Khenpo Gawang went to Tibet in 2004 with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and a group of his students from Shambhala International to visit Surmang and Golok. Because he was close, Khenpo Gawang went to the area where his family came from to visit. While he was there people asked him to build a school for the local children since most do not have an education. Without an education, it is very difficult to go to town to buy or sell goods.

At that time he was not able to see a way to build a school but he made the strong aspiration saying, "I will build a school for these children." He came back to the USA and talked to Sakyong Mipham RInpoche who also thought it was a good idea but said that timing was very important. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche said in the future you will do this. Then in January 2006 a local village leader, Gyasen, called Lopon Tsewang and asked what was happening with the school idea he had suggested to Khenpo Gawang on his visit to Tibet. Lopon Tsewang was teaching in Taiwan and called Khenpo Gawang on retreat in Memphis, TN with the message. They began to talk about the possibility of establishing a school. First they thought maybe $25,000 or $50,000 would build a school and that seemed possible. But they both knew they needed much more information to make a realistic plan.

Lopon Tsewang was planning a visit to his ancestral home in July 2006 and both thought it was a good time to see if a school was really possible. In May 2006 the two met in New Delhi and discussed school plans before Lopon Tsewang left on the trip. It was decided he would take photos and ask questions and then they would see if building a school was really possible. When Lopon Tsewang arrived at his families' village he quickly realized that they needed to decide if they were going to try to build the school. It was not going to be possible to do research without everyone knowing what he was doing. He went into town and called Khenpo Gawang saying, "We have to decide." Khenpo Gawang said, "Yes, I think it is possible, talk to people".

The Khenpo requested his secretary, Candia Ludy, to begin preparations for a fund raising campaign and develop a team to support the project. Together they created a website, fund raising materials and started to travel in the USA teaching and asking for project help.

Early 2007 came news that children who were educated in private schools would not be elegible to attend universities or higher education institutions. Additional obstacles arose to building at the villages. Ater looking carefully at all the options a pilot project was developed.

With a $10,000 grant, 15 children ages 7-13 were enrolled in public school in Jyekundo. A two story house within walking distance of the school was rented. The children arrived on Sunday August 12 from the villages along with family members who came to help get the home ready and the children settled in to the new place. Two adults, Nawang Kunga and Tarden, were hired to care for the children. After allowing the children to become familiar with the home, school and city, a teacher, Tsetso,was hired to come after school to assist the children with homework and any special needs. The grant covered setting up the boarding home, school fees, uniforms, food, rent and utilities for one year and the staff for 6 month. The village children would be with other Tibetan children. In this local school Tibetan is the primary language of instruction with Chinese taught as a second language.

In October 2007, Khenpo Gawang when to Tibet to see what the real possibilities were for the project. He stayed at the Munsel School home and met with many people even making a trip to the villages. Along with Lopon Tsewang and Ngawang Kunga, the school manager, Khenpo Gawang started to look for a more secure place to start a permanent Munsel School. Days were spent walking and driving around the area close to the primary and secondary schools asking, looking, talking and finally bargining for a very suitable place. A small piece of land with simple traditonal buildings that had housed three families was found just a five minute walk from both public schools and purchased for $32,000..

November 2007 everyone moves to the new Munsel School and the children settle in to the routiine of eating, school, studying and sleep ing. Dec. 17, 2007 - First semester testing results: Sonam Sangmo places second of 800 students and Dyidub places first of 400 students. All children pass and 13 of 15 with A average. Jan. 16, 2008 - All students returned safely from a one month vacation at home. They started a month of Munsel Home schooling with 4 hours a day study with the Munsel teacher and additional homework. Public school has a two month winter break during Dec. and Jan. The children are happy, heathy and glad to be back studying. The pilot project was declared a success.

July 2008, twenty more students are brought to Jyekundo by their parents and start to settle into a life in the city. Being in Jyekundo becomes easier for the children as more and more of their extended family members move to the city. A new dining room was built for the chidren along with fixing the water supply and building a greenhouse. Now each evening two classes are held for the first and second year students. At the end of the first semester, ten children were selected from the Munsel kids participate in an all city educational competition.

Feb. 26, 2009 theyreturned from the winter vacation to continue studying, eating, playing and sleeping at the Munsel School.

June 2009 - mid-August 2009 - Summer Vacation

August 15, 2009 to date - All children are back in school. This is a recent picture taken when Tonja, one of Munsel Foundation's volunteer staff members, visited our projects.

April 14, 2010 - Earthquake destroys the town of Jyekundo. The Munsel School building was destroyed. Five of our children died in the earthquake. We are helping the staff and children who survived. Presently our long term plans are to keep educating the surviving children. How we will do this is yet to be determined.