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Archive for November, 2009
Last Saturday I got up at 5:30 am in time to see the sunrise. The Tibetan Hope Center, where I volunteer for a one & a half hour English conversation group each day, had invited all the students, volunteers & board for a one day hike. It seemed like the right length of hike to me, so I immediately signed up.
We met in the town square at 6:30, & the 24 of us went by taxi to Dharamkot, where the hike began. The weather was beautiful, & the hike took us slowly uphill on a trail used by donkeys & people. The trail was rocky & steep in places. I spoke with different Tibetans as we walked along, & it was interesting to talk about their personal experiences & Tibetan & world politics. This made the walk more interesting.
The Tibetans were concerned about me, & offered to carry my pack. I let one very nice young man carry my 2 litre water bottle. We stopped at a teahouse part way up with walking sticks for sale, & they asked me if I wanted a stick. I said no, I was fine, but when we left the teahouse, I was presented with a lovely, tall walking stick.
I managed to keep up with the Tibetans & the two young volunteers more or less, although they were younger & the Tibetans were more used to walking in the mountains as nomads & during their escape from Tibet. They seemed surprised that a 60 year old was so fit, as many Tibetans are considered old by this age.
We reached a beautiful plateau after 2 hours of steep climbing. We stayed there for a long time, playing Tibetan card games, soccer with a stuffed potato chip bag & eating a lunch of vege & non-vege momos, chips, cookies & chai.
I was a little concerned about the trip down the mountain as my legs were tired after the morning hike. But we all made it safely to the bottom just before sunset. The taxis didn’t arrive, so we walked back to McLeod Ganj, about a half hour walk. I arrived back at the Kirti Monastery Guesthouse where Ellen was awaiting me, at 6:30 pm.
A very memorable day…
Our rich & busy life here in McLeod Ganj continues on. Two weeks of volunteering have gone by quickly, only three more to go, sadly. We’re already talking about coming back to teach at ‘our’ center for two months at a later date.
But today’s blog is a short note about home, based on a beautiful email I received from my brother Johnny about our mother:
He is a new grandfather; his daughter had a baby boy in mid September, so that makes me a great aunt! Johnny’s daughter, partner & baby visited him on the Sunshine Coast of BC last weekend & he took them to visit our mother. The idea was to introduce her to her great grandson.
As many of you know, our mother has severe Alzheimer’s. Johnny wrote me that after about an hour she began to make the connections about her granddaughter, great grandson etc. were. Lately that it takes her longer to tune in to us, but she always seems to get there. Then my brother placed the baby in mom’s arms & helped her hold him. He said that she instantly ‘clicked into mother/grandmother mode’. It was a very touching sight to see.
It was heartwarming for me to get this email, & I think it’s another important reminder to all of us not to underestimate our elders who have dementia.
Each weekday evening from 4:30 to about 6:30, we lead english conversational groups of 3 to 5 Tibetan students at the Tibetan Hope Center (tibethopecenter.org). It’s a key part of the center’s program of learning english and adapting to life in India. The male students outnumber the female by about 5 to 1, and one third to half of the men are monks.
Each and every student is highly motivated and appreciative of everything we do. We’ve learned so much about the strong, courageous, resilient and humorous character of these young Tibetans. An Israel volunteer who was honored last evening for her 7 weeks of work, said she feels she received far more than she gave, and that’s exactly the way Don and I feel also.
After an hour of small group conversation, usually focusing on varied topics such as budhism, love, life, importance of smiling, Tibetan New Year, we come into one large circle and a bonfire is lit. Then one person from each group reports on their topic.
We’re also doing other volunteer work, tutoring our host monk, Kunchow 2 or 3 times a week. Don is tutoring a second Kunchow, also a monk, from the center, and today I begin to tutor 2 young beginner english lay women at the nunnery next door to our monastery guesthouse. The nuns are not studying english this month as they’re preparing for a budhist exam, but these young women need help, I was told by the nun I consulted.
We also want to go to the education center where the new arrivals from Tibet, like our friend’s brother, spend their first days. There is a real need for help there, as the new arrivals have no english teacher (some have a bit of english and some none), and are exhausted and perhaps disoriented and injured.
Can we fit it all in? Time will tell. It’s clear that we could be busy working from dawn to dusk each day, but we’re determined to leave at least one day per week entirely free.
