January 2019

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འབྲེལ་གཏུགས་གསར་འཕྲིན།

Contact

A Free Monthly Publication For Tibetan Issues and Community Information RGD No. HPENG/2013/51798 Volume: XXI Issue: 1 JANUARY 31, 2019

Google Censored!

HRW World Report 2019

by Mary Trewartha To mark Internet Freedom Day, a coalition of Chinese, Tibetan, Uyghur and human rights groups held protests on January 18 outside the Google offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Sweden, Switzerland, and Denmark. They were calling on the company to scrap its controversial plans to Continued on page 3

by Choeyang Wangmo Human Rights Watch (HRW) released its 29th annual report of human rights practices World Report 2019 on January 23, summarising the human rights situation in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. The report is based on their studies of human rights issues from late 2017 to November 2018.

Continued on page 3

Still in Prison

China Claims Progress in Tibet

by Mary Trewartha The third anniversary of Tibetan language advocate Tashi Wangchuk’s imprisonment in China was marked in Dharamshala on January 27 by a shadow play performed

by Gu-Chu-Sum and Students for a Free Tibet. The ten minute play chronicles the story of Tashi’s campaign and subsequent imprisonment in 2016, and his sentence

by Anisha Francis The second session of the 11th People’s Congress of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Tibet’s governing body under the Chinese régime, took place in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, from January 10. At the Congress, the Chinese government reported on Tibet’s GDP figures and tourist inflow in very positive terms — but Tibetan researchers say the data

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ABOUT LHA & CONTACT Contact, a free monthly magazine published by Lha Charitable Trust, is a recognised and registered publication under the Registrar Office of the Newspaper, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. The registration number is HPENG/2013/51798. Acknowledged

by Lonely Planet and other international travel resources, Contact has been a popular source of news and information on Tibetan issues, and the Dharamshala community, for over 20 years.

700 - 1,000 copies are printed per issue and distributed in the Dharamshala area, Delhi, and various diplomatic missions of India. Copies are also sent to various Tibetan schools, settlements, offices and NGOs in India and abroad.

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Lha offers free English, French, German, Tibetan, Chinese classes, cultural exchange programmes, IT classes, vocational training, health and environmental awareness education, distribution of clothes and medicine, a community kitchen, and many other programmes and activities. Through rehabilitation resources and social and educational services, Lha facilitates an easy transition for the Tibetan refugee community to India. On a daily basis, Lha serves over 250 people, hosts between 15 and 25 volunteers and provides up to 20 different services, including on average 50 nutritious meals per day for financially disadvantaged people.

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For information on cost, times and/or registration, please visit: Lha office, Temple Road, McLeod Ganj-176219 Dharamshala, Distt. Kangra H.P. (Mon-Sat: 9am-1pm & 2-5pm) office@lhasocialwork.org (0) 1892-220992 Websites associated with Lha: www.lhasocialwork.org www.samdhongrinpoche.com www.tibetfairtrade.com www.tibetnature.net 2

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Please contact the office: office@lhasocialwork.org (0) 98823-23455 / 1892-220992 JANUARY 2019

Google Censored!

Continued from page 1

develop a censored search engine in China, Project Dragonfly.

The protest, which hit the international press, was part of a wider campaign by these groups to urge Google executives to officially close Project Dragonfly. If Dragonfly goes ahead, Google will create a search engine that complies with the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s internet censorship laws; this would facilitate state surveillance in China by linking users’ search history with their telephone numbers.

A Google employee who wanted to remain anonymous is quoted by the UK-based Tibet Society as saying, “It’s quite a big topic. It’s a big topic inside as well.” Another said, “It’s a good cause.

Keep going.” Significant opposition to Project Dragonfly has been reported from within Google. Thousands of staff members have circulated letters expressing their concerns, leaked information to the press and in some cases resigned in protest.

Gloria Montgomery, Director of the Tibet Society in London, said: Continued from page 1

Protestors outside Google office in London Photo: Tibet Society

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, calling on him to halt Project Dragonfly and commit the company to a free and open internet. Sondhya Gupta, Senior Campaigner at SumOfUs, said, “Google continues to collect and profit from the data of its millions of users […] Project Dragonfly would

normalise tech giants’ complicity in human rights abuses: Google must cancel it immediately.”

Dorjee Tseten, Students for a Free Tibet, said, “Freedom of expression, online and offline, is virtually nonexistent in Tibet and this action of Google will further lead into arresting or imprisoning people simply for expressing their views online which make the company complicit in human rights violations.”

The Intercept, a news outlet that covers national security, politics, civil liberties, technology and the media, said that although Google said they had “effectively ended” the project in December, Google bosses have not publicly stated that they will cease development of Dragonfly and have refused to rule out launching the search engine at some time in the future.

The campaign continues. The protestors have said that they will continue to demonstrate “until Google executives confirm that Project Dragonfly has been cancelled, once and for all”.

HRW World Report 2019

With regard to China and its influence around the world, the China Director at HRW, Sophie Richardson, says, “China under President Xi has been a threat to human rights both at home and abroad.” The China section of the report gives details of the issues of freedom of expression, freedom of religion and the Chinese government’s treatment of human rights defenders, drawing on instances of their misconduct towards Tibetans, Uyghurs and Chinese dissidents.

Of the Chinese government’s mistreatment and repression of Tibetans, the report says, “Authorities in Tibetan areas continue to severely Contact

“Our conversations with Google employees in London today reinforced just how many of its staff members vehemently oppose Project Dragonfly […] Google’s executives must urgently listen to its employees’ concerns.”

The campaign is ongoing; over 54,000 people have signed a SumOfUs petition addressed to

NEWS & ISSUES

restrict religious freedom, speech, movement and assembly, and fail to redress the popular concerns about mining and land grabs by local officials, which often involve intimidation and arbitrary violence by security forces. Authorities intensified surveillance of online and phone communications.” The report also draws attention to the cases of former Tibetan political prisoner Tsegon Gyal who was imprisoned for three years and the language rights activist Tashi Wangchuk who was sentenced to a five year term, both of whom, says HRW, are convicted on baseless charges; “there were clear findings

by UN human rights experts that the charges are baseless”.

Regarding the Uyghur minority living in East Turkestan, the report states, “The Chinese government dramatically stepped up repression 3

against the 13 million Turkic Muslims in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region…about one million Turkic Muslims are being held indefinitely in ‘political education’ camps where they are forced to learn Mandarin Chinese and praise the government and Communist Party.”

Highlighting the human rights situation around the world, Kenneth Roth, Executive Director for Human Rights Watch, in his essay entitled World’s Autocrats Face Rising Resistance says, “In some ways this is a dark time for human rights. Yet while the autocrats and rights abusers may capture the headlines, the defenders of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law are also gaining strength.” *Human Rights Watch is a US based non-government organisation that conducts research and advocacy on human rights.

JANUARY 2019

NEWS & ISSUES

China Claims Progress in Tibet

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released is likely to be manipulated.

Local legislators delivering their annual reports at the Congress detailed “huge development in social, ecological and religious sectors in Tibet in 2018”, along with a 10% growth in GDP. “With the launch of more than 700 poverty alleviation projects, training of 36,000 poverty-stricken farmers and herdsmen, and providing of 47,000 new jobs in ecological protection, the government of TAR has lifted 180,000 people out of poverty in 2018,” said Qi Zhala, chairman of the regional government at the Congress, adding that his government would create 50,000 new jobs in 2019.

However, jobs with higher salaries and better working conditions always go to the large population of Chinese immigrants settled in the TAR, whose ranks are growing every day thanks to the systemic sinicisation of Tibet by the authorities in Beijing, report several western news dailies, including the New York Times and Washington post.

According to Tibetan and human rights activists, China’s vision is to depopulate the Tibetan plateau under the guise of “poverty-alleviation” and directed at ending the Tibetan nomads’ way of life by removing them from their lands. According to rukor.org, an extensively researched blog describing itself as a discussion site on Tibetan nomads and their fate, the Chinese government has relocated thousands of herders and nomads from rural Tibet to

concrete housing with no facilities to accommodate their herds, classifying the nomads as “poor” and living in “inhospitable terrain” – a claim much disputed as nomads are often wealthy and well capable of making a good living from the land. “The depopulating of Tibetan grasslands is all about guaranteeing water supply from Tibet to lowland northern China and this marks an end to Tibetan land tenure security and collective food security,” says the researcher on rukor. org.

Qi Zhala claimed that 33 million tourists visited the Tibet Autonomous Region in 2018, earning the region 49 billion yuan (over US$7 billion / £5.5 billion).

However, these numbers have been contested by experts. Dr Rinzin Dorjee, researcher at the Tibet Policy Institute points out that the statistics “just don’t add up”. “In June 2018, Xinhua, the Chinese government-run news agency, reported that TAR received 5.6 million tourists.Statistically, if TAR received 5.6 million tourists in the first five months, from January to May of 2018, it means that, in the remaining seven months it received 28 million tourists, which is an astoundingly high figure and rather unconvincing,” writes Dorjee in his report for the institute. He points out that in the freezing winter months very few people visit Tibet; in addition most of the Chinese migrants return to their native towns. “Projecting high figures of tourists in Tibet benefits the administrative promotion of local

officials and enables them to receive a higher amount of state grants to develop tourist sites,” Dorjee explains.

Qi Zhalaalso reported on environmental issues in Tibet saying, “There will be a 20-percent growth of investment in ecological protection in 2019 […] The region will continue making efforts in protecting its forests, grasslands, wetlands and biodiversity, building ecological safety barrier, and curbing desertification and soil erosion.”The Congress report stated “Last year, 10.7 billion yuan (US$1.58 / £1.2 billion) was invested in ecological safety barrier protection and construction. A total of 75,000 hectares of trees were planted, with the forest coverage rate increased to 12.14%.”

Again, these claims can be contested in the face of global concern about Tibet’s environment and the effect on it of Chinese developments there. china.org.cn: “The Tibet Autonomous Regional People’s Congress and its Standing Committee the local organs of state power in Tibet - fully exercise the power of autonomy bestowed by the Constitution and law, and have actively formulated laws and regulations appropriate to local ethnic and regional characteristics.

Both the Chinese Constitution and the Law on Ethnic Regional Autonomy specify that the […] chairman of an autonomous region, the governor of an autonomous prefecture and the head of an autonomous county shall be a citizen of the ethnic group exercising regional autonomy in the area concerned.”

Funding Boost for Tibetan Businesses

by Priyasharshini Ohol Funding to support Tibetan summer businesses has been announced by the Social and Resource Development (SARD) Fund of the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) Department of Finance who launched their new Summer Livelihood Support Programme (SLSP) for 2019 on January 11.

“The Summer Livelihood Support Contact

Programme is to support the community members whose major business activity is in the summer season. The size and number of the summer businesses are smaller than the winter sweater sellers, but the summer business segment is more organised,” said SARD. A total of INR 12 crore (120 million) (US$1.7 million / £1.3 million) will be disbursed through the programme, allowing approximately 4

600 shopkeepers to access finance at a minimal interest rate of 3%. The programme will be implemented from February and loans are to be repaid until July 2019. The previous Livelihood Support Programme was successful with a 100% loan repayment rate in 2017 and 2018.

The summer business loans programme is funded by USAID and implemented in association with the Tibet Fund.

JANUARY 2019

NEWS & ISSUES Still in Prison

Continued from page 1

on charges of inciting separatism in May last year.

Tenzin Tselha, the national director of SFT said, “His case is an example of the severity of the persecution Tibetans face for simply calling for their rights […] despite the fact that they are protected by international human rights laws and under the Chinese constitution.”

“His only crime was that he sought to promote Tibetan language education, which is guaranteed under Chinese and international law as Chinese (mandarin) has become the sole language of instruction in Tibetan schools,” said DawaTashi, Vice President of Gu-Chu-Sum. Tashi, who was a shopkeeper in Yushu, was accused of separatism after appearing in a New York Times video speaking about the importance

of protecting Tibetans’ “mother tongue.”He specifically did not call for independence for Tibet; he said “I want to try to use the People’s Republic of China’s laws to solve the problem.” He now wishes to file a second appeal against his sentence–

his first, in August last year, was unsuccessful – but his lawyer has been denied access to visit him in prison. His lawyer has reported that Tashi was tortured, interrogated, and repeatedly beaten in prison and that his interrogators threatened

to harm his family. His case has attracted international interest and condemnation, appearing in the media worldwide.

Amnesty International says that China’s Constitution states “All nationalities have the freedom to use and develop their own spoken and written languages….”. There are a further 12 laws and 27 regulations to “protect” ethnic minorities’ language rights, according to China’s recent report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Matteo Mecacci, President of the International Campaign for Tibet said, “The unlawful conviction and torture of Tashi Wangchuk is a tragic reminder of the injustice faced by Tibetans who seek to preserve their culture and language under Chinese rule.”

Tibet Strains China-US Relations

By Mary Trewartha The Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which was signed into American Law by US President Donald Trump in December, has prompted an angry reaction from China and possibly contributed to the escalating tensions between the two countries.

The new law means that Chinese officials who deny US journalists, diplomats and citizens access to Tibet will find themselves denied access to the US. China’s reaction to this new law was reported by Reuters who said in an article, “China denounced the United States […] for passing a new law on restive Tibet, saying it was ‘resolutely opposed’ to the US legislation on what China considers an internal affair, and it risked causing ‘serious harm’ to their relations.”

China has followed this response by targeting His Holiness the Dalai Lama in a series of articles in their state media, published in English to reach an international audience, one example being the Global Times which said “Tibet authorities lambast Contact

Dalai Lama in series of articles as US passes Tibet Reciprocal Access bill” – this apparently refers to a number of editorials in Chinese news outlets blaming His Holiness for the selfimmolations that have taken place in Tibet since 2009 and for the protests there in 2008. Editorials in the Tibet Daily described the Dalai Lama as “prime leader of separatist political groups pursuing ‘Tibet independence,’ the loyal tool of international antiChina forces, the root cause of social unrest in Tibet, the biggest obstacle for Tibetan Buddhism to establish normal order and a politician under the disguise of religion.”

Meanwhile the China Daily has quoted a Chinese government official in Lhasa saying, “The Tibet autonomous region plans to cut the time for issuing travel permits to overseas tourists by half in 2019”. Currently the process is slow and many are refused entry; those who do gain access have to travel on officially controlled tours.

This comes at a time of escalating tensions between the United States 5

and China with the US issuing warnings to Americans to “exercise increased caution” when travelling to China. Their government travel website advises travellers to “Exercise increased caution in China due to arbitrary enforcement of local laws as well as special restrictions on dual US-Chinese nationals. Chinese authorities have asserted broad authority to prohibit US citizens from leaving China by using ‘exit bans,’ sometimes keeping US citizens in China for years […] In most cases, US citizens only become aware of the exit ban when they attempt to depart China, and there is no method to find out how long the ban may continue. US citizens under exit bans have been harassed and threatened.”

These warnings follow some recent detentions: Chinese tech giant Huawei’s CEO Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada and faces extradition to the US. China retaliated by detaining 13 Canadians in China. Other US citizens have been detained in China over the last year.

JANUARY 2019

NEWS & ISSUES Jan 14: Tibet Court Report Twenty fuve people from the Tibet Autonomous Region were sentenced last year for “inciting separatism or financing crimes which jeopardised national security”. A report in China’s Global Times quoted Tibet’s High People’s Court as stating that they had “dealt with more than 30,000 cases in 2018”. The report continued, saying that Tibet had “launched a crackdown on gang crimes, with 360 people in 268 cases found guilty.

Additionally, 55 people in 49 cases were punished for involvement in corruption.” The report said the investigations are still underway.

Jan 21: Monk Released Choekyi, 42, a Tibetan monk from Phugugon monastery in Serta County, Sichuan Province was released from prison on January 18 in very poor health. His charge was carrying out “splittist” activities: he had made monks robes on HH the Dalai Lama’s 80th birthday

Photo: VOT

and posted photos on WeChat, the Chinese social media platform, that were deemed political. He was arrested on June 19, 2015 and charged with “separatist activities” and then given a four year sentence.

Choekyi was suffering from a kidney ailment before his detention, this has been exacerbated by the forced labour he was subjected to while in prison. The case has attracted international attention and calls to the Chinese government to release him and provide medical attention. The European parliament Contact

Detentions in Tibet “urged the Chinese Government to allow his relatives and the lawyers of choice to visit him and, in particular, to provide him with adequate medical care” in a resolution adopted on January 18 last year.

Tibet.net reports that following his release Choekyi arrived home in Shosang Village, Nyitod Village, Serta County, welcomed by his family who have been threatened with “dire consequences” if they pass on information of his release beyond the immediate family. The Tibet.net report continues, saying that nobody outside his family was allowed to collect him from prison and quoting their local sources as sying, “since his arrival, his house is under constant surveillance. [A] few security officials can be seen holding cameras to take pictures of the people visiting him”.

Possession of a picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama is considered a crime in Tibet where he is deemed by the authorities to be a “separatist”. The Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2019 states that the Chinese authorities encourage people to “denounce members of their communities on the slightest suspicion of sympathy for the exiled Dalai Lama or opposition to the government”.

Jan 24: Appeal Tibetans living in Kyangche Township in Golok in Amdo have appealed for the release of Anya Sengdra who has been in detention for five months, accused of “provoking trouble”. They have sent a letter which rejects the government’s allegations about him.

His detention period was extended and there is concern for his health as it is reported to be poor.

Anya Sengdra, 47, has been an anti-corruption activist since 2014; he was detained by the Chinese authorities on September 4 last year.

Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy has condemned the 6

“arbitrary detention of Mr Sengdra on the politicised charge of ‘provoking trouble’” and is calling for his immediate and unconditional release.

They continued, “Provoking trouble

Photo: TCHRD

is a vaguely worded offence under Article 293 of Chinese Criminal Law that has been increasingly used in recent years particularly since Xi Jinping’s presidency to persecute and launch reprisals against human rights defenders and other activists critical of government policies and practices”.

Jan 28: Tibetan Activists Detained Tibetan activists are being detained at Qinghai Lake. Radio Free Asia released a report on January 28 saying that Chinese people are fishing the lake illegally; if they are detained they are usually subsequently released, but that Tibetans who work to prevent the poaching are being detained and accused of “bad behaviour”. The fish in Qinghai Lake,

Photo: RFA Listener

also called Kokonor, are a protected species, and fishing is punishable by law. RFA’s local source says the Tibetans want to prevent fishing because the lake is sacred and have stepped up monitoring it as fishing has increased. They are often held in detention for days.

JANUARY 2019

NEWS & ISSUES

Escalating Restrictions on Religious Freedom for Tibetans

by Tsering Wangdue Tibetans living in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) are now required to make offerings to pictures of Chinese President Xi Jinping and other party leaders and not to Buddhist images as they do at present, reports the International Campaign for Tibet in a new report published on January 15. Chinese authorities in the TAR are upgrading their stance against His Holiness Dalai Lama. TAR Chairman Che Dalha (Chinese: Qi Zhala), speaking at the meeting of Region’s Party Congress on January 11, said, “Tibet has firmly curbed and cracked down on secession, infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces at home and abroad.”

ICT quotes sources from Tibet as reporting that the authorities have ordered Tibetans in receipt of the “poverty alleviation” subsidy from the government to remove pictures of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from their homes and to destroy their alters.

Another source has said that new housing allocated to Tibetans who were being relocated in settlements was equipped with small altars

already set up with images of Chinese party leaders. Low-income families are reported as having no choice but to follow these edicts rather than risk losing their government subsidies.

The ICT report also notes a massive thangka (a Tibetan Buddhist religious painting) of Mao Zedong has been created at a cost of more than 4 million

Tibetans ordered to worship images of Chinese leaders Photo: VOA

yuan (US$500,000 / £390,000) and involving over 12,000 people in its construction. The report quotes the Chinese state media the Global Times as saying that a proposal had been made to build statues of officials deployed in Tibet “throughout history” – including the Chinese Ambans sent during Qing dynasty in 1727 – in other words, when Tibet was a free and independent country.

Mr Sonam Norbu Dagpo, a Central Tibetan Administration spokesperson, has condemned the actions of Chinese authorities in Tibet saying, “The Communist Party of China claims to be an atheist government and China an atheist country. Compelling the Tibetans in Tibet to prostrate to pictures of Chinese leaders including that of Xi Jinping is not only inappropriate but such intervention going against the Tibetan culture and Buddhist tradition is unacceptable.”

Bitter Winter, a new online magazine based in Italy and reporting on religious liberty and human rights in China, says they interviewed a number of Tibetans living in Lhasa who say their livelihood depends on subsidies since their land was confiscated by the government, and they fear for their survival in the face of poverty if they do not comply with these latest requirements.

Bitter Winter says, “This new order represents an escalation of the historic policy of the Chinese Communist Party to persecute Tibetans and to force them to abandon their religious beliefs.”

Three Wheels Award Presented to Dr Tenzin Dorjee

by Mary Trewartha Dr Tenzin Dorjee, the Chair of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and a prominent Tibetan translator, was awarded the Three Wheels Recognition Award on January 12. The award is the highest honour bestowed by the Institute of Buddhist Dialectic (IBD) and Sarah College for Higher Tibetan Studies and was presented to Dr Dorjee for his distinguished contribution to the preservation and promotion of the Tibetan language, religion and culture; service in translation and achievements of excellence in the academic and public field.

The award was presented by Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, president of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, who Contact

said “Dr Tenzin Dorjee is an inspiration to the new Tibetan generation who are ready to make their mark in the emerging field of traditional Buddhist philosophy and modern education”.

Dr Dorjee receiving his award from Sikyong Lobsang Sangay Photo: Tenzin Jigme/CTA

Sikyong continued, saying that Dr Dorjee’s selection as the “first Tibetan Buddhist to be elected at the helm of the US Commission on 7

International Religious Freedom is a matter of immense pride for Tibetans all around the world.”

Dr Dorjee is an author and translator of Tibetan Buddhism into English. He has in the past served as translator to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and has been a prominent translator for over 30 years. He was first appointed to USCRIF in 2016 and elected Chair in June last year.

USCIRF is a US federal government commission that monitors the universal right to freedom of religion or belief abroad.

The Three Wheels is the official emblem of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics and its branch the College for Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarah.

Dr Dorjee is the first individual to be recognised with the Award.

JANUARY 2019

NEWS & ISSUES

Fewer Than Ever Tibetans Escaping Tibet

by Priyadarshini Ohol Eighty Tibetan refugees are reported as having escaped from Tibet into India in 2018, a marked contrast to a decade ago when, on an average, 3,000 Tibetan refugees arrived in India each year. Fewer than 50 Tibetans left Tibet in 2017.

The Times of India, in an article dated January 17, has reported on the situation saying, “Tibetan security agencies have witnessed a 97% drop on the arrival of Tibetans from Tibet to India.” The article stated that the number started reducing after 2008 when Beijing hosted the Olympics.

Extensive Tibetan demonstrations that year saw the start of the crackdown that continues to this day and a subsequent drop in the numbers of escapees.

The Times of India quotes Karma Rinchen of the Tibetan Governmentin-Exile’s security department as

saying, “Chinese authorities have taken the passports of many residents living in border areas of Tibet after 2012.” Since then the numbers have continued to drop as the crackdown intensifies in the wake of the selfimmolations taking place in Tibet.

Karma Rinchen expressed concern

An historical photo of taken during His Holines the Dalai Lama’s escape from Tibet to India in 1959

about Tibetans living in Tibet who face travel restrictions even within their own country. He also mentioned the number who move abroad after arriving in India, but said they do

not have a complete record of these.

Refugees normally arrive in Nepal, then make their way to Dharamshala and other Tibetan communities.

Reception centres in Kathmandu and Delhi provide support on their arrival. However, Nepal is reported as increasingly complying with China’s demands and the difficulties of escaping are increasing.The Chinese government has asked for joint security patrols along the Nepal–Tibet border; in 2006, footage came to light of the Chinese border patrol firing at escaping Tibetans and killing a woman. Nepal is increasingly returning refugees who make it over the border and warning Tibetans who do reach Nepal against travelling on to India.

The Times of India article concludes by saying that there are about 128,000 Tibetans living in exile – this includes around 95,000 who live in India.

Luxury Lhasa Hotel’s Unseen Neighbours

by Anisha Francis Recent satellite imagery showing the dramatic modernisation and infrastructure boom in Lhasa city has been analysed in a new report by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). The images reveal an extravagant luxury hotel adjacent to one of China’s most notorious “black site” prison facilities, Gutsa, which also appears to have undergone renovations to increase its holding capacity. The Google Earth images analysed in ICT’s report China’s Control State in Lhasa do not tag the actual function of the buildings within the detention facility but mark them as supermarkets or tea shops — which ICT says is in keeping with China’s long standing practice of hiding the presence of such prisons known for their brutal interrogation methods and torture devices.

Gutsa, officially known as the Lhasa Public Security Bureau Detention Centre, serves as the initial detention centre for thousands of Tibetans imprisoned over the years for involvement in peaceful protests, or Contact

such actions as celebrating His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday. “Reports from former prisoners held there include torture with electric batons, sometimes almost to death, attacks by dogs and beating and shock treatment while the prisoner is suspended naked from a ceiling,” says the ICT report, relating first-person accounts of torture from several people, including monks and nuns who were imprisoned or abducted and held at Gutsa.

The Chinese government has denied the existence of such facilities and claim they hold no political prisoners; such statements are widely regarded as being part of their efforts to boost international investment and tourism in the Tibet region.

Now the luxury five-star British InterContinental Lhasa Paradise hotel, with its massive pyramidal structures, towers over Gutsa, while several other big hospitality names have opened their doors to wealthy guests visiting China-occupied Tibet, presumably unaware of what is happening in the nearby prisons.

8

“The boom in tourism in Lhasa today coexists with a security crackdown of unprecedented depth and scope,” says the report, giving several other examples of the Chinese government’s systematic securitisation of Tibet, including infrastructure projects with roads intended to be wide enough to serve as runways for military planes.

Another addition is the formation of “neighbourhood committees” with the primary purpose of gathering and storing information, to be used in a centrally-coordinated system, as well as tracking of individuals who belong to “special groups”. This includes political prisoners, nuns, and monks who are not residents in a monastery or nunnery, and the “returning people”– Tibetans who have returned from India are targeted as they are perceived to have come under the influence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exile diaspora, the report warns.

ICT is based in Washington DC and works to promote human rights and democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet.

JANUARY 2019

NEWS & ISSUES

Young Indian Scholars Meet His Holiness

by Tsering Wangdue A conference for Young Indian Scholars of Tibetan Studies was held at the College for Higher Tibetan Studies, Dharamshala under the organisation of Tibet Policy Institute (TPI), a research wing of Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

The three-day conference kicked off on January 22 in the presence of Education Kalon [Minister] of

His Holiness the Dalai Lama addressing the Young Indian Scholar group at his residence Photo: Ven Tenzin Jamphel

Central Tibetan AdmiminstrationDr Pema Yangchen, accompanied by special guest Dr Kuldip Chand Agnihotri, Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh. Dr Pema Yangchen spoke about the importance of education to bring positive transformation to

society and Ms Tsering Yangkyi, Director of TPI, explained the theme of the conference, saying the bond between India and Tibet is based on the guru-chela relationship [teacherstudent]. Ms Yangkyi thanked the Indian government and people for their kindness and hospitality over the last 60 years.

The 22 conference participants discussed and interacted on seven different topics including the guruchela relationship; the bond between India and Tibet and the Tibetan diaspora.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama received the delegation at his residence and spoke to them on the value of the ancient Indian knowledge of the understanding of mind and emotions, and of how Tibetans have kept it alive through the study of Buddhist logic and philosophy. His Holiness said “My latest commitment is to revive this knowledge through education, not through puja. Of course, that is part of Indian culture, but real culture is the knowledge that is within. That is India’s culture.” He said that the ancient Indian knowledge is the key for inner peace and that Indians should

pay more attention to this knowledge of inner world to achieve external peace.

In his closing remarks, Mr Tenzin Lekshay, Deputy Director of TPI, thanked the participants and the honoured guest speakers and said that TPI aims to organise future conferences in collaboration with more Indian Universities and higher study institutes.

The conference was attended by 22 young Indian scholars, including

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with the conference participants Photo: Ven Tenzin Jamphel

professors and assistant professors, from 13 different Indian universities and institutions including Madras university, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the South Asian University.

Forced Evictions Continue in Tibet

by Mary Trewartha The forced relocation of nomads in Tibet is once again in the news this month with two separate incidences being reported.

Radio Free Asia’s Tibet desk quotes their local sources saying “Chinese authorities in Tibet’s Chamdo prefecture are ramping up the forced relocation of nomads from rural areas into newly built towns far from grazing areas, leaving Tibetan families unable to cope with the demands of daily life”. RFA’s article dated January 23 reports that families are obliged to pay up to 8,000 yuan (US$ 1,200 / £890) for their new homes after being forced from their traditional grazing grounds in Chamdo’s Jomda, Gonjo, Dragyab, and Riwoche counties.

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Meanwhile, an article in the Tibetan Review says “China is to relocate in new settlements that are under construction the 3,900 residents of the three townships of Tsonyi County in Nagchu in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) in the name of ecological protection”.

The global.chinadaily.com, the Chinese state media, reported on January 27 that nomads in Tsonyi are being offered incentives to relocate to urban areas. The report quotes Zhang Jianhua, head of Tsonyi county, as saying the county will “strictly follow the regional government’s ecological protection policies to safeguard the pristine land and that one of the county’s key ecological protection measures 9

involves relocation”. He is quoted as saying “Living in the highest parts of the county is bad for people’s health, with many people developing heart and lung diseases and arthritis while they are still young.” He also claims that relocation is optional. However, many Tibet experts express doubt that the relocations are optional in practice as implementation of the government’s policies for the region depend on the removal of the nomads.

The Tibet Policy Institute has stated that China does not fulfil its promises of support for the Tibetans who have moved to towns and many face hardships. There have been many instances reported of new developments taking place on land that has been cleared of nomads.

JANUARY 2019

NEWS & ISSUES Jan 30: No Access to Tibet The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China has released their latest annual report on media freedom in China Under Watch: Reporting in China’s Surveillance State. It documents the severe restrictions China places on members of the international media who attempt to cover Tibet and their occasional harassment, quoting one reporter from the United Kingdom as saying, “I was explicitly told reporting on Xinjiang or Tibet was off limits.”

Jan 25: Support from Taiwan Tibet supporters and human rights activists in Taiwan have embarked on a series of events to mark the 60th anniversary of Tibetan National Uprising day, and 60 years of resistance in Tibet. A cycling tour of Taipei was the first event, it will be followed up with a rally in March.

Slogans shouted during the cycling rally included “Tibet belongs to Tibetans.”

Jan 23: EU Looks at China A session Freedom of Religion in China was held in the European Parliament in Brussels which highlighted the lack of religious freedom in China, including occupied Tibet, and looked at how the persecution is uniform across different religions - including Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. The two-hour session was led by MEPs Bas Belder (ECR), Christian Dan Preda (EPP) and Josef Weidenholzer (S&D).

Jan 22: Monk Attacked Jangchup Rinchen, a Tibetan monk in his forties living in Mundgod, has been attacked and injured while being robbed by a gang of four Indian men with knives who broke into his home, reports the Indian Express. They took INR 7 lakhs (US$9,840 / £7,470) as well as jewellery and high-end mobile phones. The victim is from Gaden Shartse’s Gunk Ru Houaw in camp no 1 of the Tibetan settlement in Mundgod.

Jan 21: More Border Issues The Indian online news outlet The Print has reported, “Satellite images show China is building underground facility 50 km from India border”, and saying that the new facility near Ngari is the second in Tibet, and stands about 60 km away from the Indian army’s forward posts at Demchok in Ladakh.

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Tibetan Headlines

Jan 19: Educational Collaboration The Tibetan Buddhist Drepung Loseling Monastery based in Mundgod, south India, and Goa University have signed an agreement to collaborate on research and study, particularly focusing on the Buddhist Nalanda tradition, and modern science. It is hoped the collaboration will be extended beyond the initial three years.

Jan 18: Private Donation A donation of US$90,000 (£70,000) for the benefit of elderly Tibetans living in exile has been made by an 82-yearold Tibetan man living in the United States. Tenzin Wangyal, who was born in Minyak in the Kham region of Tibet, has been inspired to make the donation

by HH the Dalai Lama’s teachings that people should offer care and support for elderly people.

Jan 18: New Nyingma Head Dzogchen Rinpoche Jigme Losel Wangpo, 54, has been selected as the new head of the Nyingma sect, succeeding Kathok Getse Rinpoche who died in an accident in Nepal in November last year. Dzogchen Rinpoche has trained extensively in both the Gelug and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism.

If he accepts, he will be the eighth Nyingma leader.

Jan 16: New Tibetan Enterprise The Tibet Rice Mill at the Bhandara Tibetan Settlement in Maharashtra, a new enterprise, has launched its product Tibet Premium Rice. The mill was funded by the Dalai Lama Trust and the Central Tibetan Relief Committee.

The project aims to generate additional income for Tibetan farmers and promote sustainable Tibetan co-operatives.

Jan 16: International Issues Workshop A workshop Tibetan Issues and International Community is underway in Dharamshala, organised by the Central Tibetan Administration’s UN and Human Rights Desk. The 20 participants include CTA staff, the Tibet Policy Institute and representatives of NGOs. Jan 11: Chinese Only for Students Tibet Minzu University in Xianyang city in Shaanxi province has ceased giving instruction in Tibetan. Half of 10

the 6,000 students at the school are Tibetans. Established in 1958, the school is China’s oldest university for Tibetan students. Teaching will now be entirely in Chinese – including classes in traditional Tibetan medicine.

Jan 9: Military Readiness China’s President Xi Jinping is reported in the media as having ordered the Chinese army to be “battle ready”, saying that China faces “increased risks and challenges”. Tensions are increasing between China and both Taiwan and the United States, and on the India –Tibet border China is reported as deploying high-altitude combat equipment.

Jan 8: A Winner!

Tashi Tobgyal, a Tibetan photojournalist at the Indian Express, has won this year’s prestigious Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award. The award presenters described his winning photograph as a powerful image documenting the life and death of the people who keep our cities clean.

Jan 7: Sudent Restrictions Students at a Tibetan school in Tibet have been forbidden from participating in extracurricular activities, including workshops, during their winter break, reports Radio Free Asia. The restriction includes attendance of religious activities and applies to Tibetan students in Lokha Tsewang City southeast of Lhasa.

