Richard Gere: Urges Support for Nobel Peace Prize Winner

Settling down Tibet’s nomads a denial of their food right

(TibetanReview.net, Dec25, 2010)  To put nomadic people in a situation “where they have no other options than to sell their herd and resettle,” as being done in Chinese ruled Tibet and Inner Mongolia, is a violation of their right to food, Reuters Dec 23 cited UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter as saying. De Schutter had made the observation in a report released Dec 23 at the end of a nine-day trip to China. 

The report was cited as saying such policies were in violation of China's commitment to uphold the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which prohibits depriving people of their means of subsistence. 

Herders in Inner Mongolia and Tibet regions were especially vulnerable to grazing bans, forced fencing and animal slaughter policies designed to prevent the degradation of pasture lands and environmental disasters, the report was cited as noting. 

The Special Rapporteur’s report was also said to highlight China's shrinking amounts of arable land and land-grabbing by authorities and developers. It was cited as saying as China's development had spread to rural areas, some farmers had been forced to give up the land they tend, often to the benefit of officials and developers who use a hazy legal framework to justify the grabs in the public interest.

The report was said to note that while China had made impressive achievements in feeding its population over the past few decades, the country's agricultural output and the right to food were distinct issues facing "important challenges." The loss of 8.2 million hectares (20.26 million acres) of arable land since 1997 to urbanisation and forest and grassland replanting efforts, the report was said to note, presented a "major threat" to China's ability to maintain grain self-sufficiency.

The following is taken from the report which can be found here

Threats to nomadic herders

Nomadic herders in Western Provinces and Autonomous Regions, especially in the Tibet (Xizang) and Inner Mongolian Autonomous Regions, are another vulnerable group. The Grassland Law adopted in 1985 both in order to protect grassland and in order to modernize the animal husbandry industry towards commodification has now been complemented by a range of policies and programmes, including tuimu huancao (“removing animals to grow grass”) and tuigeng huanlin (“Returning Farmland to Forest”). These programmes, part of the 1999 Western Development Strategy (xibu da kaifa), seek to address the degradation of pasture lands and control disasters in the low lands of China. They include measures such as grazing bans, grazing land non-use periods, rotational grazing and accommodation of carrying capacity, limitations on pastures distribution, compulsory fencing, slaughter of animal livestock, and the planting of eucalyptus trees on marginal farmland to reduce the threat of soil erosion. While there is little doubt about the extent of the land degradation problem, the Special Rapporteur would note that herders should not, as a result of the measures adopted under the tuimu huancao policy, be put in a situation where they have no other options than to sell their herd and resettle.

The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights prohibits depriving any people from its means of subsistence, and the 1992 Convention on Biodiversity acknowledges the importance of indigenous communities as guarantors and protectors of biodiversity (Art. 8 j). China has ratified both of these instruments. The Special Rapporteur encourages the Chinese authorities to engage in meaningful consultations with herding communities, including in order to assess the results of past and current policies, and examine all available options, including recent strategies of sustainable management of marginal pastures such as the New Rangeland Management (NRM) in order to combine the knowledge of the nomadic herders of their territories with the information that can be drawn from modern science. The Special Rapporteur also encourages the Chinese authorities to invest in rehabilitating pasture, and to support remaining nomads with rural extension. The potential of livestock insurance programmes should also be explored, as tested successfully in Mongolia. Such programs, which pay nomads to restock and recover after a major disaster, encourage nomads to keep herds at much smaller scale as they would not fear losing their herding activity after such disasters if covered by such insurances.

Resettled Tibetan nomads struggling in new life

(TibetanReview.net, Sep24, 2010) Tibetan nomads who had been forced by the Chinese government into fixed urban settlements since about seven years ago under a controversial environment protection plan are finding their new life even more difficult to adjust to, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency Sep 22. "The money for selling 40 yaks and 25 sheep has been used," it quoted 33-year-old former nomad Zhaduo as saying. "It is so expensive to now live near the town center. Everything costs big money."

The report said Zhaduo, who had been moved away from his ancestral home at Rima village in Yushu County in Qinghai Province grassland, still misses his yaks and the life of a herdsman. The village lies near the source of China's three major rivers – the Yangtze, the Yellow River, and the Lancang River – which form the world's highest plateau wetland, known as Asia's water tower.

