Tutoring Tibetans

Greetings Blog Readers! It has been quite some time-at least a year-since I blogged, this being the main site for getting information from my perspective on our HANDS work in Nepal and with the Tibetan Refugee community-and--here I am again on the other side of the planet!Curently, Danny,Bree and I are residing at our favorite guest house in India, Pink House, which is as the name suggests, a bright Pepto Bismal pink-inside and out. The house is run by two Muslim brothers from Kashmir who are very nice, friendly and helpful-and the house provides a clean, safe haven from the chaos of Indian streets. You do have to have strong legs to negogiate the hundreds of stone steps leading down the hill to the house and then back up each day (sometimes several times a day) to the Jogiwara road that divides McCloud Ganj, where we are, into two halves. Basically, there are two roads in the whole of McLo, as locals call it, one runs up from the lower part of this hill station known as Dharamsala and the other is Temple Road and goes directly to the Dalai Lama temple and stops there.
This is the new home of Tibet. More and more the local Tibetans who call this area home refer to McLo as the New Lhasa. Thousands of Tibetans have walked over the Himalayas to this area seeking freedom from the horrible oppression and discrimination of the Chinese government and to be near their beloved Dalai Lama. It is an amazing exp. to live among people who are as devote as this, who are so true to their Tibetaness. It is too much to go into why China invaded Tibet and why the Tibetans cannot lives there as Tibetans anymore-there are enough web sites and writings about this. I would like to share what we do each year when we come here to Mclo-and how it is possible for anyone to do something to help the good Tibetan people despite the seemingly impossible task of releasing Tibet from China's dragon claws.
We are English teachers when we arrive here-and believe me, we are in big demand! Tibetan refugees need to learn to acculturate to Indian society and develop job skills here-and guess what the national language of India is? English! So if there is one immediate skill Tibetans can learn to adjust here, it is English. Many orgs exist here to fill the need-two we have worked with are Lha and Tibet Hope Project. But you don't even need to join an org. We find Tibetans incredbile friendly and who approach us with great warmth and sincerity to help them with their English. I met my good monk friend this way four years ago when I was reading a poster glued to the wall outside the Dalai Lama temple. He asked me if I spoke English and then if I could help him with his English grammar homework. Apparently, all the monks at the monastery here have to take English classes. The Dalai Lama knows how important this English is for all Tibetans, including his monks!
This year we had the added bonus of some kind people from my Buddhist Sangha making contributions to me before I left of about $120 total to buy books for our tutoring. So far, this money has bought 10 Tibetan-English disctionaries, 10 workbooks, and a variety of Early and Advanced English readers. Its been a godsend (Buddhasend??) to be able to give the books to the students we work with. To some, they are incredulous at the gift, not having any money or the ability to buy books of their own. I also bring an entire suitcase of books of various levels with me to distribute to those I know will use them. Today I gave a simple little kid's book on bicycles to an Indian boy of about 14 yrs. who works at our guest house. He can't read, he's never been to school and it is the first book he has ever had-maybe even seen? It was like I had given him an Xbox or some Wii or whatever the newest electronic gadget is-his eyes got wide, he broke into a radiant smile, he carefully turned the pages and then somberly handed the book back to me, not believing I could really be giving him this to keep. Several times I had to press the book back into his chest and put his hands on it and say "This is your book." Finally he believed me! We go over the words now a page at a time, while he serves me milk coffee, because that is his job and he still has to work for a living.
My other three students are Tibetans-two monks and a young lady who is trying to pass her English exams. She is painfully shy, blushes at her mispronunciations, but has a serious dedication and effort that got her over the mountains from Tibet to India in the first place. we sit at the Tibet Children's Village Cafe (all proceeds benefit the eduation programs for Tibetan children-and if you order a latte, it comes with "Free Tibet" written in the foam-I am not making this up!!) I love helping her and the others.
As I sit here typing this, I am at a funky internet cafe with a view of the Indian Himalayas and two monkeys are playing on a rooftop across the street. They camper across electrical wires and bounce on tree limbs. A monk in his red robes sits on my right and a Tibetan woman in her chupa (traditional dress) is on my left. Resilence, strength, perserverance, never giving up-that's what I think as I am surrounded by Tibetan spirit. That and the thought that I left my windows open in my room, screenless, monkeys can get in and still your granola bars and antibiotics!
-Free Tibet!