Jan 4: Statues Distributed Statues of Lord Buddha and Tonpa Shenrab have been distributed to Tibetan monasteries and nunneries in India, Nepal and Bhutan. They were provided by the Department of Religion and Culture under their programme of activities during this year of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, following advice from the spiritual heads of Tibetan Buddhism and state oracle.

Jan 1: Tibet Support The traditional annual January 1 demonstration in Hong Kong saw over 3,000 people on the streets, reported the South China Morning Post. They said that both pro-independence activists and supporters of the “one country, two systems” principle took part and that some of the demonstrators used the event to call for the independence of Tibet.

JANUARY 2019

International Headlines

Jan 29: US Charges Huawei The United States has filed criminal charges against Huawei and its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou. The charges include bank and wire fraud, obstruction of justice and theft of technology from US company T Mobile.

Ms Meng was arrested in Canada last month prompting hostility between China, Canada and the US.Huawei and Ms Meng deny the allegations. Huawei is one of the largest telecoms providers in the world.

Jan 25: New President The first peaceful transfer of power in the Democratic Republic of Congo has taken place with Félix Tshisekedi, the new President, being sworn into office.

He says he wants to build a “reconciled Congo”. People believe the DR Congo is becoming more democratic, however his victory in last month’s election is disputed.

Jan 23: Greenland Ice Loss A new satellite study of Greenland has shown “unprecedented” ice loss. The Grace (the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellites, a joint NASA and the German Aerospace Centre mission, have revealed a four-fold increase in mass being lost from Greenland’s ice sheet between 2003-2013.

Jan 22: Arrest in Egypt Mohamed al-Ghiety, an Egypt TV host, has been fined and sentenced to one year of hard labour for “promoting homosexuality” after he interviewed a gay man about his life as a sex worker on his privately owned LTC TVchannel.

Homosexuality is not criminal in Egypt but arrests do take place.

Jan 21: Peace March In Colombia thousands of people have taken part in marches to protest against terrorism. The demonstrations were sparked when 20 police cadets were killed in a car bomb attack in Bototá.

The National Liberation Army has been blamed for the attack but they deny responsibility.

Jan 19: Anti-China Protest A demonstration against the growing influence of China has taken place in the Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek. Around 250 people took part, their demands included Contact

restrictions on work permits for Chinese citizens and a reduction of the country’s debt to China. The rally is reported to have been the biggest public protest against China so far in central Asia.

Jan 18: Buddhist Giveaway Scott Wellenbach, 67, a Buddhist Canadian poker player who won $670,000 (£500,000) in a poker tournament has donated it all to charity. He became a Buddhist as a young man and always donates his winnings to charity. Mr Wellenbach is a translator of Tibetan and Sanskrit Buddhist texts.

Jan 18: Confucius Closure The University of Massachusetts in Boston, United States, has closed its Confucius Institute –the 13th academic institution in the US to do so. Confucius Institutes are funded by Beijing and there is concern that they threaten academic freedom and free speech by silencing discussion on political and human rights issues sensitive to China - including Tibet and Taiwan.

Jan 17: Kenya Hotel Attack Al-Shabab, a Somali-based Islamist group, has carried out an armed attack on the DusitD2 luxury hotel in Nairobi. At least 21 people have been killed and 28 admitted to hospital. 19 are still missing.

Al-Shabab says the attack is in response to US President Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel .

Jan 16: Kumbh Mela Underway Around 15 million people have bathed at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna in Allahabad in northern India as the Kumbh Mela festival gets underway.

120 million Hindu devotees and visitors are expected to gather over the 49 days of the festival– the largest gathering of humanity in the world, visible from outer space.

Jan 14: New Mineral Found An Israeli mining company has reported finding Carmeltazite, a new mineral, never previously found on Earth but known to exist in outer space. It was embedded in sapphire in volcanic rock near Mount Carmel in northern Israel’s Sevulun Valley. The stone will be marketed as Carmel Sapphire and is expected to be valuable because of its rarity.

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NEWS & ISSUES

Jan 11: Visit to Xinjiang The Chinese state media Xinhuanet has reported that diplomatic envoys from 12 countries “witnessed the social and economic progress in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region” during a recent short visit. This comes in the face of worldwide condemnation of the treatment of the ethnic Uyghur Muslim residents there.

Jan 11: Rhino Horn Seized 116kg (256 lbs) of illegal rhino horn has been seized by South African authorities as it was being smuggled out of the country for shipping to Dubai – one of the biggest hauls of smuggled horns in recent years.

The 36 horns, worth about $1.3m (£1m), were found packed alongside everyday household items.

Jan 10: Judge Missing?

Wang Linqing, a judge at the Chinese Supreme People’s Court, has gone missing following his exposure of information about miscarriages of justice in a 2016 mining-rights case involving billions of dollars, reports the Epoch Times. The report says that a video circulating on Chinese social media shows Wang speaking about the case.

Jan 9: Data Breach Private information on around 1,000 highprofile Germans, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, has been published on Twitter under the username @_Orbit. A 20-year-old man has confessed, saying he was acting alone and out of annoyance at statements made by the public figures.

Jan 8: Renewed Threats China’s renewed threats to assimilate Taiwan have prompted Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen to call for support from the international community to help defend Taiwan - a self-ruled democracy - against China’s latest takeover bid. China has threatened to use force, saying that Taiwan is part of China.

Jan 4: Conviction Three men have been convicted for the murder of BBC journalist Ahmad Shah in a special Afghan terrorist tribunal. Mr Shah was shot dead last April. One of the three men has been sentenced to death, the two others have prison terms of 30 years and six years; their identities have not been released and their motives are not known.

JANUARY 2019

DHARAMSHALA VOICES & LHA NEWS Every month we feature somebody from the Tibetan community on our Dharamshala Voices page as well as the occasional profile of one of the many NGOs in Dharamshala who do so much to help the Tibetan Community You can read more Dharamshala Voices stories on the Contact website: http://www.contactmagazine.net/dharamasla-life/

Looking to the Future

By Charlotte Wigram-Evans Youdon passes easily through the pellmell of people in McLeod, one hand holding onto her five-year-old son, the other gesturing for me to follow. She skips over cowpats, picking her way around potholes and roadside stalls as though she’s done this trip every day for a long, long time.

And she has. India’s been Youdon’s home for 15 years. She ran away from Tibet when she was only 18, sneaking out in the middle of the night and leaving her brothers, sisters, mum and dad behind. She hasn’t seen them since.

“My parents would never have let me go,” she explains, “but I wanted to experience the real world. Growing up, armed Chinese policemen patrolled my village and I never understood why.

My father would tell me stories about two great tribes –one peaceful, the other power hungry, but never more than that. Everyone knows that walls have ears in Tibet.”

We have arrived at Youdon’s home, one of the many in McLeod teetering precariously on the mountainside. They are stacked like playing cards, as if one day, a sharp gust of wind will simply blow them all away.

It’s to be my home too for the next ten days, and Youdon tells me her story as I sip Tibetan butter tea, crosslegged on the floor. The kettle hisses on a camping cooker, the Dalai Lama smiles down on us from a poster on the wall and through the window, monks

gather, their robes falling around them in crimson waves.

Youdon’s journey across the Himalayas took 22 days; walking all night, snatching a few hours sleep when the sun rose, and praying continuously that Chinese guards didn’t spot her, or their dogs smell her. It was terrifying, she admits, but she was one of the

Youdon and her son Namdak Photo: Contact/Lha

lucky ones. She reached Nepal before the weather turned – frostbite claimed the fingers of those three days behind.

As I listen, engrossed, her son Namdak vies for my attention, all shyness evaporated now we are on his turf. He is beautiful in the way exotic children are: rosy-cheeked, with eyes the shape of almonds, and we communicate via a “he points, I draw” system. My attempts at pictures from his schoolbooks are scoff-worthy (which he does, wagging his finger and shaking his head).

His father is conspicuous only by his absence. He’s been in France for almost four years, trying to get refugee papers so they can buy a place over there. It’s

almost impossible for Tibetans to own property in India, and many of them wouldn’t want to, resolute in their belief that a return to their homeland is on the horizon. But many others are moving away, wanting finally to lay down some roots.

“No one sees McLeod as home,” Youdon tells me. “The Indian government is very kind, but even those who were born here, even those who fled Tibet as long ago as 1959 with the Dalai Lama look at this as a temporary set-up. Of course, I still hope to go home, but while the country is occupied I couldn’t even if I wanted to.

When I left, I did so knowing I would never be allowed back.”

Temporary or not, Tibetans have made themselves a life here. When Youdon first arrived in McLeod, fresh produce was almost impossible to find.

Now, mounds of rainbow-coloured fruit flank the streets. Schools and temples have been built, they have their own government-in-exile, and a five-minute stroll down the hill takes you to the Dalai Lama’s doorstep. It’s a refuge– a sanctuary for a displaced nation.

And success at last – I draw a passable imitation of Sponge Bob Square Pants, making Namdak squeal with delight.

I smile back, simultaneously happy and sad, wondering whether one day Tibetans will be dealt a different hand – whether one day they’ll be able to go home, their playing card houses left behind in McLeod.

Lha News: Sushi Making Class Lha held a sushi-making course for one month from December 11 to January 11. Twelve people took part; the class was led by Mr Tashi Dhondup who was trained under Sushi Master Hiriomi Yumikana and who has been a professional Contact

sushi chef for more than six years.

During the course the students learned how to prepare around 25 different varieties of sushi and associated side dishes. On the final day of the course their families and friends, together with Lha staff, were 12

invited to join in the closing event and to see the 12 participants receiving their course completion certificates.

We wish our students all the best in their future endeavours and hope their skills in sushi making will stand them in good stead for their careers.

JANUARY 2019

Monthly Mass Clean Up Lha’s monthly mass clean up took place on January 19, the third Saturday of the month as usual. Around 15 students and volunteers joined us for the event. We started in Mcleod Ganj and ended up at the forest area below Temple Road, near Nagini Mandir.

The forest area we covered was immensely dirty as people have thrown all kinds of garbage without any care for the environment we live in. Some areas had layers of sanitary pads, plastics and bottles which shows just how careless people are with regard to their environment.

With the monthly mass clean up we hope to bring a positive change in peoples’ behaviour in regard to their association with their environment.

Following the clean up was tea and lunch at Lha’s Ahimsa House for everyone who took part.

Film Making Class

Lha held a film making class from January 2–31.

The class was instructed by volunteer N Ghai from Chandighar and Kunsang Tenzin from Stories of Tibetans, an institute based in Dharamshala which shares untold stories of Tibetan refugees with the rest of the world.

Twelve students attended the class and were introduced to the basics of pre-production, shooting, video editing, applying effects, colour correction and colour grading.

The students took part in practical exercises, including going out on shoots after class lessons.

LHA NEWS & PROJECTS Lha could not provide the services we do without the support of our wonderful volunteers who help in so many ways and inspire us with their enthusiasm.

Every month we ask a volunteer to share their story. This month’s volunteer is Anna Huggenberg from Switzerland. Her volunteer jobs at Lha: Teacher and Conversation Partner

Sharing the Human Spirit “How long will you stay in Dharamshala?”

“I don’t know yet, until I get bored I guess.”

“In that case you’ll never leave.”

This is part of a conversasion I had with a friend of mine shortly before I came to Dharamshala. I remember these words perfectly well, because they are absolutely true. The sight of the snowy mountains every morning, the beautiful streets and market, the smiling faces and lovely people of McLeod Ganj cast their spell on me.

But my story begins a bit earlier.

After graduating from 12th g r a d e this summer, I was desperate to get away from my hometown in Switzerland. I wanted to see something new, live differently and meet new people.

Thus, I have come to India beginning of last September, volunteering at the Tibetan Homes School in Mussoorie.

