George and inge Woodcock with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the 1960s

TRAS is well into the celebrations for the 50^th anniversary of its founding by George Woodcock – and now we honour the 100^th anniversary of George’s birth!

One hundred years ago, on May 8, 1912, George Woodcock was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  He was soon taken back to England by his parents to a rather austere life – and who would have thought that 100 years later we would be honouring the memory of a man who became one of Canada’s most celebrated men of letters and the founder of not one but three charities which have helped thousands of people at home and abroad!

Alan Twigg, author and publisher of BC Book World, recently wrote Tibetans in Exile about the Woodcocks, their extraordinary lives and the impact they had on so many people through their charitable work.

We at TRAS are well aware of the story of how one couple from Vancouver quietly made such a difference, but for the sake of newer TRAS members, allow us to introduce you to George Woodcock and his wife, Inge.

George became Canada’s most prolific and remarkable man of letters. He returned from England in 1949 to build a cabin in Sooke, British Columbia, with his German-born wife Ingeborg.  They struggled in those early days, but eventually George went on to write and edit over 150 books.  He taught English literature at UBC, and some of his students are still members of the charities he founded.

In 1961, George went to India to do research for a book. And that’s when the coincidences – or karma  – began.  Inge had always been fascinated by Tibet, and seeing the word on a door at All India Radio in Delhi, she knocked and went in.  The meeting with the Tibetan couple working there (broadcasting world news into an occupied Tibet) led to the Woodcocks going to the hill station of Mussoorie, where a Tibetan noblewoman, Mrs. Rinchen Taring, and her husband Jigme  had started an orphanage and school.  The Woodcocks  were moved by the plight of the children in ragged clothes and no shoes, sleeping five to a mattress with one thin blanket in the Himalayan winter  and surviving on thin soup and momos, steamed wheat dumplings.  Lessons were held outside on the ground, because there was no building large enough to hold the hundreds of children recently arrived from Tibet. The incidence of sickness and death was high. When George and Inge expressed their dismay and wondered how to help, a young Tibetan girl, Khando, told them that they “must absolutely come and see Uncle!” Khando was the Dalai Lama’s niece.

A long journey to Dharamsala led to the meeting which changed the Woodcocks’ lives forever, and through them, the lives of countless Tibetan refugees. They discovered a similar scene of dire need at the nursery run by the Dalai Lama’s sister. Their 20 minute meeting with the young Dalai Lama stretched to two hours, ranging over Buddhism, the future of Tibet, the plight of the refugees and the plans that had been growing in the Woodcocks’ minds to found some kind of organisation in Canada for aiding the Tibetans.

The result, on their return to Vancouver, was the founding of the Tibetan Refugee Aid Society, the humanitarian aid society that is still going strong under its current name, Trans-Himalayan Aid Society, with more than 300 projects completed in the Himalayas and southern India.

In fact, they did not wait to return home but wrote ahead to colleagues at the University of British Columbia to start collecting funds. John Conway, a founding member, remembers George’s facility at getting help: the first President was Dr. Norman MacKenzie, President of UBC; the UBC treasurer became the TRAS treasurer, and many professors sat on the board.  Their friends in the artistic community were put to work too, designing Christmas cards and donating paintings.  George and Inge led by example – no-one worked harder than they did. Once cajoled (or bullied!) into helping, their friends had no choice but to follow suit.  Dorothea Leach, now a Patron of TRAS, recalls that only a broken limb would be a good enough excuse to miss the weekly stints at garage sales and flea markets which were the early fundraisers for TRAS.

In the first year TRAS raised $11,436.61 from those weekly flea markets, book and outgrown children’s clothing sales (and the sale of 14,000 of the Christmas cards!) for the Tibetan children. In the years that followed, TRAS helped to fund the growth of the Tibetan Homes Foundation in Mussoorie and the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamsala, building homes, classrooms, vocational training workshops, and housing for the elderly who had no ancestral village to return to. A sponsorship scheme was also started to cover the day-to-day costs of looking after the children.

Gradually TRAS helped with the establishment of small settlements in north India and the larger ones in the south. branching out to help Indian villagers and tribal people in the same regions. George was always ready to write about and work for the next urgent need, and he was instrumental in having the Canadian Government bring in the first planeload of Tibetans to settle in Canada in 1972.  This was followed by his vigorous support for the Vietnamese Boat People, with TRAS raising funds to resettle several families in BC.

