We’re thrilled to announce that we will be extending to Grade 12 this year!
We have added classrooms to the 5th floor of the main building (aka ‘C Block’), enabling us to offer Grade 12 this year. We offered Grade 11 last year. Our 11th and 12th graders are on shifts, starting classes at 6:00 AM and finishing just before 11:30 AM. Streams on offer include Science (new), Humanities, Business Management, Computer Studies, and traditional Buddhist Studies.
Some of our new kids need sponsors.
75 New Students: 38 Boarders, 17 Day Scholars
We admitted 75 new children, among them 38 boarders and 17 day scholars. The Nepali school year (Nursery to 10) starts in April and ends the following March. An easy-to-remember anniversary for paying sponsorship is the end of the year (December 31). By that time, the children have 3 months left.
Annual Hostel Night: Welcoming Our New Boarders
During the 2024 Hostel Night, we extended a warm welcome to our 38 new boarders, each of whom had the opportunity to introduce themselves. Though we won’t have song and dance until the year of mourning is over, we did have a joyous Hostel Night, welcoming all the new boarders.
Furthermore, we expressed heartfelt thanks to the dedicated SMDers who have faithfully served as Hostel Captains and Prayer Captains. Subsequently, we warmly greeted the new appointed students to these roles.
SPONSORSHIP: RATES ARE THE SAME
We have kept sponsorship rates the same again this year for the 7th year running. You can see the rates in the main currencies we use on the school website – https://himalayanchildren.org/how-to-help/make-a-donation/
Sponsorship doesn’t cover everything – we have to raise money on the side for other needs: medical expenses, repairs & maintenance, furniture, stationery, utilities, repairs and maintenance and more. The biggest cost is food and salaries.
Proud to announce the founding of the Finland SMD Alumni Association (FSMDAA)
(SMDers who are studyingi in Finland). FSMDAA is raising funds to sponsor a boarder. All the members of the FSMDAA grew up at SMD and all but one (Phur Nyima in the long dress) graduated from the Inter Community School Zurich.
Our graduates overseas founded the SMD Alumni Association in the US, and all of them have been helping SMD School with collective effort and contributions. Over the years, the Alumni Association has assisted SMD in many ways and has undertaken numerous initiatives to support us. Visit their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/smdalumnia
Note to SMDers everywhere – when you sponsor through the Alumni Association/Rinpoche’s foundation, the country gives you a break on your taxes. For example, if you sponsor through the US SMD ALUMNI ASSOCIATION/HCF, the US government gives you a break on your income tax.
Our Grade 10s have completed the National Board Exams (also known as ‘The Iron Gate’)
The government will not publish the SEE results until July, so we send the kids home to their villages, where they get a chance to learn that not all knowledge comes from textbooks. As one Grade 10 graduate put it, “My little sister, even though she’s only ten, knows how to do everything, and I didn’t know anything. At first, I felt useless when I first went back to my village.
All the Grade 10s were asked to write to their sponsors to express their gratitude for all the help and to outline their immediate and long-range plans. We emailed the letters, considering that many of our students had not been home to their village for as long as 10 years. The distances are great, and the trails are dangerous.
We will call the SEE grads back when the results are out, and then we will map out directions with them. We are offering Grades 11 & 12 (we added a 5th floor onto one of our buildings, so we now have space). If a student opts for Grade 11, they will likely stay with us, and the sponsorship rate will be the same as it was when they were in Grade 10. Some students may decide to enroll in 3-year certificate programs to become licensed Health Assistants (HAs = paramedics) or acupuncturists.
Please note that the Nepali school year for Grades 11 and 12 runs differently – Grade 11 will start after the government releases the results, in the beginning of August. Grade 12 will start on May 20th. Why the time difference? We do Grade 11 exams and tabulate internally.
Host Families
Many schools overseas help open doors to university for SMDers. Day schools like Mulgrave in Vancouver, St. Julian’s in Lisbon, and the Inter-Community School Zurich have been extraordinarily generous, as have boarding schools like Shawnigan Lake School and St. Margaret’s in Canada. Host families have helped enormously by providing support and guidance at both high school and university levels. It is extraordinary generosity to take a young student into your home and guide them until they ‘fly away’. Some families have hosted more than one SMDer – here’s a shoutout to the Munnions, the Federicos, the Grahams, the Curtins, the Jankowitzes, the Schauchs, and Christy in Atlanta who offered multiple students guidance and care in their homes.
Spelling of Names
We admitted 38 new boarders – among the names recorded in their birth certificates, there are 20 spelling mistakes (“Chhiring” for Tsering, “Hisi” for Yeshe, “Torchi” for Dorje). If the misspellings are not corrected, the child must carry them throughout their entire life. Our parents are illiterate. It is difficult and costly to change records.
Why does this happen? The official who issues birth certificates is the ‘sajib’, the Ward Secretary who is posted in the mountains. They are all civil servants – government employees appointed by Kathmandu. None of our kids has ever seen a sajib who is a woman, nor have they ever seen a sajib who was not high caste.
Group photo of Teachers (Left) and Support Staff (Right) after successfully completing their workshops.
We provided Workshops for our Support staff and Teachers
Our teaching staff and support staff successfully completed their workshops. For teachers, it was a three-day workshop on Child-centered Teaching-Learning Practices, with the first day focusing on investigating child development – Development Perspective & Challenges: Childhood to Adolescence. For support staff, it was a one-day workshop. The training was held from April 8 to 11, 2024. The sessions of the teacher’s workshop were led by Mr. Midesh Maharjan and Mrs. Sadikshya Bajracharya of Ratobangala Foundation, whereas the support staff workshop was led by Mr. Mahesh Dahal.
Watch the videos of Teacher training and Support Staff training on our YouTube channel. Please kindly visit our Facebook and Instagram for photos and feedback from the workshops.
In case you missed it…
If you are coming to Nepal and would like to bring things for us, we need:
- Wart medicine
- Multi-vitamins with minerals, non-chewable, adult dose
- Art supplies
- Whiteboard markers
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