Introducing the first representatives of the newly founded PestalozziWorld International alumni committee: Gayatri Singh (Indian), Bishnu Thapa (Nepalese), Tenzin Namgyal - known to us as Tennam - (Tibetan), Supak Toppalai (Thai) and Grace Mwenya (Zambian). They will take a leadership role in encouraging and working with the rest of the alumni, and so in completing the circle of success. At the moment the work of PestalozziWorld is carried out either by its staff or by members of Pestalozzi Foundations, who are often alumni of the Pestalozzi International Village in UK. As PestalozziWorld alumni begin to get established in jobs, they are increasingly making a contribution. This committee has been formed in order to provide PestalozziWorld alumni with the opportunity to supplement the work of the Foundations, with which they are already very involved and making excellent contributions. It is also a forum for the alumni to help each other, organise social activities and stay in touch.

1. B
ishnu
grad uat ed
from Harvard with a
BA in Economics, after
which he worked as Junior
Professional Associate for
World Bank Nepal. He is
currently doing a Masters
in Economics and Public
Policy at Woodrow School
of Public and International
Affairs,
Princeton
University.
Bishnu Thapa
NEPALESE ALUMNUS

2. Bishnu became part of PestalozziWorld in 1996 when he
was selected for a scholarship at Budhanilkantha
School in Kathmandu, Nepal.
He secured a further
scholarship from Pestalozzi International Village Trust
(PIVT) for an IB, before moving to the US for higher
studies at Harvard and Princeton.
In 2008, Bishnu spent two months volunteering at the
Pestalozzi Children’s Village Society (PCVS) in Dehradun,
India.
He has been actively involved in US Alumni
Reunions
of
PestalozziWorld,
helping
organise
fundraising events and participating in selecting new
scholars for PestalozziWorld. He is also an Executive
Member and Treasurer of PAHAD, the Nepalese
Foundation of PestalozziWorld alumni.

3. G
ayatr i
is
Pr o ject
Administrator
at
Pestalozzi Children’s Village
Society (PCVS), Dehradun. She
has been in this role since 2007.
She also acts as Housemother
for older PCVS students and
organises extra
curricular
activities for all the students.
Gayatri Singh
INDIAN ALUMNA

4. Between 2004 and 2006 Gayatri taught English and
Science to POCT students at Gurukul Vidya Vinaya
Sabha near Pune, where she also organised summer
camps for the Indian POCT scholars. This was soon
after her graduation from Ranchi Women’s College
with a BSc in Zoology.
During holidays at Dehradun Hills Academy, where she
was a POCT scholar between 1992 and 2000, Gayatri
used to do voluntary work for various orphanages in India.
She is now an active member of Indian Pestalozzi
Students
Trust
(IPST), handling publicity and
fundraising, for which her training in rural development
and IT has come in handy.

5. G
race came into the
PestalozziWorld
family as a scholar at Kasisi
Basic School in Lusaka in
2001 and passed her GCE ‘O’
levels in the first division
from Kasisi Girls Secondary
School in 2007.
Grace Mwenya
ZAMBIAN ALUMNA
After a short course which led to a Certificate in
Introduction to Computers, she started working
for PestalozziWorld Zambia.

6. Grace
began
working for
PestalozziWorld Zambia in the
capacity of Tuckshop Sales Lady
before taking up her current
responsibilities in the organisation
as Metal Workshop Manager and
Alumni Secretary.
These roles require competence in
diverse areas like accounting,
costing,
purchasing,
stocktaking, sales, marketing,
quality
control,
record
maintenance
and
event
management.
Grace has recently started a BA
in Ecomomics at the University
of Lusaka.

7. S
upak is a member of
the PestalozziWorld
Scholarship Selection sub
committee.
She assesses
scholars at the selection stage
and follows up with monitoring
of their performance once
selected. She also gives them
support in a pastoral role.
Supak Toppalai
THAI ALUMNA
Co-ordinating with the institutions at which the
students study, Supak reports to the committee
secretary and makes appropriate recommendations.

8. The picture below shows Supak (seated extreme left)
during one of the many PestalozziWorld events she has
been actively participating in ever since she was selected
to be a PestalozziWorld scholar in 1995.
After her secondary school, she went on to Rajabhat
Mahasarakham University in Thailand from where she
graduated with a BA in English in 2004. She then went
on to work with Samet Island Tour Company Ltd. as
Manager Administrator for a few years, before leaving
for the US to study at the English Institute of
Westchester Community College in New York.
Returning to her home country in 2010, Supak worked
for 3 years with LJ Biz Company in Reservation and
Sales, and is now an Administrator and Accountant at
Nadeara White Perfect Co. Ltd. in Sumuprakarn
Province in Thailand.

9. T
ennam to his friends,
Tenzin Namgyal is
now Senior Analyst in the
Investment
Management
Division of Goldman Sachs,
after a 3 year stint at State
Street Corporation in New
York City as Hedge Fund
Accountant.
Tenzin Namgyal
TIBETAN ALUMNUS

10. Originally from Tibet, Tennam migrated to India in 1992,
and became a PestalozziWorld Scholar soon after at the
Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, India.
After school, Tennam was selected by the Pestalozzi
Children’s Village Trust (PIVT), UK, for a scholarship for
further education. Completing his IB at Hastings College,
UK, he went on to do Business Administration at Berea
College, Kentucky, specialising in Accounting and Finance.
Tennam has been an active member of the PestalozziWorld
Family, helping organise local reunions for alumni who live
in and around New York city. In 2011, he helped organise
a US PestalozziWorld alumni reunion.