A Day in the Life: Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community

A children's community in the Himalayas Under the guidance of Lobsang Phuntsok Building a path to a loving world. Jhamtse Gatsal Children’s Community was founded by a former monk, Gen Lobsang Phuntsok la.

Jhamtse Gatsal is a loving home and learning community for orphaned, abandoned and at-risk children between the age of toddler to young adult. The children come from diverse backgrounds of trauma, adversity and poverty. The children belong to the Monpa tribe of Arunachal Pradesh in northeast India, which has its socio-cultural roots in Tibet. Our children lack the most basic familial care, which is the foundation for healthy child development.

We try to take children as young as possible to minimize the impact of adverse childhood trauma; however, such choices are not always permissible because poor healthcare, lack of good infrastructure and social problems, like alcoholism, high pregnancy rate and child abuse, create an extensive need for nurturing care in our remote Himalayan region.

Given our children’s challenging start in their early years, providing a safe and loving home for them is our foremost responsibility. Without this essential foundation of belonging, trusted relationships and steadfast, lifelong, familial commitment, no learning or healthy development is truly possible.

Within this caring and growth environment, we provide meaningful learning experiences from PreK-12 in academics and sustainable life skills to enable our children, who are first-generation learners, to become competent and contributing members of society.

Our mission is to help children from diverse backgrounds of adversity from the remote villages of the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, India and be a model community for the region and the world. Our sponsorship program is at the heart and soul of Jhamtse Gatsal.