Tibetan School in the Dolanji Valley. Photo.: A. Szymoszyn, March 2006

Introduction

With the coming of Chinese occupation in Central and Western Tibet in 1959 many Tibetans escaped to Nepal and India, among them Bonpo families too. In Tibet and in exile other Tibetans (who composed majority of the population) treated Bonpos (who composed only 1% of Tibetan population in exile) pejoratively, as primitive, undereducated people who believed in superstitions. To the end of 60-ties of 20th c. most of Bonpos being in that time in exile were working in a road building in the Himalayas. This extremely hard job caused a death of high percentage of Bonpos' population.

In order to attain integration in exile and protection of this minority against disappearing in a superior population of members of other Tibetan Buddhist schools and traditions, the Bon main teacher in Tibet, Lopon Sangye Tenzin Rinpoche, who emigrated with other monks in 1959, obtained a permission for settling for a group of Bonpos in a village Dolanji in Himachal Pradesh from Dalai Lama 14th - the leader of Tibetan Government in Exile, and from Jawaharlal Nehru - the prime minister of Indian Government. In 1965 the Indian Government allowed to register The Tibetan Bon Foundation, and in 1966/1967 Lopon Sagye Tenzin Rinpoche received a land in the village and around from a local authorities, which he bought from local owners thanks of help of the Catholic Foundation. Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche, who is now the main teacher of Yungdrung Bon in the world and lives in the Triten Norbutse Monastery in Kathmandu, localised that land as the most proper for Bonpo community. The place was called Thob-rgyal, like the original village in Tibet, where there was the first monastery. But people started to call 'Dolanji settlement'. Bonpos started to come to the place and settle from different parts of Tibet, India and Nepal. The first group of them was 68 families of road workers from Manali. Every family received a house and a little piece of land.

In many years the authorities of Dolanji were gathering Bonpo families from India and Nepal, and for the 80ties also children without parents to established there two orphanages and a school.

In 1987 Dalai Lama 14th assented officially the Bon religion as the Fifth School of Tibetan Buddhism, and as the original Tibetan culture, and as one of basic elements of the Tibetan identity. He also forbade to discriminate the Bon adherents. Since that time relationships between Buddhists and Bonpos started to get better. But until to the end of 90-ties there was almost nothing about culture and history of Bon and Bonpos in syllabuses of Tibetan schools in exile. Only just a fast extending fashion among the young Tibetan humanistic and artistic intellectuals for 'originality', 'coming back to the roots', and attempts of exploring of the Tibetan Shangri-la and translating and interpreting of myths in the ancient Shang-Shung language has brought to changes in a school education of children and the youth, introducing the new knowledge on the Bon culture and history. But still the syllabus of the history of Tibet is not perfect one and has a lot to change. It is still very strongly based on history of Buddhist victory, and figures from the Bonpo world are treated as before pejoratively.

Tibetan orphanage Bon Children's Home:

BCH: the youngest girls during their performance in the dinning hall. Photo.: E. Plak, Jan. 2007.

In 1988 Dalai Lama 14th visited Dolanji and agreed for the Menri prior's request to extend the local school from five to eight grades. Since 2004 the school has ten grades. To become a full secondary school is needed 11th and 12ve grades, for which the Board of Tibetan Settlement in Dolanji exerts at the state authorities. In the same 1988 year 33th Trizin Rinpoche chose a lama from the Latri Tibetan house, geshe Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche, to establish an orphanage called Bon Children's Home (BCH) for boys and girls without parents or from the poorest families. Nyima Dakpa undertook a journey to Himalayan Bonpos' hamlets and brought to Dolanji first 45 children.

Dolanji Valley: old buildings of the Tibetan school and Bon Children's Home in 2000. Photo.: K. Piatek.

In 2003 there were already 217 children and until April 2004 - about 270. At the beginning of 2007 there have been almost 300 inhabitants of BCH. Conditions of life in BCH are much worse than in other Tibetan orphanages in exile because of several reasons, from which the most important is: a higher number of children and a less number of sponsors. Children attend to the local school and participate in religious ceremonies organised in the temple, getting to know in such way own specific culture and religion. The contact with families they have very sporadic because of a distance and lack of money from both sides. Since 2001 until 2006 more and more families and communities’ leaders were sending children to Dolanji, because there was one more reason to do such radical step: they probably feared that Maoist rebels in Nepal captured and kidnaped children and youth to their forces. The aims of BCH are: survival and developing Bon tradition, religion and language as the aboriginal culture of Tibet, which is the base of the identity of this community; giving children an education, which enables them to free themselves from the social distress and extreme financial poverty of the families; preparing a new generation of leaders who will work for their local communities, from which they originate.

