OUR STORY
At Compassionate Beings, we have a large lens and big plans. We would love to ease suffering worldwide, but we have to start somewhere, and that somewhere is a place very close to our hearts – Bhutan.
We are looking for fellow compassionate beings to help in this worthy cause. Right now our energy is focused on one monastic school in particular, Dechenphodrang, in Thimphu, and the 300+ monks living and studying there.
The sad truth is, because these young monks rely on the slim donations received by the monastic school they are under-nourished and have very poor hygiene. Many of the young boys are orphans, or have been sent to the school because their family can’t afford to take care of them. These heart-warming little guys deserve a better life.
We’d love your help, and there are many ways you can get involved. Even the simple gift of a toothbrush, a healthy meal, or a bar of soap can go a long way. Learn more about our donation projects here.
THERE’S A STORY BEHIND THIS PROJECT. READ ON TO LEARN WHY OUR HEARTS ARE CONNECTED TO THIS PARTICULAR MONASTERY …
“LOVE AND COMPASSION ARE NECESSITIES, NOT LUXURIES. WITHOUT THEM HUMANITY CANNOT SURVIVE.”
DALAI LAMA
MEET VERDELL JESSUP
MEET VERDELL JESSUP
– Founder of Compassionate Beings
I arrived in Bhutan in February of 2006 with a heavy heart and a sense of adventure. Looking back, I realize when I left Canada I was fleeing in so many ways – I had recently lost my mom to ALS, which sparked a strong desire to make a big change in my life, my lifestyle, and in my overall direction. “Where can I run to?” was the question on my mind at that time. I knew I wanted to volunteer somewhere. Somewhere where nobody knew me, and where I could let my guard down knowing that I wasn’t going to be asked how I was dealing with my mom’s death. I wanted a clean slate.
Out of all my options, Bhutan called out to me for two reasons. To begin with, I have always been drawn to Buddhist countries, especially after a year spent
volunteering with a HEALTH Inc. NGO in Ladakh, India. The other reason sprang from my time studying and teaching adventure tourism: I had become very interested in the tourism model Bhutan had set up in the early 70’s – a tariff-based system adopted to protect cultural heritage and the country’s natural environment by allowing fewer tourists in at a higher cost.
And so, with a bit of help, I was granted a volunteer visa and found myself in Bhutan. I had no idea what to expect, and definitely no idea that what was about to happen was exactly what I needed.
It all started one night in the capital of Thimphu a few weeks into my stay – I was meeting up with a group of fellow volunteers, artists and mountain bikers whom most were Bhutanese for a potluck dinner and at one point my new friend Choing stood up and said “I need help. Who wants to help me volunteer to teach English?” And so I put my hand up, intrigued, and asked “Who are you teaching? Who do you need help with?” and as soon as she answered “monks”, “young monks”, I couldn’t contain my excitement.
The next thing I knew I was in the middle of a crowded room in a Buddhist monastery standing in front of 50 red-robed youngsters without the slightest idea of what I was doing.
One of the first things I noticed when I started teaching the young guys was their poor living conditions. They were often sick, many had respiratory infections and skin conditions, and they lived day-to-day without proper sanitation. It seemed to me that there wasn’t anybody there teaching them about hygiene, because they didn’t own a toothbrush, toothpaste or a bar of soap. There was no emphasis on the value of being clean. So I went out and got a bunch of toothbrushes and began teaching them how to brush their teeth, and then how to wash their hands, etc.
I spent the next 18 months with the monks, riding my bike out to Dechen Phodrang monastery twice a week to visit my new little friends. When we weren’t in English class or “hygiene class” I would bring books to read them stories, and soccer balls and vitamins, and I even went as far as teaching them ultimate frisbee if you can believe it! (Red-robed little guys playing ultimate = priceless.)
These little monks captured my heart at a time when I thought my heart possibly had a void in it. I think part of the reason I connected with them so deeply is because I had just lost my mom, and in many ways they had also lost their moms when they entered into the monastery.
They provided me with so much, and I was honoured to be apart of, or even witness, so many situations where they taught me what love, compassion, and selflessness really mean. (If you want to read stories about my time in Bhutan, click here for access to my journal entries.)
The monastic school relies on donations, and limited funding means the monks are malnourished and don’t have access to medical treatment. Not to mention the feelings of abandonment many of them deal with as a result of being orphaned and sent to the monastery, or having been sent because their family simply couldn’t afford to take care of them. These youngsters had to learn to become self-regulators early-on because there isn’t anybody there to pick them up when they fall down, or to wipe a tear when a tear is shed.
Since coming back from Bhutan I have become certified as a Somatic Experiencing practitioner which is based in trauma resolution, so I now look back on my experience in Bhutan with a new lens. A lens with elements of attachment theory, nutrition, and how the nervous system stores past experiences.
Now it’s time for me to give back to the monks who gave so much to me. And I want to do it in a big way. Eventually I want to provide help to ALL the monastic schools in Bhutan, but right now the focus is on Dechen Phodrang Monastic School and improving the lives of the 300+ monks who live there. Donation projects are now in place to raise money towards proper sanitation, nutrition, and hygiene.
