The Shepherdess of the Glaciers

BIO-DATA-Stanzin Dorjai- Gya

My background and experiences.

I would first like to introduce my place of origin as I live in a very small village in a very remote part of India and I presume you may not have heard much about it.
Ladakh, my place of origin, is a vast Trans-Himalayan mountain desert in the northernmost part of India. It is the third region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. People in Ladakh are mostly tribals and live in small villages and towns at altitudes ranging from 10,000 ft to 14,000 ft above sea level. Winter temperatures here go down to –30 degrees Celsius. Due to heavy snowfall all passes leading to the outside world close during the winter and hence the region remains cut off from the rest of the world for six months. In terms of area, it is the largest region in J&K measuring around 49,000 square kilometres, but with a small and scattered population of only 250,000 people. Ladakh has two districts - Leh, with a predominantly Buddhist population and Kargil with a predominantly Muslim population, and is surrounded by China in the east and Pakistan in the west.

Ladakh was once an independent kingdom like its other sisters in the Himalayas such as Baltistan, Tibet, Bhutan and Sikkim. However it lost its independence after an invasion from the Dogra kings of Jammu in the 1830s. It first became a part of the Dogra Empire, and then in 1947, a part of India, as a district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Ladakh attained autonomy and democratic self-governance, with the formation of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC, often called the ‘Hill Council’) in Leh district in 1995 and in Kargil district in 2003. LAHDC is a mini parliament for the Ladakhis that has 30 members and has decision making powers on most development issues.

Educational Background

I did my schooling from my village - Gya, a small village, about 70 kms from the township of Leh. I was there till the 8th standard, where it was quite untouched by the wings of modern facilities of education. The area it self was rather backward and good education was not a focus at all. During my childhood, SCF ( save the children founds ) and LNP ( leh nutrition projects ) help the village to give education of the childrens and I was one of the beneficiary of this project. I came to the city later, where I joined the higher secondary school at Leh. During that period of time, I came to know a little bit about the values and importance of education in one’s life. Having remembered my past schooling in my village in such difficult circumstances, it generated in me a sense of responsibility towards my village children who are still stuck in the same difficult schooling situation.

After this, I joined an NGO, named SECMOL (Student's Educational & Cultural Movement of Ladakh). SECMOL was formed in 1988 by a small group of young people most of whom had just returned from their higher studies. Being victims of the education system themselves, their main motivation was to do something that would prevent other Ladakhi students from suffering the same traumatic schooling as they had.

At SECMOL, I was supported academically and slowly also gained the confidence to interact with the outside world – I learnt to speak English and got oriented to social and development issues of the region. This helped me complete my Graduation, I graduated in the Bachelors of Arts from Jammu University.

I want to also contribute to the development of the village – I feel my education should be given back to the village where I come from. A group of us form our village have started a small committee for village development. We are beginning to set up a library to encourage reading habits in children. We will also try to provide other services so that village children need not be up rooted from their homes in search of good education.