The Global recession is hitting refugee children at the Tibetan Children’s Village, Dharamsala. Donations are drying up from recession-hit countries like the US and UK. That means the right to a basic education for children like Tenzing (8) and his friends or a foster family, hangs in the balance. What will happen to the hundreds of children who come to the rescue shelter every year? Caring for destitute, orphaned and needy children, this school depends on sponsors and are now looking for a way to help the children get the cultural and educational cushion they desperately need. Teachers there say they are worried that the situation could worsen.

The monks and nuns are a constant presence on the streets.  Old and young, they wear puffy quilted vests and sneakers along with their chougu (Tibetan monastic robes).  Each time I see the swishing burgundy fabric, I feel this immense excitement, as well as shyness.  After traveling all this way, with such anticipation, I find myself at a loss for words every time I see a robed woman in the lanes of McLeod.   The desire to speak with them, coupled with months of research and admiration from afar, has me feeling like a schoolgirl facing her crush.  But I’m already in communication with TNP India, and my interpreter is finalized – I’ll be meeting the nuns very soon, so my giddiness will have to be subdued.  The next few days will be spent polishing my interview questions.  I plan on spending time with the women before we sit down for the interview itself – get to know them, and tell them about my life also.   I believe that this practice will encourage more equity: I am not simply an outsider asking questions, getting what I want, and then leaving.  I want this to be more of an exchange, a sharing.

My interpreter is a wonderful friend and asset already.  I found her as a reference from someone in Delhi, who was a reference from someone else, who was a reference from my Indian mother’s friend circle, Indian mother, all the way back to me.  Her mother works in Tibetan schools, and her father works in the Tibetan Government in Exile.  I’m sure she and her family will have much to teach me during my time here.  I’m going to be living next door to them, in the Tibetan Children’s Village neighborhood.  Tibetan and Indian families will surround me, traffic will be far away, the touristy rush of McLeod Ganj a beautiful 25 minute walk away through the hills and ancient deodar pines.  A large balcony overlooking the hills and valley will be a few steps away from my bed.  A perfect place to write.

Currently my internet connection does not encourage photo uploads.  But within a few days I should have things set up properly in my own home.  So prepare yourself for photos of the magnificent “Little Lhasa” and its smiling inhabitants.

- Olivia

http://www.blurb.com/books/3330805

You have probably heard the word ‘serendipity’…this wonderful flying-visit to India really did happen as a result of a fortunate series of chance meetings between 2000 and 2001. it was a time when my life was going through a period of great change and I had just embarked on a new career as a freelance writer.

My book is a picture story of how a Buddhist monk, a stone merchant and a businessman all led, in their own ways, to my trip, and how I discovered a sense of adventure I never knew I had.

Every Great Journey Starts Somewhere will delight all who love India or have visions of travelling there, are fascinated by unheard-of places and tribal outposts, and will inspire anyone to go with the flow of events.

When opportunities arise, no matter what, grasp them with both hands…as I did.

On this blog I will share some photographs taken in Rajasthan, and Dharamsala in the foothills of the Himalayas, and excerpts from my articles that were published on my return to England after the trip.

Tibetan prayer flags fluttered in the areas of the trail that, according to Thupten, were chosen because they had “good wind.” For day two of our trek, he’d switched from sandals that were three sizes too big to sneakers that were three sizes too big. Again we had a hard time keeping up with him, but he was more than happy to pause for our many photos and questions.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Often we’d hear Thupten issue a high hum or sing-songing “Bird! Birrrrr—dd—birr-dd,” “Treeeeeee,” “Beauuuuutiiiiiiifullll,” echoing something we had said. Whether reading a post at a museum, restaurant menu or road sign, he would always run his finger along the words, quietly reading aloud, quietly practicing his English. Once, at lunch, he got up from the table, looked around until he saw the bathroom sign and said “Aaaah! Water water. Waaa-ter.”

Earlier in the day, Thupten had invited to his home—a shack, really—where he had a shrine to the Dalai Lama and a few books in English with Tibetan words scrawled in the margins. Donatella and I offered to buy him some new shoes and his eyes lit up. Then we asked: Hold on, was there something else he needed more? He said that yes, he really needed a sleeping bag for the coming winter, his shoes worked fine for him. Done.

Donatella and her friends in Switzerland had donated to the Tibetan Children’s Village, a boarding school for Tibetan kids from six months to early 20’s, and she wanted to see the campus. With over 2000 students, the school had recently celebrated its 50^th anniversary, and you could tell they’d spend the time and donations thoughtfully.

