Empowering Children of the Remote Himalayan Villages: The Mission of Shree Mangal Dvip (SMD) School
Shree Mangal Dvip (SMD) School helps children from vulnerable areas—the northern villages of the Nepal Himalayas. These villages, located in challenging, isolated areas at high altitudes (up to 14,000 feet or around 4,000 m), face extreme climates and lack basic facilities like roads, electricity, water, sanitation, communication, healthcare, and schools. Prok village (photo above), in the Nubri region of Gorkha district, is one of the places where many of our children come from.
Karma Chokyi Tamang
Fulfilling the aims of our founder, Ven. Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Our founder encouraged our children to pursue careers in the fields of Health and Education, both of which are desperately needed in the high Himalayas. Recently, Karma Chokyi received a Bachelor of Public Health degree, and here is her message.
“Tashi Delek!
I am Karma Chokyi Tamang, I recently received a Bachelor of Public Health degree. At my achievement of this degree, I am grateful to the Khyentse Foundation, my sponsor, and the SMD family for their continued support. Along with that, I have passed the Public Health License examination.
I am now teaching maths and science to primary students at SMD school. SMD School has done so much for me, and I am now able to give back to the school as a teacher. I’m thrilled to be a part of the SMD family. My heart will always be filled with gratitude for my school’s founder and his ideals.”
(L) Phurbu Sangmo in one of the villages, conducting outreach & awareness program and (R) Karma Palden during his internship.
Two More SMDers Licensed as ‘Health Assistants’: Phurbu Sangmo and Karma Palden
Karma Palten Lama and Phurbu Sangmo Lama have completed training and internship in General Medicine and are now licensed as Health Assistants. They are capable of running a health post, providing primary healthcare in remote regions.
Harka Dai (R) receiving a token of love from our school principal.
Farewell and Honoring Harka Bahadur Rai’s 34 years of service at SMD
On the 21st of February 2024, we bid a heartfelt farewell to our staff, Harka Bahadur Rai. Harka joined SMD in 1991, and it has been over 34 years. His ‘better half,’ Ama Dil Kumari, retired several weeks ago after working for around 22 years at SMD. They will return to their village, Hangpang, in Taplejung.
We want to express our gratitude to both of them for all these years of their outstanding commitment and selfless service towards the school. They have been an integral part of our family, making this journey a beautiful one. We wish them the very best and success in their future endeavors.
THE SAATHI PROJECT
The Inter-Community School Zurich has collaborated with us for twenty years. Primarily, this collaboration has involved scholarships in Zurich. More recently, it has included one scholarship per year for students to complete the IB in Nepal at the Ullens School. This year marks a new pinnacle in our friendship as we embark on joint efforts in staffing, funding, and additional scholarships.
Read more about ‘The Saathi Project‘ here: https://www.icsz.ch/community-life/saathi-project
NOTE TO ALL OUR SPONSORS IN EUROPE: The bank account details for PENDE e.V. have changed
Pende. e.V.
Tiroler Str. 45
70329 Stuttgart
Germany
www.pende.org
Account name: Pende e.V.
Bank name: Bank für Sozialwirtschaft (Sozialbank)
Bank address: Theodor-Heuss-Strasse 10, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany
IBAN: DE26 3702 0500 0008 6218 00
SWIFT-BIC: BFSWDE33XXX
Grade 8 students taking their mock exams.
The final exams are approaching here at SMD
SMDers have completed Grade 8 and Grade 10 Board Level mock exams. The final examinations for students will begin from March 13. Additionally, the Grade 10 Secondary Education Examination (SEE) is scheduled to begin on March 28.
During the Junior Department Workshop
The end of our department’s monthly workshops for this session year
Our Junior Department Teachers conducted their yearly workshop, focusing mainly on activity-based learning. The workshop included activities such as Shapes Pasting, Naming Action Words, Tray Game, Classifying Group Activity, Visual Memory, and Calm Down Activity. Overall, the workshop was very refreshing and interesting.
This marked the last department workshop of this session year. All the previous workshops presented by each department were also excellent and impactful. We extend our gratitude to all the teachers from each department for their time, effort, and dedication in making this year’s session workshops successful. The next department workshops will begin again in the new session year.
In case you missed it…
Watch Video: Junior Rhymes Competition in Tibetan, Nepali and English languages
If you are coming to Nepal and you want to bring something for us, We Need:
* multitamins with minerals, tablet (non-chewable) form, adult dose. (We cut to recommended dosage).
* wart medicine
* antibiotic and fungal creams
Tackling worsening air pollution in Kathmandu Valley: Read the full article
Corruption Nepal remains on list of countries with rampant corruption: Read the full article
Nepal Post Office is currently unable to process outgoing mail to different countries: While we understand the inconvenience this may cause, we want to assure you that all incoming mail services remain unaffected. The Nepal Post Office will continue to handle and deliver incoming mail from around the world without interruption. However, outgoing mail services to destinations outside of Nepal will be temporarily unavailable until further notice.
Here is the list of the country where outgoing mail is fine: Austria, Italy, United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, France, Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, United States, Qatar, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, Thailand, Maldives
Join The SMD Family: Help us widen our impact on Social Media: Instagram | Linkedin (Shirley) | Facebook