Help Rithar Attend Traditional Medical School
Donation protected
Rithar Dolma Lama was born where the heavens seem to swoop down and touch the earth - the very roof of the world - in one of Earth's most remote high altitude villages. Nubri Lho is a tiny hamlet of ethnically Tibetan people living on the Nepal side of the Himalayas, and living one week's walk from the nearest road, their life is full of challenges.
At the age of five Rithar Dolma was given the opportunity to travel to the capital Kathmandu to study at a boarding school for Himalayan Buddhist children called Sri Mangal Dvip. It was a life-changing chance for Rithar to not only transform her future, but to potentially change the quality of life for her entire village. She has been back to visit only once in 17 years. Her father passed away when she was 10 years old, and her mother and siblings are still there, subsistence farming and herding yaks.
Now Rithar is 22, and has grown into a remarkable young woman. After completing secondary school, she went on to study Humanities at Saint Lawrence College in Kathmandu with the help of a scholarship from Tibet Women's Soccer.
I personally met Rithar in 2017 when she was selected to join the Tibet Women's Soccer national team. I was immediately struck by her understated self-confidence and peaceful demeanor. She stepped up as the leader amongst a group of new girls to the team, and reached out to help others adjust to a new group and setting. She was so organized in her responsibilities, and so well-spoken, truly the best in a very large group at expressing herself clearly and connecting in a meaningful way both individually and in large groups.
Quite frankly, in what was supposed to be an empowerment camp, she could have been the one designing the empowerment curriculum.
Rithar stayed with the team for a few more years, traveling with us to major tournaments and competing as one of our star centerbacks. Whenever I needed help or to get something done, Rithar was the player I trusted most with completing the task efficiently and effectively.
The next step - Rithar has applied and been accepted to Sowa Rigpa International College to become a licensed doctor of traditional Tibetan medicine. The program is world-renowned, and takes 5.5 years to complete. Sowa Rigpa International College is the first institution in Nepal to offer a degree program in Sowa Rigpa – the Science of Traditional Himalayan & Tibetan Medicine, as an affiliate of Lumbini Buddhist University. Located in the sacred Boudhanath region of Kathmandu, the college helps ensure the continuity of this precious medical heritage through education and research.
Her educational journey now has the chance to come to full fruition, but she needs our support.
Here is a message from Rithar directly:
"My name is Rithar Dolma Lama. I am from a remote village called Lho in the Chumnubri Valley which lies in the northern part of Nepal. To get to my village from city, it takes one whole day by bus and five days hike. The trails are very risky and can cause death, too. Two of my friends’ fathers have died on the way when coming down to meet their children. People in my village live a Buddhist way of life and they use Nubri language as their dialect. Although my village is rich in natural resources, people are lacking in primary needs, and dysentery is a big problem. The villagers are uneducated, and they do not even know about personal hygiene, sex education, family planning and nutrition.
I was born to a destitute Buddhist family of eight members. My father was a subsistence farmer. My mother worked as a household wife. I am the only one who got a chance to go to school from my family. Our family barely had enough to eat, a place to stay and clothes to wear. They did not have enough money to send us to school. In spite of their condition, they managed to buy us ca new outfit and delicious meals on Losar (Tibetan New Year).
When I was five years old I got a scholarship to study in a boarding school called Shree Mangal Dvip (SMD) in Kathmandu .I spent 13 years in SMD learning Nepali, Tibetan and English. I was one of the lucky kids because back in my village some of my childhood friends already had more than two kids and even from my own family no one had got a chance to study modern education like me.
At first, it was hard for me because I did not know the Nepali language. However with kindness and support, I learned the language quickly. I discovered many new things that I have never imagined. When I was in school my parents never came to visit me, but still I was so happy in school. My school provided an escape and all the basic things I needed.
It was the year 2008 when my cousin brought my father to Kathmandu for a medical checkup. Later we found out that he had lung cancer, as well as he was poisoned by someone and he was hospitalized. At that time I was in fourth grade. After a few days my cousin took me to hospital to visit my father. When I entered the room my cousin was crying and my father’s body color had turned into green and purple. That time my cousin told me to call my father ‘daddy,’ but I tried and it wasn’t coming from my mouth because I was not used to this word, and hadn’t seen him for many years. Even now it’s so hard for me to say the word ‘mom.’ It’s still hard to meet up with her now. Day after that my dad passed away.
My cousin had lent us all the money for his care. As far as I know, before my dad passed away most of the village people said that my father kept his suffering secret from us, enduring all his pain by himself, knowing that if he visited the hospital it would cost lot of money. This situation made me become a stronger kid.
