Report Tibet November 2011

As every year, Lea Wyler is travelling in  Tibet together with ROKPA President Dr. Akong Tulku Rinpoche in order to monitor and conduct our projects. At present they are joined by Barbara Pfeiffer, the German ROKPA Representative. Please read today‘s travel report from Tibet:

Yushu after last year's earthquake

For two weeks now I have been travelling through Tibet on my seventh trip on a "ROKPA-Tour". The goal is to visit ROKPA projects with Akong Rinpoche and Lea Wyler. Yushu, which was hit by a severe earth quake last year that killed thousands of people and  totally destroyed the city, is still a big camp site. It seems like people have come to terms with the debris, dust and inconveniences. Of course, there is lots of construction going on and some buildings have been built, but it is a lengthy process. In the meantime people get their hair done at the “tent barber shop”, buy their groceries at the “tent supermarket”, get their car fixed at the “tent garage” and check their emails at the “tent internet café”. There are buildings with showers where you can wash off the dust for just a little while. 

Mani-Wall in Sershul

Our journey then led us to Sershul at 13,100 feet, where the 3.2 miles long "Mani-Wall" has almost been completely restored by now. The wall is several meters thick and consists of numerous rocks reading the mantra "Om mani padme hung" chiseled into the stone. The cultural relic is a symbol of world peace and is going to be finished next year. 

Our next destination was Namgyal Ling, a fairly remote Monastery with a convent school for monks and a village school. The latter provides even adults with the opportunity to learn side by side with their six-year old red-cheeked and snot-nosed classmates. This is a place with no electricity and no cell phone reception, let alone internet. The monks, however, did post an ad online in the next city in order to recruit volunteers for teaching purposes! The monks as well as the teachers, who typically stay for a few months, work for free. This is a wonderful project supported by ROKPA!
 
 

ROKPA-girl school in Kanze

Next stop: Kanze. Here, I met a mother with two daughters at the ROKPA School for girls. The woman had to beg for money in the winter because work on a construction site or on a farm is only available in the summer. She has to make ends meet for her two girls and elderly mother and if she had about 110 Euro per month her biggest troubles would be gone and she wouldn’t have to worry so very much about finances! The girls are 10 and 11 years old and started school last year. Now, they can eat and sleep at school which is a great relief for their mother. She herself never went to school and can neither read nor write. 

We are currently staying in Derge. In this little town you can find the famous cultural relic "Parkor", the wood printing press, which still prints important works of Tibetan literature and Buddhist philosophy on wooden blocks which are being carved here. Today, we visited three Monasteries which all have schools, not just for monks but other children as well. 

We have travelled steep and narrow paths; have uneasily stared into the abyss, and removed wood and rocks from the road in order to be able to move on. We see young people in the Monasteries, sitting in sparse rooms on hard chairs and eagerly reciting texts. I was told that students have to learn up to 2,000 texts by heart during their basic training. After this they reach the next training stage. Those who are talented can do it within a year, and learn how to read and write during that same period. Others need more time and everybody learns at their own pace. 

Donations reach their intended destinations

Life is rough here and travelling in this country is certainly no picnic. Every place is different and in most of them there is no reception for cell phones or internet, and sometimes no electricity. Hot water in our hostels is a rare and luxurious convenience.
During all these visits, I always come back to one distinct thought: ROKPA’s work makes sense, the donations reach their intended destinations, and we are helping many young and old people with one of the most precious goods: an education in their own language. 
Warmest regards from the wintry Derge,
Barbara Pfeiffer

And Lea Wyler adds:
This year, the situation is more difficult than ever!
Thousands of people are still suffering from the horrible consequences of the earth quake in Yushu and don’t even have their very basic needs met. In Switzerland, people are now starting to do their Christmas shopping. Seeing this discrepancy is bitter for us, as we are still here in Tibet and see the enormous suffering every day, trying to help carry the load.
This is why I am kindly asking you very personally from the bottom of my heart: Please give us as much as you can spare, especially in these difficult times, so that we can mitigate the bitter fate of so many as long as we are still in the country (until Christmas!). With your help and your trust in us, we can make a huge difference here. And you’d be giving yourself the biggest Christmas Gift: The knowledge, that you have made a hard and hungry life a little easier and that you have maybe even saved it! 
Please make your donation here.
Yours, Lea Wyler

Pictures/impressions of our journey: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leawyler/