Mark from the Blunt Bean Counter created an initiative  called Bloggers for Charity where people can bid to guest post on some well-known Canadian finance blogs. Some have been very successful (like Preet Banjeree and Canadian Capitalist- they both got $5000 bids!!) and some have not (hahaha like ME! I have not gotten one single bid, but that’s okay because I decided to bid on my own blog).

I have always wanted to write about Tibet ever since I visited it a few years back and I have been meaning to donate to a Tibetan cause since my visit.  As I have already donated various amounts of money to other charities this year, my donation probably isn’t as generous as I would ideally like, but every little bit counts.  So here is my opportunity and I am very grateful for it.  So thank you, for not bidding to write a guest post on my blog lol.

Here is a picture of my donation receipt, notice how I have covered my name and address to avert any potential stalkers or fradulent ID scammers:

The Trans Himalayan Aid Society aims to support the health and education of children and youth in northern India, Nepal, and Tibet.  They have been doing this since 1962.  There were about 80,000 Tibetan refugees from the 1959 uprising in Lhasa and many became orphaned.  Many settled in the old British Hill stations on the border of Tibet and India to escape the persecution in Tibet. Since then, TRAS has been involved with helping and empowering Tibetan refugees to regain settlement in their new home of India and Nepal.  They assist in building settlement communities for Tibetan youth and elderly, with a focus on health and education across the Himalayas.

This charity is also based out of Vancouver and has been involved in facilitating the immigration of over 1000 Tibetans to Canada in the next five years.

Culture

Tibet and its people touched my heart.  Since Communist rule, things have changed rapidly in terms of cultural genocide.  Not only were monasteries and sacred Buddhist relics destroyed in 1959, many changes have slowly happened over the years that indicate the continual destruction of Tibetan culture.  Our tourguide in Tibet was a young 24 year old.  He did not know how to write the Tibetan language even though he is Tibetan.  He was only taught Chinese in school because of China’s decision to slowly eliminate Tibetan culture and assimilating them into Chinese culture.  He can speak Chinese fluently.  He really wanted to discover his roots and so he took it upon himself to get to know the Tibetan monks in his community.  He learned a bit of the Tibetan language from the Buddhist monks because that was the only place he could learn it from.

Religion

Instead of being a tour guide, when he grew up he always wanted to be a monk.  In other countries where Buddhism is practiced and appreciated, for example, Bhutan, aspiring to be a monk is considered a good job aspiration and is very well supported.  Unfortunately in Tibet, this is encouraged by Tibetans but they all know how bleak the future can be for a young monk in Tibet.  It is reported that the Chinese government makes it mandatory for an aspiring young monk to APPLY to the Chinese government to be a monk.  Many, many, many of these applications are unanswered or destroyed.

Therefore, there are very very few young monks.  With no young monks available to replace the older monks when they pass away, this is how cultural genocide is achieved, unfortunately.

In Bhutan, another devoutly Buddhist country, all I saw were young monks in monasteries, training, studying hard, and meditating.  In Tibet, I rarely saw young monks at all in monasteries.

Travel and Transportation

Sure, the Chinese government has provided a lot in terms of paving roads and making the travel between Tibetan cities and towns much easier.  Recently, the Chinese government created a high speed rail connecting Chengdu in mainland China to Lhasa, Tibet.  This has  resulted in a mass influx of mainland Chinese settling in Tibet.  Primarily because Tibet is exempt from the one child policy, so many people view this as a “free-er” part of the country where they don’t have restrictions for the number of children they can have.  When I was in Lhasa, it was so developed with wide lanes, Chinese shops, and many inhabitants who had recently immigrated to Lhasa from Chengdu because of the booming tourism.

Another aspect that was difficult for me to understand (because I was enraged when I heard this) is travel (and you all know how much I value travel).

Tibetans can only travel within China.  In order to travel outside of the country, they have to apply for a passport.  For a mainland Chinese to apply for a passport to travel outside of the country, it is around $20 USD.  Because our Tibetan tourguide was so amazing and he said all he wanted to do was to go to Nepal to visit his grandfather who he hasn’t met (his grandfather had helped the Dalai Lama escape to Nepal), I thought, hey I can chip in for your passport!  However, it was much more than I anticipated….for a Tibetan wanting to travel outside of the country, it is $2000 USD.   Even someone who  lives in a FIRST WORLD COUNTRY cannot afford that!

Because of these rules and regulations, it is basically impossible to travel outside of the country, therefore making it impossible to escape.

Military

Apparently the highest number of Chinese military is concentrated in Lhasa.  Every block I went to there were military personnel marching along the streets alongside cute Tibetan women making their rounds while meditating.  It was a surreal site for sure.  These military personnel would be carrying huge guns ans stand there while people were buying fruits and vegetables in the local market.

A lot of the military personnel were very young too- some barely looked seventeen.  And unfortunately they did not seem to understand what they were doing, and many showed a lot of arrogance (though I suppose any teenager would show some arrogance when given guns and military weaponry).

I leave you with a photo of the Tibetan plains.  All the flags you see are Tibetan prayer flags and their purpose is to provide a safe passage for the travelers crossing that plain.

Readers, thanks for reading.  I’ve been meaning to get that off my chest for a while.  It made me really sad to hear these stories about Tibet, and I hope you also get involved in supporting Tibetans to lead a better life.  We are very lucky to live in a free country, and sometimes amidst the hustle and bustle of life, we forget that.