On the 24th September 2011, the Druk White Lotus School celebrated its 10th Founders’ Day. The entire school had been gearing up for this event for weeks. The last few days leading up to D-day were absolutely frenetic, with the students and the teachers working from dawn to dusk to make sure that the celebration was a success.

The day was graced by Rigzin Spalbar, Chief Executive Councillor (Leh) as the Chief Guest for the occasion. Many other eminent personalities along with the children’s parents attended as well.

There was an art exhibition put together by the different classes on varied topics including “monasteries of Ladakh”. Individual classes also put up exhibitions on “history of Ladakh”, “dances of Ladakh”, “Amchi (Tibetan traditional) medicine”, etc. There were posters, crafts and paintings.

There was a cultural show by different students. It included traditional Ladakhi and Tibetan dance and song recitals and modern dances to Tibetan and Hindi songs. The infant section recited rhymes. Some of the highlights of the show included a karate display where the students performed stunts like breaking wooden staffs and slabs of marble with their limbs. Another popular recital was the yoga display performed by some of the juniors.

Once the show ended, the guests went around to the various game stalls that had been put up across the brightly decked campus.

Later in the evening, after all the guests had returned home, the school prepared for its live webcast screened through this website. After a few problems getting the satellite connection to work, some of the day’s performances were repeated for the global audience, including a few words from students and staff and a message read out from His Eminence Kyabje Thuksey Rinpoche, the Chair of the Governors. Viewers across the world in Mexico, USA, Europe, Africa and India watched with delight as Ladakh was beamed into their homes.

On the 10th Anniversary of the official opening of the Druk White Lotus School, His Eminence Kyabje Thuksey Rinpoche, Chair of the school governing body, sent this message.

When the land where the school stands today was offered to H.H. Gyalwang Drukpa and H.E. the 1st Thuksey Rinpoche over 40 years ago, His Holiness wanted to build on this site a school that would combine modern education with the traditional value systems of Ladakh so that the students graduating from this school would be able to face the challenges of the modern world and yet retain their cultural values. With the support of generous patrons and sponsors and the dedicated hard work of Drukpa Trust UK, His Holiness' vision of a school was realized and the Druk Pema Karpo Institute, also known as Druk White Lotus School, was opened at Shey, 10 years ago this day.

Over these 10 years the school has seen many changes. It has grown from primary to middle school and today we have a group of dedicated teachers and staff led by the principal Mr. Prasad Eledath. I feel proud and privileged to be associated with the school and have the opportunity to contribute towards carrying forward the vision of His Holiness.

It is not enough to have eco-friendly buildings and environment. We must work hard now to ensure that the school grows in educational standards as well over the coming years so that DKPI becomes a globally model school of modern education, cultural preservation and eco-friendliness. I am confident that the teachers and staff members led by Mr. Prasad have the necessary determination and courage to face the challenges that lie ahead.

Last but not the least I take this opportunity to thank Sonam Angdus, our construction manager, for taking sole responsibility, with dedication and sincerity, in seeing that construction was carried out as per the blueprint prepared by the team of architects.

Tashi Delek!

The school has spent the last year recovering from the damage and loss from the August  2010 mudslide.

There are still replacement educational items needed following the internal damage to the classrooms and then the school has a number of priority needs in terms of materials, furnishings and equipment.

The School Needs US$ list gives a detailed breakdown of items required, also available in GB£, School Needs

 (This will be 07h00 in Los Angeles & Victoria/ 10h00 New York/ 15h00 London/ 16h00 Germany/ 19h30 India/ 21h00 Phuket/ 22h00 Malaysia, Shanghai & Singapore.) Join us in viewing the webcast even if you are not hosting a party.

School Patrons send their birthday greetings:

Lord and Lady Cowdray: “Happy 10th Anniversary to The White Lotus School. It has been our privilege to be a part of this enlightening project and we have enjoyed watching it flourish and thrive. May the next ten years be all that you wish it to be. We send you our blessings and love Michael and Marina Cowdray."

What do you get when you cross an extremely creative artist along with a bunch of eager children? Some beautiful pages of calligraphy, a vibrant dragon float and a hilarious puppet show! While the students of standard 6 participated in the calligraphy workshop, the 8th standard created a brilliant dragon float using an old bicycle and coloured paper. The 9th standard students organised a puppet show comprising different animals and birds. They performed the puppet show in front of the entire school and elicited thunderous applause.

