The monastery is dedicated to the education of young Buddhist monks and the preservation of the Sakya Buddhist traditions. It is home to many young students from inaccessible and improvised Himalayan region like Mustang, Tibetan refugees and Nepali Buddhist communities. There are about 50 students across all ages who are receiving their basic education covering subjects like Tibetan, English, Science, Nepali and Mathematics, on top of a Buddhist education.
As a volunteer, I do NOT have a fixed curriculum to follow as the lessons we offer supplement the main curriculum. As the monastery is tight on funds, they only have a few teachers for core subjects, hence, volunteers with skillsets in different subject areas can pitch to help supplement the children's education. As part of my volunteer assignment, I had a class of 12 mini-monks from the Upper Kinder Garden group, and I taught them English everyday for 40 minutes from 1.00pm - 1.40pm. The classrooms are basic but functional with a blackboard, and to save money, the monastery has a carpenter who makes the wooden furniture.
The 12 boys are really mischievous and the youngest one is only 5 years old and sometimes he runs circles in my class! At any one time, there were 12 little boys seeking your attention in a chorus of "Miss, Miss......" so I was also running around in circles in the classroom. I was normally exhausted after the 40 minute lesson, flat out like a deflated balloon and I would take a few hours to recuperate before sitting down to plan for next day's lesson. Midway, I actually bought a whistle, just like a soccer coach, cos I was losing my voice from all the shouting :). Having said that, the mini-monks melted my heart.
As my brood of mini-monks are fairly young, they have a very short attention span which lasts about 10 minutes and they also have limited English skills. Hence, I tend not to be too overly verbal and I would probably spent the first 10 minutes on English and the rest of the lesson focused on arts and craft related to the topic. For example, I did some lesson plans on shapes, and we used post-it strips to make shapes etc. Another lesson we learned the different parts of the plants and used paper clips/rubber bands to create a flower.
After the lesson using the rubber bands, I found all the little monks from different classes coming to me to ask for rubber bands, so I was pleased that my lesson was so well received! I went to lakeside and bought many packs to be distributed to the 50 young monks. Not unexpectedly, the rubber bands evolved into "sling shots" and I guessed I will forever be immortalized as the Singaporean who brought weapons of mass destruction to the monastery!!
I told them for heaven's sake, please don't shoot the abbot, Kunga Khenpo! There were also other creative use of it like weaving it into a ball that can be kicked around. I was amazed at the creativity of the kids and how much fun they had with seemingly simple objects.
Even watching the mini-monks brush their teeth was such a hilarious affair, and I truly enjoyed every moment that I spent with them.
I tend to stick to lessons within the classroom or the courtyard, but some of the more seasoned volunteers like Elizabeth, a Canadian nurse who has been back 3 times would bring the mini-monks for picnics. This was no easy feat as it involved chaperoning a bunch of hyper active 5-12 years old and we would have to cross the road, walk across the suspension bridge before arriving at the picnic ground. I usually tagged along to help out, though on my own, I do not have the guts to bring the mini-monks out in case one of them disappears (cos they can run really fast!!).
The kids have a fairly regimented day of lessons but they do have some downtime and it is wonderful to watch them enjoying sports and playing as kids would. In some ways, they have an enviable childhood where nature is their playmate and there is a comradeship that exists as the elder kids take care of the younger ones. On weekends, one of their favourite haunts is the riverside, and we would prepare a simple picnic of biscuits and juice and watch the kids run amok swimming in the river.
On my last day with the mini-monks, I told them that there was no school today and we were going down the hill to the eatery for some treats.
I gave everyone a goody pack of stationery which is useful for their school work and they were beaming from ear to ear. One of the little ones grabbed my hand and he kept repeating "Miss, Miss very very good". I looked at his innocent face brimming with joy, at the corner of my eye, a small tear rolled down because it has taken such a small gesture to make their day.
For the rest of the monks who were not my pupils, I noticed that they did not have proper files to keep their stuff, so I prepared a small goody pack for everyone. I thought bouncing balls were a good idea too, so I guessed now there are 50 playful mini-monks with 100 bouncing balls in the monastery!
If I have to use a word to sum up my volunteer assignment, I would say "JOY". I came to the monastery thinking that perhaps I might make a small difference to the lives of the kids, but I went away with the humble realization that what I have given will only always be a fraction of the blessings and joy that I have received. Thank you Pema Ts'al Sakya, thank you to all the monks and staff of the monastery for having me and treating me with kindness.
Thank you for reading my blog. Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!
(for tips on how to volunteer, please read the link on my blog Practical Tips: Volunteering + Travel Information)
I taught in this monastery for a week and a half in June and this post has really brought back tremendous memories. It's great to see familiar faces!
ReplyDelete