News

(By Russil) On Saturday April 6 I attended the Rhythms of India gala fundraiser, in support of the Two Worlds Cancer Collaboration. Two Worlds, led by Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, works with doctors and nurses in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka to provide palliative care and pain management for patients with cancer, including children. In low-resource countries, not only are the odds of survival much lower than in Canada, but painkillers are not readily available.

One of the speakers at the event was Raheesa Jina, a student at UBC, who described her experience volunteering for two months at Chitwan Medical College in Bharatpur, Nepal. She’d like to raise awareness of how to help children in Nepal, and is interested in getting involved with TRAS.

Palliative care for children with cancer is not a feel-good cause, but definitely a worthwhile one. If you’re interested in attending the next Two Worlds fundraiser, they’re held every two years.

For an article discussing the need, see Palliative care in India: Visiting as a volunteer, from the Canadian Oncology Nursing Journal (Summer 2016).

Please select the link below to view our 2018 Financial Statement:

FS18 – Trans Himalayan Aid Society

(2018/10/28)

The Dekyiling Tibetan Settlement was founded by the government of India and the Tibetan government in exile to provide homes for Tibetan refugees from Bhutan.  In 1980, the Central Tibetan Relief Committee (CTRC) purchased 33 acres of land on the outskirts of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. Soon thereafter, a tent city sponsored by the Swedish Organisation for Individual Relief (SOIR-IM) appeared. These newcomers began to settle in, and build their new homes.

With a new home, came the need to build a new livelihood. In 1984, the Dekyiling Tibetan Handicraft Cum Training and Charitable Society began employing and training carpet weavers. TRAS paid for training facilities and several weaving and tailoring trainings over the ensuing years. In the 1990s, they began producing more handwoven cloths and Tibetan aprons. Through this society, many Tibetans have been able to preserve their culture and traditional weaving techniques, all while earning enough money to support themselves and their families.

TRAS’ involvement with the Dekyiling Tibetan Settlement includes the purchasing and reselling of Tibetan crafts here in Canada. We aim to support the hardworking families, as well as offer our members the opportunity to own one of these magnificent creations!

TRAS also took over supporting the Handicraft Creche from 2004, after the local government ceased its funding. This day care centre was built for the women working in the centre. This allowed them to work full-time while two ayas (care-givers) provided education, attention, nutrition, and love to their children. This service was especially appreciated by those without older relatives who could help with childcare. With far fewer new arrivals from Tibet, there are no young women with toddlers coming to learn how to weave, so TRAS’ support for the creche is currently not needed.

In addition to the above contributions, Dekyiling is a partner with the TRAS Scholarship Fund, as well as the child sponsorship program. These are ongoing projects that are funded yearly, and have yielded great results! We are grateful to the Dekyiling settlement for helping us assist these children and bright pupils. We look forward to what the next years will bring!

(18/09/10)

One of TRAS’s cherished local partners here in Vancouver, the UBC Himalaya Program, is about to begin a new academic year! Each year the program organizes a number of public events that focus on our shared interests in the Himalayan region.

Our connection to the UBC Himalaya Program is through Dr. Sara Shneiderman and Dr. Mark Turin, both members of the program’s steering committee. They have been key contacts for us – it’s through Sara and Mark that TRAS helped SFSS to rebuild 200 toilets in Dolakha following the 2015 earthquakes. They have also given public talks for TRAS, filled with valuable information and treasured insight from their many years of work in the Himalayas.

 

Dr. Sara Shneiderman’s research focuses on the relationships between political discourse, ritual action, and cross-border mobility in producing ethnic identities and shaping social transformation. She is currently involved in a number of projects that examine these aspects in the Himalayan region. Dr. Shneiderman began working in Nepal back in the late 1990s and has been continually involved since then.

 

Dr. Mark Turin is both an anthropologist and linguist and has studied language and cultural practices in the Himalayas since 1992. He has worked extensively in both preserving and documenting endangered oral literatures before they disappear without record. In eastern Nepal, and the Darjeeling district of India, Dr. Turin has worked hard at preserving and documenting the Thangmi language.

 

On September 24, the Himalaya Program will be holding an opening reception for a photo exhibit by Saori Ogura, a PhD student at UBC Forestry: “Life with the Forest in Sikkim.” The reception will be held from 5:00 – 7:00PM in Room 1221, in the Forest Sciences Centre, with the exhibit on show in the adjoining Atrium. You can find more information about the opening reception here.

 

For the UBC Himalaya’s complete “Welcome Back” email, see here. Please note that the courses described are primarily for UBC students. (It’s possible for non-UBC students to apply to take these courses – see Non-Degree Studies – but the deadlines were back in mid-June.)

We’ve just received a report on the Voice of Children Extension Project! The 6 months from November 2017 to April 2018 focused on the establishment of coaching classes, a resource centre for women, and on the improvement of education support centers, computer centers etc. Click here to read the full report!