INDIA BEATS
Smiling again
SUSHANTA TALUKDAR
|
The Manjushree Vidyapith Orphanage in Arunachal Pradesh, against heavy odds, keeps the hopes of many children alive.
|
In 1998 Lama Thupten quit his job, purchased seven acres of land with his own savings and opened the first orphanage of Arunachal Pradesh.
Hope thrives: Lama Thupten Phuntsok with the children.
THEY lost the smiles very early in their lives. But the Manjushree Vidyapith Orphanage, set up by Lama Thupten Phuntsok in Tawang district of Arunchal Pradesh, not only provided them shelter but also brought the smiles back to each of the 108 inmates.
Visitors to this high altitude orphanage always return contented after meeting the inmates who are as cheerful as any other children growing up in the warmth of parental care. The physically handicapped inmates are no different. Thupten Tsering has mastered the art of playing a modern keyboard with his amputated hands. Similarly, Tenzing Dorjee does not have arms but the homely atmosphere of the orphanage has helped him to learn to draw colourful paintings with his legs.
Born in a peasant family in Dharma Gang village in Tawang district, Lama Thupten Phuntsok always wanted to do something for poor orphaned children were taking to begging for want of shelter and support. His father Sonam Wangchu took him to Mysore for pursuing Buddhist studies.
After obtaining a Ph.D. in Buddhist Philosophy in 1990, Lama Thupten was appointed to serve as a lecturer in Tibetan Language in Tawang Public School from 1992 to 1998.
Dream fulfilled
While serving as a teacher, the Lama was constantly overwhelmed by his childhood thoughts of doing something for orphaned children. In 1998 he quit his job, purchased seven acres of land at Tashijong with his savings and opened the first orphanage of Arunachal Pradesh and named it Manjushree Vidyapith. He mobilised support from the Army for levelling the ground and the orphanage started functioning from October 30, 1998, with 17 orphans and three teaching staff from far-flung villages.
Over the past eight years the Orphanage has grown in size and has 108 children now, of whom 47 are girls. The orphanage runs a school from kindergarten level to Class V. From Class VI onwards the inmates join schools outside as day scholars but continue to stay at the orphanage.
The orphanage started with one building having eight rooms. While some are used as classrooms, two rooms are used as the boys' hostel. The hostel is very crowded, with two boys sharing a bed. Another hostel for girls has been recently constructed. The ground floor is complete and has been occupied but the construction of the upper floor has been temporarily aborted due to paucity of funds.
"The expenditure for the construction of the ground floor has been met with donations from various individuals in India and abroad. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited our Orphanage on May 5, 2003. He appreciated what the orphanage was doing and donated a sum of Rs.1, 50,000 for improving the education and health of the children," says Lama Thupten. Still, the daily expenditure, the salary for the teaching staff and the cook, all add up to a big amount and is a constant worry for the Lama. His selfless efforts, however, has drawn many visitors to the orphanage and some of them, like Ms. Beezy Bentzee of Massachusetts, have even volunteered their services to the orphanage.
Ms. Bentzee, a teacher with 30 years of experience teaching Braille, returned to Tawang in April, 2006, three years after she had first visited the orphanage. She imparted training in Braille to the lone 12-year-old visually impaired inmate, Jumbey Dolma. She also imparted training in Braille to the teachers of the orphanage so that in future they would be in a position to teach more visually impaired orphans. Apart from sponsoring Jumbey, Ms. Bentzee also arranged sponsorships from her philanthropist friends in the U.S. for 37 other inmates of orphanage.
She describes Lama Thupten as a "person amazingly fine" and the orphanage as "an institute which is very open where people can be sure that the money donated by them is going to be utilised fully for a noble cause."
Uphill task
How does the Lama manage to keep things going? The orphanage is getting congested as the enrolment is increasing every year. It immediately requires a new building for accommodating the boys. The Army has been of great help to the orphanage as they provide the dry ration for the inmates, he said. The 4 Corps of the Army has also adopted eight inmates and has also arranged for higher education and two of them are now pursuing higher studies in Delhi.
For the past four years, a request by the orphanage for a building construction grant has been gathering dust on the tables of the Social Welfare department. Lama Thupten says that local politicians are willing to help only if he becomes an active member of their political parties and joined their campaigning to strengthen their political base. "I do not want to get involved in politics and I want to keep the orphanage free from the influence of any particular political party as I require assistance from everyone for the welfare of the inmates of my orphanage. I am happy that I have been able to return the smiles which these children had lost," he says
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
