Through a screen
by William Liu, 2021
Since last year's update on my journey with the Helping Tibet Foundation, my sister and I have been looking forward to a potential trip back to Ta De Temple in the region’s high mountains. Unfortunately, the pandemic is still around, making travel quite impossible and further postponing our formally annual visits. The circumstances were quite disappointing for us for a multitude of reasons. Our foundation has brought in a sizeable amount of donations in the past years, and we were really looking forward to personally traveling there to distribute new school supplies and recreational toys. I was also hoping to catch up with some of the children again (whom I've interacted with every year through the trips since 6 years ago), learn more about Tibet's ancient and fascinating culture through the evening conversations with the tulku and the lamas, and take a break from the constant buzz of urban life to spend time with them, away from the internet.
Although we weren't able to make the visit, we still wanted to catch up with the Tibetan children, so, we decided to make a video call. With limited electronics and internet connectivity in the Tibetan mountains, the video chat on their side had to be shared among the more than thirty people, consisting of the tulku, lamas, and school children; they kept handing the phone off to each another, waving to us and telling us updates about their own lives, while the younger children jumped excitedly to catch a glimpse of the screen. It was really amazing to see the new houses that were built, and the continued construction of the temple. Many of the children were also really eager to tell us about their new school, as they were quite successful students (even outperforming the children in the local towns in exams) and were invited to take part in even better boarding schools in Tibet, which they will leave for in the following semester after spending their summer break on their family farms.
In the final part of the meeting, we asked what they think we should use the donations for. When the children were younger, we usually just brought supplies the tulku suggested, along with toys and treats. This time, in response to the question, many of them hoped for a small library, and some were really fascinated with books related to history and languages. Not only are we working to fulfill their requests through the Helping Tibet Foundation these days, but I cannot wait to return to Tibet (hopefully next year) and meet the children in person, perhaps even reading a few books with them!
