Last one from Tiago

Here we are, back from the school holidays. Between 17th and 20th August Dalai Lama visited Padum and all students went to see him and hear his teachings. A great adventure for the majority of them: the first time away from their homes and the first time that they visited a city, ride a car and saw so many people together. An excitement that definitely increase their enthusiasm to learn new things and how to communicate better. Coming back from Padum was also a very pleasant trip. During the 2 days of the walk, you could meet several of the villagers and students all coming back from Padum and start sharing the experience of seeing Dalai Lama. With the return to the school we had the visit of some friends and even though they only staid one day, they took all the opportunities to help, planting more trees, distributing handkerchiefs, playing with the children and more importantly doing a complete medical check-up to the children. Happily no serious problem was detected and all children enjoy of good health. Also it is already the time to start preparing the next winter by sending already gas cylinders to Manali to refill, taking the gentle offer from Raju from Magic Mountain that offered to carry the cylinders for free in his horses. We also had the visit of Zone Education Officer (ZEO) Mr. Bhutto. This was once again an excellent opportunity to show him how the school is working. He was happily surprise with the quality of the school. Sadly I have just realized that in one week I will leave Kargyak and go back to Europe. To be honest it was a chock how fast these 4 months passed through. So many things done and still so much to be done. But these are not bad news. Jirka and Ondra (the new Surya volunteers) will definately find new projects to get busy with during the next months and with no chance to get annoyed. Now is time to start packing up and prepare the goodbye with all children. Something never easy. Tiago von Portugal

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