Student Stories – Komang Hostel
Coming to Kathmandu to study beyond grade 5 is the dream of all the children in Komang school now. These are the three newest students at the hostel.
Pema W.
Pema W. is 11 years old. She likes to play games, she especially likes skipping. She is the top student in her class. She lives with her grandparents, her mother, and her sister. Her father remarried. They seldom get help from him. Her mother is a farmer and she works very hard for her family. Her grandparents are very kind and are always supportive. Her sister is 9 years old and she is in grade 3. Her family has 1 yak and 1 horse.
She wants to get a good education so that she can support her mother.
Pema C.
Pema C. is 12 years old. He loves drawing, and playing games like football. Pema is an only child and his parents are very good to him. He has 2 grandfathers. He wants to take care of his grandfathers because he feels they are not happy, they need more food and warm clothes. Pema’s parents both work in the field, rearing animals. His mother sells her beautiful handmade belts to other villagers. They have 1 yak, 2 horses and 23 sheep.
Pema S.
Pema S. is 11 years old. Pema is a fun boy who enjoys making others laugh by telling jokes. Everyone likes him a lot, the villagers say that everyone will miss him. He has 2 brothers, one in grade 4 and another in grade 2. His father is a monk and is a very good dharma practitioner. Rinpoche is teaching him to be an Amchi (Tibetan doctor). His mother works in the fields. They have 1 horse and 1 yak. Pema wants to become a teacher.
The city of 1.5 million is a world away from their remote mountain village of 200. Here are some of their thoughts.
“We are Pema Sherap and Wangmo, it’s one of the most mix feeling to leave home because we are so excited to see Kathmandu and also feeling sad to leave parents for many year. When we leave home our grandparents cried and we did cry too. Our Rinpoche told us now you are leaving village to build the future of yours, your family, our village so we feel bit responsible. After day by day we feel so happy to see different plants, different places; also different people in different dress. Our Rinpoche explained to us each and every detail. When we arrived Dunai, we eat in hotel and sleep in cement house, it is our first time. It’s our first time riding in a vehicle. Airplane was one of the most happiest things that we could see so many clouds and Rinpoche told us it’s time to feel like birds. We all laugh a lot.”
It began with a 6 day long walk from Komang to Dunai, and their first ever ride in a vehicle.
‘Komang School and its Friendly Environment’ – Pema says that he likes his old school in Komang much more than his new school in Kathmandu.
“After arriving Kathmandu, Nyima showed us everything like toilet, how to cross road, how to knock door, table manner, how to wear clothes… we are so happy but we felt so lost when we go outside, our eye couldn’t take up many things outside which are very new to us. So many big houses, even bus are so big like some of our home in villages, people are so rich that some have house full of clothes, some have rice, some have sweets…so many things. We never felt missing home because our hostel family especially Nyima helped us always. But at night, sometimes we don’t sleep and thinking so much and miss our parents, grandparents, and siblings, etc even we use to see them often in our dreams too…we pray all of them are healthy and happy everyday.”
The stories have been edited for brevity and clarity.
It always seems impossible, until it’s done.
– Nelson Mandela.
