I recently returned from my second pilgrimage to Bhutan. It was equally as inspiring as my first time there in 2024. We visited many of the same historical and cultural sites as we did two years ago, and added a few new locations. One of the new places we visited was Jabdho Gompa, a simple nunnery located high on a hillside overlooking the beautiful Paro Valley. About 30 nuns, called anis, live there. Half of them are children, all girls, who are orphans ranging in age from 4 to 17.
The young anis are all in school, learning English as one of their subjects. At their teacher’s request, I worked with our pilgrimage coordinator to come up with a plan to bring them age-appropriate books to support their English language learning. We developed a spreadsheet with each girl’s name, age, reading level, and topic of interest. Topics ranged from animals to friendship and nature, with some girls asking for a workbook. My job was to select a specific book for each child, so a member of our group could sign up to purchase and deliver it during our visit. I could see the importance of the workbooks to practice math, handwriting, reading, and other subjects, so I took on the responsibility of purchasing them, then arranged for a few people to help transport the workbooks to the other side of the planet.
The day we arrived, the anis sat together excitedly on the floor, awaiting the book distribution. We all sat around the edges of the room in anticipation. One by one each ani was called to come up and receive her book and workbook. It was heart-opening beyond words to see their enthusiasm and cherishing of the books. Once everyone received theirs, anis paired up with individuals from our group to talk and look at the books. I moved around to drop into the various conversations, and was quite impressed with how many of them already knew letters and sounds of English.
Eventually we shared lunch, played, talked, and danced outside together, took a short hike further up the hillside, sang songs, organized ourselves for a group photo, then prepared to say goodbye. Some of the anis were still carrying around their workbooks, and one had found a pencil and began writing in hers. As the late afternoon sun slid behind the mountains, most of us held the hand of an ani as we walked toward our buses. In a short time, sweet friendships bloomed. No doubt, the books will help the anis become more proficient in English as they grow up in their native Bhutanese culture alongside all the visitors steadily arriving as part of Bhutan’s tourism program. In the end, though, it was each of us who received the most precious gift. What we carried in our hearts as we drove away was the memory of a day filled with pure love and light, offered as a collective expression of loving kindness.