Jessica lb's Guestbook

Safety
Yes it is definately safe! I was a lone woman, and never felt threatened or unsafe. I hope your daughter enjoys it there... they're a wonderful group of people... and animals of course! :)

Reply to Suragh
Yeah I'd like to think I'm a socially conscious traveller. I don't like to just travel around, I like to settle in a place where I feel I can help and at the same time get a real insight into the local culture. Doing this I've had the most amazing year. Of course the Tibetans can move around the country. There are many many colonies around India, including many monastries. A lot are in South India, but there are colonies all over, including the major cities such as Delhi. This is by far the biggest though due to the huge drawer of the presence of the Dalai Lama. I'm not too sure about the job opportunities but they are given the opportunity of free schooling here run by volunteer organisations, such as the one I am working for. The main focus though is on learning Tibetan grammar and English, not schooling to a high level which we would study, i.e. a normal curriculum. Still, it's better than they get in Tibet, where they're not taught Tibetan at all and many remain illiterate due to the lacking opportunity of education. Also, I was quite shocked to find that the majority aren't vegeterian despite buddhist views. This is because in Tibet they say they pretty much need meat due to the harsh climate and lack of options, but when they come here they're so used to eating meat that despite no longer needing it for convenience or health reasons, they still eat it. However, they do only eat big animals, thinking that taking the life of an animal so small as a shrimp, is unacceptable, selfish and bad karma.