China started moving people out of the 150,000-sq-kilometre Sanjiangyuan region more than five years ago in a bid to repair the ecological system claimed to be damaged by excessive herding and to transform the area into an unpopulated nature reserve. The report said so far some 50,000 herdsmen, mostly Tibetans, had been moved closer to the town centres near their old homes.

Zhaduo’s family, now living in Jiajiniang village, twelve minutes' drive from Gyegu township of Yushu, survives by picking mountain-grown caterpillar fungus. The season for it is from May to June, with the harvest being dependent on the vagaries of nature.

The report admitted that the government will now have to find ways to provide more forms of aid, other than handing out quotas of free grain and cash subsidies to the resettled herdsmen.

The report cited Ping Zhiqiang, an official with the provincial Development and Reform Commission of Qinghai, as saying the government should help resettled herdsman master a marketable trade and assist the region in developing a profitable sector. Only then can the improvement of the ecosystem be secured.

This has not happened so far.

WikiLeaks: China pays Nepal to arrest Tibetans

CNN IBN
Kathmandu: Amid stepped up pressure on the government to curb anti-Beijing protests by Tibetans in Nepal, China has used its financial muscle to pay off Nepal Police to arrest members of the exiled community, according to secret US cables published by WikiLeaks.

Cables released by the whistle-blower website show an unnamed source of the US Embassy in New Delhi repeatedly claiming that "Chinese government rewards Nepali forces by providing financial incentives to officers who hand over Tibetans attempting to exit China".

"XXX reiterated this belief to PolOff (Political Officer) during a XXX meeting in Delhi, stating ''the Chinese government rewards (Nepali forces)'' by providing financial incentives to officers who hand over Tibetans attempting to exit China," according to the cable dated February 22, 2010 from New Delhi.

The US Embassy memo sent to US Department of State under the title ''Delhi Diary'' and classified as ''confidential'' has an update on Tibetan refugee flow that described a meeting of the source with Political Officer on February 4.

The Wikileaks, which is releasing 250,000 American diplomatic cables, has cut out the names of people mentioned as the source.

The number of Tibetans entering India had decreased over the last few years, amid mounting pressure on the government as ?Beijing has asked Kathmandu to step up patrols of Nepali border forces and make it more difficult for Tibetans to enter Nepal," according to the cables also reported by myrepublica online, the website of Nepali daily Republica.

It said the number of Tibetans entering India "markedly decreased after March 2008 uprising".

Nepal is home to around 20,000 exiled Tibetans and the capital has been the scene of several anti-China protests since the 2008 unrest in Lhasa.

Nepal has been under pressure from Western nations to allow the protests--and from China to stop them. Beijing has repeatedly asked Nepal to better control the Tibetan refugees within its borders and stop the protests.

These protests have been a source of embarrassment to Nepal''s government, which wants strong ties with China. Nepal supports ''one-China policy'' that views Tibet as an integral part of China. It has repeatedly assured its giant northern neighbour that it will not allow its territory to be used against it.

Nepal has stepped up security and warned Tibetans exiles against organising anti-China protests.

Despite tight security enforced by the Nepalese and Chinese government in the border areas, every year 2,500-3000 Tibetans cross the border on their way to meet the Dalai Lama in the Indian town of Dharamshala, where he is based since fleeing from his motherland in 1959.

4,000 Tibetan villagers ordered out to make way for dam

Tibetan Review
China has ordered about 500 Tibetan village households in Lhundup (Chinese: Lingzhi) County of Lhasa City to move out by Sep’11 as their villages would be submerged under water from a hydroelectric project being built there, reported Radio Free Asia online (RFA, Washington) Dec 9. The project affects up to 4,000 Tibetans in six villages and towns in the county’s Phodo area.

The dam project will be completed in Phodo area of the county and some households have already been displaced, the report said, citing local Tibetan sources. The others had been ordered to move out by Sep’11, before the dam’s water reservoir gets filled up. They were already said to be under orders not to plough their land or harvest any crop.

The report quoted an unnamed local Tibetan source as saying “the Chinese are building bridges and blocking the flow of the river,” while houses had already been built “exclusively for the Chinese soldiers who have arrived to work on the dam.”

While none of the Tibetan households wanted to move out of their ancestral land, the authorities were reported to have also turned down their request to be relocated in the same area. The report said some villagers had already been moved to relatively further off places such as Yulnga, Taglung, Radreng, and Lhasa.

