Because of their consistently excellent exam results, five of the hostel children were invited to sit promotion exams. Sarika, Ranjeeta, Renu, Sunny and Vijay were all successful and have now jumped a year, with Sarika promoted to Class 3, Ranjeeta and Renu to Class 4 and Sunny and Vijay to Class 5. Congratulations to all five children.

Excitement reigned in both the girls' and boys' hostel as the new children set out for their first ever school day. The children had spent four weeks being prepared for school by the hostel staff with help and advise given by the other hostel children. School was voted a big success by all. From left to right in the picture, starting in the front row are:

Ajay, Diyal, Rohit, Pardeep, Neha, Manjeeta, Nitu, Nisha Devi, Rohit Kumar, Joginder, Arti, Mamta Kumari, Yuvraj, Kishan, Naresh, Poonam, Mamta Devi and Rano.

Children from both Tong-Len hostels joined together for a picnic to celebrate Himachal Pradesh Day. They were joined by Anna Owen, Director of Tong-Len UK, who was visiting the projects. Despite a few rain showers, chldren and staff enjoyed a fun-packed day.

There was a big turnout in Charan for the health promotion night on the eve of the innoculations day. The hostel children performed plays explaining the importance of innoculations and hygene. They also entertained the crowds with a dazzling display of dancing. Two volunteer doctors from the Netherlands were present and added their expertise to the occasion. The following morning the hostel children from Class 5 were in the camp from sunrise to bring the mothers and young children to the tuition tents to have their innoculations. Mothers proudly displayed their innoculation certificates presented to them by the doctors in attendance.

School children in the State of Himachal Pradesh take a Board Examination when in Class 5. The results have just been announced with all five Tong-Len Hostel children (Deepak, Karan, Nisha, Ravi and Rinku) achieving the highest grade available, an A+ . Two of the children, Nisha and Rinku, came in joint 5th position out of about one million children who took the exam, coming from around 200,000 schools across the State. We send our heartiest congratulations to the children for their success in this important examination.

Tong-Len's second hostel opened on 12th March 2008. The new hostel is very close to the first hostel allowing the two groups of children to interact. The first seven children have moved in already with their house mother, Raksha. They are being prepared for starting school at the beginning of the new Indian academic year in April. Another 13 children will be joining them shortly. The majority of these children do not yet have sponsors. If you would like to help contact Anna. For more information visit child education and sponsorship.

After Michael's tragic death on 26th November 2006, a memorial fund was established to raise money to purchase land on which to build new hostel accommodation and other facilities in Michael's name. In October 2006, Michael with Jamyang, Director of Tong-Len Charitable Trust, and Anna, Director Tong-Len UK, identified an ideal plot of land (2300 square metres). The initial target of £20,000 has been exceeded, and the purchase of this plot of land was finalised on Michael's birthday.

The Memorial Fund is ongoing as it is now necessary to raise significant funds for the building costs. The costs for the first phase (a hostel to accommodate about 50 children from the slum communities whilst attending school) are likely to be between £50,000 and £60,000. If anyone would like to contribute to the fund, there is a dedicated page on Just Giving.

Thanks to a generous donation, a new tent has been provided for the nursery school. This is larger and more robust than the previous one. The 35 youngster from the camp who attend each day are very excited about their new space. The tent is also able to be used in the mornings for the regular health clinics.

Once again the hostel children have swept the board in the December school exams. All have come in the top quartile of their respective classes with 5 in top position, 4 in second postition, 5 in third position and 4 in fourth position. It is almost impossible for them to achieve better than this as they are competing with each other for the top places.

Professors from the local college came to join in the Children's Day celebrations at the hostel. They were impressed with the children's progress and wanted to offer their support. They gave some books to the children and told the children that if they needed help to let them know.