I absolutely loved it! All the friends I made, experiences I acquired and things I learned from these children will forever stay in my heart.

But with December came the winter break. Therefore, I left for Dharamshala and a holiday.

I didn’t know how long I would stay, may be until Christmas or

maximum New Year, I thought. But I ended up staying over a month longer.

Since my arrival I have stayed at the Lha Charitable Trust. I started teaching the French Intermediate Class (which at some point I exchanged with the German Class) and the English Advanced Class, as well as joining the English Conversation Classes. It is amazing how much this institute offers to motivated people, working with the help of volunteers from all over the world. The stories of how these different people ended up here at the Lha institute are fascinating.

I enjoy teaching here enormously.

As in Mussoorie, I suspect that I am learning as much from my students as they are learning from me, if not more so.

Not having a syllabus or any restrictions on one hand and being able to profit from the large amount of educational material from the organisation’s library, I could organise the different classes depending on my instincts. However, I especially took pleasure from the conversation classes, where I learned so much about the Tibetan culture, Buddhism and struggles people living here are faced with.

I learned to think differently, observing people around me differently. But talking about everything from favourite animals to hopes and dreams to the question where happiness comes from, I also learned how similar we are. After all, we share the same human spirit.

Contact magazine is published by Lha Charitable Trust

Lha Charitable Trust is an award-winning, grassroots, non-profit organisation and one of the largest Tibetan social work institutes based in Dharamshala, India. Lha has been striving to provide vital resources for Tibetan refugees, local Indian communities, and people from the Himalayan regions for over 20 years.

For more information, please visit www.lhasocialwork.org Contact magazine online www.contactmagazine.net Facebook: Contact News / Twitter: Contact News Contact

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JANUARY 2019

LHA ANNUAL REPORT

Lha Annual Report 2018

Contact magazine is published by Lha Chartitable Trust; it is one aspect of our work for the Tibetans and other communities around Dharamshala. Our Annual Report gives details of our various projects and activities over the past year.

Lha seeks to generate an atmosphere of harmony and co-operation within the community by meeting the needs of the impoverished and underprivileged. Our aim is to help the Tibetan people survive and prosper in their new home and to preserve their profoundly unique culture. We focus on six areas: preservation and promotion of the Tibetan language and cultural heritage; social work initiatives; educational resources; creating awareness of the Tibetan issue; volunteering opportunities and our cultural exchange programme.

New Projects in 2018 The Tibetan Women’s Nursing Scholarship provides nursing scholarships for three young Tibetans who come from low-income families with limited resources. The first three candidates, Tsering Dolma from CST Poanta School, Tenzin Nordon from TCV Gopalpur School and Tsering Choedon from TCV Bylakuppe School are in place. The scholarship is dedicated to Neysa Fenwick, a past Tulane School of Social Work (TSSW) student who came to Dharamshala in 2011 and sadly died last year. Her parents, along with family friend Tom Hoffman, donated over half the funds,while TSSW students raised the remainder.

The Secular Ethics Fellowship Programme provides the resources for one Tibetan researcher to study the philosophy of secular ethics for one year, and then to become the focus of knowledge in this sphere for our community. The aim of the programme is to develop a vision of secular ethics for Tibetan schools and society and to look at ways of its practical application in Tibetan society today. The inspiration for this project is His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whose thoughts on secular ethics and universal responsibility Contact

are widely recognised and revered.

The project was launched under the guidance of His Eminence the Professor Samdhong Rinpoche who formed an advisory committee to guide the researcher. Mr Kunchok Tenzin is our first fellow, he will submit his final report in April 2019. We hope to continue this significant project to the point where it will bring tangible results.

A workshop for preschool Tibetan teachers, Basic Education Policy for Tibetan in Exile and Secular Ethics, was very successful; 20 teachers took part in the three-day workshop which was funded by the Tibet Fund, USA. Participants came from six Tibetan schools in and around Dharamshala and one from Nepal.

A training for translators was held in March led by Shri Dhawa Dhondup (Acharya), an expert and highly respected Buddhist translator, with 15 participants.

Lha’s Ongoing Programmes Lha’s language classes remain central to our mission and we have taught nearly 1,200 students since 2006. Classes at different levels are provided in English, Chinese, French, German and Tibetan and are attended by Tibetan refugees, local Indians and those from other Himalayan communities.

572 new students registered in 2018. In addition, 150 individual tutoring sessions took place.

Computer Classes were again popular with 99 students registered for the Beginner’s, Intermediate and Web design classes. These courses aim to provide skills to improve people’s education opportunities, to enhance career potential and to teach people better and easier ways to communicate.

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Clothing Distribution provides clothes, shoes, shawls, bags, etc to needy Tibetans and Indians in the McLeod Ganj area and to Indian families in the slum areas of lower Dharamshala. Lha collects clothing donations from tourists, student exchange groups and visitors to Dharamshala and distributes them, working with the Dharamshala Rotary Club for the distribution in lower Dharamshala.

Our Clear Vision and Smile Dental Projects were attended by 242 monks and nun. Following an initial assessment 178 people received dental treatments and 84 people received eye care. As usual, two medical student groups from Tulane University were involved with this project; they worked with local dentist Ms Natasha from Perfect 32, Tanu Optical eye glass centre near Zonal Hospital, Dharamshala, Rotary Eye Hospital Pragpur, Bhajnath and Verma Eye Care and Optical Clinic.

Contact magazine this year covered 157 Tibet-related news articles, written by Contact magazine reporters and 46 volunteer writers from around the world. This year we have added a new job opportunities column. Eleven monthly printed issues of Contact were published and distributed freely around Dharamshala as well as posted to embassies, schools and institutions in India and abroad. Contact magazine is a news magazine published by Lha, updated daily online and produced monthly in print, which addresses Tibetan current events and community information.

Clean Water Project: The 26th water system was installed at Spiti Children’s hostel in Sidhpur Dharamshala in February, funded by the Australia Tibet Council Group 2017. The hostel has around 250 residents who, until now, did not have access to safe JANUARY 2019

LHA ANNUAL REPORT

Lha Annual Report 2018 drinking water. The 27th water system was installed at the Tibetan Homes Foundation, Mussoorie School, in March, funded by Mr John Jack Ulrichsen. The school has around 1,150 students and is located in the hill state of Uttarakhand. Lha also provides an annual service and maintenance of the water filters we have installed The Community Soup Kitchen registered 70 new beneficiaries. This is Lha’s one project that is dedicated solely to Tibetan refugees and we provide them with free and nutritious meals. We also arrange health awareness talks for the beneficiaries.

Rinpoche accessible to the public and contains 1,019 audio files and 208 videos of Rinpoche’s teachings and speeches as well as 725 articles in Tibetan and English. Thousands of people watch and listen to the YouTube and Sound Cloud content.

Around ten students a day attended our class for adult Tibetans who want to learn to read or write in Tibetan and 33 came to our three month intensive Tibetan language class for Tibetan people working in Tibetan NGOs and institutes, with classes held after office hours.

In addition, Lha manages several websites in the Tibetan language.

Volunteering Opportunities: We always say that volunteers are our backbone and they truly assist in most of our projects. In 2018, 398 volunteers from many countries became involved, participating in nearly all of our activities. Lha is the largest volunteer host and coordination organisation in the Tibetan refugee community in Dharamshala.

World AIDS Day 2018 was marked with an awareness programme on HIV/AIDS at Bir Tibetan Settlement, held in collaboration with with Delek Hospital and the Tibetan Primary Health Centre, Bir. The theme was Know Your Status and focused on the importance of knowing one’s status and getting yourself checked if you don’t know.

The Environmental Protection and Awareness Programmes continue with our monthly mass cleanups every third Saturday, often in collaboration with the Clean Upper Dharamshala Programme of the Tibetan settlement office, Dharamshala.Through Lha’s bilingual environment website www. tibetnature.net we published 45 Tibetan and 43 English articles on Tibet’s environment and the issues facing it. Tibet Nature remains very active and is updated regularly. This year’s World Environment Day held an essay contest with cash prize on the theme Beat Plastic Pollution. 30 people participated and the top three essays were published on Tibet Nature website and in Contact magazine.

Cultural Exchange Programmes: Lha hosted 14 international exchange groups and two Indian, American groups Rustic Pathways, GoBeyond, Tulane University, Loyola University and professional medical practitioners and hospice care givers. Also, GapForce from the UK and a group from Singapore – a total of 176 foreign students and professionals and 22 Indian students.

Preservation of the Tibetan language and culture: Our bilingual website www.samdhongrinpoche. com makes the works of the Venerable Professor Samdhong Contact

Educational Talks with invited expert speakers this year included talks for our students, soup kitchen beneficiaries, foreign exchange groups and volunteers. Two of the most notable speakers were His Eminence Professor Samdhong Rinpoche and Geshe Lhakdor (Director of the Tibetan Library).

We also held awareness talks on dental hygiene for local Tibetans and talks on the human rights situation in Tibet for visiting student groups.

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Financial Summary Total income: INR59,25,139 (US$91,156/£70,240) Expenditure: INR67,28,393 (US$103,514/£79,750) Administrative costs: INR28,33,255 (US$43,589/£35,580) Project costs: INR37,20,852 (US$57,244/£44,100) Earned income sources include the cultural exchange programmes, accommodation and hall rent from Ahimsa House and the Lha Fair Trade shop which fund our core activities. Other projects and services rely on generous donations and funders. Lha’s programmes and projects are always adjusted to meet the needs of our community here in Dharamshala.

Thank You! We truly appreciate the contributions of many individuals and institutes who have supported our work for the past 21 years and helped thousands of people. We are extremely grateful to our founders, donors, volunteers and supporters for making this journey incredible in so many ways. Thank you to Louisiana Himalaya Association, The Dalai Lama Trust, Tulane University, The Tibet Fund, Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, Tibet Freunde Swiss, GoBeyond, Rustic Pathways, Loyola University, Louisiana Mississippi Hospice and Palliative Care Organisation, Australia Tibet Council, Tibetan Delek Hospital and to our many individual volunteers and donors, too numerous to mention by name but everyone special and appreciated.

We honestly wouldn’t have made this far without your trust and support.

Thank you so much everyone.

Please see the box on page 20 for more information about our achievements over the years, and visit our website for more news and information about Lha: www.lhasocialwork.org JANUARY 2019

around town

Charities and Organisations

Central Tibetan Administration The CTA serves in Dharamshala as the government in exile of Tibet. It is democratic with judiciary, legislative, and executive branches.

Within the Executive branch there is the Kashag, consisting of the departments of Religion and Culture, Home, Education, Finance, Security, Information and International Relations and Health, and Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay.

WEB: www.tibet.net LOCATION: Near Library PHONE: 01892-222218 HOURS: Mon-Sat: 9:00 am-5:00 pm EMAIL: kashag@tibet.net The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama (OHHDL) OHHDL is the personal office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The office organises his schedule, including appointments and travel plans, diplomatic and personal correspondence, and liaises with officials of the Central Tibetan Administration.

WEB: www.dalailama.com LOCATION: McLeod Ganj, PHONE: 01892-221343 / 221210 EMAIL: ohhdl@dalailama.com Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) The TYC is an advocacy and political action organisation with chapters around the world.

The TYC organises cultural exhibitions, educational campaigns and social welfare activities.

WEB: www. tibetanyouthcongress.org LOCATION: Tipa Road, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala -176219 PHONE: 01892-221554 EMAIL:president@tibetanyouthcongress.org, tyc@tibetanyouthcongress.org Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) The TWA conducts workshops on gender sensitization and domestic violence throughout Tibetan settlements in India, provides Tibetan women with education scholarships, and connects women with international sponsors.