Slogans like “Come to learn – go to serve” and “Commit no evils – engage in virtuous deeds” blared at students from school buildings adjacent to soccer fields and playgrounds.  Our tour guide, a soft-spoken but clearly proud woman in traditional a Tibetan dress with a wide satin collar and striped apron, told us that a cow will regularly wander across the dusty soccer fields and games will stop until the creature passes. “We can’t do anything, the cows are holy and belong to the villagers,” she explained.

The dorms are spartan, and no pictures or other personalization is allowed. Younger children often must share beds, though the stream of migrants from Tibet is slowing with increased security along the border.

I was struck at the differences between the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, India, and the school for Burmese migrant children that I visited In Mae Sot, Thailand. Kids in Mae Sot live in their classrooms, and mud was everywhere. The campus was near a nightclub, so sleep was hard to come by on Friday and Saturday nights, and the classrooms were tiny.

Yet the situations have some striking parallels: an oppressive government has caused thousands to flee across the border. Once there, they find that because they’re not citizens of their new countries, their children are denied access to local education, and community leaders have stepped up to ensure their kids are educated.

But while western government aid helps keep the schools funded, the Burmese migrant schools don’t seem to have the ample private donations the TCV has. Is it because the Tibetans have star power in the Dalai Lama? Because Burmese organizers have a star in Aung San Suu Kyi, who, while not divinely chosen like His Holiness, at least could bring attention to the plight of Burmese kids in need of education in Thailand. Maybe the Burmese migrants need a better PR firm and fundraising department.  The Tibetans in exile seem to be doing this part fairly well. I’ll elaborate more in a future post -

Shaking hands with the foreigner

During one of our days off from SECMOL we piled into a minibus with some of the volunteers and students, accompanied of course by loud Ladakhi pop music, singing and dancing in the aisles, and made our way into Leh. From there a mother and daughter from America who were also volunteering, Andy and I made our way to the Tibetan Children’s Village. It is situated in Choglamsar, just 6km from Leh which is home to around 10,000 Tibetan refugees. The Tibetan Children’s Village looks after and provides education for about 2,000 Tibetan children. As well as providing them a safe home and education the TCV hopes to preserve Tibetan identity for the children.

We were struck by all the positive Buddhist messages written on boards around the school, including the ‘Dalai Lama’s thought for the day’. It is so different from what children are taught in the west and we couldn’t help thinking how many lessons we could learn from the Tibetans about what is important in life and how to be successful whilst promoting harmony and compassion amongst all beings. Visiting the school was a joy, due to the friendly, open and outgoing nature of the children, but tinged with a hint of sadness. To think a lot of these children had to escape their homeland in very trying and dangerous circumstances and that they may have been torn away from their families and all they knew at such a young age. It was also heartbreaking to think that they are being taught about their country and culture but they may not remember their home at all and if the situation does not improve they may never have the opportunity to ever set foot inside their country again.

As we walked around the senior school the children were singing Tibetan songs, conducted by their very enthusiastic teacher and they all gave us a big grin and a wave and said hello in English as we stopped to listen and take photos. We then walked to the junior school and watched the upper junior children learning English. Funnily enough they were learning the anatomy of an elephant in English! We then came across the really little children who were having a bit of playtime in the classroom so we went in to say hello. They absolutely loved the camera, except for a few shy ones, and before I knew it I had a gaggle of Tibetan children crowded around me giggling and smiling and begging to have their photo taken. It was a real joy, until of course they all got a bit excited and started pushing each other to try to get to the front. I was horrified that I was prompting them to act in such a non-Buddhist way and tried to encourage them to be nice to each other and wait their turn. Bless them! I also learnt that they loved to mimic. One little boy was jumping up and down so I did the same and before I knew it I had a whole group in front of me jumping up and down, so I played a game of jumping backwards and forwards, sideways, crossways and scissors with them. It was exhausting!

We were a bit astounded during our visit to find out that our fellow volunteers Alison and Donna knew virtually nothing about the situation in Tibet: about the refugees, the cruelty that China was imposing on them and the reasons why the children were at this school and how they would have got there. And this was Alison’s second visit to the school and Ladakh! I tried to impart as many statistics as I could remember to them and begged them to learn more so they could really help the children by acting as advocates for them in America.

If you would like to know more or learn how you can help the Tibetan refugees check out this website: http://www.tcv.org.in/help.shtml. If you are ever considering sponsoring a child in the third world we can highly recommend sponsoring a child attending a TCV school. There are thousands of Tibetan child refugees arriving in India every year still and preserving the Tibetan culture for not only the children but the whole world is so important at this time in history.

