Greetings,
My name is Lhakpa Dolma Lama and I was born in one of the most remote areas in the Northern Himalayas in Nepal (Lho, Nubri) where there is not any infrastructure to be found, such as running water, schools, health centres, and transportation. I have seen many children die of easily curable diseases such as the common cold and diarrhoea, including my two older sisters. Due to this I have the dream of studying nursing so that I can go back to my birthplace and provide medical services there. This way I can save many lives in my community and make a real difference where it is desperately needed.

I have two older sisters and my mother in my family. My mother is a subsistence farmer. My father passed away in 2008. I have not much support from my family, since they themselves are struggling to survive. I am the only the member from my family who has received the opportunity to attend school. So my family has put all of their hope in me; an incredible responsibility, as you can imagine.

I had a sponsor till class ten at Shree Mangal Dvip School (SMD) School in Kathmandu, Nepal and moreover the school provided everything for me. After that I got a full scholarship at Ivanhoe Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia for my year 11 and 12. I will finish year 12 in a few months. In order to be able to further my studies I have to find a way to university by myself, a daunting task. I really want to study further and cannot even imagine not being able to go to university because I know what can happen to me if I don’t have a proper education. So the money I will raise from this site will be used for my university application fee, visa process, and university fee. I will be of course doing some part time job when I go to university, but I know that income won’t be sufficient without the help from kind and generous people like all of you.

Whenever I don’t feel like studying I think about my sponsors, I think about who helped me, whoever has put so much hope in me and cares about me very much. More importantly I think about my village where many children are not getting education like I have. They encourage me to move forward in life during times of difficulty when I feel like giving up. They have helped me and I have been doing well in my studies as well as my leadership activities.

When I was in Nepal I was the top student in the class and also in a national exam I was the top in the class. Here, in Melbourne also I am in the top ten even if I am against students who are native speakers, while English is my fourth language. Besides academics, I also participated in many leadership activities. I was school captain and sports captain in Nepal. I was leader of the Eco club and executive member of student council in SMD School. Here, at Ivanhoe Grammar School I am also one of the school prefects and I am a member of the international student council. I was also Elicos mentor in 2012. Furthermore, I actively participate in sports. I played in my school's first soccer team in 2012, in girl’s first team in badminton in 2012, and 2013 and now in girl’s second team in basketball. I am really fond of sports as well as school.

Please help me to accomplish my goals and I will make sure that all of your kindness and assistance is not wasted. Every little bit helps and will be greatly appreciated. Bless you all.