their remote mountain villages. SMD raced to organize clothing and food for the children, sending provisions up via donkey trains before the winter sets in and the high passes become impassable. Since the villages did not expect all the children to return at once, they were not equipped with clothing and footwear for the cold winter months (many of the villages are over 10,000 ft. in elevation). Many villages are also short on food supplies, since they rely on their harvest to last them through the winter.
It’s been over seven months since the schools closed their doors. Covid is still on a tear throughout Kathmandu, and it doesn’t look like it’s improving any time soon. Fortunately, many of SMD’s older kids and SMD alum, like Palma, took it upon themselves to organize classes in the villages, and are teaching the younger kids. Not only does this benefit older and younger kids alike, it’s also fulfilling SMD founder Thrangu Rinpoche’s aim of providing free education to the “lost children of the Himalaya”, so they may complete the cycle by bringing education back to their people and villages.
Wishing you all peace and love for the holidays during these extraordinary times.
