Rakhsha Bandhan

Going from home to home, I've acquired many a brothers...and I think especially fondly of them on Rakhsha Bandhan.

This year the brother-sister holiday was spent trying Rakhis on John and Mark, two CharityFocus (www.charityfocus.org) crew members focusing on environmental santitation in Ahemdabad since this Feb. and now more recently focused on delivering letters of peace from youth in India to youth in Pakistan (http://silentswan.blogs.com/madlove/)...and cleaning masjids in Delhi ...such service work is at their door step every morning...

After Uttranchal, I caught them off gaurd in Delhi, but they warmly made time for me. We started the day off meditating at the Rama Krishna ashram near Pahad Gunj and then 20 more min. at the Self Realization center afterwards...along with other crazy of the moment incidents.

Uttranchal's hills and heroes

Nearly 2 weeks ago, I was recouping from Shingo La...and a week ago I was in Uttranchal, a state in north India, getting glimpses of its terraced green hills and two outstanding non-profit groups--HESCO and Chirag.

More on the heroes later, along with the others I am visiting. For now, just the green hills...

Zanskar: Nunneries, Schools, and Glaciers

A fairly accurate map above to help visualize the villages I mention below.

Jos and I returned to Delhi this week from a 3-fold mission thru Zanskar:

-Delivery of Jamyang Foundation's donations to 9 nunneries;

-Installation additional panels to Shambala's school solar lighting system in Reru, and trouble shooting of the solar lighting system at the Amchi school in Thongso;

-And finally a foot journey to Darcha via the glacier lined Shinku La pass.

The next several posts are from the trip.

We had help from several to help prepare for the journey: Ven. Lekshe kindly lent me warm sleeping bag, Himbhai from the Himalaya Health Exchange stocked us up antibiotics, and Aacho Tunduk here who earnestly tried arrange for horses...

I thought I'd make a genuine effort in learning Ladakhi. I'd bought SECMOL's language handbook before leaving for the villages...as soon as one of the aacheleh's on the bus saw it, she spent the next 5 hrs or so of the bumpy bus ride going thru the book to learn English!

The bus ride to Padum started with a soothing chant of the Mani mantra and continued through Kargil as planned. Soon after however, we heard news of a mudslide blocking the road to Padum. It was only 'news' until we finally saw the blockage being cleared out the next morning. The anticipation in knowing the scale of the blockage a perfect exercise in remaining thoughtless, putting aside what if's.

Once the slide was cleared and we were on our way again, the bus ride revealed glimpses of ice covered mountains in the distance.

Upon reaching Padum, we were welcomed by the hussle of unloading luggage in the dark (which in the midst of I forgot my sleeping bag and thankfully re-connected with it the next day) and finding a place to stay.

The next morning we took off to visit the first of the Ven. Lekshe's (Jamyang Foundation) nunneries, Changchub Choling, in Zangla. With the patience of Jos, Barbara (a sweet Austrian volunteer at the nunnery), and the nuns, we were able to communicate to the nuns what to make of our spontaneous arrival...

While the nuns of Zangla were showering us with gifts, including a lovely (not to mention comfortable) Ladakhi outfit por moi...

...Jos was busy trouble shooting their solar light sources. Visiting local homes, schools, and nunneries, we learned more about what for and how light was used...

Happy Bunch. Nunneries seem to have a special effect on people. For instance, we didn't even recognize our grumpy taxi driver (far left) !

Finally we managed to meet the Chomo Lehs (Ladakhi for nuns) at Tungri at monk Lobzang Motup's cozy place. They had the larger responsibility of contacting and conveying Ven. Lekshe's msg to 4 of the 9 nunneries we were not able to visit. ...We left the Tungri Chomo Lehs with two bags filled with yummy yak cheese...

More of the same process of translating Ven. Lekshe's letter and delivering the donations at the Karsha nunnery...high up on a hill. When I finally got my winded lungs up the hill, we discovered the nuns calmly building their new greenhouse...no huffing or puffing. :)

One more shot worth remembering...

By chance, I ran into Sani Chomo Lehs before leaving Padum for good. I caught a ride up to their Chomo Gompa with Hazi Marzia, who is an appointed member of the Zanskar Hill Council.....amazing experience to sit in on the discussion between the Muslim and Buddhist women....all by chance :).

See the new panels! At the Jamyangling School in Raru, Jos quickly went about his tasks, while I shadowed, assisted, and learned a great deal.

With excellent teachers and a dedicated Shambhala members supporting, the school needed a few things to make life easier, such as an outdoor light. It was one of our final tasks.

Next year we're hoping to see an efficient washing area, where the one hose system is maximized into a well designed washing platform that several kids of all sizes can use simultaneously.

The Jamyangling campus as seen from the stupa which the kids climb up to daily

Flying up to the stupa!

"Juuleh, Mr. Jos!"

After the Raru school's solar work was completed, we started our walk. Here we're at the village of Kelbok, where Mr. Solar was asked to take a look at the teastall's system.

This shot is for Arne--the 10 year old panel had discolored (from blue to brown) EVA but it was working just fine.

Magic of the Green Fields

Runny noses and rosy cheeks at the village of Tangtse

Thongso's summer school teacher with her knitting...

She kindly hosted her us in her warm home...warmth was just what I needed.

This small peak seemed to protect the last village before Shingo La from the colder temps and ice...

Saying good bye to the browns and greens...

The horseman and I trying to cook up a meal...right after we burned our tarp. In the end, the dal was not too bad.