These kids love being in front of a camera!

Dalai Lama's daily advice

No chairs for these kids

Classroom exercises

A dedicated student!

Lessons in the garden

School stupa

Pretty nice view from the basketball court

Teacher in traditional Tibetan clothing

Cheeky monkey

Cheese!

A little bit shy

Everybody jump!

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

Friends

Countless white butterflies are fluttering up the mountain outside my window right now.  They look sort of like big snowflakes moving in the wrong direction.  Or like sperm racing to get to the egg first, which is apparently at the top of the mountain.  A steady stream of them keeps flying past.  I wonder where they all came from and where they are going.

Uh-oh.  One of them is lost.  He’s going in the wrong direction!  Turn around, buddy!  You’ll never make it that way!  There’s nothing over there!

Oh… oh… sweet.  He found his way (at least past my window).

Yesterday I massaged Jittender, the therapist who does Thai massage.  It was a wonderful massage.  Our energies clicked and he was very happy with the work.  After the massage we both sat on his table and drank chai.  He was very complimentary and said that I massage from the heart.  I liked that.  When he found out that I am a biologist he starting calling me “doctor” and asked me to explain why there is pain in the pecs and what to do about too much uric acid in the body, wanting to compare my opinion with that of an actual doctor he’d seen.  I could explain the pecs easily enough but had nothing to offer for the uric acid dilemma.  Despite my explaining that I’m not a doctor, he insisted on calling me “doctor”.

From there I went straight over to Kamal’s to get my massage.  He was totally professional and did a lovely job.  Very strong and skillful.  He can clearly see with his hands.  It was very interesting to experience his style.  He did a lot of myofascial work using some completely different techniques than I was trained in which accomplish the same thing.  He didn’t know the term “myofascial” and I don’t think he knew the theory or mechanisms behind his techniques, just that they were effective.

As seems to be the case with everyone I’ve met so far, Kamal never received any formal training but picked up an amalgamation of techniques from various people who have come through at different times.  Having received a very high quality training myself at Chico Therapy Wellness Center, it is a bit disconcerting having people doing things like chiropractic adjustments after being shown a couple things by a chiropractor once, without being aware of possible damage that one could do.  What is also disconcerting is people who have not received any formal bodywork training then going on and dispensing training to others, as is very popular here.  It seems every massage therapist, no matter how long they’ve been practicing, also offers a massage training course.  Usually two hours a day for five days.

After the massage and the obligatory cup of chai, I climbed the steps out from his office up toward the road.  As I looked up the enter the street, a familiar face hovered right in the middle of my view, framed in the doorway, about to walk past.

Katyanna!  My friend/yoga instructor from Nicaragua!  I’d almost completely forgotten that I was going to see her here.  She just happened to be walking past the doorway at the exact moment I was stepping out of it.  Crazy.  Katyanna is the reason I became interested in India in the first place and the reason I ended up here, now, in this course.  She was my favorite yoga instructor in Central America.  She went through the same training and now she has returned to be an assistant instructor.  We went to a café and talked about yoga, Nica, India, etc for over an hour, even practicing our Spanish a little.  It was so crazy, the last time I saw her we were in Nica saying “Okay, see you in India” and there we were again.

I went to have dinner at the Tibet Kitchen again for the third day in a row to break my fast.  Yesterday a fast was held to pay respects to a 20-year old monk named Phuntsok Jarutsang who set himself on fire on March 16^th to mark the third anniversary of the March 16, 2008 deadly crackdown by the Chinese on Tibetan peaceful protesters in Tibet.  I hope everyone who reads this will think about that for a moment; what the Chinese government has done, what it continues to do, how brave one must be to peacefully protest in China (knowing that doing so means relinquishing your right to live), how it must feel to believe that your best chance of bringing attention to the atrocities being committed against your people is to burn yourself alive… and to actually do it…

Phuntsok Jarutsang

The least I could do was not eat for eight hours.

When I did eat I had Sonam, my same waiter from the previous two days, help me pick out my next dish to try.  I think Sonam is in his twenties and escaped from Tibet four years ago with 82 other people.  He said it was very dangerous for them.  He’d just finished school three months ago where he studied English, Tibetan and Tibetan history and culture.  He explained that it is a school where all the new refugee children go.  His accent is very thick and his English isn’t super strong so it took a lot of time for us to converse.  There was a lot more I wanted to learn from him but his boss indicated that he needed to stop talking and get back to work.  I told him I’d be back the next day and he seemed pleased.

