McLeod Ganj has been a great experience. We have met many many refugees from Tibet and heard their stories--so powerful and tragic. China is making a concerted effort to wipe the Tibetan culture out. Many Tibetans are unemployed because they don't speak Mandarin; nor do they attend school if they don't speak Mandarin. The job situation has caused many Tibetan women to turn to prostitution, adding AIDS and HIV to their problems. China has set up many incentives to get more Chinese people to move into Tibet and push and breed out the Tibetans. We went to the Tibetan Library yesterday where they house some artwork that was saved from the country, and in the same complex is the Government-in-Exile as well as the Tibetan Torture Survivor Society where they provide physical and psychological care for the refugees that come to McLeod Ganj that spent time in Chinese prison. I don't want my blog to be another forum for Brodie-Buzzkill, but China is able to continue with these practices mostly because the world doesn't know they're doing it. The best way I can help the Tibetans we've met and their families is by making others aware of their people's situation. Click here to learn more.
Anyway, Joel and I are leaving McLeod Ganj this afternoon for Delhi. We've taken a Tibetan cooking class and were able to give a monk and two of his classmates English lessons. The Dalai Lama has been traveling and will be back in India sometime next week, so we haven't seen him. Joel may go to see him speak in Ithaca this fall. We've met so many great people here: fellow travelers, our cooking instructor, the monks, an aging American hippie promoting the Tibetan cause... we'd love to stay longer.
Joel will be back in New York on Friday; I will be heading to Paris for the Bat Mitzva of one of the kids I au paired for. I bought a dress here since I found out about the event while I was in India. Then I'll meet my mom and Krista (sister-in-law) in Prague a few days later. I'll be keeping up with my blog as much as I can from there too. Should be a pretty dramatic gear shift: Delhi to Paris to Prague...
1 comment:
you should write someone in our govt. a letter or something, ya know? you have all those connections with people who work on campaigns and stuff right? those are the people who have to know what's goin on.
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