Tsharka Tibetan Elem/Middle School, Dolpo, Nepal

In April, the families who spent the winter months in Kathmandu, or elsewhere at lower elevations, returned to Tsharka. Our School Coordinator, Samdup Tsering, bundled up all the school supplies for the coming school year so they could be transported on horseback from Jomsom, over the high passes, to the school. At the beginning of May, the students returned to school for this school year, which will go through the end of October. Because the school term is shorter in Tsharka than elsewhere in Nepal, the students have to cover more material each day. Despite this, our students have been showing good progess on the standardized tests they take at the end of each year. This year, the students will enjoy studying in the new, bright classrooms that were completed last year. With more students enrolled this year than ever before, the school is bustling with activity!

Begin forwarded message:

On Thursday, February 21, 2019, 11:12 AM, Barbara Euser <bjeuser@yahoo.com> wrote:

This is the winter season in the high Himalayas. Tsharka village is covered in snow and the high passes that one must cross to reach the outside world are impassable. Many of the villagers and their families move to lower elevations during the winter months. Our School Coordinator Samdup Tsering spends the winter with his family in Kathmandu, preparing for the next school year. He must collect all the materials that students will need in the upcoming year — textbooks, notebooks, pens and pencils, art materials, sports equipment, and everything else — and package it for horses to carry. In April, he and the other villagers will return to Tsharka and get ready to start school at the beginning of May. In the photo, you can see that at the end of the school year in October, snow has already started to fall.