Time embedded into Himalayan culture, working in a monastery school in Ladakh...

I feel so grateful to Jim Coleman and the HELP organisation, and so privileged to have spent a month teaching English to little monks between the ages of 3 and 11 in Spituk monastery school in Ladakh, India. The experience was incredible, life changing, I savoured every minute and took this world so different to the life that I am accustomed to in with all my senses and wished it would never be over...

The set up was such a happy and caring one. The monks adored the children and vice versa. These wise teachers imparted all of their knowledge, expecting nothing in return (no salaries) to children who came from poverty stricken families who would otherwise have received no education. I had many a conversation with these wonderful teachers, in our lunch and mid morning breaks, learning how to use a mala (a kind of rosary), discussing meditation, and learning about the special child, I was so privileged to have taught: Rimbochele, the reincarnation of Bakula Rimpoche. The children were so interested and enthusiastic in our lessons. They enjoyed my lively, creative teaching methods in my lessons: singing, music and movement, games, role play, use of puppets and masks, arts and crafts sessions.... I introduced the older children to the recently connected internet with a project we carried out on the Olympic games which were happening at the same time as my placement out there. The month that we had together was so positive.

My homestay family arranged by the HELP organisation, couldn´t have been kinder. I was treated as an honored guest, yet at the same time as a part of the family. The grandmother attempted to teach me a bit of the local dialect, although it was very tricky and I was a poor pupil! We communicated for the most part through sign language, which worked! I spent many an evening attempting to make ´momo´s´ (local dumplings) very badly to the amusement of my host parents and sister. My host sister was also a teacher, spoke good English and we had many interesting conversations about the different teaching styles in our respective countries.

The experience was in all respects simply wonderful. I attempted to make the most of every moment spent in Spituk village, and Ladakh in general. I went to the older monks ´puja´ in another section of the monastery first thing in the morning: Voices called out to the heavens in different tones, different pitches, bells clanging, drums booming, monks praying earnestly, swinging backwards and forwards to the rhythmic chants. At some point we would be offered blessed butter tea, a local specialty. After class I would go to the children´s ´puja´, where the children would take control. The eldest children would sit at the front facing the younger ones who would eagerly shout out the words when they knew them (the chants are very difficult and laborious to learn). Some of the youngest members during the ceremony, totally exhausted and I had to resist my motherly urge to scoop them up into my arms and put them into bed. I had to remember that I was an honored guest here and that it was not up to me to make these decisions...

I went on so many trips in my free time, and before starting the placement, a 10 day hike off the beaten track to extraordinary landscapes, trips to beautiful lakes that relaxed every ounce of one´s being but were simply too cold to bathe in, enchanting monasteries every nook and cranny brimming with culture and history, just trying trying to get in to the centre of town could be an adventure in itself! I had so many adventures. This is the wonder of doing a trip such as this. Everything is so different to what one knows. It´s easy to lose patience when things don´t go the way that one wants. But looking at everything as an opportunity, a chance to experience something totally different to what we know and our daily lives, it becomes such a privilege.

When I left the school I was presented with a scroll with words from H.H The 14th Dalai Lama. ¨The True Meaning of Life: We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the most. During this period we must try to do something good, something useful with our lives. If you contribute to other people´s happiness, you will find the true goal, the true meaning of life¨.