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Soon, there will be a site in french. Nobody can stop The Free Radicals! http://lesradicauxlibre.canalblog.com
http://iradicaliliberi.canalblog.com/
...if some people want too translate in japanese, mandarin or any others... :)
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G
ood news : Jacky, from his bed, wants to give five days food to the children.
kilos of rice, patatoes, tomatoes, onions, brinjals (local aubergine ), sugar, flour. In quantities to last five days following Kamal's experience - Kamal manages with his wife one of Umbrella's houses.
When I arriived with the taxi full of food, children welcomed the driver and I very warmly, and, village's reflex, started to carry the bags. Of course I carried the heaviest.
While didi started to cook I finish to shave the remaining head - the didi did want to keep her hair. She also thought the food could last from 7 to 9 days (another reflex), so I had to insist it had to last five days, the children need more !
Around themselves, children see a lot of change and they hope it will go on, starting by a new place to live with clean water... Of course as soon as the funds will be here....
Bad news: Good for food, but still more problems: following a shortage of gaz, people tend to use more kerosene to cook. therefore there is also difficulties to get Kerosene. Didi managed to get two litres this day. One litre = 1 day... if no fuel, it will be cold meal basis on Chulo, beaten rice
To put an end to all this, please let us know your desire to sponsore a kids or to give a donation. Money will pass by Umbrella foundation.
Every little helps
Reminder: These naked littles body (minus two) are all to be sponsored (30 dollars per child and per month, it can seem a lot, but it covers all the care and education, furthermore four salaries can share - one family, one office, one pub... For example, among the SOLHimal's volunteers, a couple, earing the minimum wages is sponsoring two children in Umbrella.
The optician's visit has been alright. No problem, three children need glasses that will be given by SOLHimal via Umbrella.
The day before, we took the children for a public "bath" where the neighbours wash themselves and their linen. That's 15 minutes walk and two minutes from Thamel. Without being asked anything, children got all undresses in a flash!
There the people showed their curiosity, even some showed their concern. One of them took a photo with his mobile, promising to sent it to the medias because, he says, 'they need to show reality'.
Jacky, Umbrella's country president, was sick. No way to contact him. August 11th, I was in the office when Gyan, at last, popped up. From him, I hoped a report about the families and the schools in the Rasuwa district, instead he asked me what I've decided for the children's sake, because an article will be published the next day... a way of pressure, but as long as there is no money, our emergency can't be solved !
Talking news, here a good one... but negative: where the children are coming from, there is starvation due to the closed chinese border. Chinese markets are much more accessible than Kathmandu for all the people living in the mountains (Humla, Dolpo, Langtang). So those people lack rice and vegetables.
Why closing a border and starving people? because Tibet, for the Chinese politic point of view, needs to be invisible, no one should be able to witness what happens there.
Therefore, if we already knew Chinese governement able to kill, here the IOC and its supporters are guilty of the same crimes!. There is sport and there is economic interests and nationalism...
Which impact for the children? That reduces their chance to go back to their village and family.
Wednesday, I went back to the children's to get them again to the public bath - if I don't go nobody else will do the job - Choesang, 4, jumped in my arms. That's it, I'm their brother, their dhai.
The next I started the lice eradication. I used my clipper to its exhaustion. Boys were happy to get the same haircut than mine, but three girls emptied all the tears of their body while Choesang were overjoyed to be the first.
Anneli should have come to pay the school exams fees (just another tax!!!!) but she didn't come.
Gyan didn't give me any report because he wanted Tenzin (who dislikes the article :"Children in illegal orphanage")... to do the job... Do we live in an upside down world? anyway such a situation shows the real limits of the Nepali Government.
Minus one all the 31 children need a sponsor (should be 50 euros per month, but not many can give that much, so think of being helped by a friend) Joanna, from London want already to sponsor one of them. For now let's contact each other. As long as not enough money is gathered we can't ask for a rescue of the children. But we take care with Anneli of the Hygiene.
All of them are in the album beside. Not much about them, only their name but it will change quickly. Tomorrow I should meet with Gyan Bahadur Lama who should give me a report about the conditions in the villages, about the families and the school.
On Saturday, 2nd august, I went to see the children from Reshuwa at Kushibun to tell them to get ready the next morning at 9am to see the doctor. Tempa said, ‘Hi, brother. Come, I’ll show insects’. What! Did I thought, one more negative thing for those kids… and I was imagining some worms. But this time I discovered an infection of Utus, a blood sucking insect. They were everywhere in the rooms, a sleeping nuisance for the children. So immediately I asked Tempa to lead to the nearest shop to get anti-insect spray.
