Winter picnic and activities -The school winter vacations in December were followed with winter picnic and thereon the month long winter classes. This year the winter picnic spot was changed as the water in previous picnic place had dried up. The new spot was Gucchu Pani and was closer to us at Dehradun. The place had a stream nearby and the highlight of the place was that there was a proper swimming pool where children could enjoy swimming. The children made the most of the picnic which began on Jan 3 - 30, 2009.
Nepal Ex-Mussoorie children continue the holiday project - The Ex-Mussoorie association of Nepal continued their project "A home away from home" for children of Tibetan Homes for yet another year. A group of twenty students comprising of boys and girls aged below 12years who had never been out of THF were selected. They left THF on January 6 to join the Tibetan families in Nepal for holiday. The children had a wonderful time doing shopping, pilgrimage and experiencing the family life in the different homes. The children were extremely happy as they also were given pocket money after the holidays by the families and from the Nepal Ex- Mussoorie association.
Educational and Pilgrimage Project - A 15 day educational cum pilgrimage tour to Bodh Gaya, Varanasi, Lucknow, Haridwar and many other places from January 28 to February 11, 2009 for 45 children was extremely successful. The children were from grade VI to X. This year the project was implemented for the children from our branch school in Rajpur. The tour started on January 28th but preparations began much earlier. The first destination was Bodhgaya and the group reached there on 30th evening. Initially some students had travel sickness and were vomiting but as travel continued they became stronger and started enjoying the journey. On reaching Bodhgaya, the excitement among the children was high and they were eager to explore. They checked into the hostel room of the Mahayana guesthouse and slept like logs tired of the bus journey. The first day at Bodhgaya was visiting all the temples in and around Bodhgaya. The second day was the visit to Rajgir,(in Tibetan we called it Gyalpoe khab) the holy place where Lord Buddha gave second teachings to his followers. They also bathed the hot spring at Rajgir believed to cleanse humans of all sickness and ills. On January 2, the group visited Noranjna (in Tibetan we called it lodruk kawa) believed to be the place where Lord Buddha practiced austerities for six years. Early morning on January 4, the group left Bodhgaya and headed to Vaishali. On 5th Jan 2009 early in the morning the group reached Kaushinagar, the holy place where Lord Buddha breathed his last and entered Mahaparinirvana. On Jan 6, 2009 the group reached Sarnath and Varanasi. The group also visited the Central Institute for Tibetan Higher studies. On the next day the group visited the holy river Ganga at Varanasi which was very special. The next stop was Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh which was extremely nice as for a change the group visited the much popular zoo of the city and a palace called the "Bhool Bhoolaiya" In the evening the children did shopping in the market and thereon they left for Haridwar and finally to Clementown. The whole day was spent at Clementown visiting different monasteries and in evening the children did their last shopping at Dehradun and after a good dinner they finally returned back safely to School. Tibet Foundation, UK once again was instrumental in actualizing this important project for the children.
Losar - Tibetan New Year (Feb 25 to 27) - This year the Tibetan New Year which was on February 25 was not celebrated in our village. In fact at all homes of Tibetans living throughout the world the "NO NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS" was observed to pay respect and homage to the martyr's in Tibet who were involved in last years peaceful demonstrations.
Annual Scholarship Desk Tour - The Education Officer accompanied with the Scholarship officer this time made a visit to students living in and around Delhi and to southern India. The tour was scheduled from January 15 to February 5, 2009. The purpose of the visit as always was to keep a check on the progress of the students, their performance, their needs and any feedback from the students. Further, this is also a time to assess the opportunities for our new graduating students. A total of 28 colleges were visited during the tour and the following places were visited - Faridabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mysore, Mangalore, Bangalore and MS University Baroda.
Board Examinations - The Board examinations for grade X and XII began from March 1 to April 3, 2008. This year from Tibetan Homes School a total of 90 students sat for their grade twelve board exams.
Celebration of Parents Day - On March 5, 2009, parent's day was observed, which is the birth anniversary of the mother of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. During the formal program, the message from Kashag was read out to the gathering and the highlight of the proceedings was the emotional address by the student representative expressing how much they appreciated and valued the home mother and parents of their family homes. A special tea to the home mother's and the home parents was later served by the rest of the staff members.
Start of New Academic Session - The new academic session for Hermann Gmeiner Tibetan Homes School, Mussoorie and Rajpur for year 2009 began on March 6th. The atmosphere at both the School's was extremely exciting.
Thank you India Day - On March 31, 2009 the Tibetan Government in exile completed 50 years of being guests in India and marked it as THANK YOU INDIA DAY. In all Tibetan settlements in India the day was observed with jestures thanking the people and the Government of India for accepting Tibetans as guests. At Mussoorie, all day long sweets were distributed to people in the town and later in the evening a dinner was served with Tibetan cultural performances.
18th Graduation Day - The 18th Graduation day for the Tibetan Homes School was celebrated on the April 2. A total of 90 students graduated from our school. The General Secretary and staff members congratulated the graduates. A formal function and tea party was hosted for the celebration. At Rajpur 37 students completed their grade X examinations and were transferred to Mussoorie.
World Health Day - On April 7, the World Health Day was celebrated by our dispensary. The highlight of the program was an address for our students by Dr. Binu Abey Alexander, Junior Medical Officer of Landour Community Hospital, Mussoorie. He spoke on the topic of general health, hygiene and the ways to make dispensary safe during emergencies.
47th Anniversary Celebrations and children's spring fete - The 47th anniversary of Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF) was celebrated on April 23. Gracing the occasion as Chief Guest was Honorable Mr. Padamvir Singh, Deputy Director, Uttarakhand. During the occasion awards were presented to the best boy and girl for year 2008 from different sections. Five staff members completing their 20 years of service were honored with a Thangkha and a citation. The highlight of the celebration was the Tibetan traditional dances by children. The Chief Guest was highly impressed of the works of THF and expressed much happiness in being a part of this celebration. He was very impressed by the Tibetan dances of the children showcasing the rich Tibetan culture beautifully preserved by the exile community. Mrs. Khando Chazotsang former General Secretary, and Mr. Rabten were also a part of the celebrations. On 24th April the School's annual spring fete was organized at both the School's. Our children enjoyed the games and food stalls immensely. They were provided pocket money and they played different games and had a great time eating Tibetan delicacies and ice creams.
School Extra Curricular Events - In the two months of the new academic session at school, following were some of the inter house competitions that were held - Basket ball, Tibetan calligraphy, English and Tibetan essay writing, Tibetan Calligraphy and Tibetan elocution.
