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Volunteer Work Category
When we were at the Norbulingka Institute, we also visited the handicapped children’s craft center, Nyingtoben, located about a five minute walk from Norbulingka. http://www.golden-wheel.net/Nyingtoben.html
Their website is still a work in progress, but you can read about what they offer by clicking on the link. I like their transparency in putting all the operating costs right on the website.
The center houses and teaches up to 50 children, both Tibetan and Indian, who enter the program between the ages of 10 and 18, and stay on as they get older. Most of them seem to be mentally handicapped in some way, and the emphasis is on helping them create and live useful lives, hence the emphasis on crafts.
We met with Mrs. Nawang Lhamo, the founder and director in the old building that houses the offices and the ‘store’ that features the art of the kids. Nawang Lhamo is a lovely, warm woman around 50. You can feel the love and spirit emanating from her. She is also a member of the Tibetan parliament of the government in exile, based near McLeod Ganj.
We purchased an original painting, on canvass, of the Potala Palace, the main home of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa, Tibet. It was done by a young man about 20, who has a dependency disorder, but is of average intelligence according to Nawang.
The painting was by far the most sophisticated and well-done piece, and was priced at Rs 4000, a high price, but well worth it (~$100C). We had less than half that amount of cash with us, but Nawang told us to take the painting with us and give the rest of the money to the manager of Chondor House, who she knew well (owned by the Norbulingka Institute, Chondor House is Richard Gere’s ‘home away from home’ when he visits McLeod Ganj, and is conveniently located a few yards from our Kirti Monastery Guesthouse).
Nawang Lhamo’s trusting nature and her warmth and deep commitment to helping others, even non-Tibetans, touched me deeply (and Don also I believe). When we left she thanked us for our support and put a white silk scarf around each of our necks.
The Norbulingka Institute was established 15 years ago to promote Tibetan culture, after the basic needs of the Tibetans in exile had been met during the first 35 years in exile.
Although it is only 17 km from McLeod Ganj, visiting the Norbulingka is like going to another world. You’ll see from the pictures on their website that the land the center stands on is beautifully landscaped with trees, bushes, many red hibiscus flowers and lots of flowing water.
We arived at 1 pm and wandered around to get the feel of the place, before having Tibetan cheese momos and thenthuk (Tibetan soup with homemade noodles), and last but not least, Americano coffee and a Tibetan dessert square with chocolate icing.
We visited all the workshops, the highlight of the place, watching wood carvers, metal workers and seamstresses at work. The quality of all the work was amazing. The most impressive work were the enormous buddhas being sculpted in sections from copper and brass, then fitted onto huge wooden frames. The products are sold in a beautiful laid out store nearby, and also through the Norbulingka website.
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…
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.
Every day I meet women and men who have walked out of Tibet – some as recently as last week, some many years ago like our friend. It’s a gruelling journey, taken in the fall usually, before winter sets in in the Himalayas.
Escaping Tibet 1999
It’s like another world to us…one we’ll never understand. But we try our best to learn. There’s so much sadness surrounding the young Tibetans and their stories…it’s tangible. I feel sorrowful in my heart as I write this. Yet most of them also have a light-heartedness about them, laughing easily. They are able to hold both the lightness and the sorrow within them. That’s an ability humans seem to have.
The refugees walk during the night, the safest time, and try to rest during the day. The size of the groups vary widely, some are mixed gender, some men only and some women. The length of time to get to India or Nepal varies widely also, depending on how circuitous a route is taken to avoid the Chinese military. They seem to all have a paid guide.
The trekkers start out with food, but usually run out before their trip is over. Sometimes they are fortunate enough to be able to buy food on the way or to purchase a sheep or goat from a nomad.
About a year ago we read in our newspaper that 2 young Tibetan nuns had been shot and killed trying to escape from Tibet and it was witnessed by American hikers. Last Friday 4 women were killed trying to leave. There was a 12 hour sit in on a platform outside the main gate of HH the Dalai Lama’s temple, and later in the day, a candlelight march down the main street to the temple.
The sight of this long procession, led by chanting monks, and made up of many Tibetans and a few foreign visitors was very sobering. Don made good point when he said the Chinese government needs to be embarrassed about the deaths.