WEB: www. tibetanwomen.org LOCATION: Bhagsu Road, McLeod Ganj PHONE: 01892-221527 EMAIL: tibwomen@gmail.com Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) TCV provides care to Tibetan children by creating a nurturing environment and fostering Tibetan values and culture while delivering a modern education. There is an Upper and Lower residential school in Dharamshala and day school in McLeod Ganj, with other branches throughout India.

WEB: www.tcv.org.in LOCATION: Dharamshala Cantt.176216 PHONE: 01892-221354 / 221348 EMAIL: headoffice@tcv.org.in Men-Tsee-Khang: Tibetan Medical & Astro.

Institute Men-Tsee-Khang is a facility for research, training and practice of traditional Tibetan medicine.

Patients may seek treatment at Men-TseeKhang for both acute and chronic conditions.

The facility provides extensive training and produces traditional pharmaceuticals.

WEB: www.men-tsee-khang.org LOCATION: Gangchen Kyishong,

Contact

PHONE: 01892-223222 / 223113 EMAIL: info@men-tsee-khang.org

Tibetan Library (LTWA) (Centre for Tibetan Studies) The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives has the purpose to restore, protect, preserve, and promote Tibetan culture in all its aspects. They offer courses in Tibetan and Hindi language and Buddhist philosophy and can provide affordable accommodation for those enrolled in two or more courses.

WEB: www.tibetanlibrary.org LOCATION: Gangchen Kyishong PHONE: 9882255047 EMAIL: ltwa1970@gmail.com Delek Hospital Delek Hospital is a small, Tibetan run hospital in Dharamshala. It has 45 inpatient beds, holds outpatient hours from 9am to 12pm Monday through Friday, and can handle most small procedures. Patients are responsible for a 10 Rupees registration fee. The hospital has a pharmacy on site.

WEB:www.delekhospital.org LOCATION: Kharadanda Rd, Dharamshala; Delek Clinic, Bhagsu Rd, Dharamshala HOURS: Outpatient, Mon-Fri: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm; Specialist clinics, Mon-Sat: 2:00 pm-4:30 pm; Emergencies, 24 hours daily PHONE: 01892-222053 / 223381 EMAIL: delek@bsnl.in hospitaldelek@yahoo.com Sambhota Tibetan Schools Society The society was established in 1999 to provide educational and administrative guidance to all Tibetan schools in remote areas of India and Bhutan that do not fall under the guidance of Tibetan Childrens Village. Today there are 65 schools under this organisation after the take over of CTSA Schools.

WEB: www.sambhota.org LOCATION:Khanyara Rd, Dharamshala176215 PHONE: 01892 - 246422 / 246423 EMAIL: stss1999@gmail.com Tong-Len Charitable Trust Tong-Len’s mission is to help displaced communities in North India achieve a secure and sustainable future. Tong-Len projects include educational and health programs, childhood education and sponsorship, primary and nursery tent schools, and children’s support hostels.

Volunteer opportunities available.

WEB: www. tong-len.org LOCATION: Top Floor, Bank Of Baroda, Kotwali Bazaar, Dharamshala-176215 PHONE: 01892-223930 EMAIL: jamyang@tong-len.org Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) SFT is an international NGO that promotes the Tibetan cause among the non-Tibetan community.

The organisation attempts to build international solidarity by advocating for a free Tibet through chapter organisations at Universities around the world.

WEB:www.sftindia.org, www.studentsforafreetibet.org LOCATION: Jogiwara Road, McLeod Ganj PHONE: 9882786875 Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD)

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TCHRD advocates for human rights and provides education on the human rights situation in Tibet.

The centre publishes journals and articles, as well as conducting workshops and campaigns.

WEB: www.tchrd.org LOCATION: CTA, Dharamshala - 176215 PHONE: 01892-223363 EMAIL: office@tchrd.org Lha Charitable Trust (Lha) Lha, a Tibetan grassroots NGO based in Dharamshala, is one of the largest social work organisations providing vital resources for Tibetan refugees, the local Indian population, and people from the Himalayan regions.

Lha offers free English, French and Chinese classes, cultural exchange programs, IT classes, vocational training, health and environmental awareness education, distribution of clothes and medicine, a community kitchen, and many other programs and activities. (see page 2) WEB:www.lhasocialwork.org LOCATION: Temple Road, McLeod Ganj, Opposite State Bank of India PHONE: 01892-220992, 988-2323-455 EMAIL: office@lhasocialwork.org The Kangra Distt. Red Cross Society The Kangra District Red Cross Society renders its humanitarian services, projects and activities with the help and the co-operation of people at all levels of society by donation.

WEB: www.redcrosskangra.org LOCATION: Red Cross Bhawan, Dharamshala PHONE: 01892-224888 / 9418832244 EMAIL: sharmaopl12345@gmail.com Gu-Chu-Sum Movement Association of Tibet is an organisation of former political prisoners of Tibet and former activists currently in exile that engages in their complete assistance from medical, financial, basic education and vocational training. It also organises lobby and advocacies about human rights abuses in Tibet. WEB: www. guchusum.org LOCATION: Jogibara Road, McLeod Ganj, PHONE: 01892-220680 / 220679 EMAIL: guchusum1991@gmail.com Tibet Charity Tibet Charity provides programs including English and computer classes, an animal care program, and a variety of medical and educational financial support programs.

WEB: www.tibetcharity.in LOCATION: Temple Road, McLeod Ganj PHONE: 01892-221790 / 221877 EMAIL: director@tibetcharity.in Tibet World Tibet World is a charitable trust (Reg. No 136/2015) “Where Tibet meets the world & the world meets Tibet”. Education programmes: international language courses, training, workshops and a winter programme for schoolchildren. Cultural programmes: folk show, talks, sharing stories, monk chat, compassion + wisdom = happiness workshops, cultural tours, engaging volunteering options, cultural exchange and collaboration programmes.

WEB: www.tibetworld.org LOCATION: Jogiwara Road near Post Office, McLeod Ganj PHONE: 9816999928/8353005268 EMAIL: info@tibetworld.org

JANUARY 2019

around town

Charities and Organisations

Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) Established in 1959, under the vision of HH the Dalai Lama, TIPA strives to preserve and promote Tibetan theatrical tradition.

The Insitute imparts comprehensive training and lessons on Tibetan folk dance, folk song, traditional instruments and tradition of Tibetan opera.TIPA also hosts a beautiful theatrical museum which remains open during working days. We organise a special group tour of our campus every Wednesday (10 am).

WEB: www.tibetanarts.org LOCATION: TIPA Road, McLeod Ganj Dharamshala-176219 PHONE: 01892-221478 EMAIL: tibetanarts2012@gmail.com

Learning and Ideas for Tibet (LIT) Learning and Ideas for Tibet (LIT) is a nongovernment, non-profit adult education centre in Dharamshala, North India. LIT provides Free Education, Health Care and Skills Training to Tibetan Refugees to help eradicate poverty and illiteracy amongst the Tibetan population.

WEB:www.lit-dharamsala.org LOCATION: Underground Hotel Akash, Jogiwara Road, Mcleodd Ganj, Dharamsala 176219 PHONE: (+91) 7590025915 EMAIL: learningandideasfortibet@gmail. com Tibetan Centre for Conflict Resolution (TCCR) Tibetan Centre for Conflict Resolution is a non-profit, educational organisation dedicated to the non-violent management of conflicts in the Tibetan Community and the world as a whole.They work to promote the approaches and tools of non-violent conflict resolution and democratic processes in the Tibetan community in exile and elsewhere.

WEB: http://tccr.org LOCATION: Session Road, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamshala 176215 PHONE: 01892-226627 EMAIL: tccrteam@gmail.com Rogpa Baby Care Centre The Rogpa Baby Care Centre helps low-income Tibetan families to become self-sufficient by providing free child care for infants so that their parents can work. The centre needs volunteers to help with art, games, singing and other tasks including diaper changing.

WEB: www.tibetrogpa.org LOCATION: Jogiwara Road, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala- 176219 PHONE: 9857973026 EMAIL: rogpa2004@yahoo.com Gamru Village School Gamru Village School is a successful NGO that provides free high-quality education to any children who encounter serious barriers to education and who have a low standard of living.

WEB: www.gamruschool.com LOCATION: Village Gamru, P.O Kotwali Bazaar, Dharamshala, Distt Kangra 176215 PHONE: 9816105554 Contact

EMAIL: tashu72004@yahoo.com Clean Upper Dharamshala Project Founded in 1994 to provide a waste management system in and around McLeod Ganj, the Green Workers, the Handmade Recycled Paper Factory, the Green Shop and the Environmental Education Centre are part of the Clean Upper Dharamshala Project. Weekly guided tours are offered on Wednesdays at 3 pm.

WEB: www.tsodhasa.org LOCATION: Bhagsu Road, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala - 176219 PHONE: 01892-221059 EMAIL: cudpswm@gmail.com

Nyingtob Ling (Realm of Courage) Nyingtob Ling supports Tibetan children from disadvantaged families. The children make handicrafts and paintings. They are so friendly and love to have visitors.

WEB: www.nyingtobling.org LOCATION: Near Norbulingka, Sidhpur PHONE:01892 211042 / 9816028149 EMAIL: nyingtob_ling@hotmail.com Women’s Team Volunteers needed to teach English to Indian women and children in the village of Kaniyara near Dharamshala. Contact Jitender.

EMAIL: jitenderje@gmail.com PHONE: 7831956680 / 08894435595 The Active Nonviolence Education Center (ANEC) ANEC facilitates trainings, workshops and open forum discussions on nonviolent strategies to help resolve disagreements and differences at all levels of human society. ANEC welcomes volunteers from western countries to participate in informal panel discussions on ideas of regional and global peace and nonviolent strategies. Free lunch and tea and many more benefits for

volunteers.

LOCATION: No. 262, 1st floor, Khajanchi -Mohalla, Khunyara Rd, Lower Dharamshala PHONE: 9882077708 / 9882921477 EMAIL: wangduemiddleway@gmail.com Website: www.anec-india.net Facebook: www/facebook.com/anecpeace National Democratic Party of Tibet The NDPT is currently the only Tibetan political party. With 5000 members in 36 regional chapters throughout the world, the main aim and objectives of the NDPT are to prepare for the establishment of a political party in a future Tibet, to promote democracy, to educate the Tibetan people about the significance of political parties and to create awareness among the people about Tibetan issues.

WEB: www.ndp4tibet.org LOCATION: Dharamshala–176219 EMAIL: tibetparty4@gmail.com PHONE: 9882787633 / 9882673330 Tibetan Dubbing Society Tibetan Dubbing Society, founded in 2015, is a non-profit organisation working towards preserving Tibetan language through various forms of entertainment and dubbing animation movies into Tibetan language for Tibetan children.

LOCATION: Near Norbulinga Institute WEBSITE: www.tibetdub.org EMAIL: savetiblang@gmail.com CONTACT: +91-8629837735 Norbulingka Institue Centre for Tibetan culture with studios and artists at work. Temple, tour guides of the workshops, and gardens.

LOCATION:Sidhpur, Dharamshala PHONE:9882144210 EMAIL: info@norbulingka.org WEB:www.norbulingka.org

BUS SCHEDULE * Times and prices may vary. Please check with the bus stand ahead of departure.

