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My name is Thomas and I'm an English language teacher from the UK. Back in 2008, I started doing voluntary work teaching at Shar Gaden Monastery during my holidays. The monastery needed more help, though, so I quit my paid job in 2012 and went full time at the monastery.
My work at the monastery has expanded over time. At first, I was just giving a few simple English language classes, but now I teach English, Maths and Social studies to the young monks in the monastery school, as well as private English classes to some other monks. These lessons supplement their religious studies. My hope is to help prepare the new generation of monks for the modern world, so that they can put their deep understanding of Buddhism to good use and be of great benefit to others. In private lessons, I help older monks acquire life skills that they may have missed out on in their younger years, such as filling in forms, understanding signs when travelling, etc.
As well as teaching, I also bring valuable knowledge to the monastery. For example, for the last 2 years I have been taking one of my students for surgery and speech therapy to correct a cleft palate, a procedure that should have been done when he was much younger, had anyone known it was possible. The monks are not well connected with the outside world, which allows them to focus more deeply on their study of Buddhist philosophy, so they are often unaware of developments in fields such as medicine, technology and science. It can, therefore, but a great help to have someone here who has a little knowledge of these things.
In order to stay on at Shar Gaden and continue my work here, I need to raise funds to cover the cost of my visa, flights to and from the UK, and general living expenses in India. So far, I've been able to accomplish all this on around £2000 per year. This has covered those big outgoings and my living expenses, as well as those unforseen extras, such as helping the monk with the cleft palate.
Despite living in a Buddhist environment, I feel it's very important for me to maintain a connection with my own sangha in the West, so this year I'm also asking for donations to help me attend the NKT Summer Festival. The extra £500 is for help with this.
Please help me to continue my work at Shar Gaden Monastery, and to continue my own spiritual education this summer. I pray that my work at the monastery will bring benefit to future generations all around the world, contributing to the development of world peace.
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