John and Sharan Brown set off on their trip on Boxing Day from the UK. They will be travelling through France and Corsica and then on to Italy. After this they plan to travel the length of Africa and then on to the USA. Their route then takes them through Central America, Ecuador, Peru and Chile, finally ending up in Ushaia, Argentina - the southernmost city in the world. Their trip will take in 23 countries in four continents. We all wish John and Sharan a safe and wonderful trip. Tong-Len is hugely grateful for the money they will be raising for Tong-Len from this challenging enterprise. Help them raise their target for Tong-Len by visiting their JustGiving web page at http://www.justgiving.com/halftheworldbikeride . See the route plan on their facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/photo.php?pid=2774&id=100000131282003 .

Once again, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, sang Christmas carols to raise money for Tong-Len. This time it was at Edinburgh airport. Money was donated as travellers arrived in Scotland from around the world.

Tong-Len thanks everyone who in 2009 supported Tong-Len through sponsorships and regular donations and through raising money through special events such as this one.

The hostel children celebrated 'Children's Day' on the 21st November by watching a song and dance performance by each member of the Tong-Len staff. On the day before, the children in Charan Khad enjoyed a games competition on a piece of land that has recently been cleared for regular use during the period of the daily ' tent school' classes

A start has been made on the foundations off the new hostel. To ensure that the construction conforms to the very highest safety standards including the most up to date earthquake codes, Tong-Len invited a seismic specialist, Dr Rao of the Central Building Research Institute in Roorkee, to meet with the Tibetan constractor, Lobsang Therchin, and the Australian architect, Ryan Strating of Core Collective, who with his partner, Dr Ceridwen Owen, is giving his time freely to this project. Lobsang Jamyang, Director of Tong-Len Charitable Trust, Tong-Len UK Director, Anna Owen, and Tong-Len Treasurer, Professor Gareth Owen were also present for these meetings.

A longstanding volunteer from Norway, Runa, a specialist in dramatic art, is giving the hostel children training in Theatre of the Oppressed, a method used all over the world for social change.The method was developed by the Brazilian theatre practitioner Augusto Boal, who started out working in the favelas of Rio and amongst poor people in village areas of Brazil. His techniques have spread all over the world, and in India the Theatre of the Oppressed movement is one of the world's largest.

Theatre of the Oppressed is a deeply democratic method where dialogue is everything. The hostel children will make a so-called forum play with a sad ending based on some of the various difficulties faced by the people of Charan. After performing it once, the play will start all over again, but this time the spectators have to intervene, come on stage and help the oppressed to break the oppression in a realistic, non-violent way. A forum play is a rehearsal for real life, and it is hoped that through participating in it the 'spect-actors' will help each other see more options when they face the same difficulties in their own reality.

The children regularly use the medium of drama to educate their families and other residents of the slum settlements as to the importance of health awareness and disease prevention.

The older hostel children organised an art competition open to five local schools and the tent schools in Charan. The children themselves approached local businesses and individuals for sponsorship for the art materials and appropriate prizes. Running this event gave the children an insight into fundraising and helped to develop their organisational skills.

Through funding from His Holiness the Dalai Lhama Trust, all the younger children in the Charan Khad camp in Dharamsala are now benefiting from a daily programme of hygiene, education and the provision of a nutritious mid day meal.  For a long time Tong-Len has been aware of the needs of the very young children in the camp, aged 1 year and upwards, who are often left unsupervised as their parents try to earn the few rupees the family needs to support its meagre standard of living.

The day begins at 9 am when the children are collected from around the camp and taken to the wash basins where they learn how to wash themselves.  This is now possible because of the plentiful supply of water made available through the water project (see the item of news immediately below this one).

From 11 am to 1 pm the children (about 100 at present) engage in active learning which includes basic Hindi, English and Arithmetic.  The children are already engaging in their activities with great enthusiasm.  All these activities take place in the primary tuition tent.  During this time, the very young children have their own activities in the nursery tent, which involve play and games with less emphasis on formal learning. At 1 pm all the children gather together for a nutritious meal of rice and mixed vegetables.  After lunch the older children have their usual lessons.

For many years the Charan Khad communities have had no easy access to water, let alone drinkable water.  Although a connection to mains water was set up a few years ago, this was unreliable and never sufficient for their needs.  In August 2009, Tong-Len received permission from the local authority to install a submersible water pump in a disused well.  This has been connected to three water stations conveniently located which ensures that every family has access to running drinkable water throughout the day.  Storage tanks provide backup in the event of any interruption of supply.  The project was largely funded by the Energee Association  (www.energee.org).

See the video here.

On Monday, the 6th of July, the children were given the opportunity to perform at the birthday celebrations for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, at the main temple. The older children performed in front of a large crowd which included many dignitaries from the Tibetan, Indian and foreign communities. The girls performed traditional Indian style dancing and the boys moved Tibetan and Indian flags to the music.

On the previous day, the children performed at a concert in TIPA (Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts Centre) in McLeod Ganj. The concert was organized to show the mix of Indian and Tibetan cultures. The small children from the hostel performed a dance which incorporated samples of dances from different cultures within India. The children were presented with a trophy at the end of the performances. The guests present at the performance were from both the Tibetan and Indian communities and included the District Commissioner, the Superintendent of Police, the Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Board of Education, and the Tibetan Parliament Speaker.

On Thursday, the 2nd of July, the hostel children performed dances, drama and showed off their circus skills to a crowd of approximately 250 people at Tong-Len's fourth annual Thanks Day. Over 100 people from Charan joined members from the local community for this event. The Tibetan Settlement officer, who has been the link and contact for our communications since learning of His Holiness’ wish to support our programmes, also attended. The officer spoke in Hindi at the end of the programme, expressing support for Tong-Len’s work, and presented the children with gifts.

Local press reporters also came to the function. Many articles have appeared in the local newspapers since the Thanks Day. The reporters interviewed the parents and the families of the hostel children. The articles show that the parents were proud and emotionally responsive to their children’s development and talent.

Tong-Len was delighted to welcome Chris and Alex, two skilled circus performers. They have given two months of their time to work with the children in the hostels and the camp teaching them skills that are good for mind and body. In addition to providing entertainment, circus is now widely recognised as having a place in education, promoting strength, concentration, stamina, flexibility, confidence, dexterity, balance and team work. For more information on the project visit http://tonglencircus.blogspot.com/ .

Since its conception, Tong-Len has been eager to meet with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and receive his blessings for the children and the projects. On May 14th 2009 Tong-Len’s wishes were granted. All the hostel children and the Tong-Len staff were invited to His Holiness’s monastery for a private audience. The meeting took place in the garden area of His Holiness’s residence. He spoke to the children, asked about their background and families, and encouraged them to work hard at their studies. He also expressed a desire to do something to help the children living in the Charan settlement.

Tong-Len was invited to submit a proposal to His Holiness’s private office for consideration for funding. The proposal submitted extends the tent school programme to include morning activities, particularly for the under fives, and also the provision of a nutritional midday meal prior to the start of the more formal afternoon educational programme. We have now heard that the proposal is approved in principle.

The Director of the Himachal Pradesh Board of Education presented an award to Rinku and Nisha at a ceremony in Dharamsala on the 8th January for their exceptional examination results. They have also been promoted to Class 7 because of their term 2 results.