Boudhanath is one of the major Buddhist sites in the Kathmandu area. The stupa dating from the fourteenth century dominates the skyline and is one of the largest in the world. A stupa represents the body and mind of the Buddha. It is in the middle of a large circular area, and practitioners revolve around the stupa clockwise, day and night. You can not go inside, it is a full monument.
SCHOOL FOR HIMALAYAN CHILDREN - Kathmandu
Shree Mangal DVIP boarding school:
This school was founded for the forgotten children of the Himalayan regions. Nepal is the poorest countries in Asia. 50% of children suffer from malnutrition. The infant mortality rate and the illiteracy rate are the highest rates in Asia, and the maternal mortality rate is one of the world's highest rate. In the mountains, there are no roads, no electricity nor running water no health care and no schools …
A Tibetan lama, a high religious figure in Buddhism, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, restores hope to these forgotten children. SMD Boarding school was founded in 1987 in Boudhanath, near the great stupa. Children who live there are between 3 and 18, but the classes stop at the end of class 10, because the school is so crowded. Older Children stay with them in the boarding school, and SMD finances their studies in high school.
Buddhism:
They integrate monks, nuns and lay children. Residents can stay the 12 months of the year. The program followed is the same as in the United States. The main language used in the teaching of most subjects is English, but they also learn Nepali and Tibetan. Children meditate about an hour a day. The aim is to preserve the culture, language and Buddhist way of life of Himalayan people.
Knowledge returns to the mountains!
Each year two students return to teach in a mountain village, Lhi, where lunch is provided for children, so parents prefer to send them to school rather than keep them at home to work. Two other students return to Shala to teach.
Here comes Montessori!
When I met them, children in the small classes were still learning with conventional methods (a lot of learning by heart and repetition), but one of the teachers has finished training in Chennai, India, in a Montessori training center (AMI), thanks to Canadian donors. They are now establishing their 3-6 Montessori environment in the school!
The projects:
They would like to extend the Montessori system to elementary classes by sending teachers to train in India (or elsewhere)
Although there are four buildings outside the school to accommodate the children, there is not enough space to welcome more children. They would like to move to a bigger place and further from the city so that they can grow their own food.
To help them: they need volunteers, books (a list is given on Amazon on their website), equipment for those who travel to Nepal and donations you can make directly by clicking on the link below .
