Jainam
When news of an injured child living in a makeshift shelter near the CED (Children’s Educational) Society reached Lama Tenzin Choegyal, he decided to see if he could support the Muslim family. He ascertained that the drunken father set fire to their home, which resulted in the daughter sustaining severe burns on her foot. Without surgery, the child would become disabled. The father held oddly duplicitous beliefs, including that surgery was not in keeping with his faith, but somehow, the strictly prohibited alcoholic consumption was acceptable. After visiting with the stricken family, Lama Tenzin carefully approached the subject of allowing Jainam to receive the surgery. Realizing he was not making headway with the stubborn father, Lama Tenzin asked an Islamic Imam to intervene and convince the father to allow his daughter’s surgery. Thankfully, the father consented. Because the surgery’s cost was well beyond the Muslim family’s means, Lama Tenzin arranged and paid for the surgery and transportation to and from the hospital.
With an open heart, Lama Tenzin welcomed the Muslim family to stay at the CED so Jainam could recover from her surgery in a clean and healthy environment for a few days. Unfortunately, the brazen father quickly abused the kindness Lama Tenzin offered when he demanded his meals be served earlier than usual, upsetting the children’s CED schedule. Witnessing the father’s harsh behavior, Lama Tenzin offered to take in Jainam, which the father flatly refused. Thankfully the surgery was a success, and Jainam fully recovered. Unfortunately, Lama Tenzin lost touch with the Muslim family when they moved to Haridwar.
Karuna
A woman working at the private school where the CED Society children attended heard about Lama Tenzin Choegyal and wondered if he could in some way help her daughter, a double amputee. Karuna had difficulty navigating her family’s home when she was tasked with performing domestic duties, but most of the time, she passed the days lying on her bed in a tiny room. For many years the twenty-something-year-old was no more than a hostage in her home. Due to her disability, she was unable to move about in her home and life freely.
Lama Tenzin arranged for Karuna to visit the Jaipur Foot in Jaipur, India, and receive two desperately needed prosthetic devices through his many connections. Thinking beyond the necessity of being ambulatory, Lama Tenzin encouraged Karuna to consider attending IT classes at the CED’s G.I.F.T. program to become more independent. However, it was made quite clear by Karuna’s parents, a Muslim father and a Christian mother, that they did not want their daughter to receive the computer training because it would upset the domestic help Karuna provided for their family. With the conflict escalating, Lama Tenzin and Partnerships For Change’s Director, Andrew Michael, Esq. advocated for Karuna to seek her emancipation in the Indian court of law. After delivering the argument for liberation, the emancipation agreement was drafted and signed by Karuna and both her parents. It seemed like this victory would finally unlock the prison door behind which Karuna had lived for so long. Following the court case win, Lama Tenzin opened the CED doors to offer Karuna a home to attend the IT courses more easily. Unfortunately, Karuna did not accept his offer nor the computer training. Due to the overwhelming familial pressures, Karuna again succumbed to her parents’ demands and remained with her family despite Lama Tenzin’s effort to offer opportunities for a better future. With the subsequent years passing, Karuna seemed to have slipped back to her old life, living in her tiny room and carrying out her family’s domestic services. Lama Tenzin continues to check in on Karuna, ready to fulfill his offer to give her the computer training to truly stand on her feet and live a life of her choosing.
Aarti Mehlwal
At four and a half years old, Aarti Mehwal is a bubbly child living at the CED Society home. She arrived at the CED with her mother, Anandi, under extreme but typical circumstances when she was only 22 days old in 2017. Female children are not often greeted with delight when born, and sadly this was the case for Aarti.
Gender disparity is a legitimate and frightening circumstance many must face, some with dire outcomes. To save Aarti, penniless and without family resources, Anandi left her husband and home, located in a remote village with inaccessible roads and few opportunities on the outskirts of Dehradun. Luckily, someone told her of a kind Buddhist monk who operated a unique home in Dehradun for rescued children from Nepal.
Anandi and Aarti met with Lama Tenzin and shared the circumstances of their situation. Lama Tenzin welcomed the two under one condition; Anandi had to stay at the CED to breastfeed and care for Aarti for 18 months. He also provided Anandi with employment to begin to set aside funds for herself and not be dependent on her husband. At the conclusion of their agreement, Lama Tenzin suggested adopting Aarti to care for her until she was 18 years old. After that, he would continue to provide her with a loving home at the CED, private education, and health care. Both of Aarti’s parents agreed and went to court to legalize the adoption. Now Aarti has many sisters and brothers who shower her with love and attention. In this loving environment, Aarti has blossomed and is quite intelligent. She speaks four languages, including her native dialect, Gharwali, and Hindi, Tibetan, and English. She loves to attend school, sing, and dance and quickly picks up the songs she hears. To date, Aarti is the youngest addition to the CED family.