On the way back a child complained of headache. That was due of a long walk under the summer sun to access a shower place. So we went back to the pharmacy to get some paracetamol. Because if they don’t even have access to proper water, how could we expect Tenzin to provide a genuine emergency kit!
In the Morning, nor Kali didi, a Chilean woman willing to take photos for complaining to the government, nor Anneli, nor Laura, who should have come to write a report for a brazilian foundation which may help the children, were on the spot.
At 9.30 they were just started their breakfast: a big plate of rice, but to go with a very meagre cauliflower soup, 10 litres water for half a veg!
With this unhygienic situation and this unbalanced diet, nothing surprising about the diagnostic of Umbrella’s Doctor, Dr Suman:
4 children with scavenge
1 child with cyst under her foot
2 children with white lips’corners, sign of malnutrition
2 children with fungus
1 kid of four with swollen belly due to big amount of worms. Nobody knows for how long, but if more than 6 months, need of surgery
1 girl with 2 black teeth.
And due to their dirty environment, linen and cloothes, plus the absence of water most of them had minor skin problem, that would go away if they could bath more regularly than this Saturday shower, coming back with a hot walk!
As worms are highly contagious all kids had to be treated.
Via Umbrella association and his hospital Dr Suman provided all the treatment. All the children were happy to see the doctor. It was at one of Umbrella’s children house sponsored by SolHimal. They were also provided water and the staff was very nice with them. In bonus they had the entertainment of a goose couple as neighbours.
On the way back we stopped for chowmein. The Tibetan cook was worried, 36 mouths to feed! An hour wait said she. But we didn’t care, there was a TV and it started to rain. In bonus I met Nyima, one of the girls’ uncle. He knows Tenzin as a man from their district, a nice man. He’s been to Kushibun to see his niece too and bought to all the kids a pair of flip-flop. Nyima, an ex-monk, said Tenzin didn’t get any money from the parents (who is lying?) He also gave me the name of the village where the children come from: Kandjin, Bridim, Benjyang, Surkha and Nyimling. For all those villages, following Nyima, there are two governmental primary schools in bad condition with one unprofessional teacher each.
So families sent their children to Kathmandu…
All children finished all their pastas in no time, plus half a tim momo. Incredible from a westerner point of you.
Next program coordinate with Umbrella, a eye sight chek-up on August 9th
It started with Anneli, a sweddish girl, who sent me an email:
"I help in an orphanage of Tibetan kids, they have nearly nothing. Can you help?"
I called her immediately asking to visit the place. Anneli was dubious upon the director's speech whose name is Tenzin, who doesn't like NGOs and is unable to show any official paper.
5 p.m. on my visit, there were no adult around. I've seen 41 kids living in two rooms, the girl and the boy room, which is bedroom, dining room and homework room.
The "director" arrived half an hour later. He told me his name was only Tenzin, that he was Tibetan but could not give more details! Only one page of his accountant book was used (something he showed on Anneli's request) but half the page written in english was repeated in Nepali! Very vague and nor really in a warm relationship with the children he said he needs help...
Reality: On my second visit a week later I came a reprensetative of the Nepali governement and helper for Umbrella foundation (www.umbrellanepal.org and SolHImal Organization ( www.solhimal.org) Tenzin was away in the village, the very one he took the children from. As so we learnt that all children have parents who live in the same area of Reshuwa district (70 Km north of Kathmandu towards Langtang) and that all familly give money to Tenzin, from 500 to 2500 rupees a month in the hope of a better future via their confidence over Tenzin (maybe a man from their village). In the same time the guy looks for tourist in Thamel as a guide and try to pesruade them to sponsor children or to help directly the so-called orphanage.
But the kids sleep at three per beds and no tap water is avalaible. On this night three were sleeping on the floor. The school fees are not paid and all kids are sick, skin disease and worms, a red one known to be very dangerous (discovered this last thursday, 31 july, because of this one of them has a swollen stomach. Even more, at the same time, 6 children disapeared from this place and no none knows where they are yet...
and to darken the whole lot, 17 of the kids have been recognized from havibg being part of another "orphanage" shut down by Umbrella. This was was also runned by a guide who called himself Angel. he was arrested last year, but free these days he's still active in the same illegal activities.
Seeing this nightmare Gayn Bahadur Lama, the ministry man, notified the need to close the place but...
