We are still in Manali and have been joined by Lama Tashi Namgyal who is telling us more about the school and the children we are going to provide with beds. The Rinchen Zangpo Buddhist Society decided twelve years ago that improving education was paramount. Munsel Ling School was named and opened by the Dalai Lama in 1996 and has a dedicated staff of twenty four teachers.
In the summer of 2008 when the UBC students wrote about the school they said, "The children are hard-working and determined. They take responsibiltiy for succeeding, unlike many children in Canada." Indeed, the students from the first year have now graduated. One of them, Youdon, is studying science and wants to become a doctor and return to work in Spiti.
The UBC team also noted that the sleeping quarters for the children boarding at the school were borderline. They wrote: "The beds that are not in good condition, and bedbugs and lice are rampant." The Trans Himalayan Aid Society [TRAS] decided that it was necessary to provide clean bedding for all the children in 2009 and they applied to Sleeping Children for help. TRAS has been helping in Nepal, Tibet, and India. One of their members had met Murray when he had helped Tibetan refugee children in another part of the Himalayas.
Lama Tashi has been busy arranging the materials for the beds and getting them to Spiti Valley so they will be there when we arrive.
Tomorrow we leave for Kaza in the Spiti Valley. (Click on map to enlarge it.
The Spiti Valley Three
