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Published: April 22nd 2006
this morning at breakfast
The Art Refuge staff and I had breakfast at Chonor House this morning. I am thrilled to be able to eat again!April 22
I am just getting ready to leave Mcleod Ganj and travel to Shimla. I had my last day of volunteering and said good bye to everyone. I was very emotional, especially when Ama Adhe put a kathak, a white silk scarf around my neck. It is a traditonal Tibetan gesture, and they give these scarves to help provide protection on your journey. I was so moved because I have SO MUCH admiration for her. She has been through hell -- 27 years in a Chinese prison, the loss of her family, her youth. And yet she is a strong, loving, caring individual. Art Refuge is located on the top floor of the Reception Centre, which is basically Ama Adhe's front porch (she and her husband live there). She gives so much to these kids. So many people have become bitter, jaded and hard after having gone through much less pain and injustice.
For me the hardest part of this volunteering is saying goodbye. I get so attached! But of course it is worth it, and I plan to stay involved. Most of these kids need a sponsor to pay for their education and housing costs. There is
Karen and Frances at breakfast
Karen and Frances work for Art Refuge in England, and they are here visiting the program. an excellent program set up for this. Sponsors make a payment once per year, and it's about $250, I believe. Then, there is the occasional cost of new shoes or a new coat. People get very involved in the kids they sponsor, even coming here to visit them. If you want to know more about it, contact Tibetan Children's Village.
I have had a few requests for information about volunteering here. There are some very good resourcess on the Internet. Search under "volunteer Tibet Dharamsala" and you should find something. The Tibetan Women's Organization and Tibetan Welfare Society should also have info. For Art Refuge, where I have been volunteering, visit http://www.fotwa.org/
You may have noticed that I took down all the pictures of Ama Adhe and Lhamo, and the kids at Art Refuge from my last two travel blogs. The Volunteer Coordinator, Frances, is here from England, and she had a meeting with the director of the program. They are worried the Chinese government might search for and find pictures of these people, and if they can identify them, they might enact reprisals (read: harass, torture and / or imprison) members of their families still in Tibet.
Meanwhile, the Reception Centre here in Dharamsala / Mcleod Ganj is basically empty because of the terrible political situation in Nepal. There are 400-500 Tibetan refugees waiting at the Reception Centre in Kathmandu to come here, and apparently they are short of food. Last night the King made some concessions towards democratic rule, so hopefully the tensions will ease. There are only about three kids in the Art Refuge program here at the moment, but when the refugees start leaving Nepal, it will probably get very busy indeed!
So given there are essentially no children to work with and several volunteers here -- and given how sick I have been most of the time I have been here -- I have decided to move on. I am going to Shimla tomorrow. Shimla was the main hill station for the British during the "Raj," the era of British rule in India. When it got horribly hot on the plains -- where Delhi, the capital was (and still is the capital of India of course) -- the entire government packed up and went up to Shimla, which is about the same elevation as Dharamsala (2,000 metres, I think). Much cooler.
I am curious to see this relic of the Raj era. Today it is apparently a busy tourist destination for foreigners and well-to-do Indians. It is all arranged along The Mall, which was is a pedestrian only thoroughfare, once off-limits to Indians!
P.S. Very few pictures today as there seems to be a glitch in the system that won't allow me to load more.
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Tsering
non-member comment
Good bye and have a safe journey
Hi Mariellen, I have read your journal of today and sorry to hear that you are leaving Mclead Ganj. i am really impressed your wide knowledge about tibet and its situation. I am the guy that you met in the Dogga Cafe and i hope you will be happy to know that i have got a new job just yesterday. Okay, good bye and have a safe journey and hope see u again bye-Tsering