... Governement can't give any money, though can help otherwise.
First of all I requested a check-up for all children. it will be done with the Umbrella's docto
r on sunday.
But to place the kids? two ways :
I met with Laura, a brazilian lawyer who helps another orphanage contacted a foundation, if the foundation agrees to take the kids under good condition, they'll have enough money for everything. It would be done... but nothing sure.
Or, we open any house under Umbrella organization but the latter had no money for more children. So I said I can give 5000 euros to start. Still, we'll need to find partners/sponsors who all together can give 1500 euros per month as a long term commitment. That will cover all the cost for all the kids, following the experience of Umbrella and SolHimal.
Policy in exile, local policy and Community in waiting for its country freedom As leader of all Tibetans, when the Dalai Lama celebrates his birthday, that’s on a festival day, his people sing his name and cry their disappeared and tortured souls. Under a burning blue sky it sent symbols. The holly Tibetan man is moved with ceremony and set above the even most important guests. Talking of the latter, he’s a representative of the government but he is not a representative of the government’s policy. I note because the guy shake hands with a Tibetan group that just been arrested at the border with TAR, furthermore, nearly all the Tibetans in front of him have been arrested by Nepali police, even further the government doesn’t provide anymore refugee cards to the new-comer nor it grants Tibetan born in Nepal of a Nepali nationality –which is unlawful. Nevertheless, as The important man of the Government for the refugee topic he’s a guest who declared Tibetans brethren of Nepal. What’s worrying is that new measures rejecting a bit more Tibetans took place before the assembly election where Maoists were the winners. Maoist who may be said nothing about the question – that’s already not really reassuring- but as the new power they already criticized journalists and an official photo happened to be photoshopped… As the Tibetans demonstrates their attachment to their native land, this guest can indeed underlined his love for their host because patriotism is a very important data of Asian Identity as well as one’s ethnicity. Such facts help the Nepali double-faced talk, especially if you know that the Nepali people of Humla, Dolpo, Mustang etc. are of Tibetan culture and their dialects is nearer from Tibetan than Nepali. Of course this contradicted situation is in part the result of a very active Chinese lobby at the same time as Beijing scolds the West not to intervene in its policy over TAR or Death Penalty. Do what I say, not I do… To frame this, no better than the Dharamsala/Beijing talks which would have never happened without pressure from the West but where the Chinese side decided to hold the negotiations until the end of the Olympics, such an hypocrite way to avoid its promise to accept journalists in TAR during the International Event that it reveal the passivity of the Occidental Nations. That’s because photos and article from nowadays Chinese policy in Tar would go against the beautiful picture of clean Olympics. In Kathmandu, the Dalai Lama’s birthday took place at the Srongtsen Bhrikuti Academy. Unavoidable was the Tibetan hymn, or the balloons holding the Tibetan flag in the sky with some pigeons and doves (same family), plus the communal rice meal and… sufferance. Sir James, whose wife works for the UN charity wing, noted. After ceremony all teachers and volunteers headed for the restaurant. Teachers on one side, on another the volunteers and the end of the long table the two headmasters, a settings which describes a certain hierarchy as well as the volunteers seen as guests – and parenthesis. To be here since several month now I can specify that the teachers don’t mix much nor with the volunteers, nor the direction, two populations that make them uncomfortable. As I go on with this, the lack of solidarity between schools reemerged this day. But understand, It is not so much a non-willing that to protect its network. As Tibetan schools have no government help, they need not only kids’ sponsors but also sponsors for themselves. Those NGOs usually focus on one school. Up to the school to get a rich enough NGO to help with the building of the school, with the sport ground, the computer, internet etc. In Other words this egoistic Tibetan behaviour is in reaction of a social structure in disarray, in Tibet, in Nepal and internationally. As though the cruelty of China amplify the Tibetan patriotism while being a refugee, following UNHCR or a split Asia, just curse Tibetans (as well as all refugees in the world), an eternal curse. And there is also the whole world who sees Tibet only as a Shangrila, far from reality. Somehow the Tibetan community try to say no like did the children by avoid superposing themselves with sufferance, but for the grown up the curse is already in progress. Exile is a heart far from its stolen body…
While they heard the speech ladies started to cry. Later on they asked a photo with them and I. With the children’s translation we learnt that the lady on my side had her leg broken by a Chineses soldier.
It’s just like the doves, some of them stayed on top of the tents, not because they longed for their cage but in direct consequence of the overpopulation of the cage, those birds had their wing or leg badly injured. That’s what could be called broken symbols.
