July 19, 2011
Dear Friends of The Tibetan Refugee Health Care Project,
This is a quick update. For complete information about The Tibetan Refugee Health Care Project, please go to our home page under TRHCP on the drop down banner at the top of this page.
We are getting ready for our late fall visit to the Tibetan refugee settlement camps in India. We will hold our usual medical, and acupuncture clinics in very remote areas and continue to address the dire need of clean water for the Tibetan communities. 2011 marks our 28 year of the great honor of working with Tibetan refugees. Over the years, we have directly helped thousands of patients in our complementary medical camps. There is so much to do, and so little time and money to do it. One step at a time, each step a miracle.
Water Purification Projects
We will be visiting many of the sites to do spot checks on the equipment, restore and/or replace with new units. There are so many places who do not have safe and clean water. We will continue to move forward on this project. It has be quite difficult since we are a grass roots organization and dependent solely upon the donations of others. This has been a difficult time for a lot of our sponsors. And so, our projects suffer as well. Meanwhile, the illnesses related to unclean water take lives, cause illness.
Our director, Dr. Marsha Woolf, has been working with Tibetan refugees since 1983. She has personally witnessed thousands of patients with compromised health as a result of water related problems. Since we formally undertook this project in 2002, slowly, we are making a little difference.
Since 2002, we have installed 49 water purification systems throughout India in Tibetan communities. We have focused on bringing clean water to Tibetans in the Dehra Dun area. Dehra Dun is nestled at the base of the Himalayas. We have 37 systems in place. They are in Buddhist monasteries, convents, schools with a few thousand students, including a small school for Tibetan Handicapped children, hospitals, and homes for the elderly. When we began our project, it was brought to our attention that a number of monks were getting very ill from the water and, in fact, one died. As a result of that terrible event, we began the water project. Today, in that particular monastery, the situation is under control.
We travel to India usually twice, sometimes once per year to assess the water situation and to install and maintain water purification systems. We have maintainence specialists in India available in our abscence. Our goal is to install and maintain as many water purifiers that are needed ASAP.
Time sensitive request- Late fall is the end of the rainy season. What is already a dangerous situation for many can be magnified in India at this time. This can make a bad conditiion unbearable for those in areas where the water can be easily polluted, not to mention malaria season is in full swing. We are asking for tax-deductible donations to help with the ongoing water crisis in many of the Tibetan schools, monasteries, and convents there.
Wherever there are water systems installed, there is an urgent need to have annual service contracts and ongoing maintenance . There is always a never ending need for more help when it comes to preventing water born diseases that can easily be life threatening.
One of our goals is to make the Tibetan children’s boarding schools and Homes for the Elderly throughout India safe. 100 % of all donations go directly to the purchase, installation, and service of these water purification systems. The purification systems cost can range from $300 to $1000 per unit. Each school will need a few units.
We encourage Western youth to participate in fundraising efforts (cake sales, craft sales, etc) to help us bring clean water to the children and young people attending and/or living in Tibetan schools in India.
How you can help:
Your tax deductible checks can be posted to the address listed below. You can make a note in the memo as to which project your would like your donation to, or, you can make it a general donation and leave it to our discretion. Since all our work in India is ongoing, we gladly accept donations at any time.
We greatly appreciate frequent flyer donations. Volunteers are responsible for their own flight fares. Frequent flyer donations makes it possible for more people to volunteer.
Drug and medical supply donations (Not expired) Hospitals and clinics are sorely in need of antibiotics, heart medications, actually the full spectrum of drugs to manage all conditions as well as medical supplies. We personally deliver the donations to qualified physicians serving remote hospitals and clinics that treat Tibetan refugees and poor Indians.
Electonic equipment not older then 5 years. Laptops, portable devices for sound and/or computers. This equipment is donated to schools, hospitals, clinics, nunneries, monasteries, government offices/ers, etc.
Tibetan Refugee Health Care Project
101 W. 23 St. #158
New York, NY 10011 USA
email: tibetmedmw@aol.com
“Everyone has the possibility to shape the future of humanity.” His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama