Volunteering – Editing Buddhist Texts
Being passionate about Buddhism, Ayurveda, and yoga, what better place could there be to visit in India than McLeod Ganj, an enchanting picturesque town just below the snowy peaks of the Himalayas, and home to the Dalai Lama. Well thanks to Sharon at Ekno Experience I got to call this place home for six weeks and I got to help the Tibetan community, by volunteering at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (LTWA) as an editor.
Some days, I had volunteering commitments, and other days I explored my surroundings, or chilled out in one of the many cafes and restaurants and got to know the locals. I found that there’s lots to see and do around McLeod Ganj and Dharamsala if you like walking, just beware of Kashmiri shopkeepers trying to sell you over priced shawls and trinkets – make sure you bargain with them.
The lovely guesthouse I stayed in was close to the centre of town and had amazing views. Each morning I woke up to beautiful snow capped Himalayan mountain peaks, spread out in all their glory.
For a small town up in the mountains, I was pleasantly surprised at how well connected McLeod Ganj is to the outside world. Cable TV and cyercafes are everywhere. I also got a broadband Internet connection for my mobile phone and laptop, which worked really well.
I also got to see some of the other towns near McLeod Ganj. Sharon took me to see Norbulingka Institute, Kayakalp, the Himalayan research institute for yoga and naturopathy in Palampur, Baijnath Temple, Bir, one of the first Tibetan settlements, Sherabling Monastery, and the Gyuto Tantric Monastery, home to the Karmapa.
Working as an editor for the LTWA was a wonderful experience. I got to work with Dr Chok Tenzin Monlam, the head of the Research and Translation Department, on a book about the history of Tibet, and learnt so much about Tibetan culture and history in the process. I also learnt a lot about the Tibetan and Persian cultures from the people who I came to know and love dearly. Fiona, Sydney, Australia.
Fort Cochin, a South Indian paradise
A leading guide-book makes a bold statement ’ Kerala is India’s most beautiful and successful states’. From its spindly network of rivers, lakes and canals, golden beaches for its western Sun worshippers and its’ tea plantations Kerala has it covered. Brave words. What it doesn’t mention is that Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India, 98% of its population! Thank the Catholics for that, with the majority of its’ schools run by the Church!
After living in northern India for many years, and February having the coldest temperatures on record, it was time to see what all the fuss was about. I convinced a friend also freezing in London to join me. She jumped off an international flight and onto a domestic heading straight to Cochin. Our bags were packed with bathers, shorts and light tops, thongs (or flip-flops) and hats, warmth was a must.
After a smooth 4 hour plane trip from Delhi we landed in Cochin. The onslaught of the heat was like a giant smack in the face. It must have been 30 degrees C at 9 o’clock at night. I was used to -5 at that hour of the night. When I complained, my travelling companion commented ’Who cares, we aren’t going to be cold for the next week ‘. Undeterred, we travelled the 45kms from the airport to Fort Cochin where we had booked our accommodation.
Fort Cochin is a quaint place like its name. It consists of the main street with mainly Kashmiri owned jewellery and carpet shops and restaurants that you can find in any tourist strip in India, however the buildings along the main street are old and have been restored, some back to their original facade and others modernised. Wonder along the back streets and you see very quaint houses that have been turned into ‘homestays’, shops and restaurants. It has a nice feel about it.
The well travelled bag
As part of Ekno’s sustainability policy of local areas, we give away cloth bags which are handy when travelling. They are made by Nishtha – a non-profit organization working with the rural community since 1989 -www.nishtha-hp.org. The bags are made by local women as a means of their economic support. It seems that these bags are getting around the world. Amy (an ex Volunteer) has one in Bodhgaya and Noni (ex Spiti trip 2010 has hers in South Africa (she is the snake lady)…Have bag will travel. Good to see they are being reused time and time again.
Food – part of the travelling experience.
Director Sharon Thrupp writes “As a traveller just about all my life, one of the most important things about travelling for me is food. Food can make or break your travelling experience. As part of your volunteering experience in McLeod Ganj, you will discover new food, Tibetan, Indian, Korean, Japanese, butchered Italian but fabulous Pizzas and Chinese to name a few. It is an international town with many cuisines to choose from. Food is also an ice-breaker. Chatting over Palak Paneer or Momos is a way to get to know a fellow volunteer or traveller”. Get to learn about the food of the place you are going to visit first. Check these blogs about food – www.unpluggedinindia.wordpress.com
Is Volunteering for you?
I guess I decided to volunteer because the idea of trooping around to see more monuments and temples just didn’t do it for me anymore.
So when I came across an advertisement on the Internet for teaching English to Tibetan refugees I just grabbed the chance to have a new experience in another country.
I only have to teach for two hours a day in the morning from Monday to Friday so the rest of the day is mine. Teaching a group of adult students who are respectful and work hard is inspiring plus I get to know them as locals and friends. I meet them in the street and share some of their life.
I’ve met other volunteers from around the world; some are nurses, some are vets and many are just helping out where they can. You don’t have to stay for a year or even months, some volunteers are here for just a week or so.
We tend to hang out a bit together and sometimes head off into the hills for the weekend or spend a couple of days in absolute luxury.
Volunteering adds another dimension to travelling; it’s not about looking from the outside – it’s about getting in there and being a part of a community. I don’t think I could ever go back to being just a tourist. Louise Parsons, Australia
Volunteering Tour – March 2012
“An opportunity to experience living in a Tibetan community and contribute in a small way to the education of young people from both the Indian and Tibet communities keenly wanting to improve their opportunities in life.
Eating wonderful food, meeting great people, feeling well looked after and valued by Ekno Experience…..made it an exceptional experience”. Lynn, Blue Mountains, Australia
Volunteering – Nurse Educator & Teaching English
Last year I found myself feeling a little lost with life and not quite sure what to do with myself, where I should be, or what I should be doing. I then came across an ad for Ekno Expereince, instantly it felt like something I needed to pursue. After talking with Sharon for only a few minutes I decided to commit myself to 3 months volunteer work in Mcleod Ganj in Northern India.
A New Direction
What followed was an amazing journey that has helped steer my life in a new direction. I arrived in Delhi exhausted and jet lagged, confronted with the noises, smells and sights of such a city, the thought ‘What the hell have I done?’ did cross my mind. After a day in the madness of Delhi I then experienced the Indian trains. Waiting on the platform, I was the only white person in sight, feeling many pairs of Indian eyes examining me from head to toe, clinging to my bag I finally boarded the train for my 12 hour overnight trip to North India. With a toilet that was simply a hole in floor and tracks whizzing by underneath, and the constant clickty clack and sway of the train on the tracks I did not sleep a wink. Finally I arrived in Mcleod Ganj. I was met by Sharon and her Tibetan son Dawa, who took me to my gorgeous little apartment which was to be home for the next 3 months.
Volunteering – Editing Buddhist Texts & Buddha’s Sites Pilrimage 2012
I could never have imagined that walking past the Ekno Experience information desk during HHDL’s visit to 
Melbourne in June 2011 would result innsuch a life-changing experience.
An idea, a postcard!
To think, it all started with picking up a volunteering-related postcard. When I went home that evening, I put aside the postcard with Ekno’s website on it, intending to check it out at a later date. It sat patiently on the coffee table for six weeks until I returned from a trip to Thailand, waiting for me to do something productive with it…within two or three weeks, I had confirmed with Sharon that I was coming to do some volunteer editing in Dharamsala with the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives (LWTA), and that I would join the Buddha’s Sites tour beginning in early January 2012.
After spending three weeks in Nepal in November doing a trek to Everest Base Camp, I was in need of a tranquil place to recover.
Welcome to Dharamsala
Mc Leod Ganj (or upper Dharamsala) is one of those places you never want to leave. With a population spread fairly evenly between Indians and Tibetans, there are plenty of friendly people and amazing food. The entire area has a very positive energy, no doubt as a result of HHDL and ordained people living there, and attracting similarly-minded people. Read more 
Interview with Geshe Jamyang in Kushinagar, India Dec 2010
This is an interview that was recorded in Kushinagar, India in Dec 2010 on Geshe Jamyang’s last pilgrimage. We met up with some Korean documentary film makers who were making a film about the life of the Buddha to be shown in Korea. We were on the same route (the Buddha’s Sites) as them and kept running into them.
Follow the link for you tube or facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ekno-Experience/151148007335
Extracts from Geshe Jamyang’s Pilgrimage to Buddha’s Sites, India & Nepal – Dec 2010
Varanasi – Sarnath
Our stay in Varanasi was to soak up Varanasi and all it had to offer. It is an incredible spiritual place with so much going on, life and of course death – which it is famous for. It is the wish for all Hindus to be cremated at the shores of the Mother Ganga. We took a boat ride on the Mother watching pilgrimages coming to bath in the sacred water, to cremate and to grieve their loved ones. You can’t help but be touch by it, of humanity it’s celebrations and suffering. Life is here, it’s in the raw and it’s addictive.
However, we had come to pay homage to the Buddha’s sites. Sarnath is a short drive from Varanasi and is a small town. This is the place where the Buddha found his five disciples at a deer park in the outskirts of the town. He also came back to Sarnath the next monsoon to give another teaching. Sarnath is an important site site being where the first turning of the wheel took place. There are several monuments to visit and Geshe la gave us a short teaching and we then walked through Deer Park to get a feel of what it must have been like back in the Buddha’s day.