China chews Tibetans on their soil that the all-powerful unique communist party sees as another piece of Africa. On this territory there is a mean of isolation by pauperism, to frame it, it is just like taking out original shoots and seeding GM instead. Imperialism goes on. And outside this territory the Tibetan refugees are trapped in a parallel world, without official country or I.D., trapped between a western vortex and the rejection of Asia.
As trapped the government in exile is in peril, a boat ashore. Via Second World War we know that such governments are re-conquest mechanisms, but in this case, neither is war nor any efficiency of UNO. While the whole world, 50 years ago just gave Tibet to China - That was an imperialistic share of the world which is still active today - Tibetan people should reinvents Tibet outside its boundaries, creates little Tibets and push the people to reactivate non-alignment and work to change UN for a real peace structure and not a controlled machine for a still unbalanced world.
The previous week-end, as it was football time in Europe, I asked Thadhol, the only boy in the Kopan escapade, if he would watch the finale. ‘Watching football is boring, I prefer reading books’, said he while stroking the black kitten.
If you don’t believe it, Lisa was still here to witness this sample of Himalayan wisdom from the mouth of a child.
The 3rd July Lisa had to fly back to India to arrive on time at Dharamsala for the Dalai Lama’s 73rd birthday, the jealous grannies and the psycho junkies.
Like in a swap Hannah Fox arrived in the morning of the same day, a 20 years old Welsh Londoner who is here for the second time. Reading geography, plus volunteering she also wants to study the identity of Tibetan in exile (bis repetita, but Lisa reads socio-anthropology). Let’s see…
3rd July was pleasant because water was back at the tap.
I can tell you that in this previous two weeks I’ve completed my taming about the value and respect of water, such a luxury it is!
Waking up at night to collect the rainfall teach you to take care of it like a baby, to keep it clean.
Outside this "South" world, in the "North" World it is just a bill, a tree hiding the jungle of an industrialized management of water which take place between fiction-ads and fictionalised reality. And when you think water is so important (or strategic…) in this competitive world that is managed as if it was oil… my precious…
Hannah Fox – doesn’t it sound a heroin’s name? - is the first of four volunteers to arrive this week. For a whole month the flat will be full of people, let’s see…
Meanwhile I dreamt of walking in Tibet, freely riding a horse, meeting with nomads along their summer settlement very high with their yaks herd… but such a simple thing is just forbidden by a dictatorial China where tourism is part of a strictly controlled economy even (shutdown these even to journalist in disregard of its own pledge)… that’s where Maoism meets liberalism, where the future China is already a model. So, please, stop greedily bet on it.
And 49 Tibetans - including a majority of monks - walked towards their native land. So near from it on a Nepalese motorway, the police came to arrest them. Most of them cried. Exile is a cage in oubliettes. An eternal poison. The vulture for ever eating their soul. Irony of a western culture meeting a Himalayan one.
21st June, longest day of the year…
… So I woke up at 6a.m.. On its own, Saturday is Nepal’s week-end, so it is a washing and cleaning day for all families, mine included. But first I needed to get the water from downstairs as the tap answer my calls… of necessity.
Maybe the time sounds early but the kids from the HCS hostel woke up between 4 and 5 and developed the habit to ring at my door around 8 with the excitement provided by the idea of a walk on top of the fresh hills.
This Saturday they right at the door at 8 sharp. They went to play with the kittens while I knocked at Lisa’s door to wake her up. She’s a franco-brit, 22, whose master’s about the identity of exiled Tibetans in Dharamsala.
(e)Lisa(beth) is in Nepal to renew her Indian visa and we met two days ago on a protest where she benevolently took some photos, between solidarity and CPE protests’ nostalgia. 8.30 we were gone. We passed by 5 monasteries, have seen peasants working hard in their paddy field, a leech met with Pema Diki’s ankle, a hint of salt and it was gone (she was the one who reminded me to take some salt!). At Kopan there were nice flowers in the beautiful and peaceful Buddhist garden and we met with… Tsering and his sister arrived from Pokhara.
On our way back we ate green apricot (ripe it was), big chips and pokaras with the ubiquitous chilly.
On the way to Buddhanath we said bye-bye to the kids and went for lunch. After that we met Kelsang at the back of a motorbike heading to the consulate. He told us that everybody was already hiding in the streets around. 