Leaving from the McLeod Ganj bus stand, unless otherwise stated: DELHI: Ordinary Bus: 4:00am (Rs 554), 6pm (Rs 580), 7:30 pm (Rs 570) Semi Deluxe Bus: 5pm (Rs 590) , 6:30pm (Rs 590) Full Deluxe Bus: (Rs683) AC Volvo Semi-Sleeper: 8:15 am (Rs 1243), 5:35pm (Rs 1275), 7:00pm (Rs 1275), 8:50pm (Rs1275) AC TATA: 5:50pm (Rs 972) AMRITSAR: Ordinary Bus: 5am (Rs257) *from Dharamshala DEHRADUN: Ordinary Bus: 2pm (Rs 560) 8pm (Rs 551); VOLVO: 7pm (Rs 1199) MANALI: Ordinary Bus: 7:10am (Rs358 *from Dharamshala / VOLVO: 11:30 pm (Rs 782) PATHANKOT: Ordinary Bus: 5am (Rs 136) * from Dharamshala SHIMLA: Ordinary Bus: 5am (Rs 408), 6am (Rs 360), 7:50am (Rs 375), 8:am (Rs 520) 7:45 pm (Rs 363), 12pm (Rs 367) *from Dharamshala, Semi-Deluxe Bus: 9:30pm (Rs455) *from Dharamshala FOR BOOKINGS: Location: Ticket stand under McLLo’s, McLeod Ganj Main square Hours: 10am-5pm, daily Phone: 220026 (McLeod bus stand), 224903 (Dharamshala) For deluxe buses, book through any travel agency.

TA X I S A private taxi to Lower Dharamshala will cost you Rs 200. Cram into a jeep (from the bus stand), and it’ll only cost you Rs15.

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JANUARY 2019

activities and information UPCOMING EVENTS Feb 5 - 8: Losar (Tibetan New Year) Feb 19: Teaching on Jataka Tales By His Holiness the Daalai Lama at Tsuglakhang Feb 20 - 25: Teaching on Bhavaviveka’s Essence of the Middle Way by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Tsuglakhang

BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY Library of Tibetan Works and Archives WEB: www.tibetanlibrary.org LOCATION: Gangchen Kyishong, between McLeod Ganj and Lower Dharamshala HOURS: Mon-Fri: 10:30 - 11:45 am PHONE: 9882255047

Public Audience with HH Karmapa WEB: www.kagyuoffice.org LOCATION: Sidhpur HOURS: Wed & Sat: 2:30pm PHONE: 01892-235307

YOGA AND REIKI Yoga & Reiki Courses

Location- Om Yoga Ashram,Near Dal Lake Mob- 9805693514 /981649432 Email - om.yoga@ymail.com web- http://www.omashram.in

Shivam Neelkant Yoga Kendra LOCATION: Upper Bhagsu PHONE: 098165-65138 WEB: www.shivamneelkant.yoga.com

MASSAGE Nature Cure Health Club

Shiatsu massage LOCATION: Near Tibetan Ashoka, Jogiwara Road PHONE: 07833047078 EMAIL: mahinder_m@hotmail.com

Men-Tsee-Khang

LOCATION: Mcleod Ganj Branch Clinic, 1st floor, TIPA Road (2 mins from Main Square) PHONE: 98828-60505 EMAIL: therapycenter@men-tsee-khang.org

Dorjee Spa LOCATION: Pema Thang Guest house, Hotel Bhagsu Road PHONE:9816393673 / 9857108408 WhatsApp: 9816393673

Contact

MEDITATION Ocean of Harmony

Taught by an experienced and qualified coach WEB: www.oceanofharmony.org PHONE: (+91) 99798-94585 EMAIL: ohlifeandwellness@gmail.com

Tushita Meditation Center WEB: www.tushita.info LOCATION: Dharamkot HOURS: Mon-Sat: 9:30-11:30am PHONE: 0898-816-0988 EMAIL: spc@tushita.info

Shivan Neel Kanth Yoga

WEBSITE:www.shivamneelkant.yoga.com LOCATION: Bhagsu Nag, Near High Sky PHONE: 09816565138 EMAIL: yogi_shivam@yahoo.co.in

Om Meditation Ashram

Location-Om Yoga Ashram,Near Dal Lake Mob-01892 220333 /9805693514 web - www.himalayanashram.com

COOKING

Lha Tibetan Cooking Classes - for groups LOCATION: Lha Soup Kitchen, Temple Rd, Just below the Dalai Lama’s temple HOURS: Registration, 9:00-11:00am PHONE: 01892-220992

Indian Cooking and Knitting with Ms Rita Kapoor LOCATION: Old German Bakery, 1st Floor, Room No. 2, Opp. Buddha Hall, Bhagsunag PHONE: 94592-06586

Indian Cooking Classes

LANGUAGES Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo Translators Program LOCATION: Rato Chuwar Labrang, Phuntsok Gatsel Session Road Hours: 10:45-5pm Email: lrztp.manager@gmail.com

REETA THAKUR HINDI CLASSES Location: Near Dal Lake Mob - 9816494732 Tibetan Language

LOCATION: The Tibetan Library *see Buddhist Philosophy Listing

Hindi Lessons with Kailash

LOCATION: Hotel India House, Bhagsu Rd PHONE: 01892-20063, 941-816-1947

Esukhia Online Tibetan Courses and Tibetan Immersion Spoken LOCATION:Tilak Ray Building, Bhagsu Rd PHONE: 8679502538 / 98820-04965 EMAIL: contact@esukhia.org

Sanskrit Language Study Program at Vikramashila Foundation India (VFI) Location: Vikramashila center, 1st flr, Ketan Lodge,Jogiwara road, McleodGanj, Dharamshala, H.P Email: vikramashilafoundation@gmail.com

ART AND MUSEUMS Tibet Museum

LOCATION:Near the Main Temple and Namgyal Monastery gate, McLeod Ganj HOURS: Tue-Sun: 9:00am-5:00pm

LOCATION:Jogiwara Rd, next to Tibetan Ashoka Guesthouse HOURS: 10:00am-6:00pm PHONE: 07833047078 / 0988230136 EMAIL: mahinder_m@hotmail.com

Tibet Photo Exhibit: 50 Years of Struggle and Oppression

Lhamo’s Kitchen: Tibetan Cooking Classes

The Tibetan Institute for the Performing Arts (TIPA)

Sangye’s Kitchen: Traditional Tibetan Cooking Classes

Kangra Art Museum

LOCATION: Bhagsu Rd, near the Green Shop HOURS: 8:00am-9:00pm PHONE: 981-646-8719

LOCATION: Lung-ta Restaurant, below the Tashi Choeling Monastery on Jogiwara Road HOURS:10:00am - 4:00pm PHONE: 981-616-4540 EMAIL: sangyla_tashi@yahoo.co.in

COMPUTER CLASSES Tibetan Career Centre, Dharamshala LOCATION: Jogiwara Road, Mcleod Ganj HOURS: 9:00am-6pm PHONE: 9882321424 /9880969175 Email at : yesheadconsultant@tibet.net

Lha Charitable Truse

LOCATION: Near Dolma Chowk, Mcleod Ganj PHONE: 9882323455 / +91 (0)1892 -220992 WEB: www.lhasocialwork.org

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LOCATION: Gu-Chu-Sum hall, Jogiwara Rd HOURS: Mon, Wed & Fri: 2:00pm-5:00pm

WEB: www.tibetanarts.org LOCATION: Tipa Road, McLeod Ganj PHONE: 1892-221478 EMAIL: tibetanarts2012@gmail.com

LOCATION: Near Bus Stand, Kotwali Bazaar PHONE: 01892 224214 HOURS: Tue-Sun: 10am-1pm & 2pm-5pm

Men-Tsee-Khang Museum

LOCATION: Near CTA, Gangchen Kyishong PHONE: 01892-223222 / 223113 EMAIL: info@men-tsee-khang.org HOURS: 9am-5pm. Closed on Sun, 2 and 4th Sat

Center for Living Buddhist Art WEBSITE: www.livingbuddhistart.com EMAIL: sarikalochoe@hotmail.com

PHONE: 9418655401 HOURS: 9 am- 5 pm LOCATION: Khanyara Road

JANUARY 2019

activities and information HEALTH SERVICES Perfect 32 Dental Clinic Dr Natasha Mehra LOCATION: Near Hotel Mount View, Jogiwara Road, McLeod Ganj PHONE: 09218742046 EMAIL: perfect32dentalclinic@gmail.com Tibetan Physiotherapy Clinic Specialised in Muscle and Joint Pain LOCATION: Near Delek Hospital, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamshala 176215 HOURS: 10am - 5pm (Appointment Bases) PHONE: 9882322783 / 9882321532 EMAIL: jigten17@yahoo.co.in WEBSITE : tibetanphysiotherapy.com Tibetan Delek Hospital LOCATION: Gangchen Kyishong, between McLeod Ganj and Lower Dharamshala PHONE: 01892-22053 / 223381 HOURS: Outpatient services, Mon-Sat: 9:00am-1:00pm; Specialist clinics, Mon-Sat: 2:00-4:30pm; Emergencies: 24 hrs daily Maanav Health Clinic LOCATION: Main Square HOURS: 10:00am-12:30pm and 2:00-5:00pm PHONE: 941-815-5795 EMAIL: maanavcare@yahoo.co.in Men-Tsee-Khang LOCATION: Below Delek Hospital, Gangchen Kyishong, Dharamshala 176215 PHONE: 01892-223222 / 223113 EMAIL: info@men-tsee-khang.org Primary Health Centre LOCATION: Jogiwara Rd, main market HOURS: 9:30am-4pm, Mon-Sat Nature Cure Health Club LOCATION: Jogiwara Rd, next to Tibetan Ashoka Guest House-Map #10 HOURS: 9:30am-6:30pm PHONE: 7833047078 / 9882320136 EMAIL: mahinder_m@hotmail.com Dr Tandon Advanced Dental Orthodontic & Implant Centre Location: Opp. AP Travels, Mcleod Ganj Phone:9418462936 Email: dr.rahultandon@gmail.com

Tibet-Related Websites

News:

tibet.net - official website of the Central Tibetan Administration in exile phayul.com -Phayul is published in Dharamshala,has opinion, reviews, photos, etc contactmagazine.net - Contact magazine online news rfa.org/english/news/tibet - Radio Free Asia’s mission is to provide accurate and timely news and information to Asian countries whose governments prohibit access to a free press voatibetanenglish.com - Voice of America’s Tibet pages - VOA is an international multimedia broadcasting service funded by the US government thetibetpost.com - Tibet Post International online news tibetexpress.net - Tibet Express online news guardian.co.uk/world/tibet - the UK Guardian newspaper’s Tibet pages scmp.com/news/china - the South China Morning Post – one of the more independent news sources in China

News, information and campaigning:

dalailama.com - for broadcasts of His Holiness’s teachings, his schedule and information about Tibet and the Dalai Lama tchrd.org - Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy - a nongovernmental organisation and a research centre to protect the human rights of Tibetan people and promote the principles of democracy tibetanyouthcongress.org - an international non-governmental organisation that advocates full independence for Tibet from China studentsforafreetibet.org - a global grass roots group campaigning for full Tibetan independence tibetanreview.net - news, opinions, reviews and information freetibet.org: - UK-based campaigning organisation, also a good news source savetibet.org - Website of the International Campaign for Tibet and a good resource for news, campaigns, fundraising and projects tibetnetwork.org/home - a coalition of more than 190 Tibet organisations dedicated to campaigning to end human rights violations in Tibet and restoring rights to the Tibetan people tibetanjournal.com - Tibetan Journal - news, reviews and opinions rukor.org - a discussion site on Tibetan nomads and their fate bitterwinter.org - A magazine on religious liberty and human rights in China

Writings:

highpeakspureearth.com/category/woeser - occasional translations of Woeser’s enormously popular blog – Woeser lives in Beijing and is continually harassed by the Chinese government for her courageous writings.

DHARAMSHALA CONTACTS Ambulance: 01892-102, 222189 Tibetan Delek Hospital Location: Gangchen Kyishong, CTA Hours: Outpatient services: 9am-1pm, Mon-Sat; Specialist clinics: 2-4:30pm, Wed only; Emergencies: 24-hrs, daily.

