Visiting India again...
It’s so interesting to experience it all once again: the cows on the streets, the funny interaction with the rickshaw drivers, the intense markets that never stops moving, the way you can see progress in the same street lying next to tradition, and the beautiful landscape that shares the same space with the dirt and garbage on the streets. I have the opportunity to see all of these things while working as a volunteer for the community library. While working there I get to meet new people from Tibet, some of them just arrived and were able to escape from there, some arrived few years earlier and some were born here and never got to see Tibet, their home land. What we were asked to do is to try and extend the amount of people who come to the library in order to have more Tibetans that will read books, in English or Tibetan. It’s a pretty challenging task, because we can try to do it in so many different ways, but we have such a short time and we want to try and do it all.... in the mean time we are trying to see if we can even just give good ideas for the people who work in the library, so maybe in the future they will be able to put them into action. We are staying in a guesthouse in the TCV village, and it’s really quite and nice there so we have time to know the members of our own group, and it’s great. Either way, I’m glad I got this opportunity to come back to India, to work with the Tibetans and local community, to give something from myself to others, and I’m very excited to see what will happen next.
efrat, from israel.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Life in Dharmsala...
It's absolutely beautiful here.
Anyways, we have been in Dharmsala for over a week and we are pretty much settled in. We know our way around, and have already started to have favourite restaurants (and ones we hate). We have been able to explore neighbouring towns like Bhagsu and Dharmkot, which all have different things to offer. We are staying at TCV (Tibetan Children's Village) which is a school for Tibetan, Indian, and foreign summer students. The kids are very cute. The accomadations are also nice. The best part is that they make fresh bread every morning that is delicious (sort of like a sweet corn bread) and it only costs 10 Rupees.
We visited the Tibet museum at the Dalai Lamas temple yesterday and it was really interesting. We all want to learn as much as we can about the Tibetan situation so we can share our knowledge with everyone back home. We have a private audience with the #2 Lama tomorrow which will be amazing..
Did I mention its beautiful here?
Thats all I feel like writing for now,
Ashley
Anyways, we have been in Dharmsala for over a week and we are pretty much settled in. We know our way around, and have already started to have favourite restaurants (and ones we hate). We have been able to explore neighbouring towns like Bhagsu and Dharmkot, which all have different things to offer. We are staying at TCV (Tibetan Children's Village) which is a school for Tibetan, Indian, and foreign summer students. The kids are very cute. The accomadations are also nice. The best part is that they make fresh bread every morning that is delicious (sort of like a sweet corn bread) and it only costs 10 Rupees.
We visited the Tibet museum at the Dalai Lamas temple yesterday and it was really interesting. We all want to learn as much as we can about the Tibetan situation so we can share our knowledge with everyone back home. We have a private audience with the #2 Lama tomorrow which will be amazing..
Did I mention its beautiful here?
Thats all I feel like writing for now,
Ashley
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
We have arrived in Dharamsala!
Less than a week ago, our group flew from Israel to India. We arrived in Delhi and spent two days getting to know the city and touring around. In Delhi, we saw an old Islamic area that has the tallest minaret in all of India and were able to go to many different markets. It was not easy to see the amount of poverty in the city, and we had many conversations about Indian society. As part of this, we spoke a lot about the cultural values and what makes people happy - in many places around the world, it is different than what makes us happy in North America or in Israel.
After our two days in Delhi we began our 12 hour trek to Dharamsala. Despite being long, the drive was not too bad. As we got closer and saw the Himalayas all around us, we all began to get very excited. The fresh mountain air was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of Delhi.
Yesterday was our first full day in Dharamsala. We visited all of the organizations where we are volunteering and began to get a sense of the town itself. Today, each person went to start their volunteer projects.
As we continue with our volunteering, each member of the group will update the blog so stayed tuned.
L'hitraot,
Laura
After our two days in Delhi we began our 12 hour trek to Dharamsala. Despite being long, the drive was not too bad. As we got closer and saw the Himalayas all around us, we all began to get very excited. The fresh mountain air was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity of Delhi.
Yesterday was our first full day in Dharamsala. We visited all of the organizations where we are volunteering and began to get a sense of the town itself. Today, each person went to start their volunteer projects.
As we continue with our volunteering, each member of the group will update the blog so stayed tuned.
L'hitraot,
Laura
Thursday, July 15, 2010
And Wer'e Off!
Following a week in Israel and completing all necessary preparations the group is on its way to India!
We spent last weekend together in a preparatory seminar, getting to know each other and discussing different topics relevant to our mission. We had different activities around Tel Aviv: Getting to know the city Shuk (street market), spending time at the famous Tel Aviv beach and hearing a lecture about refugees in Israel. Throughout the weekend we got to know each other and bond as a group.
The Canadian students spent some time volunteering and getting acquainted with the city while Israeli student finished exams, and now the group is off!
My name is Maayan and I have been working on the Olamot program on behalf of Hillel, in cooperation with IsraAid and Israeli Friends of Tibetan People, here in Israel. I participated in Olamot 2009 mission and am happy to continue with the program on it second year. It is amazing to see this group of young motivated people starting their way on this exciting adventure!
I wish them luck and am looking forward to hearing of the experiences on their way.
BeHatzlacha!
We spent last weekend together in a preparatory seminar, getting to know each other and discussing different topics relevant to our mission. We had different activities around Tel Aviv: Getting to know the city Shuk (street market), spending time at the famous Tel Aviv beach and hearing a lecture about refugees in Israel. Throughout the weekend we got to know each other and bond as a group.
The Canadian students spent some time volunteering and getting acquainted with the city while Israeli student finished exams, and now the group is off!
My name is Maayan and I have been working on the Olamot program on behalf of Hillel, in cooperation with IsraAid and Israeli Friends of Tibetan People, here in Israel. I participated in Olamot 2009 mission and am happy to continue with the program on it second year. It is amazing to see this group of young motivated people starting their way on this exciting adventure!
I wish them luck and am looking forward to hearing of the experiences on their way.
BeHatzlacha!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The Journey Begins
Tomorrow, the Canadian group arrives in Israel and our journey will finally start. This weekend, the two groups will spend Shabbat together in Tel Aviv. As we get to know each other, we will no doubt learn from each other and more about ourselves.
In exactly one week we will be on our way to India. We will first spend three days together in Delhi and then we will head up to Dharamsala. Our volunteering will begin early the following week.
As I mentioned, this is the second year that this program is running. We also had a blog that reccounted our experiences last year and I wanted to share the link with you - http://olamothilleltravelstoindia.blogspot.com/.
Soon you will be hearing from our participants here and hopefully we will also be able to upload some pictures!
L'hitraot and b'hatzlacha,
Laura
In exactly one week we will be on our way to India. We will first spend three days together in Delhi and then we will head up to Dharamsala. Our volunteering will begin early the following week.
As I mentioned, this is the second year that this program is running. We also had a blog that reccounted our experiences last year and I wanted to share the link with you - http://olamothilleltravelstoindia.blogspot.com/.
Soon you will be hearing from our participants here and hopefully we will also be able to upload some pictures!
L'hitraot and b'hatzlacha,
Laura
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