This day the protest answered to the Olympic shame approaching Lhasa. To go to the Chinese consulate we had to walk because it was banda. Banda is Nepali word which mean ‘closed’ and also define a strike (more like a block-us). Last Friday it was because a maoist MP locked a parliament colleague in the toilets. This Saturday (and for seven days) it is because the students demand 50% off their bus ticket as the companies announced a hike in the prices (the last in long list of announcement).
After half an hour walk, with Lisa we reached the side walls of the consulate of the badly behaved and authoritarian state. Tibetans were already shouting slogans and being sent to the police pickups and small trucks which limited capacity allowed the protesters to organize themselves in small groups and to make the standing up last.
It was a very hot day. We’ve seen red faced police men, not cool police women, laughing cops. The sun 
and their only day off suppressed drove them mad. There one slammed in a group, here one slapped a Tibetan face. Even one young police guy punched a Tibetan girl. I shouted at him and he looked furiously at me. On the ground they use the UN passivity, happily there are always some journalists. But last Thursday Miss T said, “a child’s father has been badly beaten”. In front of two UN staff the Nepali police put a young girl in their truck. She was obviously under 18 and even for Nepal it is unlawful… the UN staff told me afterwards. Meanwhile Tibetans don’t play a game, they put all their heart each time. Each time at least two women faint. This day a young adult had an epilepsy crisis. Last Saturday Police arrested 600, this Saturday they arrested nearly 700 following Miss P. statement. On the day, from the jail she sent me a SMS saying “I’m at zoo. We are animals at the police station zoo.”
Once Police swept all Tibetans from the consulate’s street, we headed towards Durbar Square eating a chilly cucumber on the way. At the Royal Place he had tea behind one of the temple, between a willing-to-be-photographed saddhu (against hundred of Rupees) and the village madman.
There we met Peshal, 22 too, student at Alliance Francaise, “which organized Fete de la Musique” he said. Among few things he told us that he’s got nearly no more friend in Nepal, two remains but one’s just received his American visa while the other applied for an Australian student visa. So, Peshal wants to migrate to France.
On his fete de la musique program it was written “scene rock, Durbar Marg, 2p.m. to 9pm.”. To get an idea have look to the photos and videos
At night, around 7.30!!! I headed back home. Lisa found a young guy and a bike. Actually I was still willing to walk a bit more. I stopped for diner in a Nepali restaurant and had Chulo-alu (flat rice and spiced potatoes = 15 NRs).
Not far from Bouddha Gate I passed by a bunch of dancing and singing taxi drivers. The overjoyed guys ignored the 21st was international music celebration, to set loudly their music from one of the taxi was motivated by the earnings of the day, bandas are auspicious for them.
I reached the stupa at 8.30. there were still few monks on the kora and the security guards pushed away the last beggar, a completely broken body, as well as the street kids in their dirty and old clothes. They were scared but I asked them to stay with me. Together we shared of chocolate biscuit I bought with the remaining 10 rupees in my pockets. Then they set themselves under a a tin roof for the night. Lisa was waiting in the dark of the stair case. End of a very long day.Subara tri.
In Kathmandu, 1st June saw Tibetan
actions peacefully resumed. The break was in solidarity for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. A very sad event which 
gives Chinese government to show its kind heart to the world media, motivated
by the bad pictures of Tibet and helped by the contrasting very
poor management of the cyclone Nargis’s terrible disaster by the Junta.But while
the military power in Burma organized a shameful authoritarian referendum, in
Lhasa Chinese authorities set mock trials of 5 minutes* and repressed the
protests of the Sichuan victims who dared to link the bad building structure
with corruption.
Sweep the Maoist
nature under the carpet and it’ll erupt by the toilets (Sichuan proverb emigrated from Mongolia via Xinjiang and Tibet).
For
children, to show its own feeling is not easy task, so most of them drew the
violence their parents told them and that they imagine. They don’t all know the
meaning of the five coloured circles but some of them know the tortures
techniques used in Tibet!
However
some used the way of the symbol, many with the flags but Lhakila from our
school chose by her to go for a monster eating a crane while herself looks in
despair at the scene. The class IV pupils attracted with this the journalists,
their cameras and their interviews.
5 days
later, at the exhibition opening, I met the mock torch bearer of the protest I
told you about. He had a very weak voice. Why? The protest of the previous day
of course! Within these 5 days several protests occurred, including a praying
march from Buddhanath to Swoyambunath by prostrating on the Ring Road. They
achieved it in one day and one night. **
* cf Woeser
and Jamyang Norbu blogs and the article of Naoami Klein
** Details
on Phayul.com
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