Each household has been offered a compensation of 10,000 yuan (about US$ 1,500) which they can use only to build their new homes. Those moved to Lhasa have no choice but to sell their cattle due to lack of spaces for pasture and stable.

Phodo already had some 1,000 Chinese soldiers stationed there as a security measure. Two thousand more were reported to have arrived there to build the dam.

With three rivers near Phodo—namely, Radreng, Lhachig, and Pachoe—being set to be dammed, other neighbouring areas are also set to be affected.

Also set to be submerged were said to be a famous iron-link suspension bridge and a small nunnery.

Social discontent in China lowest since 2006

(TibetanReview.net, Dec17, 2010) More Chinese are worried about inflation and their personal future than before, BBC News online Dec 15 cited China’s top think tanks as saying. People in small towns and rural areas are becoming especially dissatisfied with their lives, it cited the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as saying in their annual Book of China's Society.

The report said some key indicators show that in China overall satisfaction with jobs, social security, and leisure provisions had reached the lowest point since 2006.

The researchers paint in their annual survey a picture that is a far cry from the harmonious society the country's leadership trumpets, the report added. It said that despite China's phenomenal growth, there has been a drop in people's confidence in the economy and in the government's ability to manage economic, social and international affairs.

However, apparently to ensure the political correctness of their survey, the researchers are said to put this down to the impact of the international financial crisis, rather than any widespread abuse of power or increasing restriction on moving up the social ladder.

Many Chinese apologetic about Beijing’s Tibet policy

(TibetanReview.net, Dec23, 2010) The Dalai Lama has said Dec 18 he had been receiving an unending stream of visitors from Mainland China recently, in groups of two and three, and sometime even 10, reported the exile Tibetan government-run Tibet.net Dec 21. He has said many of them had told him that as Chinese people they felt ashamed and expressed apology over the suffering inflicted on Tibetans by the Chinese government. “With tears in their eyes, they beseech me not to forget the Chinese people,” he was quoted as saying.

Speaking to the Tibetans and local people in remote Ravangla town of Sikkim, the Dalai Lama had said, “It would be difficult to many Chinese to support our call for complete independence, but our present middle-way policy which is not ‘we win, you lose’ kind of stand, would be beneficial to both China and Tibet.”

He has said that since Mar’08 protests across Tibet, Chinese scholars had written over 1,000 articles, with about 200 of tem being by people living in Mainland China. “All these are 100 per cent in support of our Middle-Way policy and critical of the Chinese government’s wrong policies on Tibet,” he was quoted as saying.

The Dalai Lama has said that although Buddhism had reached China some 400 years before it did in Tibet, knowledge about the religion was much richer in the latter. “Therefore, it is very important that we should always keep our identity as Tibetans and feel proud of it,” he was quoted as saying.

The visit on Dec 18-19 was the Dalai Lama’s fifth to the Ravangla Tibetan settlement.

WikiLeaks on Tibet: Environment tops Dalai Lama’s Tibet concerns

(TibetanReview.net, Dec19, 2010) One set of leaked confidential US diplomatic dispatches revealed on the WikiLeaks website are reported to show that the Dalai Lama may be shifting strategy to reframe the Tibet issue as an environmental concern, that there may be a widening generational gap between ageing Tibetan leaders and the new generation, and that India’s policy toward Tibetans was likely to be determined by public sentiments.

The Dalai Lama told US diplomats in 2009 that the international community should pay more attention to climate change rather than politics in Tibet because environmental problems were more urgent, Guardian online (UK) Dec 17 cited secret American cables leaked by the WikiLeaks website as revealing.

In particular, he was reported to have told Timothy Roemer, the US ambassador to India, during a meeting in New Delhi in August that “political agenda should be sidelined for five to 10 years and the international community should shift its focus to climate change on the Tibetan plateau.”

“Melting glaciers, deforestation and increasingly polluted water from mining projects were problems that ‘cannot wait’, but the Tibetans could wait five to 10 years for a political solution,” he was reported as saying.

The Dalai Lama was also reported to show that he criticized China’s energy policy, saying dam construction in Tibet had displaced thousands of people and left temples and monasteries underwater.

Mr Roemer was reported to have speculated, in his cable to Washington reporting the meeting, that “the Dalai Lama’s message may signal a broader shift in strategy to reframe the Tibet issue as an environmental concern”.