The Woodcocks were an inspirational couple who affected millions of lives with their charities (their second charity is Canada-India Village Aid, the third being a fund for writers in need) and yet they avoided all publicity for their good works. Barry Leach wrote that, in founding TRAS, “this gentle, kindly man made three valuable contributions.  He provided a vehicle for many Canadians to express their concern for the plight of the Tibetan people in generous and tangible forms.  He contributed to the international effort to relieve and rehabilitate thousands of refugees.  In doing so, he shared in the preservation of an ancient culture that has already demonstrated its relevance and value to the modern world.  Through the person of the Dalai Lama, it has encouraged non-violence in politics, compassion for all sentient beings and concern for the environment.  Utopian as they may seem, these attitudes offer the only long-term hope for the resolution of the problems that beset mankind today. Furthermore, these themes echo the tenets of intellectual anarchism that underlay all of George’s thought and writing and explain the intuitive understanding that existed between him and the Dalai Lama from their very first meeting”.

George’s writing continues to influence Canadians today. A new friend of TRAS, Ryan Andrew Murphy, writes “George Woodcock’s thoughtful writings on politics and history have informed and profoundly shaped my thinking. His sensitivity and insights always make opening one of his books a rewarding and enriching experience. His enormous, seminal contributions to Canadian culture are indisputable, but much more broadly, I believe our country and our world are profoundly in his debt. He unassumingly assumed the role of public intellectual, and in so doing helped initiate the formation of a conscientiously intellectual public.”

The Woodcocks opted out of active TRAS work after George had a heart attack in the early 1970s, but he and Inge remained at the forefront of fundraising efforts for some years. TRAS has maintained their ideals and continued the work for 50 years and those of us who knew George continue to be inspired by his example.

George died in 1995, shortly after being given the Freedom of the City of Vancouver. Inge remained a Patron of TRAS, vitally interested in every aspect of our work, until she died in 2003.

The Tibetan community in BC remembers the Woodcocks with fondness. T.C. Tethong of Victoria, BC, wrote, at Inge’s passing, “Tibetans owe much to these two kind souls from Canada for their initiative and dedication in starting TRAS, the first Canadian aid organization for Tibetan refugees. These two Canadians and their friends helped the Tibetans in our hour of need and always remained our close friends.”

If you would like to learn more about the Woodcocks and the charities they founded, TRAS has Alan’s book for sale.  Call 604-224-5133 or email info@tras.ca.

(With thanks for excerpts from Alan Twigg, (Tibetans in Exile)  T.C. Tethong, and the late Barry Leach (TRAS newsletters) and conversations with Dorothea Leach, John Conway and Ryan Andrew Murphy)

Celebrate the centenary of George Woodcock’s birth at the annual award ceremony for the winner of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award for a BC writer.

Speeches and readings in honour of George. TRAS will have a table and display there.

Date: Thursday, June 28, 2012

Time: 6:30pm

Location: Vancouver Public Library, Alice MacKay Room

More info:  BC Bookworld (http://www.bcbookworld.com/) and George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award  (http://www.georgewoodcock.com/index.html)

“It is my pleasure to share with you that out of 200 children who are studying at Himali Boarding School in Simikot, one whom TRAS supported in READI’s hostel topped the whole school in final examination held recently. 4 others scored first in first class and the 15 other students were passed with good marks. This was also disseminated by local radio FM last night. We will share you the detail in our final report.

This is something that we are really glad about at this moment which was not possible without the valuable support of TRAS.”

These children are certainly proving our trust in them was well placed!  TRAS congratulates them and their teachers. We HAVE to keep supporting them!

 Click here to read more about the READI Nepal project.

The Student Leadership Council of Sutherland Secondary School in North Vancouver was selected as a winner of the BC Council for International Cooperation Youth Campaign!

Sutherland students have supported TRAS for six years, raising an impressive $10,000 for a vocational training program at Buddha Academy Boarding School in Kathmandu.

Students at Buddha Academy Boarding School, Kathmandu, Nepal

We are inspired by the dedication and compassion of Sutherland students and their commitment to make a difference in the lives of youth in another part of the world.

To read more about Sutherland’s Student Leadership Council and the BCCIC Youth Campaign click here: http://bccic.ca/profile2012/sutherland-secondary-school

Thank you Sutherland Secondary School Student Leadership Council and congratulations on your well-deserved achievement!

Students at Munsel-Ling School, Spiti, North India

We are thrilled to announce that on January 31, 2012 we reached our fundraising goal of $25,000!

And thanks to a generous donor, that amount has been matched to make a grand total of $50,000!

What an amazing way to start TRAS’s 50^th anniversary year , and an amazing way to support Himalayan children and youth.

We extend a huge and sincere thank you to everyone who contributed to the matching donation program. We appreciate your support very much.

Photograph by Marion Tipple

The Tibetan Refugees’ Dilemma: between Exile and Accommodation

A Lecture by Dr. John Conway, Professor Emeritus of History at UBC and former TRAS President
Date: Wednesday, January 25
Time: Doors open at 6:30pm; event starts at 7:00pm
Location: Room A122b, Langara College, 100 W. 49th Avenue, Vancouver
Cost: Entry by donation (all proceeds to the Tuting Adult Literacy Project)

Momo-Making Demo and Tibetan Meal

Date: Tuesday, February 28

Time: Doors open at 6:30pm; event starts at 7pm

Location: Vancouver Tibet Kitchen restaurant, 6591 Fraser St. (at 50th Ave), Vancouver

Cost: $20 (cash bar)

Tibetan Singing Bowl Concert

Co-sponsored by Banyen Books and Sound.
Megha Shakya, master of Tibetan singing bowl therapy, will demonstrate this ancient form of healing for the body and mind
Date: Wednesday, March 14
Time: Doors open at 7:00pm; event starts at 7:30pm
Location: St. James Hall, 3214 W. 10^th Ave., Vancouver, LOCATION (wheelchair accessible)
Cost: $15 ($10 students/seniors/low income) cash/cheque preferred

Nepali Film Night featuring “Sherpas – the True Heroes of Mount Everest”

Hosted by Reel Causes

Date: Wednesday, April 11
Time: Doors open 6:00pm; film starts at 7:00pm
Location: VIFF VanCity Theatre, 1181 Seymour St., Vancouver, LOCATION
Cost: $15. Tickets can be purchased online here ($2 handling fee) or at the door. Please Note: This film has not been classified by Consumer Protection BC, admittance restricted to 19+. 

100% of ticket sales will be donated to the Rural Empowerment and Development Initiatives (READI) Nepal to fund a project to educate marginalized children in Humla District.

Musical Evening and Nepali Meal

Join us for an evening of live music with local musicians and a delicious Nepali dinner at Vancouver’s wonderful Café Kathmandu.

Date: Wednesday, May 9
Time: Doors open at 6:30 pm; event starts at 7:00 pm
Location: Cafe Kathmandu, 2779 Commercial Dr. (near 12th Ave), Vancouver
Cost:$20 Tickets in advance only. (Cash bar at event) Phone 604-224-5133 or email info@tras.ca 

$20 will pay for your Nepali dinner; our three talented musicians have offered their entertainment free, to help raise funds for the TRAS/READI Nepal education project in the remote district of Humla, the poorest in Nepal.

Book your tickets early as we expect the dinner to sell out! 

TRAS’ 50th Annual General Meeting

Date: Wednesday, June 6

Time: Doors 7:00pm; meeting starts at 7:30pm

Location: Tsengdok Monastery, 1502 Angus Drive, Vancouver

Trans-Himalaya: Tibet, Nepal, India – A photography exhibit by Marion Tipple

A month-long exhibit showcasing TRAS Director Marion Tipple’s stunning photographs of the Himalayan region

Dates: September 1 – 28
Location: Moat Gallery, Vancouver Public Library Central Branch
Cost: Free

South Asian Film Festival Canada

A festival of the best films and documentaries from India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives
Dates: October 31 – November 4
Visit www.saffcanada.org for details

Gala Dinner

Celebrating 50 Years: 1962 to 2012

Come and celebrate with us!

Date: Saturday, November 3

Time: 6:30pm

Location: Riverside Banquet Hall, 14500 River Rd., Richmond, BC, LOCATION

Cost: $50 per ticket ($35 student/low income)

HELP US TO SUPPORT OUR HIMALAYAN PARTNERS THROUGH

PROJECT 50!

2012 marks TRAS’s 50^th anniversary! Wow!

