I was born in a humble family in Rumtek, Sikkim. I have seven loving and adorable sisters. I did my primary and secondary schooling from Thumi Sambhota Tibetan School, Gangtok and Central School for Tibetans, Kalimpong respectively. Following which I graduated from Bangalore University.
I came to know about the internship opportunity at Udayan Care, a Public Charitable Trust established in Delhi in 1994 through the Empowering the Vision Project website. Around that time, I was pursuing my Master’s degree through correspondence from Jamia Millia Islamia College, Delhi. The distance course gave me enough spare time to enrich and enhance my knowledge by exploring and studying about my other area of interests, especially teaching. I personally believe that an ensemble of rich experience and good education paves path for a strong and independent person.
So when I came across ENVISION’s announcement of a wonderful volunteering opportunity to teach orphaned and abandoned children at Udayan Care, I seized it without hesitation. I have always wanted to do something for underprivileged and disadvantaged groups and this internship I hoped would give the platform apart from helping build my other interest of teaching.
Teaching at the Udayan Carewas my first volunteer experience ever. I was assigned to teach children and assist them with their home works. I also worked as an English teacher for them. Albeit a little challenging initially, I began to enjoy the experience gradually as I became more comfortable with the staff and environment there, not to mention the beautiful kids. The students were not just enthusiastic, inquisitive and cooperative but also gave me unflinching love and respect.
They addressed me as their elder sister and appreciated my efforts to teach them. Apart from te
aching, I used to join them in parks for creational activities and often accompanied them on their visits to places in Delhi like the Zoo and Humayun tomb. These I believed to be the best time to bond with the children and help th em open up to me.
In retrospection, the six-month internship opportunity at the Udayan Care enriched me with some of the most indelible memories to treasure for life. The teaching experience taught me to be more communicative, articulate and tolerant. My passio
n for teaching in general and particularly to children grew even more during my time here.
I am really grateful to Empowering the Vision Projectfor extending this wonderful volunteering/internship opportunity to me and also for their support throughout the entire six-month duration of my internship at Udayan Care. I would like to suggest to my fellow Tibetan brothers and sisters to come and avail this great opportunity extended by this organisation. Had it not been their Fellowship (internship) stipend, I wouldn’t have been able to explore my interest in teaching. I am more hopeful, prepared and looking forward to a career in teaching now.