The cables were also reported to reveal the desperate appeals made by the Dalai Lama for intervention by the US during the unrest in Tibet in the spring of 2008. Following heavy crackdown on demonstrations and rioting, he was reported to have pleaded with US officials to take action that would “make an impact” in Beijing. He was reported to have embraced the embassy’s officials and “made a final plea” at the end of a 30-minute meeting.

“Tibet is a dying nation. We need America’s help,” he was quoted as saying.

US officials were also quoted as saying in the dispatch, “A widening generational divide finds Tibetan leaders unable to resolve growing dissatisfaction among younger Tibetans.” The report said that in Jun’08, US officials reported that their visit to six Tibetan refugee settlements across north and north-eastern India “underscores concerns that frustrated and dissatisfied Tibetan youth ... could pose serious problems”.

The cable was reported to have a section titled “A militant Shangri-La?” under which the officials explained: “Their frustration’s effect on the Tibetan movement could be exacerbated by the passage of time, as the Dalai Lama’s increasing age inevitably slows down his gruelling travel schedule and his potential ability to continue to capture the world’s attention on his people’s plight.”

As regards the Indian government’s policy towards the Tibetans, US officials were reported to have said repeatedly in a Mar’08 confidential cable that it was likely to be decided by public sentiment. “A rise in violence — either by Tibetans here or by the Chinese security forces in Tibet — could quickly tip the balance in favour of the side with greater public support,” Shiv Shankar Menon, the current Indian national security adviser and then India’s top diplomat, was quoted as having explained to the US ambassador.

Take action for Human Rights Day, 10 December 2010

Friday, 10 December 2010 is Human Rights Day, the 62nd anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is also the day of the ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was this year given to Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese human rights defender and advocate of genuine autonomy for Tibet who the Chinese government have imprisoned.

Tibet Society members and supporters are encouraged to take the following actions in the run-up to 10 December:

1. Ask your MP to sign EDM 1114: Human Rights Day 2010

2. Write a letter of support to Liu Xiaobo

3. Write to the Chinese Ambassador to the UK

4. Attend the candle-lit vigil outside the Chinese Embassy on 10 December

1. Ask your MP to sign EDM 1114: Human Rights Day 2010

An Early Day Motion has been submitted in Parliament for MPs to sign calling for the release of Liu Xiaobo and encouraging the British government to support processes which will bring about freedom, human rights and democracy for all the people of China, Tibet and East Turkestan.

The full text of the EDM can be found at http://www.tibetsociety.com/content/view/149

To find out your MP’s contact details go to http://www.writetothem.com (where you can also send your MP a direct email).

2. Write a letter of support to Liu Xiaobo

Send a letter or card to Liu Xiaobo in Jinzhou Prison congratulating him on the award of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Address: Jinzhou Prison

Nanshan Road 86

Taihe District

21013 Jinzhou City

Liaoning

People's Republic of China

Note: Though Liu Xiaobo may not get to see the letters, it is quite possible that he will receive word that the prison is receiving letters on his behalf. Former political prisoners have said that such knowledge gives them a tremendous source of strength and encouragement. Letters to a prison also send a signal to the authorities that their behaviour towards an individual prisoner is under scrutiny, which can result in better treatment for the prisoner and occasionally reduced sentences.

Read more about Liu Xiaobo at: http://www.tibetsociety.com/content/view/144

3. Write to the Chinese Ambassador to the UK

Send a letter to Liu Xiaoming, Chinese Ambassador to the UK, urging the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release Liu Xiaobo. Also demand the Chinese government releases all political prisoners in Tibet and China and upholds the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Address: Liu Xiaoming, Chinese Ambassador to the UK

Chinese Embassy

49-51 Portland Place

London W1N 3AH

Salutation: Dear Ambassador

4. Attend the candle-lit vigil outside the Chinese Embassy on 10 December

On Friday 10 December, Chinese, Uighur & Tibetan Solidarity UK (CUTS UK, a coalition which includes Tibet Society) will be holding a solidarity candle-lit vigil outside the Chinese Embassy (from 6.00pm - 8.00pm). Supporters of all Chinese democracy, Uighur and Tibetan groups are encouraged to attend the vigil and call upon the Chinese government to release all political prisoners in the PRC. CUTS UK will also be sending a message to the Embassy to release Liu Xiaobo.

