Tuesday, June 21, 2011

3 Spools of Thread

A few years ago, our Tibetan friend Kelsang Lodue suggested we try to sell yak hair blankets that he purchases to raise money for our education programs in Nepal and to help him out. Since Kelsang has been a devoted brother and body guard to Danny while in Nepal, we were very happy to try it and have found Americans love the soft and interesting textures of the yak hair wool. The blankets arrived in various packages of hand-sewn white cloth, with sanskrit words and wax seals pressed into the thread. We always wondered who exactly were making the shawls though, and were told by our Nepali friends they were made by Tibetans. Still, we were determined to find the source, as early explorers would try to find the source of the Nile or the Amazon. The mysterious yak hair blankets, which were supposably made by Tibetans and showed up in small stalls in Kathmandu often had equally mysterious labels attached, with Tibetan flags or drawings of the Potala Palace, the ex-home of the Dalai Lama in Lhasa when it was free of China rule.
And so this trip we were determined to find the source of yak hair, and we did it! We started in the markets of Thamel, the touristy corner of Kathmandu and asked shopkeepers where they were getting the blanket/shawls, but they in turn buy from other sellers and not the direct source. Knowing they are made by Tibetans we went to explore a Tibetan Camp outside Kathmandu in an ancient district known as Patan. Patan was once a separate kingdom of Nepal, filled with hand-carved wooden temples and stone edifices to a variety of Hindu gods and Buddhas. It is a place that boggles the senses with overload of temple upon shrine upon statue, all ancient and still being used as places of "puja" and religious ceremony today. A taxi took us to the Tibetan Camp after we had our fill of templedom-and dropped us off across from a shabby looking stack of apartments stacked like layers of a cement cake, and an old arch as an entrance way with a tired looking sign that said this was a Tibetan Refugee camp "generously offered by the Nepali government." Through the gate we tentatively wandered, feeling the oppressing heat of the monsoon weather-and to our surprise, saw up in the shade of a building, two rows of Ammas (a Tibetan honorary term for mothers, or older women) each clutching and spinning 2 foot high prayer wheels and chanting in unison! It was such a refreshing sight and we found a shady place to sit and enjoy their prayers and beautiful age-etched faces, colorful Tibetan dress and chupa aprons tied around their waists and necks holding strands of the turquoise and red coral beads that the Tibetans are so fond of. Oh, we were so happy to see them swinging those prayer wheels and chanting! We had been missing that sight since leaving Dharamsala, where we enjoyed Tibetans chanting daily at the Dalai Lama temple. Feelings satisfied at last and rested, we began to wander around the "camp"-really an acre or so of concrete buildings that house apartments for the Tibetans to live in (upstairs) while downstairs are workshops with the industrious Tibetans weaving and making rugs and shawls to support themselves. We wander inside a cavernous cement building filled with shelves of dyed yarn in massive spools and piles of raw wool in bags waiting to be spun. Then we found our golden egg in the next building. Outside in the shade where some looms with partially completed weavings on the strands, and inside the building were the finished products-the yak hair shawls!! We slowly made the connection-these were the exact shawls we had been selling as made by Tibetans from yak wool, and here it was-the source! They take the yak wool from Tibet, we were told and spin it, and then loom the shawls right there in the refugee camp. All the proceeds go back into their cooperative and help support them. We could not have been more happy to find this out! The Tibetan woman helping us shared our joy and gladly posed holding up a blanket by a loom, over and over again, as we told her how excited we were to find out the blanket/shawls were made by genuine Tibetans on looms with genuine yak wool and the money went back to a super good cause! There is no financial aide for the refugees and they are totally dependent on visitors and those who sell in the market to raise money for their cost of living.
We bought a dozen of the shawls to take back to the States to resell, and plan to do business now strictly with this group or any other Tibetan camp we discover that is doing the same. But that wasn't the last of our surprises here. We found another building, cool and humming with work, and here were row upon row of Tibetan women knotting by hand on tall looms Tibetan carpets. The intricate patterns and colors were dazzling, and Danny walked slowly around with his video camera making a film. Bree and I shot photo after photo of the women hard at work and the eye-dazzling patterns being created on the looms. Upstairs in the showroom, which had at it's center a large alter with an enormous picture of His Holiness the 14th Dali Lama, candles and offerings, and backdropped by a giant wool Tibetan carpet in the Tibet flag design and another of a beautiful Tibet countryside image, there we were treated to pile after pile of what was being created underneath us. I finally got my wish that I've harbored for years of owning a Tibetan carpet and picked out a red lotus design (my Tibetan name, given by a lama is Tenzin Sojung, referring to lotus), small enough to carry home on the airplane, feeling good about my investment going to support the good women below me. They were all very grateful for our visit and support, and for once we didn't haggle about the price, feeling that the Tibetans work hard, the price is extremely fair for their work and we can afford to do this in support of our love and dedication to the Tibetan people and their exile status. I know I say it a lot, but I can't help it! Free Tibet!! and please support Tibetan made products as a way to "vote" for a free Tibet with your dollar! Namaste and many Tashi Deleks!!!!! Tenzin Sojung

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing this beautiful post; I could visual the things that you wrote about.

    I am a Buddhist and I really like what your blog is about!

    Much happiness to you!

    ReplyDelete