Contents
Related links
Project history
Global Roots supports three homes for abandoned children in Tibet and Eastern China. Each of these homes was created by Tendol Gyalzur, a Swiss philanthropist of Tibetan blood who fled Tibet as a child during the Chinese invasion of 1959.
About Tendol
Tendol was just one of 16 orphans personally chosen by the exiled Dalai Lama to be sent to Germany. She was adopted in Kinderdorf and later moved to Switzerland where she became a registered nurse. At one point, however, Tendol made the decision to leave her Swiss life and return to the Tibetan Plateau. With the help of a few friends, she started rescuing orphans and needy children across the bleak Tibetan Plateau. She decided to adopt as many as she could (over 250 to date), give them food, shelter and the tools they would need to survive in modern Han Chinese society.
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Rick Montgomery of Global Roots met Tendol in 2002 and immediately started to funnel supplies, mostly in the form of food, to Tendol’s Children's Charity in Eastern Tibet.
In 2006, Global Roots made its first delivery of blankets and kitchen supplies to Tendol’s facility in Shangri La, Yunnan (formerly called Zhongdian).
In 2007, the Tibetan house mother in Shangri La requested bicycles for her staff and the older children which were delivered by Montgomery during Global Root's first Supply Mission to Shangri La. The bicycles helped reduce staff travel time by more than an hour a day.
Once a a track record of trust and cooperation was established between Global Roots and Tendol's volunteers, more work could be accomplished and greater aid given.
In 2008, a Global Roots supply mission co-led by Patrick Firouzian (our lead volunteer) delivered winter clothes to each of Tendol's children in Shangri La including new shoes/boots and winter parkas (see the photos of this supply mission in the second of two galleries at the bottom of this page). Following a mandate created by our Director for all Global Roots Supply Missions, each child was required to shop for his or her own clothing and boots (with the attentive guidance of Daisy Zuo, the mission's co leader). Daisy still talks about the great thrill that the children expressed when they learned they could shop for themselves for the first time in their lives.
Daisy also made several important additions to the home's kitchen including a refrigerator and microwave oven.
Our 2009 Supply Mission to Shangri La brought more supplies to the children but also volunteer teachers and, perhaps most importantly, funds that Tendol could use to pay the high cost of boarding school for her older children (See our 2009 mission story here.)
By now 100% confident that no donated funds could be squandered or stolen, our Director continues to wire financial donations to Tendol on a quarterly basis.
Currently, we have assigned Ben Broadbent, a very bright 18-year-od American GAP year student to Tendol's Shangri La facility. You can read about Ben on our GAP Year Service page
Funds are now being sought to finance the installation of heating systems into Tendol's homes for the first time. Currently, the children suffer through cold Tibetan winters without any heat.
We are also sending a team of doctors (both dentists and MDs) to give Tendol's children their first-ever check ups. See our next steps section.
Location and population
- Tendol Gyalzur's children home
- Northern Yunnan, Tibet, China
- Village Shangri-la, also known as Zhongdian, and Lhasa
- 250 children, between 4 and 16 years old as of December 2009
Current state
Tendol is relying 100% on donations to sustain the operation of 3 orphanages. Her daily expenses range from clothing to food, medication to school tuition.
The children house has enough space for 50 children (about 4 child per room), and has 2 bathrooms (shared style) but lacks showers and cold water. Children wash with cold water.
Hygiene is barely acceptable and health levels are decent. No regular washing in winter mainly due to the sub-zero temperatures. Poor dental hygiene, there is an opportunity to teach the children to take better care of themselves.
Clothes are washed regularly in washing machines donated by Global Roots, but with cold water only.
Desired state
We have matured a lot, and today, children are in stable health condition. Much needs to be done though, and we would like, within the next 3 years, to reach the following state:
- Dental hygiene, body hygiene raised to standard levels
- Proteins in daily meals (today, mostly vegetables)
- Hot water in the showers
- Acceptable sanitary (no shared bathrooms, proper flushing)
- Education in advanced fields such as English and IT
Next projects and opportunities
Education and culture
- needing english language, at all levels
- needing cultural awareness teaching
- fun: learning through plays
- learning the basic computer skills
Hygiene and medical
- we badly need doctors and dentists to conduct site visits
Infrastructure
- There was an attempt to bring hot water to the bathrooms, which failed because of over-ambitious technical design (solar heaters and electricity). We need to re-assess the situation and look at a new way to give hot water.
Please email Rick if you are interested in being involved with the work we are doing to help hundreds of Tendol's children!
Contributors
Global Roots service corps:
- Rick Montgomery
- Travis Gearhart (2007)
- Daisy Guo (2008) - see her story here.
- Josh Kunstler (2009) - see his story here.
- Erin Moran (2009) - see her story here.
- Ben Broadbent (2009) - see his story here.
- Patrick Firouzian (2008, 2009)
- Tsebho (local volunteer)
- Genden Punslok (local volunteer)
Project Director:
Project managers and lead volunteers:
- Rick Montgomery
- Patrick Firouzian
China advisors:
Camera and editing:
DadDuo, 4 years old, looks through the window.
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