Our donors are more than welcome to meet their adoptees in person!
Over the years, many donors have managed to realise this dream: below are some photos of their meetings and some beautiful written testimonies.
These meetings are always a very special moment full of joy and emotion — and also perhaps some shyness — for the adopted children, their families, and also for the donors. As one of them writes, “The direct contact has created a more real, more humanly tangible connection, so that I now often address to him a thought, a smile, a movement of the heart…”
Loredana: the first thing that came to my mind when I met the monks was I can’t not help them. They have a look so full of love. I started drawing and colouring with them and it was an unforgettable moment.
Loredana (Padova, Italy) with Rabgye
With Sangmo it’s special… The first time I met her I accompanied her to her village in Tatopani… a very long 10-hour journey. Her well-being is a priority for us… she is our second daughter after Emmasofia!!!
Matteo and Loredana (Padova, Italy) with Sangmo
MY LONG-DISTANCE ADOPTION EXPERIENCE WITH HELP IN ACTION
I met him! During the Peace Pilgrimage 2023 I met Rajiv: 10 years old, with a gentle face, dark eyes and a shy smile. He’s in class 4, studying in English but still unable to speak it, so communication was mediated by a kind teacher. Not the best for spontaneity for either of us: yet the emotion was great. For years, I had been thinking about the possibility of supporting a child in his or her place of birth, but with the doubts that often arise. It was crucial in my decision to get to know the Lama Gangchen Help in Action Foundation and the ‘long-distance adoption’ project, for the certainty that everything would directly benefit a child.
Choosing a long-distance adoption, for me, was a logical process: I have always felt it normal that those who have had it easier in life — the possibility of studying and choosing their own path — include, among the aims of existence, sharing with those who experience more difficult situations.
Minou
Chronicle of a special encounter
Elkana Waarsenburg-Hoenders is one of the supporters of the Lama Gangchen Help in Action ‘Long-Distance Adoption’ project. In February 2023 – during a pilgrimage with Lama Michel to Nepal – a special meeting with Bibina Tamang, who is supported by Elkana, took place in Kathmandu. She wrote the following account of this moving meeting.
On February 24, 2023, the annual school performance was held at the Gangchen Samling School as a thanks for all the help they receive. An important moment in the year for the children that they look forward to. Each class has prepared an act. The giggles and the nerves of the children can be heard and felt in the audience. They are eager to perform their piece.
Half an hour before the performance, the organisation of Help In Action takes me aside to meet Bibina. For several years I am her financial sponsor; I have already received her photos and letters in personally addressed letters from HIA, but this is the first time that I will actually meet her!
I am very curious and see that a beautiful girl is approaching me. She gives me a huge smile. A bit shy at first, she speaks perfect English with me. The small amount of discomfort felt at first, melts like snow in the Nepalese sun once we start talking. When I ask how she is doing and what she enjoys most at school, she tells me without taking a breath: she loves playing football, playing the guitar, singing and dancing.
Bibina, who recently turned 15 years old, used to live in a small mountain village, far away from the city. Her parents had no financial resources to send her and her sister, who is a few years younger, to school. Together they moved to Kathmandu a few years ago, they now live with another family. Although it is hard to see their parents so little, they have seized the opportunity to go to school with both hands. It strikes me that during our conversation she suddenly puts her arms around my waist so disarmingly, lays her head against me and looks into my eyes so seriously and honestly and says: ‘I really don’t understand why you are helping me, but thank you, thank you. I can go to school now, I have an education, my future has changed completely due to your support, thank you, thank you…’
I am moved by her faith and gratitude. That my annual contribution of 240 euros can be so life changing. For me an amount that can be spent on, for example, a weekend away, for her it makes a difference between a life without education or a life with education and therefore many more future prospects! When her moment to perform arrives, I see a young woman dancing and singing on stage with confidence, enthusiasm and devotion. She regularly looks at me and I at her and we both say to each other from the depths of our hearts: Thank you….
