A little history of the monastery. Its located in the village of Hyangja, just outside of Pokhara. It was first established in 1999 in Kathmandu with 30 children, 25 of these were from the different villages of the district of Mustang (the people who are ethnic Tibetans) and five from Tibetan refugee camps around India and Nepal. In February 2002 in was moved to its present location near Pokhara, and in 2004 added 25 more students again from Mustang and Buddhist communities in Nepal. At present there are about 80 students but the monastery aims to accommodate 105 students eventually. The institute also caters for blind students who are taught using the newly invented system of braille pioneered at their sister school in Mundgod in India. Lama Kunga was formerly appointed chairman of Pema Ts'al in 1997.

The Kingdom of Mustang, where the children are drawn from, is one of the smallest Buddhist Kingdoms. It is located to the northwest of Nepal and surrounded on three sides by Tibet. Until recently it was one of the most isolated and inaccessible areas of the world. While its social and spiritual life has remained unchanged for centuries it lost its spiritual patronage from Tibet in 1959. The institute seeks to in part fill this void and preserve cultural identity and the Buddhist way of life.

At present there are 80 students and 12 teaching and non-teaching staff. Students are taught English, Nepali, Science and Maths subjects in primary and lower secondary. They also study for their Dhunpa, which is a very rigorous prayer test.

It is difficult to explain the prayers or chanting sessions to someone who hasn't sat through one. The boys take it very seriously. They are something of a drone but have a musical quality to them. They also give you a sense of peace. I have heard them at the morning prayer sessions and at the end of dinner, but they also spend several periods a day practicing and so the monastery is filled with the droning chants.

Because of the Maoist strikes there was only one regular teacher here on Monday and again today, Tuesday. The volunteers filled in and took the classes. Seven classes for six periods. We had our hands full with the little ones but colour by number pictures got us through.....just! The older ones had cultural talks on Australia, Nepali/English/Tibetan language lessons and even one on global warming. We were tired by the end of the day. Four of us had a philosophy lesson from one of the junior monks and then I gave Lama Kunga an English lesson. It was surreal sitting in a room with a Lama, a very revered man, and correcting him while he read 'The Three Bears' from a second grade English textbook. We got halfway through the story but he promises to finish it tomorrow.

That night there was a blackout so under the effects of a cold and the full day teaching I turned it at 7.15.