Children in Dharamsala

At the Tibetan Children's Village, the orphans' shoes line up at the doorway to the home. Each home hosts about thirty children. The arrangement is similar to Omaha's Boys and Girls Town, with one host family in each home.

At TCV, the young monks and lay children live and go to school together. The current Dalai Lama has changed the education system for monks and nuns, so that they now get an equal education as lay people. It used to be that the monks were only taught religious texts. If they later chose to leave the religous life they were unable to find work. Now they have options. This Dalai Lama actively encourages Tibetans to pursue higher education; this focus is helping the Tibetans in exile to succeed in their host countries.

The Tibetan Children's Village is a frequent stop for visitors to Dharamsala. Our group brought several suitcases of medical supplies as a donation. The kids at the TCV were very accustomed to western visitors, so it was a little hard to get them engaged. However, my hat was a good prop to initiate games of "it".

The children of the TCV prepared for a theatrical performance in anticipation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit the next week.

At another Tibetan school, the students performed traditional dances for our visiting group.

Here is a pic of some traditional Tibetan musical instruments. Most of the children at this particular school are not orphans. Their impoverished parents live in rural areas of the Himalayas, and send their children to Dharamsala to get a better education.

Walking on the mountain path to class, a family scraped together breakfast. This playful child pulled the green scarf over her head so that she couldn't see, in a sort of hide-and-seek. Just as I passed she pulled the scarf off and jumped in surprise to see a white woman looking bemusedly down. The child then posed for the photo 'just so'; her parents are beggars and each photo earns them a rupee.

The Tibetan exiles in India take care of one another. Adults touch the heads of children passing on the street, whether or not they know one another. I was captured by this moment as a man, walking down the road, paused to wipe the hands of this child. Respect. Care. They didn't speak much, but the boy looked at him with total trust. There is something about travel that reminds me about the importance of human connection, drawing me back home.