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
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