Tibet Kitchen

I’m happy to report that I seem to be acclimated to the 9,275ft elevation and that the buhjillion steps up to town are far more manageable now.  On my way up today, I was stopped by Kunchok, a young Tibetan man.  I really have to make no effort to meet local people here – they just start talking to me.  The dialog almost always goes like this:

Person: “Hello! Where are you from?”

Me: “Hello.  I’m from California.”

Person: “Oh.  How long you stay McLeod Ganj?”

Me: “One month”

Person: “When you get here?”

Me: “X days ago”

Person: “This your first time in India?  You like it?”

Same thing (almost) every time.

Kunchok mixed it up by throwing a “You’re hair very different” in there as the follow up to “where are you from”.  He seemed fascinated with my appearance, clearly studying my attire as if I was some exotic creature, which I find funny since I’m wearing Tibetan and local clothes and my hair is simply up in a clip like I always have it.  Just ahead of me on the stairs was some hippy dude with super long dreadlocks, so I’m not sure what was so unusual about my hair.

The only thing I could think to say was “It’s, uh, messy” thinking how I hadn’t bothered to brush it.  FYI: curly hair and clips work together as masters of disguise.

We chatted briefly and he invited me for chai and told me to come visit him at the café he works at.  I declined the chai but assured him if I found myself near his café I’d stop in to say hi.

I continued my ascent and a bit further up I stopped to investigate the sound of children singing.  I peered through the gate of a preschool and kindergarten for Tibetan children.  Across the courtyard in a classroom I could see a group of tiny little round children in uniforms neatly arranged, singing and dancing a simple, choreographed dance.  THEY WERE SO CUTE!!!  I tried to take video of them but the contrast between the bright outside and the dark inside the classroom meant my camera didn’t pick up any of their adorable, stout little appendages moving around: feet stopping, arms swinging… I want one!

Grandma

I’ve officially decided Tibetan children are the most adorable children in the world.  Their faces are spherical!  They look like little variations of

"Cookie"

my grandma and my little cousin, Elaina, whose nickname given to her by her older brother is “Cookie” (cuz she’s round like a cookie).

I think I’m going to have to learn to speak Tibetan before I’ll be of much use to the kids.  Fortunately, though, there are a lot of opportunities to learn Tibetan and Hindi here.  There are many efforts going on to keep tibetan culture alive, so one can also easily find classes on how to cook Tibetan food, how to create the traditional Thanka paintings, not to mention all the lectures going on everyday.  So much to do!  You see why I have to come back?

While I won’t have time to get involved in pretty much any of that during this trip, but I do hope to make it to the Tibetan Children’s Village.  According to my Rough Guide it is “a huge complex providing education and training in traditional handicrafts for around two thoughsand students, many of whom are orphans or have been brought to safety by parent who have returned to Tibet.”  If you are interested in reading a little more about them or learning how you can help (such as by sponsoring a child for $40 a month) you can check out their website here.

Once I was in town, I made my way back to Jittender’s office where I received my first Thai massage.  It was RAD!  I think I need to learn how to do this.  Wow.  Really, really cool.  I’d love to offer this to my clients.  It’s so interactive.    For those of you who have not experienced it, you lay on a pad on the ground with loose-fitting clothes on while the therapist stretches and massages you.  Two thumbs, way up.

Afterward I went for lunch at Tibet Kitchen but was disappointed to see Sonam wasn’t there.  I picked a random thing on the menu “Veg Petsel Phing” with two yum-yum-yummy things of Tibetan bread called Tingmo.

Tingmo

The Petsel Phing turned out to basically be a spicy version of the thing I ate last night without the yummy paneer (cheese).  I thought to take a picture of it only half-way through my bowl…

Veg Petsel Phing (I think)

After lunch I walked around, found a nice view with my building in it…

If you follow the line of flags on the left edge of the photo, Sidharth House is the first building (orangey/pink) above it.

…bought my next papaya, and made my way home with one more awkward conversation with Kunchok to round things out.

Kunchok: “Hello again!”

Me: “Hello!  How are you doing?”

Kunchok:  “I’m just reading this magazine here.  It’s… really interesting… this magazine.”

Me: (Seeing that the magazine was a worn copy of Better Photography) “Oh, you like taking pictures?”

Kunchok: “No.”

Me: “Oh.”

Kunchok: “You want to read it?  It’s really good.”

Me:  “No, thank yo-“

Kunchok: “So you are going home then?”

Me: “Yes”

Kunchok: “You, uhh… share a room with someone? Or you by yourself?”