Friday 5th August is the one year anniversary of the floods and mudflows that started just before midnight in 2010. Shops and restaurants in Leh and the surrounding areas are closed today in respect for those who died or lost their homes and loved ones.

Many schools have stayed open and to mark the occasion DWLS held a special assembly today. Prayers were held and Class 7B gave a presentation on the environment and geology of Ladakh.

Mr Karma Thargyil, Head of the Infant Section, then gave a short speech about the disaster and those whose lives it had affected.  Mr Thargyil lost his own house to the mud. The whole school observed two minutes of silence. Further prayers were said to conclude this special assembly.

Despite the serious effect this event had on the school and the Leh and Choglamsar areas, life appears to be back to normal with houses rebuilt and nearly all of the debris cleared away, however agricultural land covered with mud will take time to become fertile soil again. The school campus needs much landscaping work to be done and physical defences are being built to protect against possible future inundations.

Materials, equipment and furnishings that were lost at the school have mostly been replaced  but the school still urgently needs funds to replace the Montessori equipment (2 x classroom sets at 234,000 INR(Rps)/ US$5,200/ €3,700/ £3,300) and to re-stock the library with books to meet the school needs and CBSE requirements (450,000 INR(Rps)/ US$10,000/ €7,200/ £6,400) for a further 1500 books). Contact us for a list of examples of the novels required This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Students took part in the annual Tree Planting on the school campus.

Shravan Muralidhar is the guy from school who was always disinterested in the monotonous school schedule. Having done his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) specialising in PAINTING, he is now pursuing his M.Des in Visual Communication. He is here to experience ART the young way, the innocent way and the way tiny ones do it and basically getting the children into a new experience.

Sinja Hammer is 19 years old and just graduated from school in Germany with main courses in English and Economics. She will stay at the school for half a year, assisting the teachers in the infant section and in the English class. In cooperation with the Art teacher she will also help to redecorate some classrooms affected by the flood.  She will also be conducting the reading classes with the students.

Varun Saini is an alumnus of the Indian Naval Academy and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. After spending six years at the Indian Navy, he joined the corporate world and works as a consultant at Bain and Company (India). He is fond of travelling, reading and adventure sports. He is presently assisting the teachers in the Mathematics and Science department at the school.

It’s not often that the students of Druk School get to meet someone who has been on top of the world, literally. Hence, when Krushnaa Patil arrived at the school to talk about her mountaineering expeditions, she was greeted with a lot of anticipation and excitement. She was the youngest Indian women to summit Mount Everest in 2009, at the young age of 19. Later she summated the highest peak of every continent including Antarctica. She addressed the senior students of the school and showed them pictures from her various expeditions around the world. The children listened with rapt attention as she spoke of some of her adventures and the challenges that she faced as a climber. Krushnaa spoke of some of her ordeals while trying to find sponsors for her Mount Everest expedition. She also mentioned as to how the journey was a zero-impact one where all the team members carried down all the waste that they had generated, including biological waste. They carried tonnes of garbage down from Mount Everest. Following this inspiring narrative, she answered some of the questions that the children had about her adventures.

A second motivational talk was conducted by Varun Saini. A volunteer with the Druk School for over a month, he spoke to the seniors about MBA as a career. He told the children the various pros and cons of having an MBA degree along with the different job prospects after college. It wasn’t all work though; his presentation also gave the children a glimpse of college life at IIM Bangalore. The other part of his talk focused on a career in the armed forces. The students were told all about the different sections in the armed forces, and a career in the army both as an after school and an after college alternative.

A sponsored trek in Ladakh is being arranged by Peaks Foundation for a small group of women wishing to face a challenge in aid of the Druk White Lotus School. The Gulap Kangri Challenge, Ladakh, 10-19 September, 2011.

If this fantastic opportunity to walk in the Himalayan peaks is not for you, perhaps a friend of yours may be interested so do pass on the details, or perhaps you would prefer to sponsor one of the group and let them do the physical work!

For more details go to: http://www.peaksfoundation.org/our_adventures/1_peak_1_week_challenge/ladakh/

If you may be interested, please e-mail Peaks Foundation directly at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.