Gu Chu Sum Org.

Although I haven't been able to figure out what exactly Gu Chu Sum means in Tibet (Tibetan friends seem to have a hard time explaining it in English to me-it is apparently numbers) It is the name of an organization here that we very much love to support. The Gu Chu Sum org is a non-profit started by Tibetan refugees to help and support Tibetan political prisoners who have escaped from Tibet and come here to live, often in terrible states physically because of torture, and always poor. We have been frequenting their sewing quarters here in McLeod Ganj, where a large airy room is set up with several sewing machines and large tables for cutting fabric and making some very cool things that they sell. The money then goes to support the ex-political prisoners in the community and their families. They say there are about 170 ex-political prisoners here, mostly from the Tibetan Freedom Movement. Some have been arrested and tortured in Tibetan prisons that were once sacred monasteries and some cannot walk or have permanent disabilites due to torture by Chinese guards. One very sweet and soft-talking monk we met, said he was taken from his cell for weeks, daily, his feet tied to a thick iron bar and electricity applied so much and hard that he cannot walk now. He was arrested at his monastery in Tibet with other monks for protesting because Chinese soldiers daily came to try to force them to sign documents denouncing the Dalai Lama as their leader. They are so devote, they are willing to endure torture and imprisonment rather than denounce their God/King. On top of that, he says they pray daily while in jail for their tormentors, that the guards rise above their foul deeds to be at peace someday and know compassion in their hearts instead of hate. As I listen to these stories, I have to ask, "What is wrong with the frickin Chinese Government??!!" Recently it hit the news world-wide (of course I didn't hear about it on the USA networks, only because I subscribe to and get updates from the Int'l Campaign to Save Tibet) a young monk in his mid-twenties immolated himself in front of his monastery in protest to the continuing oppression by the Chinese curtailing monk activities and limiting their movements until they are no more than prisoners in their own monasteries. The monks at this monastery rescued their comrade at the same time as Chinese soldiers kicked at him unmercifully, the monks were allowed to take his burned body, still alive into the temple, where he soon died. Their monastery is now under lock-down and the Dalai Lama has sent pleas out internationally for support and help, but as usual the int'l community ignores Tibet-there is no oil and China has the bomb. So hands-off China and so sorry defenseless Tibetans. It's not the first time we've turned our backs on them, I've discovered through reading a UN report on Tibet. At one time we supported and even trained Tibetan Freedom Fighters in the 70's when Tibetans tried tragically to make a stab at fighting back the Chinese for their country. The US pulled out when Nixon made his "mission" to China to open relations with the Red Giant, and it was deemed too touchy for US to continue to support Tibet anymore-so we pulled out, after arming them and encouraging them to fight, inflaming bad relations even more with the Chinese, and left the Tibetans to battle China on their own. The results are tragic and appalling-today thousands have been killed, thousands sit in jails in Tibet and it is reported that Tibetans in Tibet are mostly unemployed or delegated to the lowest paid and worse jobs, the Han Chinese being trained in getting the top jobs as part of their "perks" for settling in Tibet. Despite the Chinese Gov't. saying they have "liberated" the "primitive" Tibetans to modern life, Tibetans live on less than $100 a year in Tibet, making them among the world's poorest people and Tibet the poorest of China's regions-so much for China "liberating" Tibetans!
So we support the Gu Chu Sum Movement by purchasing what we can-we have bought silk purses and wallets that they have made, silk baby shoes, and book bags made from hand-woven fabrics in naturally dyed colors. We'll bring the items back to the USA with us, all containing literature about Gu Chu Sum and hope our friends will buy the items to help support them and HANDS-it's a "win-win" situation. We've made arrangements to have more sent if it works out-good for them, good for the Tibetans and there might be a little left over for our education programs within our own Org-HANDS. Pe yap po do!