Sengdruk Taktse School

After leaving Tawu I headed for the town of Dara, about 3 hours drive from Tawu. My goal in Dara was to find a school that was directed by Khenpo Kunzang. I didn't know anything about this school except that it's name was Sengdruk, and it was directed by Khenpo Kunzang. There is a lot to write about this school, which I may not do in the context of this blog. However, I am creating a website for the school. I will post the link as soon as the website is complete.

I spent one night in Dara at hotel next to the bus station. There was a young, somewhat slow, man who lived at the hotel and cleaned the rooms. In Tibet, for some reason, they don't give you the key to the room, but there is someone who keeps all the keys and lets you in when you come back. It's kind of annoying, especially if you feel like staying out late or just having privacy. You have to find the person with the keys and sometimes they aren't around. Anyway, this young man also felt entitled to come into my room whenever he felt like it and just hang out. I was about to give him a piece of my mind, except his Tibetan wasn't very good, and my Chinese was non-existent. So I decided that I would just ignore him and I would be gone the next day.

I asked a young man in a restaurant if he knew where Sengdruk Taktse School was and he said his friend could drive me there the next day. So the next day I met his friend and we drove there, on his motorcycle. It was the second time I had been on a motorcycle in Tibet, it's a great feeling, and a nice but dangerous way to travel.

We drove on a dirt road for about 15-20 minutes, everytime I saw a cluster of houses I kept thinking "oh no, that's the school", I was expecting the worst. Finally, as we drove, a clearing appeared, with a red monastery, and some large buildings next to it. I thought that this must be the place, and I was right.

We got off the motorcycle at the front gate of the school. Some kids came up to me, and upon seeing a white man they immediately concluded that I was a new teacher. One boy started yelling "Gergan tsarpa, Gergan tsarpa!" which means "new teacher". I asked them if they could take me to see Khenpo Kunzang, and they said yes.

To summarize, I stayed at this school for one and a half months. It was a great experience. I learned many things about this school, which I was unaware of before. It was built next to a palace dedicated to Gesar, since this site was recognized by Khenpo Jigme Phuntsok as a site where Gesar used to have a palace.

This school is intended for orphans and children from poor families. Paying the expenses for their education and giving them a chance to make something of their lives. There is too much to write about this school, so I will save it all for the website.