Rinpoche wrote this piece for the Huffington Post, where he is chronicling the relief efforts in Nepal. Please visit that site to read the complete article.

When I was in Asia in April, I was inspired to start an educational foundation. I founded a school in Nepal 25 years ago, the Trungram International Academy, which teaches over 400 students a year, and I wanted to extend that opportunity to more children. I spoke to some people about becoming founders of this new enterprise, and returned to the US.

Then the first earthquake hit Nepal.

Immediately in its aftermath, I started Buddhist Relief Services. There was no time to find founding donors. This was an emergency and support came from the heart. Volunteers joined from across the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan and, of course, Nepal. We bought and distributed food. We gathered medicine and medical personnel from around Asia and helped them reach remote areas that other aid wasn’t reaching. We are working on shelter for people whose homes are buried under the mountainside. And now we are thinking about the orphans. READ MORE