The Students

2nd May

While I knew I was coming to teach Tibetan refugees, I had not fully realized exactly what this meant.  We simply have no concept of the hardships these young people have endured to get where they are now.

There are currently 18 at the school, divided into 3 classes (based on ability) and there are frequently students absent on “special leave” for one reason or another.

They are grateful for our presence here as volunteer teachers and they love to kid-about and joke, both with each other and with us – us being myself, Sarah and Nate.

They range in age from 21 to 38, and their first piece of work for me was to talk about and write their life story.  They later told me this was not an original lesson plan – I was the fourth teacher for whom they had done this piece of work.  However, it gave me a good introduction to them and their abilities.

Some have no other relatives outside Tibet, others do.  Many were motivated to come to India to see His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, others by the opportunity for education. 

Some had opportunity for education in Tibet, others didn’t.  Those who did attend school there do remark on not being permitted to learn the Tibetan language at school.

Many were raised as nomads, some have been monks or nuns.  One is still a monk.

While some came with official visas, most did not.  Some came through Nepal and the Tibetan Refugee Reception Centre in Nepal.  All have faced hazards, which must have been much more worrying at the time than their writing suggests.  Hazards mentioned include many soldiers, the need to trust guides with whom they shared no common language, walking for many days – 27 days was the longest walk mentioned, cold and snowstorms, one mentions being so sick that she nearly died during that time.

Most want to return to Tibet, many with extremely positive motives – to teach, including poor children and the children of nomad families, to be a translator, to care for elderly parents or grandparents, to be a guide, to generally help the people of their hometowns.


They really are the most amazing group of young people.  As I get to know them better and they talk about this and that, little snippets of information reveal more of the difficulties they have faced in the past.  They are an incredibly resilient group, though, and their confidence, their determination and their bravery will stand them in good stead.  They will not only survive but thrive and I think they will make sure that their language and culture continue to do likewise.

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