In 2014 some doctors from Hong Kong came to our school to give free acupuncture and medical camp for older people around Nepal and I volunteered there. After volunteering there for four years I saw how this gentle and peaceful way of healing was making such a huge improvement in the quality of life for many difficult kinds of conditions. They don’t use any equipment while checking the patients. They just know by looking at the patients’ hands and tongues. By seeing all these things I got more interested in that particular subject.
From my young age, I always want to become a great person who wants to give more focus to others rather than myself. I really feel like that to be a human being, we need to feel other people’s pain as our own. I always thought that being kind and helping other are the main goals in our life.
After completing my degree I really want to go to the Himalayan part of Nepal and give them free medical treatment because that part of Nepal doesn’t have any enough facilities.
Thank you everyone for your great generosity toward me. It is greatly appreciated and I can't thank you enough. Through your donation I am getting lots of hope and it's allowing me to rise again. Once again THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU."
********************************************************************************
Here's the breakdown of expenses for the first year:
Tuition fees: Rs66,000 ($565)
Admission fee: Rs16,500 ($141)
Lab fee: Rs5,500 ($47)
Library fee: Rs4,400 ($38)
EC fee: Rs5,500 ($47)
Food and Accommodation fee: Rs198,000 ($1,695)
Total one year fee for course is Rs 2,95,900 ($2,534)
I'd like to set the goal at $3,000 so that Rithar also has some pocket money, money for clothes, and so she can buy all the supplies she needs.
When Rithar graduates as an AMCHI (doctor), she will emerge as one of the most educated people, man or woman, to ever be born in her village. I have no doubt that Rithar will have a long, vibrant career in which she pays forward the generosity she has received throughout her life, contributing to a better future for new generations to come.
I am collecting all the donations in my personal USA bank account, and will wire the final amount directly into Rithar's account in Nepal. I will be keeping in close touch with Rithar, and I am sure she will be happy to keep in touch with you through letters or Facebook as well.
Rithar Dolma is a highly decorated student - both academically & extracurricularly.
Rithar pictured with her classmates at Sri Mangal Dvip boarding school in Kathmandu. The school was founded by Thrangu Rinpoche to preserve Himalayan children's culture, language and way of life.
Nubri Lho village where Rithar was born.
Rithar with her teammates of Tibet Women's Soccer at a tournament in Goa.
Rithar and her soccer teammates meeting His Holiness the Karmapa.
At the age of five Rithar Dolma was given the opportunity to travel to the capital Kathmandu to study at a boarding school for Himalayan Buddhist children called Sri Mangal Dvip. It was a life-changing chance for Rithar to not only transform her future, but to potentially change the quality of life for her entire village. She has been back to visit only once in 17 years. Her father passed away when she was 10 years old, and her mother and siblings are still there, subsistence farming and herding yaks.
Now Rithar is 22, and has grown into a remarkable young woman. After completing secondary school, she went on to study Humanities at Saint Lawrence College in Kathmandu with the help of a scholarship from Tibet Women's Soccer.
I personally met Rithar in 2017 when she was selected to join the Tibet Women's Soccer national team. I was immediately struck by her understated self-confidence and peaceful demeanor. She stepped up as the leader amongst a group of new girls to the team, and reached out to help others adjust to a new group and setting. She was so organized in her responsibilities, and so well-spoken, truly the best in a very large group at expressing herself clearly and connecting in a meaningful way both individually and in large groups.
Quite frankly, in what was supposed to be an empowerment camp, she could have been the one designing the empowerment curriculum.
Rithar stayed with the team for a few more years, traveling with us to major tournaments and competing as one of our star centerbacks. Whenever I needed help or to get something done, Rithar was the player I trusted most with completing the task efficiently and effectively.
The next step - Rithar has applied and been accepted to Sowa Rigpa International College to become a licensed doctor of traditional Tibetan medicine. The program is world-renowned, and takes 5.5 years to complete. Sowa Rigpa International College is the first institution in Nepal to offer a degree program in Sowa Rigpa – the Science of Traditional Himalayan & Tibetan Medicine, as an affiliate of Lumbini Buddhist University. Located in the sacred Boudhanath region of Kathmandu, the college helps ensure the continuity of this precious medical heritage through education and research.
Her educational journey now has the chance to come to full fruition, but she needs our support.
