When Amy Butler signed up to travel to Tibet this summer, she was signing up to help teach the children of nomadic Tibetan families to read and write. But then disaster struck: a 7.1 magnitude earthquake ravaged the Tibetan city of Jyekundo on April 13.
“That region was totally devastated by the earthquake,” said Butler, a 1992 Cazenovia graduate now living and teaching in Plainfield, Vt. The Munsel school, where she was planning on teaching, was completely destroyed by the quake — more than 30 children at the school were orphaned, more than 200,000 people are living in tents, and residents are still trying to get running water.
“Because of the destruction, they’re not allowing any foreigners into the city right yet,” Butler said. “We’re unsure of when we’re going to be able to leave.”
When the earthquake struck, the emphasis changed from education to relief. There is a June 28 fundraiser concert planned for a local Montpelier cafe.
Butler was originally brought into the fold by Tonja Gilmore, a coworker who had been to Tibet three times and plans to adopt one of the children from the school, a little girl who was injured in the earthquake but has since recovered.
“She started sharing her stories,” Butler said. “I asked her, ‘Would you be willing to take anybody with you and could I go with you?'”
The students, children of nomadic yak herders outside the city, learned reading and writing in both Chinese and Tibetan.
“The nomadic families are seeing a really drastic, drastic change in their ability to sustain their lifestyle as herders, largely because of climate change their pastures aren’t the same anymore, the grass isn’t growing back the same, the weather patterns are changing,” Butler said.
The adults in these families do not know how to read and write, and realized the importance of teaching future generations.
“They want them to be able to have those skills because they know that their nomadic lifestyle isn’t going to be able to continue,” Butler said.
Many students stayed at the school, where they attended classes from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The school was founded on the charity of others.
“It was totally built over the last four years, all on donations,” said Butler. “People from all over the world have been funding this small school.”
Butler has been preparing since September for her trip, which will still hopefully take place in July.
Since the earthquake, many of the children have gone back to live with their families, and Butler now hopes to spend some time in the surrounding villages as well as helping out in the cities.
“A lot of my work will be to look at their traditions,” Butler said, and to document them. “Also, playing with the kids — because that’s really what I do best.”
Butler hopes that people from Cazenovia might be able to help.
“Cazenovia was such a great place to grow up,” Butler said. “I wanted to tap into that resource there I thought a lot of people would be able to reach out and help.”
Donations to the school can be made at the school’s website, munselschool.org.
