John Margetson came across the Bon Children´s Home (BCH) at the Bon Po monastery, Dolanji, Northern India when he was travelling in the country in 2002 with his friend Michele Claiborne a trustee of  ´Love a Child.´

The main Bon Po monastery in Tibet was destroyed by the Chinese in 1962 and the then head of the Bon tradition and many monks fled to India, where they suffered terrible hardship mainly working on road and construction sites in the heat of Southern India where many died.

In 1967 land was acquired from the Indian Government at Dolanji in Himachal Pradesh. In 1969 a small temple and basic accommodation for monks was erected. The process of development of the monastery has continued since that date and in 1990 due to the number of orphaned refugee children that arrived at the monastery, His Holiness The 33rd sMen ri Trizin Rinpoche (the spiritual head of the Bon tradition) decided to start a Children´s home.

By 2002 the home consisted of around 150 children housed in mud walled dormitories, which during the monsoon were imminently liable to collapse. Most children were sharing beds, many had no shoes or socks in the winter. There were no toys, footballs or general play equipment. Food was rice followed by rice.

However a couple of years before John arrived His Holiness had asked Lama Nyima Dakpa to take over the running and development of the home and remarkable progress has since been made. Money was raised to improve conditions, a young Tibetan manager Kelsang Dhondup was appointed and new brick built dormitories were started with the help of the Austrian charity SOS.
The nearby school was also upgraded by the Indian government.

The home now consists of nearly 300 children and more are arriving all the time, which is stretching the facilities to the limit and constantly straining the finances.

Your help with a donation or Sponsorship of a desperately needy child would be most gratefully received.

The Bon People
The Bon people of Tibet can be traced back for many millennium and their religious history equally pre dates Buddhism by hundreds of years although the principles of the two traditions are very similar.

History
After the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959, His Holiness The Dalai Lama went into exile in India with many thousands of Tibetans both Buddhist and Bonpo. 

Many Tibetans, who were scattered throughout India in refugee camps died due to climatic differences and harsh living conditions.  The Bonpos through great efforts and many setbacks formed a separate Tibetan settlement in 1967 in Dolanji, Himachal Pradesh, North India.  A small temple and living accommodation for monks was erected in 1969 and the new abbot, His Holiness The 33rd sMen ri Trizin Rinpoche (the spiritual head of the Bon tradition) was chosen. 

With the help of the Indian government a new school was also built, which taught up to fifth grade.  However, to continue their education the children had to go to other schools where the Bonpos were in the minority and where they suffered much harassment.  The school was recently upgraded by the Indian Government to 10th Grade enabling the children to study to the age of 16 at which point they can continue their studies at a local private high school paid for by the monistary.

Further education can be very costly for students from a refugee background and therefore we have recently agreed to set up a further  education sponsorship scheme for older children.

Environment
There are very simple basic dormitories for boys and girls.   Each child has a bed and a box to keep their clothes and possessions in; there are no separate rooms.  Due to the yearly increase in numbers, these dormitories are far from sufficient and many of the younger children are obliged to share beds.
 
Lama Nyima writes “Children come with high hopes and we do everything we can not to disappoint them.  Our buildings are very spartan and apart from the basic problems of struggling with such primitive means, we are increasingly aware that the older children need privacy.  This is a psychological need above the mere physical problem.” 

We are pleased to report that recently due to generous support from around the world most of the old mud walled dormitories have been replaced by new buildings.    However due to the ever expanding number of children these dormitories are far from sufficient.     Therefore this is only a fraction of the development that is needed to support the ever increasing number of children.  Lama Nyima, his fellow monks and helpers have achieved miracles with financial support from around the world but conditions are still extremely basic.

New kitchens and play areas are desperately needed, as well as all forms of equipment, which we in the west would consider essential in a children’s home.  There are no toys, footballs or general play equipment, few towels, spare clothes, shoes or socks. 

Each child desperately needs a sponsor to support their basic needs and to help contribute towards their education.

Sponsor a child online now...