Angel With an A: Tibetan Children's Village

I'm in the Delhi airport, waiting for my flight to Amsterdam via Paris. So I'd like to share again. . going back to Dharmasala, India where we visited the Tibetan Children's Village (TCV) and shared the Dances of Universal peace with a few hundred of the approximately 1500 kids there! TCV is a non-profit, charitable institution for the care and education of orphaned and destitute Tibetan children in exile.
"The Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959 led to the mass genocide of the Tibetan people. Over 1 million Tibetans died. In the aftermath, around 100,000 refugees followed His Holiness the Dalai Lama into exile. Among them were thousands of orphans and destitute children ravaged by war, hunger and the psychological devastation of losing their families, homes and country.. . .Tibetans continue to flee persecution in their homeland (to this day!). Parents still feel compelled to give up their children by the pervasive sense of hopelessness in Tibet, where educational opportunities for Tibetan children is extremely poor."

The Dalai Lama initially proposed the creation of "Nursery for Tibetan Refugee Children" which expanded under the direction of his younger sister Mrs. Jetsun Pema eventually becoming TCV.

"Today, the TCV head office is managing 5 children's villages, 7 residential schools, 6 day schools, 9 day care centers, 3 vocational training centers, a further studies scholarship program, an outreach sponsorship program and the Dalai Lama Institute for Higher Education, reaching out to over 16,000 Tibetan children and youths in exile." (From a brochure I got when I visited the village in Dharamsala).

Passang, our guide in India, was orphaned and raised by TCV and has become the head of their handicraft centers. He is an amazing example of the beauty of this system in restoring a sense of family and culture to these refugee children. He is one of the most beautiful people I have met and a devote Buddhist who takes his practice very seriously waking up every morning at 5 am - including yoga into his practice and a very healthy diet. He is a person of amazing integrity and joyful spirit. I was inspired by him and by the Tibetan refugees in general.

The village was AMAZING. . .schooling 1500 kids from preschool through high school and boarding close to 1,000 in houses with house mothers. The grounds were neat, clean and simple and made me wish we lived more like this. . .in simple community. They don't have many things but they have what they need and are surrounded by natural beauty. I was very impressed by what the Tibetans have managed to do as refugees. . .of course with the help and support of the Dalai Lama. Many of them, I believe are shining examples to the world. I'm so grateful for them holding up the vibration of the planet in general- helping to keep things in balance energetically. I really have come to believe this and I believe much of it has to do with their Buddhist practice. May we all learn from the way many of them are living their lives!