Date: Friday 10 December 2010

Time: 6.00pm-8.00pm

Venue: opposite Chinese Embassy, 49-51 Portland Place, London W1B 1JL.

To see a list of all Tibet-related events go to http://www.tibetsociety.com/content/view/41

These actions, can be found on our website, with further links and information at:

http://www.tibetsociety.com/content/view/149

NEWS: Tibet Society urges Prime Minister to call for release of Liu Xiaobo 

On 2 December, Tibet Society (as part of the coalition group Chinese, Uighur & Tibetan Solidarity UK) delivered a message to Prime Minister Cameron, calling on him to make a public statement on Human Rights Day urging the Chinese government to release Liu Xiaobo and to release all political prisoners. It also urges the British government  to publicly support a process which will allow real freedom, human rights and democracy for all citizens in China, including Tibetans. To see the text of the letter go to: http://www.tibetsociety.com/content/view/148.

Read about Liu Xiaobo support for Tibetan Autonomy at Tibet Political Review

A change of direction for the Tibetan cause says Dalai Lama's Rep.

The following detail was released to the press on 30 November 2010 and summarizes the Bath 27th November event

A message of peaceful engagement with the Chinese on a personal level was given to over 50 people who attended a talk by Thubten Samdup at Manvers St. Baptist Church, Bath on 27th November. Mr Samdup, who is the representative of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the Dalai Lama in Europe, stated that there may be as many as 20,000 Chinese students in the UK which provides an opportunity for constructive dialogue.He related his experience to the audience of over 30 years as a non-violent protester in Canada where he shouted "Free Tibet, China out, until I was blue in the face!" which he said achieved great sympathy and support amongst ordinary people but little political change in China. He said that time is running out for the Tibetans as some of the 150,000 refugees are third generation and that meaningful change needs to be achieved in the next 15 years.

"Tibet has many friends in the West..." he said, ".. but since 2002 there have been 9 rounds of talks between the exiled Tibetans and the Chinese Government which have not produced results because the Chinese Government are not interested." In the past,Mr Samdup has faced audiences in the UK that are overwhelmingly Chinese but has been able to initiate debate that fosters sincere understanding. "When ordinary Chinese are engaged on a personal level,they are shocked at their government's response." He went on to say, "The Chinese Students in the UK today will be the politicians and business leaders of tomorrow in China, it's vital that they are made more aware of the issues". He explained that ordinary Chinese are being contacted by the Exiled Tibetan Governmentusing online chat rooms based in China as well as using other web technology. He further stated it's in the interests of the rest of the world that a non-violent peaceful resolution is found that allows exiled Tibetans to return to Tibet.

Mr Samdup was questioned for more than an hour by the audience who raised topics as diverse as using sport to promote the Tibetan cause, to possible legal actions in the courts. The meeting was jointly Sponsored by The Tibet Society in London and the Bath District Tibet Support Group. You can see the full filmed meeting on bathdisttibet.blogspot.com

Thubten Samdup talk on YouTube 27 Nov 2010 Bath UK

The Introduction




The Talk



Questions & Answers

Where are we today and where do we need to go?

Mr. Thubten Samdup

H.H. Dalai Lama’s representative

in London will be speaking in Bath

On Saturday 27th November 7:30pm

Manvers St. Baptist Church

Mr Samdup with the Dalai Lama

Bath District Tibet Support Group and the Tibet Society UK are jointly organising the talk in Bath by Mr Thubten Samdup, the London-based Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibet Administration (CTA) for Northern Europe, Poland and the Baltic States.
Mr Samdup will be talking on the present human rights, environmental and socio-cultural situation in Tibet. He will also cover the positive work being done by the CTA based in Dharamsala, India, under the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama towards a peaceful resolution to the issue of Tibet.
Mr Samdup brings with him great experience and insight. He has been the former member of the parliament in exile representing Tibetans in North America. He also founded and served as the President of the Canada Tibet Committee from 1987 – 2004. There will be an opportunity for supporters and interested citizens to gain information, meet other people in the community, discussion and also a question and answer session.
The location of the event is at Manvers Street Baptist Church, Bath, BA1 1JW, near to the Bath Railway Station. The talk by Mr Sampdup will be on Saturday 27th November 2010 at 7.30 pm. 

Admission is £4.00 [concession rate of £3.00 for age under 18 and over 60].

More donations to the Earthquake Appeal

The successful showing of 2 films, "Compassion in Exile" and "Leaving Fear Behind" on the 21st July at Gastard Village Hall raised £91.

We have therefore decided to donate £100 to Tibet Relief Fund's Emergency Earthquake Appeal.  We take this opportunity to thank all those people who have supported the group.

We are now looking forward to late November when we will have H. H. Dalai Lama's representative in Britain speak on Tibetan issues.  Look out for this forthcoming event which will be held in Bath.  

H H Holiness Dalai Lama Birthday 6th July 2010

It is the 6th July 2010. It is H H Holiness Dalai Lama's birthday today. The Bath District Tibet Group wishes H H Dalai Lama a very happy birthday. We pray and wish for his long life, health and happiness for the benefit of all beings. We thank him for all the kindness and continuing inspiration in promoting world peace.

Donations to Tibet Society and Earthquake Appeal

We have recently donated £150 to Tibet Society and £150 the the Tibet Relief Fund's Emergency Earthquake Appeal.  The money was raised during A talk on Ladakh and a vigil for Panchen Lama as well as other donations. 

We take this opportunity to thank all those people who have supported the group. 

Vigil Held outside Bath Abbey for Panchen Lama

Sunday 25th April

A dignified vigil was held by over 20 supporters outside Bath Abbey to mark the 21st birthday of Gedhun Chokyi Nyima, the Panchen Lama of Tibet, who was abducted by the Chinese authorities 15 years ago. 

Nearly 30 messages were received from supporters and displayed at the vigil. The messages, for Gedhun and Chinese Minister Du Qinglin, were written on colourful windhorses and strung together to flutter in the wind. The windhorse messages will now be posted to Minister Du.

£90 was collected during the Vigil that will be sent to Tibet Earth Quake appeal.

Other Vigils were held in Manchester and London outside the Chinese Embassy.  See
Tibet Society  for details
  

Vigil for the Panchen Lama at Bath Abbey on Sunday 25th APRIL 6 - 8 pm

On 14th May 1995, three days after he was named as the 11th reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhist tradition six year old Gedhun Choeki Nyima and his family were abducted by the Chinese government agencies. He became the youngest political prisoner and as yet in spite of repeated international agencies and UN calls, has not been released. Nor has assurance or access been provided to UN representatives.  The Chinese government have instated their own Panchen Lama. Panchen Lama is also one of the important figures that will recognise the next reincarnation of the Dalai Lama - hence the Chinese government hope to exercise control by naming their own candidates. However the Tibetan people do not recognise the Panchen Lama instated by the Chinese government, only under duress.

There will be a vigil on the April 25^th 2010 outside the Bath Abbey from 6 pm to 8 pm in support of the Tibetan peaceful struggle and to demand the release of the Panchen Lama, who is 21 this year and has been a political prisoner of the Chinese government from the age of 6 years.

This vigil is in solidarity with the vigil organised by the Tibet Society UK outside the Chinese embassy in London on the 25^th April.

£200 raised by 'ACROSS TIBET ON HORSEBACK'

THANKYOU To all who attended Roland Alford’s: Across Tibet On Horseback talk in February.  A total of £200! was made.  Half of this has gone to Tibet Society and the other half went to fund stipends for elderly Tibetans in the Lodrik region of Nepal.  These are elderly Tibetans - former freedom fighters who tried to resist the Chinese invasion in the 1950's and 1960's, fled to Mustang in Nepal and have faced great hardships in Nepal from the collapse of the carpet weaving industry they had subscribed to and most recently the withdrawal of another major charity providing stipends. Tibet Relief Fund is looking to cover extra thousands needed for their survival. The funds we raised will help these elderly people. So many thanks!

 see http://www.tibetrelieffund.co.uk/home/stipends-for-the-elderly-in-lodrik-settlements/.

A Reflection on the Ancient Buddhist Culture of Ladakh

SATURDAY 10th APRIL  - 7.30pm

The high altitude desert of Ladakh is situated on the old Silk route, in the midst of the Himalayan mountains - a landscape more barren than that of Tibet.

In 2009 we spent a month on Pilgrimage in this extraordinary place, visiting    monasteries and villages with Ven.Geshe Damcho Yonten, a Tibetan monk who was returning for the first time in 45 years.

We will be sharing our photographs, memories and insight into this special place at  

St. Aldhelm’s church, Corsham

on Pickwick Road. - opposite The Tynnings.

£2.50 on the door

Tibet Relief stall will have a variety of information and goods.

We look forward to seeing you there

Paul Kirby and Caroline McCookwier

"ACROSS TIBET ON HORSEBACK" by Roland Alford

Inspired by tales of Shangri-la, Roland Alford arrived in Tibet, bought two horses  and proceeded to ride to Lhasa.  Equipped with a recorded message from the Dalai Lama, to enable him to get accommodation and help from Tibetans, he succeeded.  Roland will be launching the programme of the Bath District Tibet Support group with his tales of adventures captured in images and recordings. 

         

On  WEDNESDAY  17th  FEBRUARY  at  7:30pm

At GASTARD VILLAGE HALL 
(1st building on the left when travelling from Melksham to Corsham on B3353)

Entry charge (includes Tibetan nibbles) £2.50 - children free

Enquiries - 01249 712856 or 715152

Tibet journey by Jean Savage

It was September 2009 and I had first visited Tibet in 2005, but still had other ideas. What followed was a great journey for myself - and a stone.

Western Nepal was more accessible after being under Maoist control and I wanted to walk into Tibet by the ancient Salt Route through Humla. Over six days we gained height from Simikot following the Humla Karnali River sharing the route with Nepalis carrying salt and Chinese goods south from the Tibet border and rice and vegetables north to Tibet. There was a constant stream of yaks, goats, and sheep. Apart from modern goods (televisions), we could have been walking in a time warp. Lots of the faces were definitely Tibetan. After crossing our last high pass, the Nara Langa 4581m we dropped down the yak route to the Tibetan border fence and the salt trading post of Sher. After a wait into the following day we eventually walked into Tibet to be checked out by the Chinese army. After several checkpoints we were on our way to salt crusted Lake Manasarovar - the holiest Lake in Asia, the 'unconquerable lake' in Tibetan, revered by Hindu and Buddhist alike and guarded by the great mass of Gurla Mandhata 7694m to the south. This provided our first sight of Mount Kailash, Kang Rimpoche, 6741m, unmistakably the Soul Mountain according to the Bonpo religion. Here the stone appeared. It was lying on the lake shore along with many others. The following day, acclimatising before going higher, our group walked up the ridge, carrying the stone to the Chui Gompa which was restored after the Cultural Revolution. We found the ‘guardian’ of the Gompa mending his motor bike, a popular occupation in 21st century Tibet.

Next day on to Darchen - but delays to the start of the Kailash circuit meant that the stone would have an extra journey. We managed to get transport to Tirthapuri, 2 hours North west of Darchen on the Sutlej River. The monastery and Kora were near the hot springs. There were several Tibetans but no other Westerners. We walked the Kora round the Guru Rimpoche site that was founded in the 8th century by the Bonpo sect. Here, the smiling guardian opened the gompa for us and our Nepali leader lit butter lamps. The Monks had left in 1957 locking the monastery and fleeing over the border to India. Without the delay in Darchen we would have missed this gem with its original scripts which fortunately escaped the Cultural Revolution.

The following day, with the stone in my rucksack, we started to walk the Kailash outer Kora. This is the abode of Lord Shiva and the source of four great rivers of Asia; the Ganges, Indus, Tsangpo and Sutlej. We proceeded to Tarboche moving clockwise according to Buddhist custom under the west face of Kailash and the sky burial site. Over three nights and four days we would complete the kora back to Darchen. Our first camp was near the restored Chuku Gompa. From here - up the gorge and higher to Diraphuk with some doubts over the arrival of our yaks, we eventually camped near the North Face. The next day over the Drolma La 5630m was the physical and spiritual high point. We met more and more pilgrims, dodging yaks and ponies, passing sky burial sites and memorials. The effects of altitude did not undermine such an experience. We had a rough long descent to our last kora camp. the following day we had only to complete the way back to Darchen down a sunny valley where we saw chubby, blond marmots sunning themselves on rocks. Our next camp was on Lake Manasarovar where the stone now resides on the opposite shore to where it started, next to the bar headed geese on the lake .. until someone else takes it on a journey.


As we crossed the last high pass on the way back to Nepal, two rare black necked cranes flew over us heading south for the winter. They will be back next spring .