Media Coverage Varies on Obama-Dalai Lama Meeting By Joe Riina-Ferrie Worldwide press coverage of the meeting this July between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and President Obama of the United States varied in tone and content, pointing to different political interests among the nations’ news agencies. The 44-minute meeting on Saturday, July 16th was closed to the press, but reporters from publications around the world still found myriad ways to write about the meeting, reflecting differing political perspectives on the relationship between Tibet, the United States and China. The Tibetan publication Phayul published an article titled “President Obama Assures the Dalai Lama of His ‘Genuine Concerns’ for Tibet,” framing the meeting as a show of support by Mr. Obama for the Dalai Lama and Tibetans. The article focused mostly on words from the White House press statement, which mentioned “the importance of the protection of the
Photo credit: White House
human rights of Tibetans in China,” as well as support for the His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s “commitment to non violence and dialogue with China.” The article, starting with the title, was
constructed as a report on Mr. Obama’s “genuine concern” for Tibet. It began with quotes from His Holiness affirming his belief in this concern, saying “naturally he is (continued on page 4)
Lha Opens Community Soup Kitchen in Mcleod Ganj By Joe Riina-Ferrie This July sixth Lha Charitable Trust (Lha) opened a new community kitchen at their Ahimsa House on Temple Road in Mcleod Ganj. The kitchen serves a hot, nutritious meal every day for a daily cost of just fifteen rupees to community members. The meal is free to those who cannot afford to pay. It is the first such kitchen in Dharamsala. The kitchen is currently serving about thirty-five community members every day, but Lha director Ngawang Rabgyal says there are plans to expand capacity as things continue to run smoothly. The kitchen was started with the aim of helping the Tibetan refugee community by providing one nutritious meal they might not otherwise be able to get. High unemployment, inflated
food prices and traditional diets that are high in salts, oils and carbohydrates are some of the factors that limit the access of the Tibetan community to healthy meals. “The soup kitchen is providing extremely affordable and well-balanced meals. Most refugees wouldn’t be eating that quality of food or drinking filtered water on their own,” Anoop Jain, a primary fundraiser on the kitchen project, said. According to the 2009 Tibetan census, forty-four per cent of the Tibetan refugee community suffers from some kind of lifestyle disease. Lifestyle diseases can often be prevented or impacted by diet and exercise. Five of the top lifestyle diseases in the Tibetan community are type II diabetes, hypertension, gastritis, liver cirrhosis, and heart disease. The kitchen aims to address some of these illnesses by providing more nutritious
meals to refugees. Lha plans for the kitchen to be a tool for health education in addition to serving healthy meals. “There is not enough
emphasis being placed on healthy eating and lifestyles, and the soup kitchen will be a good first step for getting local refugees talking about diet and health,” Jain said. (continued on page 7)