Tibetan girls from Bon Children's Home. Photo.: A. Szymoszyn, Dec. 2006

In Dolanji children and youth, who are living in two orphanages - hostels: Bon Children Welfare Centre (BCWC) for boys - candidates to be monks in future, and in Bon Children's Home (BCH), compose significant majority of whole Dolanji population. On the turn of the 20th century and now there are more and more non-governmental international organisations working for these children, mostly from the U.S.A., Switzerland, Austria, France, Netherlands and lately also form Poland. Polish organisation - NYATRI Aid Foundation for Children of Tibet is the most active among all aid organisations helping children from Dolanji in spite of its short existance (Polish people help children since 2002). The increasing of non-governmental international organisations working for these children depends on an extension and activities of Bon adherents in particular countries in the Western world. This is the effect of bigger and bigger popularity of this culture in the West, thanks of many visits of Tibetan teachers, their publications and a global fashion on Buddhism. Moreover, since 2003 the Swiss Foundation 'S.O.S. Childrens' Village' is active in the BCH. It sponsors a construction of new houses for children (children have been living in little clay-houses).

Older girls' dormitory built in 2003. Photo.: E. Plak, Dec. 2006.

The latest dormitory built in 2005-2007: new house for 150 youngest girls in March 2006. Above of it there is a new school building for Tibetans. Photo.: A. Szymoszyn.

The same dormitory built in 2005-2007 for youngest girls in Jan. 2007. Photo.: A. Szymoszyn.

Polish Aid Foundation for Children of Tibet called NYATRI was officially established in July 2005 to help Bon Children's Home. Until July 2007 Polish people sponsor approx. 115 children from BCH in the Heart Adoption Programme.

Old boys' dormitory in March 2004. It collapsed during the monsoon rain in July 2005. Photo.: A. Szymoszyn.

New boys' dormitories under the construction in March 2004. Photo.: A. Szymoszyn.

New boys' dormitory since autumn 2005. Photo.: A. Sanocki, March 2006.

The Foundation carries on the Educational Programme. Within it there are two Tibetan students from BCH who are studying in Poland at the universities since 2006. The Foundation sponsors day's needs of BCH, like food, clothes, school stationeries etc., and also supports other investments like new beds, mattresses, bed-clothes, electric generatores, solar batteries etc.

Polish Sponsors with their Tibetan children from BCH. Photo.: A. Sanocki, March 2006.

Old boys' dormitory, already not existing. Photo: A. Szymoszyn, March 2004.

New boys' dormitory - a room for 6 boys. Photo.: A. Szymoszyn, March 2006.

The Foundation's web-side in Polish language (www.nyatri.org) informs about all activities and gathers sponsors, who contact each other and help in the Foundation. Most of the Polish Heart Adoption sponsors contact with their children directly. Part of them visit Dolanji every year too.

Old sleepping room of the youngest girls, still using in 2006. There are 40 beds, but 2 children sleep toghether on every bed. Photo: E. Plak, Dec. 2006.

Polish sponsors delivering toys to the youngest children of BCH. Feb. 2006. Photo.: A. Szymoszyn.

Receipt of Christmas letters and gifts from Polish Heart Adoption Sponsors. All parcels and letters which are comming to the BCH are registered by the staff. Photo.: E. Plak, Dec. 2006.

On the Foundation's web-side one can see pictures from Dolanji, which show the development of the BCH, happy children, visits of their Heart Parents from Poland and different activities in India and Poland (gallery), and also a documentary made by the Polish TV.

The Bon Children's Home is set down on a steep slope of the Dolanji hills. Whole space is already used by the buildings and courts. But every winter there are more and more children comming to the orphanage. Therefore there is an urgent need to buy new land under new houses for children. This is one of the main problems of the orphanage and its administration, and the Nyatri Foundation wants to help to solve it throughout the contancts with international organisations who are able to help Tibetan children and their Home.