By Tsering, Class 11

I came to Jhamtse Gatsal eleven years ago. We were less than 50 children then. We barely had any facilities or luxuries. However, I can say with conviction today that Jhamtse was not a school that I had joined; it was a family – my family. I would like to tell you where this feeling of family comes from. 

This sense of family is nurtured first within our khemsang (family houses). Every child belongs to one of four families: Panggyen, Ganglha, Serchen and Gurkum. Each family is named after a medicinal flower that grows in our remote Himalayan region. Each family house is headed by an Ama La (house mother) and has around 20 children. 

The Ama La plays a vital role in each khemsang. She loves and cares for us, like a mother would. She supports us emotionally while strengthening us to confront our fears and challenges. With their firm and loving nurturance, we are raised to be Jhamtse ambassadors. All of the children in the family are raised as brothers and sisters. As siblings, we play an important role in each other’s lives too. The older children, like myself now, have a younger brother or sister assigned to us to mentor and guide as a sibling. We help them with their chores and their studies, and we take care of them, while they respect us and share their challenges with us. 

It is not that our families don’t have problems. We have misunderstandings and differences of opinion, just like any family does; and just like a family, we know that we will never give up on each other and always support each other. I believe this is what makes us strong and makes us believe that we can change the world. Gen la always tells us that Jhamtse Gatsal belongs to us – the children – not the adults, but I feel that the loving guidance of our adults is what prepares us so we can make the entire world a Jhamtse community – a loving community where we treat each other as family.