CHOUDON ORPHANAGE
Written by Nina Cruickshank & Don Cullen in NOVEMBER 2005.

Choudon orphanage is located in one of the narrow backstreets behind the Potala Palace in Lhasa. From the street, steps lead up to a set of carved double doors set into a cement wall. When the doors open, the sound of children playing spills into the street. We step through the doors into a narrow courtyard that is literally filled with children. They are excited by the novelty of visitors, particularly Westerners, and, in the manner of children around the world, are laughing, yelling and crowding around us to get a good look at the "Ingie" (foreigners).

Nyima, the director of the orphanage, introduces himself and some of the teachers. Apart from Nyima, there are 6 teachers working at Choudon. The orphanage was started 4 years ago, when Nyima lost his job as a tour guide and began to teach English to some of the children. Like a beautiful plant it grew from there!

The teachers welcome us in the usual Tibetan way, with an exchange of Khatas (special white scarves which are a symbol of offering and are given when going on, or returning from, a long journey, to ensure a safe return). Nyima tells us there are 70 children living at the orphanage and they range in age from 2 ½ to18 years. Most of the children have lost their parents in accidents, predominantly car accidents, and as they have no relatives to look after them, they now call the orphanage 'home'.

He introduces us to Dolken, who is 15 and came to the orphanage 3 years ago, when her mother and father died. Dolken smiles shyly at us, as the director talks and some of the younger children cling onto her legs and gaze at us curiously from behind her. Dolken is learning to operate a sewing machine and to make clothes, and will soon be able to make school uniforms for the children of Choudon.

Nyima shows us around the orphanage, which seems incredibly small to contain so many children. The main building has 3 small bedrooms, crammed with bunk beds. We are told the children sleep 2 to 3 to a bed. Amongst the beds is a computer that has been donated. It is quite old and being not much good for anything else, is used for games. The children also have personal lockers (not very big, but adequate) in which they can store their "treasures". Apart from the bedrooms, there is a narrow schoolroom, containing 20 desks. On the blackboard at the end of the room, 'Tibet' is written proudly in large letters. We also notice a T.V & video unit that they use in their schooling, which was also donated.

Across the narrow courtyard, is the director's office and a tiny kitchen. The kitchen contains a 2-burner portable gas stove (the kind you take camping), but not much else. One of the older girls is making lunch in 2 enormous pressure cookers. Surely it is impossible that meals for 70 children and 7 adults could be made in this tiny area? The courtyard is obviously the focus of the orphanage and is a play area, dining room and living room all rolled into one. We see one of the children doing some of his washing there; when he is finished, he hangs it out on a tree to dry. There are also 5 bicycles in the yard for communal use, and we are impressed to note there is no fighting over who will ride while we are there!

The rent of the orphanage is 1600 Yuan per month (approximately $US200 or $AU270). Most of the food and supplies needed are provided by donations from the local people.
Although Tibetans don't have a lot by western standards, they are incredibly generous to those in need. On festival days, the children go out into the streets of Lhasa and collect donations for the orphanage. A local businessman kindly supplies school uniforms for the 42 children who attend the local school. Nyima explains that, apart from him, 4 of the teachers, live on the premises and are supplied with food and board, while 2 teachers live outside Choudon with their families. All the teachers are volunteers, but some have secondary jobs and work in restaurants to make ends meet. The wives of the teachers who live on site, help in caring for the younger children, but we notice that the older children seem to take care of the younger ones as well. We are taken to view their store of supplies. Inside the cramped room are second hand clothes, potatoes, rice & blankets. These goods have all been donated by locals, but are a long way short of what is required.

After the tour of the orphanage, we give a donation to Nyima to help with food & rent. We then unpack the clip-on koalas and kangaroo stick-pins we brought from Australia. The children line up by size, from the smallest to the largest and stand solemnly while we clip the koalas & kangaroo stick-pins to jumpers and cardigans. The joy on the faces is worth a thousand words. After this, as a thank you, the older children sing us a song in English, complete with actions. Once released from 'visitor duty', they turn back into their noisy, boisterous selves and compete with each other to find more adventurous places to attach the koalas.

Just before we leave, the children have their lunch. The older girls carry the large pots, we saw earlier on the gas cooker, into the courtyard and the children line up with their bowls to be served. Lunch consists of rice, potato and vegetables. There seems to be plenty and some of the children line up for seconds. Soon they all settle down in groups to the serious business of eating, with the older children helping the younger ones. As so much of the activity of the orphanage happens in the courtyard, we wonder what happens when it rains, or in the middle of winter, when it is too cold to be outside.

Finally it is time to leave. As we step through the doors, we take one last backward look at the children. They call out goodbye, and wave, koalas hanging precariously from clothes, ears, hair and various other body parts.