Here is a message from Rithar directly:
"My name is Rithar Dolma Lama. I am from a remote village called Lho in the Chumnubri Valley which lies in the northern part of Nepal. To get to my village from city, it takes one whole day by bus and five days hike. The trails are very risky and can cause death, too. Two of my friends’ fathers have died on the way when coming down to meet their children. People in my village live a Buddhist way of life and they use Nubri language as their dialect. Although my village is rich in natural resources, people are lacking in primary needs, and dysentery is a big problem. The villagers are uneducated, and they do not even know about personal hygiene, sex education, family planning and nutrition.
I was born to a destitute Buddhist family of eight members. My father was a subsistence farmer. My mother worked as a household wife. I am the only one who got a chance to go to school from my family. Our family barely had enough to eat, a place to stay and clothes to wear. They did not have enough money to send us to school. In spite of their condition, they managed to buy us ca new outfit and delicious meals on Losar (Tibetan New Year).
When I was five years old I got a scholarship to study in a boarding school called Shree Mangal Dvip (SMD) in Kathmandu .I spent 13 years in SMD learning Nepali, Tibetan and English. I was one of the lucky kids because back in my village some of my childhood friends already had more than two kids and even from my own family no one had got a chance to study modern education like me.
At first, it was hard for me because I did not know the Nepali language. However with kindness and support, I learned the language quickly. I discovered many new things that I have never imagined. When I was in school my parents never came to visit me, but still I was so happy in school. My school provided an escape and all the basic things I needed.
It was the year 2008 when my cousin brought my father to Kathmandu for a medical checkup. Later we found out that he had lung cancer, as well as he was poisoned by someone and he was hospitalized. At that time I was in fourth grade. After a few days my cousin took me to hospital to visit my father. When I entered the room my cousin was crying and my father’s body color had turned into green and purple. That time my cousin told me to call my father ‘daddy,’ but I tried and it wasn’t coming from my mouth because I was not used to this word, and hadn’t seen him for many years. Even now it’s so hard for me to say the word ‘mom.’ It’s still hard to meet up with her now. Day after that my dad passed away.
My cousin had lent us all the money for his care. As far as I know, before my dad passed away most of the village people said that my father kept his suffering secret from us, enduring all his pain by himself, knowing that if he visited the hospital it would cost lot of money. This situation made me become a stronger kid.
In 2014 some doctors from Hong Kong came to our school to give free acupuncture and medical camp for older people around Nepal and I volunteered there. After volunteering there for four years I saw how this gentle and peaceful way of healing was making such a huge improvement in the quality of life for many difficult kinds of conditions. They don’t use any equipment while checking the patients. They just know by looking at the patients’ hands and tongues. By seeing all these things I got more interested in that particular subject.
From my young age, I always want to become a great person who wants to give more focus to others rather than myself. I really feel like that to be a human being, we need to feel other people’s pain as our own. I always thought that being kind and helping other are the main goals in our life.
After completing my degree I really want to go to the Himalayan part of Nepal and give them free medical treatment because that part of Nepal doesn’t have any enough facilities.
Thank you everyone for your great generosity toward me. It is greatly appreciated and I can't thank you enough. Through your donation I am getting lots of hope and it's allowing me to rise again. Once again THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU."
********************************************************************************
Here's the breakdown of expenses for the first year:
Tuition fees: Rs66,000 ($565)
Admission fee: Rs16,500 ($141)
Lab fee: Rs5,500 ($47)
Library fee: Rs4,400 ($38)
EC fee: Rs5,500 ($47)
Food and Accommodation fee: Rs198,000 ($1,695)
Total one year fee for course is Rs 2,95,900 ($2,534)
I'd like to set the goal at $3,000 so that Rithar also has some pocket money, money for clothes, and so she can buy all the supplies she needs.
When Rithar graduates as an AMCHI (doctor), she will emerge as one of the most educated people, man or woman, to ever be born in her village. I have no doubt that Rithar will have a long, vibrant career in which she pays forward the generosity she has received throughout her life, contributing to a better future for new generations to come.
I am collecting all the donations in my personal USA bank account, and will wire the final amount directly into Rithar's account in Nepal. I will be keeping in close touch with Rithar, and I am sure she will be happy to keep in touch with you through letters or Facebook as well.
Rithar Dolma is a highly decorated student - both academically & extracurricularly.
Rithar pictured with her classmates at Sri Mangal Dvip boarding school in Kathmandu. The school was founded by Thrangu Rinpoche to preserve Himalayan children's culture, language and way of life.
Nubri Lho village where Rithar was born.
Rithar with her teammates of Tibet Women's Soccer at a tournament in Goa.
Rithar and her soccer teammates meeting His Holiness the Karmapa.
Organizer
Cassie Childers Ryle
Organizer
Brick Township, NJ