170 Orphans Find Home with Tibetan Monk

In April, 2010, an earthquake shook an autonomous region of China called Yushu. More than 15,000 people were missing, injured, or had died after it had passed. After the earthquake, children across Yushu now found themselves orphans, their homes and families torn apart by the earthquake. 33 of these children found themselves in the care of Lama Lobsang, a Tibetan Buddhist monk. He took in the children as a temporary measure, to give them somewhere to stay after their lives had been turned upside-down. And the children just kept coming! He was brought to the attention of the world when the BBC filmed a documentary about him for their series, A Richer World: When Wealth is not Enough . Almost five years later, Lama Lobsang is now the proud "Sang Father" of 170 children. Some of these children have come to Lama Lobsang with their single parents, but most, without any family at all - except for the one that Lama Lobsang has provided for them. The Richer World series focuses on how, even though, the world is apparently getting wealthier. People are living longer, eating better, better educated and fewer are living in poverty. But this only serves to make the gap between the rich and the poor feel as if it is getting wider every day. Lama Lobsang supports his ever-growing family through donations from his followers and his religious lectures. Not only does he education everyone in his care, he looks after their health and mental well-being, as well. "These kids are the future," he explained. "They may be orphans or from single-parent families or from poor families, but I want to give them all a home. "This isn't a school or an orphanage. It is a home. They call me 'Sang Father' and I call them my children."