John Peet's visit to the home in March 2008

John writes: I had visited the Noe Tibetan Children’s Home four years ago, so I knew that Pema’s smiling face would be amongst the waiting crowds at Dehradun Railway Station. The train was an hour late but we were soon heading west past the Military Academy along the bumpy road to Herbertpur.

It was great to be back and, whilst Mr Mega and two of the girls prepared supper, Pema and I caught up with news. It was a real tonic to talk with her again – she is so positive about life and has such an impressively deep trust in God. Although Mr Mega had got over his bad car accident, he wasn’t yet driving again. But this hadn’t diminished his culinary skills - a delicious curry was soon served up with an enormous glass of his army rationed rum.

To see photos of my visit, follow this link.

Herbertpur gets cold at night in early March so I was glad of an extra blanket. By the time I arose next morning, Pema was already up and planning the day. As we were breakfasting, the infants were arriving for their school which occupies part of the ground floor of the Children’s home.

We headed to Pema’s school on the bus with the older children. Against the backdrop of Himalayan foothills, the children were lining up for an outdoor assembly under the hot sun. Then, a series of long hessian mats were rolled out across the hard baked earth of the compound. It was exam day. The children involved sat down with a clipboard as desk, one behind the other, cross legged in serried ranks as the exam papers were handed out.

By our standards, the school’s facilities and equipment are basic. [Note that the UK charity supports the Home but not the school.] I was proudly shown the computer room by a couple of the boys. Last time I was invited to take a mathematics class for 15 minutes and on this visit I was relieved to be told we must leave soon for our day trip.

We were off to Hardiwar, a famous Hindu place of pilgrimage on the sacred river Ganges. It was a very hot day and a long journey but well worth the visit. It was wonderful to be given such an opportunity to see more of north India, and particularly generous since it involved the hire of a car and driver.

Sadly, I was only able to spend two nights with Pema and the children, as I was en route to Nepal with a tight itinerary. That evening I was treated to a concert of singing and evocative dancing by the Noe Tibetan children to the accompaniment of a rather croaky cassette player. There’s something quite engaging about the children’s smiles, with every indication that they were happy and thriving under Pema and Mr Mega’s loving care. So it was with a tear in the eye that I said farewell and climbed into the car the next morning, with the kids waving goodbye from their first floor balcony, and Pema’s infectious smile etched in my memory.

** The trustees would like to thank John for his excellent presentation about his visit at the sponsors' meeting in London in September.