Me: “I am by myself.  Okay, nice chatting with you again!  I’m sure I’ll see you later.  Enjoy your day!”

Tibetan Leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama Saturday said in the absence of any positive response from Chinese government to his sincere approach on Tibet issue he would now ask the fellow Tibetan people to decide the future course of action. 

The 73-year old Tibetan leader said he is now loosing faith in dealing with the Chinese government, saying he had already made enough concession and sincere efforts on his part in seeking only greater autonomy for Tibet under Chinese rule through his “middle way” policy.

The Tibetan leader, however, added that his “middle-way” approach has received support from increasing number of Chinese scholars and said he still holds faith in the Chinese people and has not given up on efforts to convince them.

The Tibetan leader made the statement during the 48th Founding anniversary celebration of the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) in Dharamsala, which serves as the base to Tibet’s government-in-exile in northern India.

The Tibetan leader’s comments come ahead of a new round of talks between his envoys and Chinese government officials at the end of October.

China has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama of leading a campaign to split Tibet from the rest of the country. The Dalai Lama denies the allegations, saying he is only seeking a solution to the Tibet issue within the constitutional framework of the People’s Republic of China.

“So far I have been sincerely pursuing the mutually beneficial Middle-Way policy in dealing with China for a long time now but there hasn’t been any positive response from the Chinese side,” the Dalai Lama said.

A callisthenic display formation by TCV students at the school’s anniversary celebration

“I have now asked the Tibetan government-in-exile, as a true democracy in exile, to decide in consultation with the Tibetan people how to take the dialogue forward,” the Dalai Lama said.

The Nobel peace prize winner sent an unusually strong message to his fellow countrymen. He called on them to take greater role in deciding the future course of action, saying China has failed to respond to his sincere approach.

“I have always maintained, even in the Strasbourg Proposal (1988), that the final decision regarding Tibet will be made by Tibetan people,” the Dalai Lama said in addressing a huge audience who have come to see the school’s annual celebration.

Reiterating his earlier statements that the “issue of Tibet is the issue of Tibetan people and not an issue of the Dalai Lama alone”, Dalai Lama yesterday said the Tibetan masses would now make efforts to decide how to take the dialogue forward. 

“The issue at hand is the welfare of the Tibetan people and is not about my personal status and affairs. It is about the problems that the Tibetan people were facing,” he said. 

The Dalai Lama last month called a ‘special meeting’ of ‘all Tibetan exile groups for next month to discuss the progress of the talks and the situation inside Tibet’.

The Tibetan leader said he did this in response to the lack of any sincere approach from the Chinese government in the dialogue process and the worsening state of affairs within Tibet following the widespread anti-China protests from all sections of Tibetan people across the region earlier this year.

The 73-year old Tibetan leader said the massive demonstrations were an outbreak of long pending deep resentment of Tibetan people against decades of Chinese rule and its wrong policies practiced in the region.

“Even under extreme fear of repression, Tibetan people showed great courage in expressing their aspiration and, deep resentment and discontentment against Chinese rule,” His Holiness said.

Following the massive unrest, the Dalai Lama said, he hoped Chinese government would make productive efforts in finding a constructive solution to the Tibet problem.

“Unfortunately, the demonstrations in Tibet have been violently suppressed by the Chinese police and military. Besides, Chinese Government went on to create a distorted image of the situation and described the unrest as work of separatist elements to split China,” he said.

“From my side I have made all efforts and kept all door open for China to clear their mistrust and show evidence to prove their accusations against us,” he said, adding “but [Chinese side] showed no response at all”.

“In the absence of any appropriate and timely response from Chinese leadership, my position as the Dalai Lama is only becoming an obstruction instead of helping find a solution to the Tibet issue,” he said.

“As far as I’m concerned I have given up,” he added.

“So, in the coming meeting Tibetan people must take serious responsibility to discuss the future course of action on Tibet and find out where what has stalled our dialogue process,” The Dalai Lama said.

The Dalai Lama Saturday made his first public appearance in Dharamsala since returning from Delhi on Monday after undergoing a surgery to remove gall stones. 

In his speech, the Dalai Lama thanked Tibetans and well-wishers around the world for their prayers for his continued well being during his medical treatment.

“I have already undergone a successful surgery and I am doing absolutely fine now,” the Dalai Lama said. 

“There is now no need to worry about my health,” the Dalai Lama told a huge public function attended by His Eminence the Gyalwa Karmapa Rinpoche and, senior leaders and officials of the Tibetan Government-in-exile.