One of the many houses devastated by the recent flooding in Thame, Nepal.

On August 16, 2024, the serene Himalayan village of Thame, birthplace of our kind guru Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, faced an unprecedented calamity. Two Thyanbo glacial lakes burst their banks, unleashing a devastating flood that would forever alter the landscape and lives of its inhabitants. This glacial lake outburst flood struck with fierce intensity at 1:30 p.m., leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The flood’s impact was immediate and severe. many homes crumbled under the torrent’s force, while the village’s elementary school and clinic – pillars of community life – were swept away.

Image of the flooding in Thame.

In the aftermath, the villagers found themselves displaced, their lives upended in mere moments. The disaster buried the settlement under a mountain of debris, leaving no ground for immediate rebuilding.

Yet, amidst this chaos, a miracle unfolded. Remarkably, not a single life was lost. However, while lives were spared, Thame now faces an uncertain future. The river that used to flow peacefully by the village now runs right through it, taking up half the land. The ground is still dangerous, with landslides and cracks appearing. This ongoing instability endangers even those few houses that initially escaped the flood’s wrath, making the future of the entire settlement uncertain.

Thame family at Kopan Monastery, who shared their experience, needs, and concerns following the Thame flood.

Recently Mingma Rita Sherpa and his family came from Thame to make prayers in front of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s kudung (holy body) at Kopan Monastery and we took this opportunity to interview them. Please watch the video of the interview. They explained the immediate needs now and then the longer-term needs, and that they are waiting to understand what will happen and if they can be relocated as well as possible allocated lands. We share below some of the more profound statements from this interview (lightly edited), and we encourage you to watch the full interview to understand the scope of their experience and how we can help.

Describing the experience of the flood: 

“At first, we saw that this flood is not that strong, it’s not so big, we thought we’re safe now, it’s not so much damage in the ‘village, but again, such an unfortunate thing happened, a second flood came, and this flood was much stronger, then the previous ones. … Most of the many houses have been damaged and people were unable to save their belongings, their property and many other things. Because they were so worried, and just trying to save themselves, they ran away. … We never expected these unbelievable things. Then the flood came again and then again, the third time was the strongest, from the top it slowly swept away the village and this was really a tragedy. We could not think, it was just like a dream, we could not believe it.

“People were worried and crying, they are facing so many problems and difficulties. In the location where the Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s stupa is [Thametang Stupa] and the Mani Prayer Wheel [sponsored by Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s sister Anila Ngawang Samten], that side was not affected much by the flood. We believe that it was protected because of this Mani Prayer Wheel, as that area was not affected as much.”

Explaining some of the turmoil, loss, and devastation: 

“All the things have been destroyed within a few minutes, and we were not even able to save our shoes, we just ran away, and many have even left their own shoes and had to run away. … We cannot believe it, or we cannot accept, what to really believe at first. We have been rescued by the local government and we stayed there. Of course, all the people were crying, everyone was crying, and not able to think about what had just happened. Whatever they have owned in their lifetime, everything has gone away, all has been destroyed by floods. … Unbelievable things happened, and of course we cannot imagine this, and we cannot think of this happening, and so we feel so sad, even now just remembering these things.”

Regarding the plans for rebuilding and recovering from this disaster:

“There are four or five lakes. They are not protected. Also now global warming is creating disasters everywhere in the world. … Now the government wants to rebuild Thame, but not at the same places, and they are trying to move to some other areas. Until now they have appointed the area Hungo Tengma which means upper Hungo behind southern Thame, and the government wants to rebuild Thame on the other side. That decision is not really fixed, but they are trying to rebuild Thame, but I don’t know if they will do or not. And also, ourselves we are not going to build at the moment because the route from Namche to Thame is not quiet [stable].

In Thame, half of the people are farmers, they have yaks and naaks [female yaks], and others have many other cattle. If we move to Zarog that’s too far to get cattle and that’s why some people are saying it’s a bad idea, and the best idea is upper Hungo, which is nearby, 15 minutes from Thame. But there is a problem with the drinking water. There’s no drinking water, that’s a problem, but otherwise the landscape is good really.”

A plea to take global warming and the protection of our environment seriously: 

 “In my opinion that we know, everybody in the world knows, that [the issue is] global warming, climate change, it continues to get warmer and warmer. Even in the winter we didn’t get any snow this winter, not only this winter, the last two years we didn’t get any snow in the winter. And in summer there was a lot of rain, and sometimes so hot, sometimes too much rain, and that means we are feeling the climate change. … I want to request everywhere in the world, everybody has to protect the environment. There are many, many factories, much smoke [pollution], and the countries who are strong, they create a lot of pollution. And even in our country we have to protect the environment, we have to plant more trees, and we have to protect cultures, also our culture’s environment. That’s why we also we have to protect our natural culture like Dharma and the language. … I think everybody, we all have to protect the environment.”

Insight into needs at this time:

“So now even material things, these things will not work there because the land is totally unstable, kind of unusable. If we could have [support] or some support with the money, with cash, we think that this is the best support now, and with that money we can have some other place.  At the moment the highest priority is having money, rather than material things, trying to support to rebuild our house, all this is not working. If someone helps with cash, that is most useful for us.”

Extracted and edited for reading from an interview at Kopan Monastery, September 2024. A rough transcript of the full interview is also available. Watch the full interview with Mingma Rita Sherpa and his family:

How to Help

In response to this crisis, the Thame Support Fund has been established to provide essential aid to the residents of Thame and support their future needs. The fund will be administered through Kopan’s Helping Hands, who will work directly with the community to assess and address their needs. Please consider offering support at this most critical time.

We will provide updates on the needs and how the funds are distributed. We are sincerely requesting everyone to hold the Thame families in their hearts, as they have lost everything, including their livelihoods, homes, and land. They need our help: https://fpmt.org/support/socialservices/thame/

Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.