WHO WE ARE
OUR FOUNDER
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Sakya Academy was founded by His Holiness Gyana Vajra Sakya Rinpoche, the 43rd Sakya Trizin. He is the younger son of His Holiness Gongma Trichen Rinpoche, Supreme Head of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism.
His Holiness Gyana Vajra Rinpoche belongs to the new generation of eminent exponents of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and has been giving initiations and teachings worldwide for three decades, both alongside His Holiness Sakya Gongma Trichen Rinpoche and in a personal capacity.
His Holiness currently resides at Sakya Academy, along with his wife, Her Eminence Sonam Palkyi Sakya, and their three young children, Khöndung Dungsey Siddharth Vajra Rinpoche, Khöndung Dungsey Siddhant Vajra Rinpoche and Jetsunma Ngawang Tsejin Lhamo Sakya. His Holiness and Her Eminence look to the students as if they were their own children, and personally oversee every aspect of their upbringing, with concentrated focus on their physical and emotional wellbeing and their spiritual and educational development.
OUR DIRECTOR
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Born in Switzerland to Tibetan parents, Her Eminence Dagmo Sonam Palkyi Sakya belongs to a noble Lama lineage family that has produced several highly realised masters.
Her Eminence was married to His Holiness Gyana Vajra Rinpoche in 2008. They currently live with their three children at Sakya Academy, and serve as surrogate parents to the school's young students.
As His Holiness has many teaching commitments abroad, Her Eminence has taken on the responsibility of managing the school, dedicating all her time and energy to ensuring that the children's needs are seen to.
OUR STAFF.
Sakya Academy is blessed with an enthusiastic team of resident teachers who fervently believe in the school's mission and who go far beyond the call of duty to make it a reality. Their free time, including evenings and weekends, is readily offered up whenever the need arises. In spite of a demanding schedule and a regime of hard work, joy and laughter reign in the teachers' quarters.
The children's "home life" takes place in their hostel, where they are looked after by a Warden, and where they do their homework and learn their Buddhist scriptures, have their games, socialise, eat and sleep.
Behind the scenes are the nurse, cooks, cleaners and maintenance staff members, without whose participation precious learning could not take place.
OUR STUDENTS
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In their overwhelming majority, our students originate from empoverished families in remote villages of India and Nepal, whose living circumstances are well below poverty level, alarmingly lacking in terms of employment, health, education, and housing.
Some of the older children have been with us for some time and were, until joining Sakya Academy, young monks at Sakya Centre, His Holiness Sakya Gongma Trichen Rinpoche's main monastery in Dehradun. A fresh batch of children was brought to the school from their villages in the autumn of 2015, those from Nepal finding safety from the harrowing conditions created by the cataclysmic earthquake that struck the country in April of that year.
Since then, fresh groups of KG students have joined the school every year. Each one of these children has been given the extraordinary opportunity to grow up in a caring environment where all their basic needs are catered to and, most importantly, where they can develop into educated, caring and responsible human beings.
This year, 2024, our senior boys will be graduating from secondary school. With our support, the next stage will be for them to discover how to best pursue their career of choice. This may entail further study, whether academic or vocational, or entering into employment training. Whatever they choose, doors are now wide open for them to follow their dreams.