Lama Tenzin Dorjie, born in Apram (Zanskhar) in 1939, first came to Rangdum as a sixteen-year-old monk, and eventually ended up running the monastery for many years, pursuing his studies until he became Kempo (abbot). Due to his health problems, he can no longer reach the 4000-meter high Rangdum, but the school remains constantly in his thoughts.

I have always believed in the power of knowledge… Here, everyone was illiterate, but I have seen other places where children go to school, where their minds aren’t closed and limited…

Thanks to education, those children are sharp, brilliant, intelligent… Rangdum’s children too should have the opportunity to open their minds, to grow and better their living conditions, to develop their intelligence.

That’s why the school is important, so that our children can face the world with their heads held high! So that they can leave this place and learn new things, and when they return, they will bring new knowledge to Rangdum: the more the children learn, the more than can better Rangdum’s conditions!

I have fought hard to open the school, to organize it, to convince parents to send their children to school…a school for everyone, not just a religious one…and now I am content.”