To honour and celebrate 50 incredible and successful years of funding grassroots projects that support children and youth in the Himalayas, TRAS is launching PROJECT 50!

Join us in making the world a better place for Himalayan children and youth!

Together we can:

• Raise $50,000 in honour of 50 years of service!
• Create a list of 50 different ways to raise $50 for TRAS projects – and then do them!
• Inspire 50 new people to join TRAS!

PROJECT 50! GOAL 1: RAISE $50,000

A generous anonymous donor will match donations dollar for dollar up to $25,000!

So your donation will immediately DOUBLE!

Deadline for YOUR donation: January 31, 2012

HELP US REACH $50,000 AND DONATE NOW!

Note: Individual sponsorships are not included in this offer, but are, of course, vital for the wellbeing of children.

PROJECT 50! GOAL 2: 50 WAYS TO RAISE $50 FOR TRAS!

A little goes a long way. You don’t need to raise a lot to make a difference.

What can YOU do to raise $50 for TRAS? Create a new idea, or do one from our list (see below). Help us come up with “50 Ways to Raise $50 for TRAS!” and help us do them!

Cheryl Sullivan, our Fundraising Director, held a garage sale in the summer. Ably helped by family and friends, she cleared out a lot of ‘stuff’ and made not just $50, but over $400 for TRAS! Way to go, Cheryl!

Cheryl's Garage Sale

Tell us what you did or are going to do so that all of us can be inspired!

Here are 9 ideas. Help us think of 41 more!

• Hold a garage sale (see Cheryl Sullivan’s example above)
• Ask your favourite restaurant to save bottles for you for two weeks, and take them to a bottle depot for the refunds
• Hold a bottle collection at your place of work for a short period.  TRAS member Laura Kassama did this, and raised over $100 for TRAS! Read Laura’s story:
• Host a Nepali film night in your home and ask for donations. TRAS can supply the film(s)! Write to Marina Guy at marina.guy@tras.ca. Read about TRAS’s Travelling Nepali Film Festival here
• Host a TRAS handicraft sale in your home. Contact Armila at the TRAS office: info@tras.ca
• Ask your book club members to make a donation to help stock a shelf with books for a remote village library
• In lieu of gifts for birthdays, Christmas, retirement parties, etc, suggest a donation to TRAS – choose a particular project or make a general donation. You can set up a gift plan through CanadaHelps on this website. TRAS Directors Lynn and Frank Beck did this at Frank’s retirement party, and raised $600 for TRAS!
• Hold an online garage sale by advertising and selling items on Craigslist. Read Laura Kassama’s inspiring story
• Do something creative, like TRAS member Jessie Kaye’s “Loonie for a Loo” fundraiser to help TRAS pay for toilets to be built in India’s Kullu Valley. Jessie built a life-size outhouse out of cardboard. People donated $1 to stick a ‘brick’ on it. Jessie sold hundreds of ‘bricks’ and raised hundreds of dollars for TRAS!

What are YOU going to do?

PROJECT 50! GOAL 3: TALK TRAS! INSPIRE 50 NEW PEOPLE TO JOIN TRAS

Let’s all talk about the fantastic work TRAS does to alleviate poverty in the Himalayan region and inspire 50 people to join us in supporting this work!

• Tell others about TRAS and why you support TRAS
• Share the TRAS website with your friends and colleagues
• Forward the TRAS newsletter to your contacts
• Invite your family, friends and others to attend a TRAS event
• Ask your friends and family members if they would like to add their email addresses to the TRAS mailing list
• Invite a TRAS Director to present to your organization or a group of your friends. For info, contact Armila at the TRAS office: info@tras.ca or 604-224-5133

More info on TRAS’s 50^th anniversary is in TRAS’s Fall 2011 newsletter, available here:  http://tras.ca/newsletter/

TRAS member Laura Kassama shares two creative and easy ways to raise money for charity.

OFFICE BOTTLE COLLECTION PROGRAM

I collect bottles from the office and also from my home and any friends or family who would like to participate (sometimes they give me the bottles, but more often they give me the cash after they do their own recycling). I handle all the recycling and keep a log of the money I collect, and then I usually match the money I have raised with the bottle collection, and make the donation in the early part of the following year.

