|
||||
|
The association
goes to the aid of children, aged, |
||||
|
Recently inaugurated Hospital in Sera Monastic University, in India |
70,000 dollars handed out. Support also given to the school for young monks in Sera monastery; over 400 people in the area received contribution from sponsors. How 250 dollars a year can save a life Bangalore, in Karnataka State, South India, is on the regular tourist trail, but few people take the opportunity to visit the nearby Tibetan refugee settlements. Just a seven hour bus ride away: you can leave the chaos of India behind and enter «Tibet»: where Buddhist monasteries, prayer flags, Tibetan dress, monks reciting Buddhist prayers, butter tea... become the norm. Sera Monastic University, home to more than three thousand Buddhist monks who here still find the possibility to study traditional Buddhist philosophy, became the headquarters from where last November «Help in Action» delivered some US$ 65,000 to children, old and disabled people, and monks alike: for many of whom the generosity of others is their only source of income. As we delivered money to a number of houses and monks within the Monastery, we took the opportunity to visit the school and the recently completed hospital. A donation of US$ 3,500 for the school, which cares for the education, daily needs and medical care of 150 young monks as well as for monks newly arrived from Tibet, was made. The administration of the school emphasised the importance of the regular donations made by «Help in Action» for the running of the school. Activities at Seramey hospital are already well underway. Providing medical care to the local community, the hospital waiting room was full of Indian patients from local villages who receive free medicine and treatment from the hospital. Our guide commented: «It’s a small way of returning the kindness that the Indian people have shown to the Tibetan community over the past years». Situated around this monastery on land donated by the Indian government, are small villages where Tibetan families have made their homes; farming the land and producing handicrafts to sell. In these villages we distributed money to around 400 people. Money, which for some families will be transformed into something as basic as food, for others school fees or medical care. This money for some has become a lifeline. The 79 year old Mrs Dolkar, overcome with emotion when she was handed money from her sponsor, explained between sobs of gratitude: «Here, the people don’t care if I have food to eat or not. Nobody in this village takes care of me. Someone in a land far away that I will never meet is the only person who is thinking about me. How can I thank that person?» During daily visits to the villages we found an increasing number of older persons living in deperate conditions: physically unable to farm and without family support. For many of these people their only hope is to find a sponsor. There were no words needed at the home of Jampa Rabgya, a family we first visited two year ago when we had all remained speechless at the situation we found. Living in a makeshift shack, without furniture, light or heating, we walked in on a family virtually on the point of starvation. A 3 month old baby screaming from hunger, the mother unable to produce milk as she had not eaten for days, the father sick with TB and without medical care. Far removed from that situation, with the help of their sponsor, the now healthy looking family have improved their living situation: a bed, a paraffin lamp, and most importantly a sack of rice leaning against the wall - a small sign that they will eat for months to come and proof that US$ 250 a year is enough to offer a better life to someone in need. Twelve hours drive away from this site and near to the holiday resort of Goa is another Tibetan settlement and the Monastic University of Ganden. Here we were warmly greeted by the monks of Dokhang Khangtsen, who were invited two years ago to Europe by Lama Gangchen to collect funds for the construction of new residences for the monks and a prayer hall. The residence, now finished, will help to relieve the cramped conditions in which the monks have been living as their numbers swell continuously due to new arrivals from Tibet. The prayer hall, now under construction will be completed next year. Here a special request was made - to help find sponsors for 40 young monks recently arrived from the Tibet/Nepal border! Leaving behind the beauty of South India for hectic and polluted Delhi, a further US$ 6000 was distributed to families living in the Tibetan camp on the outskirts of the city. Arrangements were also made in Delhi for a further US$10,000 of sponsorship money to be collected by people living in Dehradun, Dharamsala, Varanasi and Spiti. If you would like to support the activities of «Help in Action», contact us at Via Marco Polo 13, 20124 Milan, Italy. Sharon Dawson |
|||
|
|
||||
|
||||
)
