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After 18 days in India I arrived back home late last night and am now trying to get over the change in temperature (drop of about 15 degrees) and time zone – it’ll take a few days.
Here is the news!
Institution for the Blind – New Delhi
Sponsorship
Two of the three boys we sponsor have now been given a place at the government funded college. This is marvelous news for them as it means they are guaranteed funding for until they graduate.
Tenzin, the third child, that we sponsor is now doing extremely well. Previously he had been very shy and could hardly bring himself to talk to the teachers or other adults. So it was great to see him looking so much stronger and to hear that how much more confident he has become. He now relates will with both teachers and the other children. His grades have improved and his is now fluent in Hindi.
Recently a cousin of his started studying at Delhi University. This means that Tenzin now has someone from his own village close at hand.
Literacy Project
I met with the teacher and two of the children from the literacy project. Everyone is delighted at its success and the enthusiasm of the children involved. The teacher told me that when she arrives she finds a hoard of children waiting impatiently for her to start the class.
A few of the children from the project have now moved onto higher education and they really appreciate their literacy skills.
I spoke with Deepak and Mahindra, two of the children that I’d been told had particularly benifitted from the classes.

Mahindra and Deepak
By the sound of it before they started taking the classes they were both depressed and withdrawn and neither of them was making use of the small amount of vision they had. After a few weeks in the class they opened up completely and are now working extremely hard and starting to enjoy life in the school. Deepak has managed to master basic literacy skills in a few months.
The Nuns of Ladakh
All four nuns are doing well and continue to study hard. All talk of withdrawing them from college (so that they can help run the nunnery) has now vanished. Instead, when I asked how many more years study they had to do, Geshe La answered “Oh they will be staying on till they complete their doctorate level!”
Geshe is now in his last year as Abbot of Gyuto Monastery and will return to Ladakh and the nunnery as soon as his term has finished.
Tibetan ex-Political Prisoners in India
I visited Gu Chu Sum, a Tibetan NGO dedicated to helping Tibetan activists to learn more about their rehabilitation programme which we funded 50% of this year.
The programme now takes 19 Tibetans. They come from one of three groups (listed in order of priority): -
- Ex-political prisoners
- Other political activists
- Families of political prisoners
The 19 students are offered accommodation, food, health care, education, rehabilitation and orientation to help them adjust to living in India.
There are some direct vocational courses available such as tailoring and, in addition, there is a fabulous Japanese restaurant which offers training. Many of the students are monks or nuns and who will re-join their monastery in-exile once their year at Gu Chu Sum is over.
Currently most of the students come from category number 2. Other political activists. They were all involved in the 2008 political uprising in Tibet and, in the majority of cases, had arrest warrants issued. To avoid capture they fled to the mountains and lived rough for a year before finally being able to cross the Himalaya into Nepal and then India.
Gu Chu Sum predict that in the next few years the number of ex-political prisoners arriving in India will increase as the terms of imprisonment following the uprising come to an end.
I will write a fuller report for circulation later on.
AGM
The next Annual General Meeting will take place on 31st October and will be followed by a meeting of the Board of Directors. I’ll keep this site updated with any news.
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