Dickey Orphanage

When people visit the orphanage, all the children are lined up and sing songs such as “You are my sunhsine”, but also traditional Tibetan songs. They are proud to show what they´ve learned and like to express their gratititude towards the visitors.

by Lydia McCallister (Pulaski VA, USA) I’ve decided to call her “Xingfu” for her face has brought me much happiness. I stare at the picture on my desk and wonder what ‘my little girl’ is doing. My visit to the Dickey orphanage three years ago has had the most profound effect on how I have accepted each day since. My travels have taken me far away from home, and Tibet, and yet I am drawn to that smiling face from Lhasa. And, even though I was quite “blown away” by the country and the Potala, it was the orphanage that had the greatest emotional impact on me. The tour group …

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Tashi (14), Dawa Tsering (13), Ngodup Wango (9) and Tenzin Thinley (1) are the children of a Chamdo nomad family. When their father passed away because of poor health and their mother suffered from foot injuries, they donated their land and yaks to a temple and moved to Lhasa. Tashi left the house to look for work. During his absence his mother gave birth to baby Tenzi but passed away shortly after. In January 2007, the children were brought to Dickey’s by Lhasa journalists. They have now left the orphanage and have been reunited with an uncle in the countryside.

The newest arrival at Dickey´s is the five month-old Tenzin Yangdol. In December, when everyone is wrapped up in layers of clothing in a Lhasa of -10°C, the baby was abandoned in a cardboard box on the road to the Sera Monastery. A 82 year old lady heard a crying sound on her way to the monastery. When she turned around she noticed three dogs running around a box. She followed the crying sound and found a baby in the box. She wrapped the baby in her sweatshirt and brought the child to the monastery to warm up. The old lady was not able to keep the child herself. She …

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When Dawa was asked to draw what it feels like to be an orphan, he made this beautiful painting. Dawa Tsering is 14 years old and attends fifth grade. His mother did not survive childbirth and his father died from lung cancer when Dawa was only two years old. He lived with his aunt until the age of nine. His aunt then married and had a child of her own. He has been at Dickey´s from the very start. He is a very responsible young man and therefore became group captain. He loves musical instruments, especially the guitar. He would like to become a famous Tibetan pop singer.

The seventeen month old baby Dhodak was abandoned right after birth. An elderly lady found him at the Potala. The baby was brought to the police station where they transferred him to the hospital with a high fever. They diagnosed pneumonia. When Mama Dadhon watched the evening news and heard this story, she decided to keep the child if no one picked him up from the hospital.

Dhonyoe was abandoned by his parents at the Gampala Pass. Tour guides found the child and one of them tried to raise the boy himself. Because the deaf child was often aggressive, he was tied to a chair. The man could no longer handle the child and when he heard about Dickey´s, he decided to ask them for help. Dhonyou means “meaningful”. Mama Dadhon chose this name hoping that one day the child will be able to speak and hear.