Phone: 222 053,223 381 Kangra Airport: 01892-232374

Contact

Bhagsu Taxi Union: 01892221034 Tourism Office: 01892-224430 , 223325 Rail Booking & Enquiry: 01892265026 Police Superintendent: 01892222244 Police Contact Information Location: Past St.John’s Church on the road to Dharamshala in

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Cantt. area.

Phone: 221 483 McLeod Ganj Post Office Location: Jogiwara Rd, past Peace Cafe Hours: 9:30am-1pm and 2-5pm, Mon-Fri; 9:30am-noon, Sat. Parcels and money orders can be sent in the mornings only.

Phone: 01892-221 924

JANUARY 2019

jobs and advertisements

JOB OPPORTUNITIES

HANDMADE RECYCLED DIARY WHOLE SELLER SHOP

Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Position: Section Officer (4 Vacancies) Qualification: Master in Mass Communication Contact: 01892-222328 Email: psc@tibet.net Dealine: Feb 16, 2019

Contact us for readymade and custom order diaries and journal, notebook and sketchbook leather cover Opp. to India house bhagsu road, Mcleog Ganj Facebook page : Lobsang diaries Contact no : 9882861220 / 7018447280 Opening time : 10:30am to 9:00pm

Active Nonviolence Education Centre, Dharashala Position: Assistant Trainer cum Teaching Officer Qualification: Bachelor’s degree in any field Contact: 7018167116 Email address: executivedirectorofanec@gmail.com Dealine: February 22, 2019

8 AUSPICIOUS HIM VIEW HOTEL

8 beautiful rooms with balcony facing the Himalayan Range.

Enjoy the sunrise from your bed!

Phone: 01892-220567 Cell: 9418236603 Jogiwara Rd (Map #12) Email: tseringd@aushimview.com

Tibetan Children’s Village School Teachers Required: 1. PGT (Acharya) Tibetans /Physics/Business/Political Science/History/English/Mathematics 2. Physical Education Trianer (PET) 3. TGT English/ Mathematics 4. Librarian 5. Guidance Counselor Contact: 01892 221686 Email: ed@tcv.org.in

Lha’s Achievements in 2018

Lha’a Achievements in Figures

• Provided language classes for 1,135 students • Enrolled 572 new students in language classes • 99 students attended Lha’s computer courses • Distributed over 8,000 free articles of new or used clothing to both the Tibetan and local Indian communities • Provided free and nutritious mealsto over 85 people through Lha’s community soup kitchen • Provided free medical checkups, eye examinations, and dental care services to 242 Tibetan refugees and people from Himalayan regions • Worked with 398 new volunteers who donated their valuable time and energy • Hosted nearly 180 people who came in 14 international groups and 2 Indian students groups, including University and High School students and professionals, through our Cultural Exchange Programme • Published and distributed 10,500 free copies of Contact Magazine • Trained 33 people in our three-month intensive Advanced Tibetan Language class Contact

Nature Cure Health Club

Jogiwara Rd, next to Tibetan Ashoka Guest House - Map #23 Mobile: 07833047078 /09882320136 / Email: mahinder_m@ hotmail.com 20+ yrs’ experience: Swedish massage courses & treatment, Zen Shiatsu courses, treatment, reflexology treatment, SPA, Singing Bowl Treatment and many more!

• 1,200 free condoms were distributed in Bir on World AIDS Day • 26th and 27th Water filter machine installed at Spiti Children’s hostel in Sidhpur, Dharamshala and Tibetan Homes Foundation, Mussoorie School.

Lha’s Achievements 2003 to 2018 • 12,782 students have benefitted from our language courses • 3,105 students have benefitted from our computer classes and IT workshops • Over 1,900 students from international education institutes have participated in the cultural exchange programme • Over 8,250 volunteers from over 42 different countries have contributed to Lha’s work • 34,340 free books distributed to Tibetan and local Indian schools and libraries • More than 51,000 articles of clothing collected and distributed through the donation centre • 27 water filtration systems installed under Lha’s Clean Water Project, which continues to provide purified cooking and drinking water to over 14,950 people • 1,026 people received free eye checkups, and glasses were provided for more than 680 people through the Clear Vision Project 20

• 10,41 people benefited from the Tibetan Smiles dental care project with services such as dental check-ups, cleanings, extractions, dispensing medication, etc • 101,030 copies of the free publication Contact have been distributed since 2009 • 169 people have graduated from Lha’s massage courses • 67 people have graduated from Lha’s photography courses • The Lha Community Soup Kitchen served 50-60 people daily, and has benefitted 523 people since its opening in July 2011 • 854 students provided with a recommendation letter to comply with the Indian Government’s requirement of a letter from an educational institution as proof for newly arrived refugees who have been registered as relocating to India for educational opportunities • Since 2015 835 parents and students have benefitted from educational talks organized byLha • Since 2015 130 elderly people have benefitted from projects at the Jampaling Elders Home in McLeod Ganj Please visit our website for more information and news: www.lhasocialwork.org

JANUARY 2019

advertisements

Contact

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JANUARY 2019

advertisements Map not to scale

Map of McLeod Ganj showing locations of places of interest

BHAGSU NAG 16

See advertisement pages for details of advertisers TIPA

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DHARAMKOT

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Vipassana Centre

Naddi Village Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV)

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Tushita Centre

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MAIN SQUARE

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McLEOD GANJ 25 Main Bazaar

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Cantt Police Post

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Lha

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Road to Dharamshala

1. Lha Headquarters and Tibet Fair Trade 2. Namgyal Cafe 3. Common Ground Cafe 4. Dr Mobile, Woeser Bakery 5. Black Tent Cafe 6. Carpe Diem Restaurant 10. Perfect 32 Dental Clinic 11. Hotel Ladies’ Venture 12. 8 Auspicious Him View Hotel 13. Ahimsa House and Lha Soup Kitchen 14. Chonor House 15. Lhamo’s Croissant 16. Shivam NeelKanth Yoga Kendre

17. Central Tibetan Administration,Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, Tibetan Library 18. LRZTP Tibetan Language Programme 19. Tibetan Museum and Temple 20. Tibetan Handicraft Centre 21. Taste of India 22. SnowLion Custom Tattoo 23. Nature Cure Health Club 24. Dr Tandon’s Advanced Dental 25. Smile Dental Clinice & Implant Center 26. Himalayan Yoga Retreat 27. Om Massage Centre 28. Chapri Handicrafts 29. Dorjee Spa

Dr Natasha Mehra @ Perfect 32 Dental Clinic Location: Near Hotel Mount View Jogiwara Rd, McLeod Map #10 Email: perfect32dentalclinic@gmail.com /Call: 09218742046 Website: www.perfect32dentalclinic.in

LOCATION: UpperBagsu, next to Namaste Cafe & behind Reggae Cafe Yogi Shivam has 28 years of yogic practice experience from from his master Dooni Nath Babaji!

Daily Yoga - 7 am to 9:30 am Website: www.ShivamNeelkantyoga.com Email: yogi_shivam@yahoo.co.in Phone: +91 9816565138

Facebook: Shivam Neelkanth Yoga Kendra

Contact

Road to Dharamshala

Location: First floor opp. Municipal Parking near HH Dalai Lama Temple #Temple Road • Extensive vegtarian menu • The best pizza in Mcleod Ganj • Good music and friendly staff Open every day from 7am to 8:30 pm Mobile: 7018919310 (Map#2)

NEED A DENTIST?

Daily meditation @ 11:30 am

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Shifted to New Location!

For all your dental requirements under one roof, in a sterile and state of the art clinic

YOGA TEACHER TRAINING May 7- 30, 2018 200Hour / One Drop Meditation with Yogi Shivam. Experience a taste of love. One drop of love, happiness & joy.

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Namgyal Cafe Pizza Place

Enjoy traditional Taiwanese and Chinese food and peaceful environment, just one minute from the Bus Stand, just behind Asian Plaza! (Map # 3)

Shivam Neelkanth Yoga Kendra

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BOOKWORM - THE COMPLETE BOOKSHOP is the oldest bookshop in Mcleod Ganj, where the Lonely Planet Guide (India) calls it the Best bookshop in town.

Location: Pemathang road, few steps from Dolma Chowk • •

Online shopping gives us only the books we already want.

Bookshops draw us into the ones we didn’t know we wanted

Lhamo’s Croissant Vegetarian and Vegan Food

Bakery, Coffee shop, Gluten Free and Fresh seasonal juices and salads

Roof top terrace with stunning views

Bhagsu Road, just after Tibetan Settlement Office Map#15 22

JANUARY 2019

lha news and advertisements Smile Dental Clinic & Implant Center

Oppo. Walia Medical Store Near State Bank of India ATM, Mcleod Ganj. MOBILE NO: 7018354594 / 8629011445 Map#25 website: smiledentalclinicmcleodganj.com

Meditation Intensives Meditation Therapies Intensive Yoga Courses/Retreats Stress Management Integrated Healing Therapies Wellness Retreats

To advertise here, Contact Lha office at Temple Road, McLeod Ganj

Contact

Ocean of Harmony Programmes for Wellbeing For upcoming events, visit www.oceanofharmony.org For intensive trainings around the world (any country) contact: Shalu Patel (experienced & qualified life and wellness coach for international trainings)

Phone: (+91) 9979894585 Email: ohlifeandwellness@gmail.com

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JANUARY 2019

Lha Charitable Trust is an award-winning, grassroots, non-profit organisation and one of the largest Tibetan social work institutes based in Dharamshala, India. Lha has been striving to provide vital resources for Tibetan refugees, local Indian communities, and people from the Himalayan regions for 20 years.

For more information, please visit www.lhasocialwork.org

Notice for Tibetan New Year Holiday Dear Lha volunteers, students and other beneficiaries, This is to inform you all that the 2046 Earth – Pig Year Tibetan Losar (New Year) will be from February 5 to 7, 2019, and there are His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings from 19 to 24 and Long Life offering ceremony on February 27, 2019. Hence, Lha office will be close until February 15 and classes will start from March 1, 2019.

We wish you all a very Happy Losar and may you all have a wonderful year ahead.

For any URGENT inquiry, please contact, Tenzin Samten: 9882323455

Follow Contact website using the QR

VOLUNTEER AT LHA Let your stay in Dharamshala be more memorable Come join our English conversation class!

code!

If you have at least one week or one hour a day, you’re welcome to join our group of volunteers.

Time: English Conversation Class (Mon-Fri) at 4pm – 5pm Venue: Lha office at main market in Mcleod, Temple road, opposite SBI ATM

Contact Newsletter Managing Director Dorji Kyi Editor-in-Chief Jenny James

We are also looking for volunteers to teach these language classes (minimum one month) : French Beginner / German Beginner / Chinese Beginner/Computer Beginner

Editor Choeyang Wangmo Circulation Manager Tenzin Sherab CONTACT US

Teaching experience not necessary. We gurantee that you will love your new experience!

Phone: 91(0)1892-220992 Email:editor@contactmagazine.net Facebook: ContactNews Twitter: @ContactTibet

Location: Lha office, opposite State Bank of India (ATM) Temple Road, McLeod Ganj Email: office@lhasocialwork.org volunteercoordinator@lhasocialwork.org Phone: 01892-220992 / 9882323455 Contact

འབྲེལ་གཏུགས་གསར་འཕྲིན།

Printed at Imperial Printing, Dharamshala Phone: 222390 Email:ippdsala@gmail.com

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Published by Lha Charitable Trust Web:www.lhasocialwork.org www.contactmagazine.net www.samdhongrinpoche.com

JANUARY 2019