Friendship-Tour 2012-01

UWL and KHCP Report

Three years ago an article was published in the magazine Buddhism Today describing the activities of the Karmapa Health Care Project and asking for volunteers.  After reading this article Scott Stine, an Academic Advisor at the University of Wisconsin La Crosse and a student of Lama Ole Nydahl, emailed the KHCP offering to bring a group of students from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse to help with their project.  Over the next three years a relationship was created with KHCP that included many planning meetings over Skype and a trip to the 2011 Kagyu Monlam in India to see the activities of KHCP.  There Pia and Peter Cerveny (KHCP) introduced Scott Stine to Shamar Rinpoche.
This relationship came to fruition January 2012 with a group of 20 people, including 17 people from UW La Crosse.  This group including a doctor from Germany and two volunteers/guides from the KHCP team, traveled to Nepal and India to work with several of the monasteries in Kathmandu and Sikkim that are supported by the KHCP.

Upon arrival in Nepal, the team was warmly and enthusiastically greeted by the monks at Manang Gompa.  At Manang Gompa the team created medical records of the monks, taught basic medical education, including hand washing, teeth brushing, fitness, and anatomy and bought furniture and supplies for the KHCP clinic room.  These projects will help to ensure both proper treatment of the monks and nuns during future KHCP trips and also continued learning for healthier lifestyles.  There was also a wonderful cultural exchange between the monks and university students that included a soccer game that the monks won 16-4.  Also while in Kathmandu the group was able to visit Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche’s nuns and supplied them with a basic medical kit so they can take care of some basic medical needs.  The group was also lucky enough to meet Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche and share a little of what they were doing in his monasteries. 

After leaving Kathmandu they went to Rumtek, India and did similar medical actions at Nendo Rinpoche and Sharmapa’s monasteries.  The group was able to meet Nendo Rinpoche and he even joined in with the education and fitness activities. It was overall an incredible experience shared by everyone and will hopefully the work that was done on this trip will serve as a stepping-stone for between the University of Wisconsin La Crosse and KHCP.

Text by Scott Stine (University of Wisconsin La Crosse/USA)