Mount Kailash School
During my latest visit to the Tibetan refugee settlement of Tashi Palkhiel in Pokhara, the headmaster of the school approached me and asked me to help him to find sponsoring for the reconstruction fo the school.
Please read his letter, which he wrote to me below:
Dear Nicholas Ganz,
First of all I would like to greet you with a warm „Tashi Delek“ and a very „Happy New Year“ 2012.
To introduce myself, I am Sonam Legdak and it has been some months taking the charge as the Headmaster of Mount Kailash School, Tashi Palkhel, Pokhara. Till this date it has been about 28
years rendering my services in Tibetan schools, of which my first experience was at Tibetan Homes School, Mussoorie for ten years and then shifted to Namgyal Higher Secondary School, Gokarna,
with 18 years of service as a Tibetan language teacher at +2 level. At the same time I have assisted late Mr. Director Wangdue Phuntsok lak of Namgyal Higher Secondary School in the school
administrative level as well.And on the 27th of June 2011, I have been transferred to Mount Kailash School as the headmaster, as a promotion.
While the school building and the basic infrastructures of the school is below the level of satisfaction due to which it causes lots of obstacles for the proper management and administration of the school, which is very hard experience. Though there is a governing body, the Snow Lion Foundation to facilitate the Tibetan schools in Nepal, the problems are in numbers and are not possible to get solved without taking any initiatives.
For the most important reason, the students need to be provided with educational and cultural development skills, and for that they are to be feedback through various co- and extra-curricular activities, for e.g. Stage performance, presentations, sports, musical (traditional in special), which are very important for their physical, lingual, social and cognitive development. In addition the students being the future pillar of the society, country and the world of tomorrow, and being living in exile it has been the prime and ultimate aim to make the students competitive and overcome our long peace and freedom struggle.
Till now, we have been hiring the community hall on rent but as the community hall is of multiple purposes, we always face problems with proper accessibility due to crowdfulness (official and organisational meetings, no. of prayers, formal programs or ceremonies, gatherings, etc and etc)
by which we always get stuck in a waiting list. In case of absence we have been organising in an open ground or have to postpone, or sometimes dismiss the routines because of the weather conditions which sometimes doesn’t favour as we have three-four months of rains during the monsoons and very cold winters, resulting into desolation.
And keeping all these facts into account, I with my genuine thoughts and discussions with the staff members, I hereby have prepared a project with a small hall for the students to perform and three rooms on top if possible for an Administrative Office, music and sports room to feed the back the students with better facilities and opportunities.
PROJECT – A hall with three rooms on topTotal approximate budget estimation – NRs 40,000,000 (Forty Lakhs Nepali Rupees) if possible or not a hall only – 25,000,000 (NRs Twenty Five
Lakhs).
I therefore am on my earnest request and genuine approach if there could be your kind foresees for this project. It would be really be very helpful, and I promise your each and every support
would be genuinely utilised for the development of the students and the school only. I also would like to present you the details in case of necessity.
With lots of hopes, Mr. Sonam Legdak – Headmaster Mount Kailash School, Pokhara
The school is definately in a condition, which needs a renovation and expantion according to the needs for the students.
The full amount of costs for this school would be approx. 40,000 Euro.
All your donations will go directly to the headmaster, who is generously supporting the students with everything he can give. He even renovated the existing school-building from his own pockets, without knowing if he will ever get back this investment by an organisation later.
When you like to send some money for the Mount Kailash School, please write Tibet - Mount Kailash in your transfer.
Here is a copy of the original letter by Headmaster Sonam Legdak:
