Helping Pema Drolkar

This July, VE, with help of our generous supporters, managed to subsidize one young Tibetan girl to succeed in her dreams for pursuing her studies as a nurse.

Perma Drolkar came to India like most of the Tibetan children, alone and have not much of support from a single parent farming family. She has finished her high school with TCV doing science as her main studies and this qualified her to be accepted to do a B.Sc Nursing course in Nitte Usha Institute of Nursing Sciences in Mangalore.

Her total expenditure needed for the first year is approximately Rs 130,500, which includes:-
(1) Her tuition fees of Rs 75,000 per year (after getting a discount of Rs 9,000 from the original amount of Rs 84,000 due to her background)
(2) Room rent of Rs 22,000 per year
(3) Mess charges of Rs 24,000 per year, and
(4) Extra university and application fees of Rs 3,500 (which is only payable for the first year)

Though she managed to get a scholarship of Rs 45,000 per year from TCV but she still needs to pay for her uniform and books. Therefore, there was still a balance of Rs 85,000 (approximately S$1,820) to be paid.

Through the swift action of a group of kind souls, Pema managed to get the balance of her money needed just one week before the school term started. It was a real joy for all of us and Geshe Dorji Damdul who has asked for our help. We thank the following donors who made this possible for Pema to start her first year in the Institute:-
1) Mrs. Shirley Hoe                     $400/-
2) Ms. Yik Choi Pheng                 $300/-

The following persons have pledged to give a yearly donation to the fees required:-

1) Ms. Wee Nee Ng                     $500/- per year for 4 years

2) Ms. Tham Khuan Heng           $250/- per year for 4 years

3) Mr. Waye Phan                        Balance amount that is required for the 4 years

 

We also received the following donation from the following group of supporters which will go into the accruing fees for Pema in her second year of study. They are:-

1) Swas Tan Teik Ee & family from Penang                     $100/-

2) Bhagya Jean Lau                                                            $50/-

3) Chiang Meau Chyou                                                      $5/-

4) Amala Chew Soo Chuah & family                                $200/- 

4.

                                              This is Pema Drolkar

  Pocket Money Fund for Winter program 2015

 

This year, Varada Effort has been lucky with the accumulation of various donations throughout the previous year and this year. We managed to send an amount of Rs. 65,000 to Tibetan Children Village to enable up to 130 students, who will be taking part in this year's winter program to receive a pocket money of Rs. 500 each.

 

We do hope these recipients will have an enjoyable and fruitful time despite of the fact that they do not have any family in India. We hope the communities who receive them will show the warmth of having someone near to spend their free time with and also the life that is outside of TCV.

 

A Special Thanks to All Who Helped to Make this Event A Success

Since I have mentioned that all the monks who have helped in the liberation did not accept any of our offering, we have decided to treat not only them but the entire Spituk monastery (the branch in Saboo) to a dinner they well deserved.

 

At the same time we also made an offering to the 30 monks there to partake in this great joy for all.

 

These are some of the photos that were sent to us by Geshe Ngawang Yeshi. They were performing the kunrik puja prior to the dinner. Undoubtedly all the donors are blessed one more time! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE LONG LIFE PUJA FOR HHDL'S 80th BIRTHDAY

On 24th May 2015 before the VE liberation 2015 took place, the Spituk Monastery in Ladakh was going to conduct a long life puja for High Holiness the Dalai Lama for his coming 80th birthday. Varada Effort have originally plan to set aside an amount to do long life puja for all the donors and our beloved guru as we have done two years ago.

Since this opportunity arise, Geshe Ngawang Yeshi was suggesting that we could sponsor some of the costs in the puja rather than to "book" a puja from our part. We of course happily agreed and we made an offering to all the monks and layperson who took part in the chanting for the day and also we provided tea and bread for their break.

The photos took some time to arrive due to their wifi problem and it is not easy to download pictures when the connection has been intermittent.

But at long last! It did arrived and must say the place is really magnificent and the sight of the prayer flags in the opening is simply breath taking.

It is a set of pictures worth waiting for. Hope we can have the good fortune to visit the monastery one day.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Pictures of the liberation

Did we chose the lucky ones?

Hopefully these children will grow up fully appreciate the meaning of giving life

These will be my contribution

Another household counting their contribution

 

Must say they are a well behaved lot

The entire 103 herd

The valley where they graze

We are under the blue sky on the other side of Himalaya

Looks like the job is done

Heading home

Their lives have been saved but not left alone to survive. They are still being taken care of by the nomads for life

We are very grateful for all these wonderful pictures taken by Geshe Ngawang Yeshi that gives us a good idea of what went on even we were not there to take part in the whole even. Hopefully next year we can be there.

 

 

 

 

Our Liberation was a big success! 103 animals freed!

It was a long journey headed by Geshe (Dr.) Ngawang Yeshi. The 5 monks left Leh early in the morning of 28th May. Luckily the road was smooth and good. They arrived at the Chushul nomad village in Chantang in the same evening after an 8 hours car journey. Puja was performed after that and meeting was held with the nomads.

 

We were promised with only 40 sheep and goats originally and we were not able to add on more even more people was hoping to join this program after we have hit the quota and closed all registration one week after the news was announced.

 

This is due to the fact that there is no telephone network over there. So any form of communication has to be physically present to talk to them. The time was too pressed to send another person to go there as normal buses only travel to that area once a week.

 

In the end we dared not take in any extra donors as we were afraid that we may not be able to fulfil the order and that will be very bad on our part. Hopefully, those disappointed this time round will sign up as soon as we put up the announcement next year. We will also try to increase the number of animals since we know the demand is great.  

 

But the greatest surprise came after the meeting with the nomads! When they heard that we were doing this to save life and dedicating the merits to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, they all wanted to join in the program as well. As we did not provided enough for the extra cost of the animals but we had well provided for the journey back and forth and various expenditure for the monks, in case they get stuck on the road due to weather condition, Geshe Yeshi had made an on the spot decision for arriving at an acceptable cost for all the 103 animals with a 1 to 3 goat and sheep mix combination. Therefore the nomads will bear the balance of the cost and they have become our co-sponsors!! It was a truly win win situation for all and a happy ending for a good deed.

 

So the next morning all the nomads, started to get their animals ready for the ceremony. The animals were marked, blessed and also a blue ribbon were tied on their head to celebrate the beginning of their new lives!

 

You will be able to enjoy the photos attached to see what kind of environment the animals will be living for the rest of their lives. I am sure you feel happy for them too. 

 

Our gratitude to the following who made this possible:

1) Geshe Yeshi's coordination that we managed to do this meritorious deed in the month of Sagadawa. His bargaining with the car driver for the transport cost and packing of food for the journey to save time and money.

2) Ven. Dondup who took the trouble to travel to the nomad area for us on his own expense to determine the number of animals to be liberated.

3) The rest of the 3 monks who absolutely refused to accept our offering to them. They said they are just too happy to be able to take part in this.

4)The all mighty above who oversaw the weather condition and road condition to make this liberation such a smooth one. In fact, the week before they left and few days after they got back it snowed. So we are truly very blessed.

Last but not least, your fervent support for this event.

 

As most of you would have received my previous email and know that we did use part of your contribution to sponsor the long life puja that was performed in Spituk Monastery on the 24th of May. May your good deeds bring you good health and wealth and more important, peace and love to this earth.

In order to show our gratitude to the monks concerned, we have arranged for a thank you dinner for the monastery where they come from and made offering to the 30 monks there so they can share this joy with us.




Our dedicated monks taking a break on the road

Enjoying the pre-packed food 

Recce the site

 

Some of the lucky chosen ones

 

These are my contribution

 

Another lot to be freed

 

Blessing given to the animals

 

Waiting for their turn to be marked

 

Nomads joined in to help

 

More are lining up
 

We are those lucky chosen ones





 

Aren't we all looking very pretty with the blue ribbon?

 

 Liberation 2015 in the Himalaya Region

At long last, the yearly liberation that you have been waiting for! This time we are doing it in a different place and therefore took a longer time to coordinate. Here are the details:-

1) Venue:

In the nomad region of Chantang near the border of Himalaya and Tibet.

2) Animals to be liberated:

A mixture of goats and sheep

3) Date:

We target to do this between 20th May to 20th June. The exact date being uncertain as that depends very much on the weather and road condition when the monks depart from Leh. It may take them one or two days if everything is smooth. However if there is rain or landslide or snow, the road might take days to clear before they can move on.

However we try to do this during the Sagadawa period where merits will multiply by 100,000 times to give all donors the maximum benefit.

4) Who will be conducting the ceremony:

Four lamas (one of them is very experienced in doing this kind of liberation and he knows the nomads well) will travel by car to the border area.

5) How is this done:

We will purchase the goat/sheep from the nomads, but after the ceremony the same nomads are responsible to take care of the goat/sheep by sending them for the daily grazing until the animals' end of life.

The monks will mark these animals bought during the ceremony and give them blessing. People in that region are well aware of the meaning of the marks and they will not sell, steal nor eat the animals, as this will create extremely bad karma for them.

6) How can you see the ceremony:

I have requested our main coordinator Dr. (Geshe) Ngawang Yeshi to send someone who will handle the camera to capture the ceremony for us to see.

7) How shall you put the name(s) of the donors:

Since we have limited number of animals to be liberated, we urge you not to book several animals under one name. We try to let more people to participate to share this merit.

Please give us Romanised names (no Chinese characters please) because we need to translate into phonetic sound in Tibetan to facilitate the lamas to read it out loud.

We do not have placards as we have done in Sri Lanks before as it is meaningless to spend a lot of time to construct the pents and catch the animals to put them inside and after the ceremony the animal will join the rest of the herd that belongs to the same owner. There will not be an change of owner in this case.

8) Cost per goat/sheep:

S$180/- .

This is inclusive of:- (A) all the travel expenditures:- transportation, lodging and meals for the 4 monks, (B) the offering items and materials required for the ceremony and (C) the dana to the monks who take time off to perform this ceremony for us.

9) Number of animals to be liberated:

40 goats and sheep.

We will not be increasing the number as this is our first partnership with the monks and we do not want to over stretch them with the logistics which they may not be able to manage.

10) Closing date:

15th May 2015.

We need to close the accounts by this day and collect all the money to be sent over to Ladakh in time for their departure for the nomad region.

 

Please contact Rita at 96731648 should you need clarification on this. Thank you for your continual support and may this meritorious deed brings much happiness and good health to help you in your practice of dharma in the future.

 

A Brief Report on TCV Upper Dharamsala Winter Program 2014 

 Date:-From 10th Jan 2015‐‐ 17th Jan 2015

This tour was organized by TCV Upper Dharamsala village director Mr. Ngodup Wangdu.  50 students (35 boys and 15 girls) were chosen and together with the director and 3 staff they went on this exciting week long trip. The students came from class 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.

10th Jan 2015(Day 1)
Left the school at 4-00am in the morning with packed breakfast and lunch to embark on this long journey.
Arriving late in the afternoon, Mr. Lhakpa Dhondup, Director of VTC‐ Selakui and the staff members gave them a very warm welcome with traditional Tibetan scarfs. A delicious welcome dinner was given to them at 9.00 pm.

11th Jan 2015 (Day 2)
Tour of TCV and VTC:-
Began their day walking around TCV Selakui campus with the principal Mr. Duke Tsering and headmaster Mr.Tsultrium Kalsang from 9.00 am to 11.00am. The tour was very educative and particularly the unique cow project.
This was followed by the tour in VTC campus. The staff and students at VTC‐Selakui gave a hearty welcome, followed by the Director of the institution Mr. Lhakpa Dhondup's power point presentation of TCV VTC campus and all the different trades of the center. Tour of the campus followed.
The team of cookery and Food & Beverage students prepared and organized a grand lunch for all the visitors.
Tour of Clement Town from 2.30pm – 6.30pm:-
Mindroling monastery is one of the larger Buddhist monasteries in India.. The group was lucky to get an audience with KE Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche and HE Rigo Tulku Rinpoche in the Monastery .
The early evening was spent in Clement Town, circumambulating around the great Lhabab Chorten (Lhabab Stupa). After the tour of the Mendrolling monastery, the students had one hour free time to explore the Tibetan colony on their own. 

13th Jan 2015 (Day 3)
Mussoorie Tour:
The group was welcomed by THF general secretary Col Penpa Tsering and he gave a very inspiring message to the students in his office. They had arranged school campus tour and a sumptuous lunch for the visitors.
The group also visited Central School for Tibetans Happy Valley. Mr.Ngodup briefed the students about the school, shared his experiences and advised the students to study hard and serve the community in future. After that, the children were given a two hours tour to Mussoorie town, which they have a wonderful time in this hill station. Returned VTC Selakui around 6.00pm.

14th Jan 2015 (Day 4)
Tour to Rajpur:
At 10.00am visited Sakya Dolma Phodrang and the group had a special audience with HE the Sakya Trizin and Rinpoche who blessed the group with special prayer.
This is followed by a visit to Jangchup Ling, another holy monastery where they took lunch with the monks.
In the afternoon, a friendly football match between VTC students and UTCV students was held.

15th Jan 2015 ( Day 5)
Tour to Hardiwar and Swami Ramdev Ashram:
The ancient Hindu’s holy city of Haridwar is located 75 km away from Dehradun and the place is regarded as one of the seven holiest places for Hindus. Every year millions of devotees come here to take a holy dip into the river Ganga, which originates from Tibet. The group spent about two hours at the holy Ganga site.
The group then proceeded to Swami Ramdev’s Ashram, which is 20 km away from Haridwar. Lunch was served in the Ashram. A tour for about 30 minutes of the Ashram followed after lunch.

16th Jan 2015 (Day 6)
Tour to Forest Research Institute of India(FIR):-
Spent tow hours there and visited six museums in FIR. The museums are all about forest and animals such as insects and wild mammals. FIR taught us how to preserve forest and how important role is being played by trees and the amazing animals in protecting our eco-system. It reminded all on how each one of us can do our own bits in saving our mother earth from deforestation and climate change.
Mr. Lhakpa  Dhondup  and  the  students  of  Secretarial  trade  arranged  a farewell  party for the guests with  bonfire that night. The children enjoyed the last evening in VTC ‐Selakui and many of them sang till 10.30 pm.

17th Jan 2015 (Day 7)
Back home to TCV Upper Dharamsala from VTC Selakui (Dehradun)
It was again, up early in the morning at 4.00am, had breakfast, packed the belongings and left on bus. They had packed lunch on the way at 12.30pm and enjoyed the delicious chicken briyani with soup on a roadside field.
The way back, passing by Herbertpur, Pontashib, Nahan, via Simla road solan road, Hamirpur, Kangra , Kangra,Dharamsala Dal lake , and finally reaching Upper TCV around 11.00pm.

Leaving for Dehradhun early in the morning by bus

Stopping for a tea break along the way

At Peace Zone Garden in Selakui

A group photo for the memory

At Mendoling Monastery

The very first Monastery built by Govt. in Exile in Mussoorie

By the River Ganga

At Swami Ramdev's yoga hall

Audience and blessing from HE Sakya Trizin