I became friends with Lobsang Phuntsok when he first came to live and teach in Concord, Massachusetts.  I had previously trekked in Tibet and was eager to return to Tibet and be able to communicate directly with Tibetans, so Lobsang tutored me in Tibetan for some time.  He invited me to travel in India with him in 2003, and it was then that I learned about his dream of establishing a home and school for children in his home district who were suffering from the same poverty, abuse and neglect that he suffered as a child.  We visited the steep Himalayan ridge where he had been given the property that was to become the site of Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community. I was inspired by Lobsang’s vision of a nurturing, loving, compassionate community, and became an early supporter and fundraiser.

For most of my professional life, I have done research on making the built environment more accessible to people who are blind or who have low vision.  Accessible pedestrian signals at intersections, and truncated domes at transit platforms and on curb ramps are the most familiar accessible features on which I’ve conducted human factors research.  I remain professionally active, though I now spend more time volunteering for Jhamtse International.

I am a single mother of an adult son who is a wildlife biologist in Alaska, and grandmother of three all-Alaskan boys.  As I have no other family, I treasure my nearly annual visits to Jhamtse Gatsal, where I am surrounded by the joy, caring and fun of nearly 100 amazing children who are blossoming into medicine for the world.  I am blessed to be part of the Jhamtse family.