I have been running the program for approximately six years, and each year the overall donation is usually between $120 and $220. I have found that the donation itself is fairly small for the amount of work, but I like the idea that I’m helping others to be in the habit of recycling and it’s for a good cause. I consider this to be a two-fold program helping the environment as well as being able to benefit charitable work.

ONLINE GARAGE SALES

I also sell items I no longer need on Craigslist, and donate the proceeds to charity.

I haven’t involved others in this so far, but it would be an interesting idea to create an online “garage sale” benefiting an organization.

If a donor wanted to promote it, they could ask for help online with an ad that tells people about the organization they are planning on helping. Then they could let people know the results online, by posting a note like this: “Thank you for participating in the ‘Bazaar for Charity Event’. We raised $______ for the Trans-Himalayan Aid Society!”

I know many schools and other organizations that organize book sales, bazaars, bake sales and other types of sales that could be advertised for free on Craigslist and Kijiji.

Personally, I really like the idea of partnering with other organizations and groups of people to create greater community involvement – even if it’s just among my family and friends.

What can you do?

After five engaging and inspiring Vancouver-based Nepali Film Festivals we are excited to introduce the travelling Nepali Film Festivals.

Now TRAS supporters across Canada can host their own Nepali Film events, showing their friends and families our most popular films while raising awareness and funds for TRAS.

We will provide travelling Nepali Film Festival organizers with everything they need to host their own event –a checklist for running an event, films (in DVD format), along with posters, promotional material and intro video if you need them. Hosts have the choice to charge a small admission fee or accept donations for TRAS projects.

Invite a few friends to your home to view two or three short films, find a meeting which needs a program (a service club, social group, Elder College, etc) or team up with a like-minded friend and find a venue where you can show a few films to the public.

TRAS member Pippo Damiano did just this in Tofino: booked the local hall, put up a few posters, borrowed a couple of DVDs of the Nepali films – and had a sell-out crowd. They turned people away!

These amazing films (documentaries and feature films) made by Nepali filmmakers are part of the emerging and vibrant movie scene in Nepal – and what material they have to work with: the world’s most beautiful mountain scenery, colourful pageantry, inspiring stories of difficulties overcome, realistic looks at some of the country’s age-old problems, and women making their mark in a traditional society.

For a taste of the films we have to offer in this exciting program, check out the previous Nepali Film Festival websites and look at the list of films: http://tras.ca/nepali-film-festival

Exciting news! The 1st travelling Nepali film evening, hosted by TRAS members in Hamilton, Ontario, on November 30, 2011, has raised $1,900.  Thanks to a generous donor who is matching project donations until January 31, 2012, this amount will be doubled to $3,800!

The 2^nd travelling Nepali film evening took place in the home of a TRAS member in Chemainus, BC on December 16, 2011, has raised $200 – doubled that’s $400!

Thank you to these partners for their support!

Contact Marina if you’d like to host a film evening in your community: marina.guy@tras.ca

Beyul: The Sacred Hidden Valleys of the Himalaya

In early January, TRAS President Jennifer Hales gave a presentation on TRAS to Dr. Douglas’s class. 18 of her students chose TRAS as the community organization for which they wanted to do a volunteer project. Working in four groups, they:

• made two short videos about TRAS
• researched and wrote about the economic, political and social context of project sites in the Himalayas
• researched major foundations as potential sources of funding, and
• helped with TRAS’s 5th Nepali Film Festival

And now that the course is over, some of the students are continuing to volunteer for TRAS! They helped us with our AGM and transcribed interviews for another TRAS film, and will be sending out email “e-blasts” in the coming months for us. We are thrilled to have their continued help and involvement.

A huge thank you to UBC Community Service Learning, Dr. Douglas, and, especially, to the following students of Economics 317 (Spring 2011) for their contributions to TRAS:

Alex Baranovschi, David Basche, Phil Chou, Thomas Heister, Jessica Jiang, Stephen Kane, Grace Kim, Lauren Kong, Dorothy Lee, Kailey Metcalfe, Arezoo Payvar, Steve Shields, Diondi Tan, Gina Tan, George Ting, Edbert Wee, Gloria Wong, and Si Xin (Ada) Zeng

It has been a pleasure and honour to work with such enthusiastic, talented and committed young people.

The videos produced by 6 of the students can be viewed below:

In the fall of 2011, TRAS will renew its partnership with Dr. Douglas and begin working with a new group of students!