You remember Tashi? He is the small pup that Dr. Marsha Woolf brought back from India and we had the good fortune to meet in NYC this past January. Well - as befits the mascot of the Tibetan Refugee Health Care Project they are off again to log more miles on the airlines - here is an update of their upcoming projects.............please help them in their upcoming journey if you can. They perform miracles on a shoestring budget......

February 14, 2006

Dear Friends,

We are about to embark on our Winter 2006 trip to India, where we will offer medical services in various Tibetan communities, homes for the elderly, monasteries and nunneries. TRHCP was established in 1989 to facilitate medical treatment and disease prevention education to over 135,000 Tibetans currently living in resettlement camps in India. We bring qualified volunteer health care professionals to these Tibetan communities to hold medical clinics and give treatments with a focus on acupuncture, nutritional education, self help skills, health talks, women’s health education, and malaria prevention. We offer in-service training to local health practitioners. Our teams of health care professionals may include Oriental Medical practitioners, health care professionals, medical doctors, dentists, health educators, environmentalists, and other medical personnel. All services are offered on a volunteer basis. We bring donated medical and health related supplies, as well as purchase sorely needed equipment or supplies directly in India. This has included a hospital generator and dental equipment. In addition, we sponsor individuals who need specialized treatments such as extensive lab work and tests, or medical procedures not available to them otherwise. At times, this requires transport of patients to nearby cities.

I would like to give you all an update on some of our other projects, and ask you to support us in whatever way seems appropriate for you, whether it is monetary or voluntary.

Water Purification

Our goal is to bring water purification systems to as many of the Tibetan schools and Tibetan homes for the elderly as possible. There are hundreds of these throughout India. In many sites the water is polluted, and each year, especially during the rainy season, people get sick. In fact, many children have died. I have worked with Tibetan refugees over the past 23 years, and have witnessed thousands of patients with compromised health as a result of impure water.

Since 2002, we have successfully installed over 45 water purification systems, greatly reducing the incidence of waterborne contaminants and improving the general health of those with access. No one has become ill from contaminated water at those locations, yet there are many sites that are in great need of these purification systems.

As this rainy season approaches, we must act quickly to make the children's schools and homes for the elderly safe. The purification systems cost can range from $300 to $1000 per unit and each school or home for the elderly may need a few units. We work very hard to keep our operating costs at a minimum. Your donation will enable us to purchase, install, and service these water purification systems.

Agriculture and Nutrition Project

On this trip, we will continue to pilot growing projects of Quinoa within the Tibetan community. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has encouraged the increase of availability of hearty green vegetables within the Tibetan refugee settlement camps, as there is such a problem with malaria and illnesses associated with nutritional deficiencies.

Quinoa is a South American grain that has more protein than any other. It is also the fastest cooking grain. Each Quinoa plant grows up to 6 feet high and is abundant in rich nutritious green leaves, with 23 grams of protein per 100 grams. Quinoa is also rich in other nutrients that support the circulatory, liver, and immune system. The combination of the grain and the green leaves makes for a very nutritious package.

The projects we have done thus far have been very successful. We are now working directly with the Tibetan Government in Exile in India to expand our agriculture program into 15 settlement communities.

To expedite and insure safe delivery of quality grain, we are carrying as many seeds as possible on all of our visits to India. If you choose to donate Quinoa seeds, you can either send us the funds, or buy boxes in any health food and most grocery stores. Please deliver to the address below no later than February 26, so that we can be sure to arrange to transport it.

Prayer Wheel Projects:

This trip, we will be focusing on the prayer wheels at The Ngoenga School for Tibetan Handicapped Children, Dehra Dun region.

A Mani (prayer wheel) house was built by TRHCP to house and shelter the BodhiTree that His Holiness the Dalai Lama planted in front of the school in 2002.There are 84 brass hand tooled prayer wheels that sit on two teak wooden tiers. In addition there are 7 small wheels outside of the prayer hall for the smaller children and those in wheelchairs. In Spring 2004, His Holiness again visited the school and blessed the prayer wheels. Moments after he completed the blessing, the children began circumambulating the little prayer house, spinning the wheels and saying prayers. They have been doing this ever since, at least twice a day.

During this last rainy season, many of the wheels were badly damaged by water,since there is no roof to protect them. At the request of the school, we are seeking a minimum of $2000 to construct a roof and to pay for there pair and maintenance of the wheels.

Volunteer Vehicle
We have received a lead gift of $7,500 to purchase a fully equipped mini bus/van so that we can move more efficiently throughout India from settlement to settlement. We need to raise $25,000 more for this bus/van.

Where to send your contribution:
Tax-deductible contributions can be made by check, payable to Alternative Resources, and sent directly to or accounting department, Labush and Company, 245 Waterman St.Suite 502, Providence, RI 02906, USA. If you wish to support a specific project, please designate so in the memo on your check. Or, you can make a general donation to our organization. You can also make a donation with your credit card via our website at www.tibetanrefugeehealth.org.

We also accept donations of frequent flyer miles on any airline. These are applied to volunteer staff flights.

Alternative Resources Unlimited, our parent organization, has other ongoing projects including ones that focus on Tibetan Medicine and the treatment of cancer. For more information, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you in advance for your generosity,

Dr. Marsha Woolf
Executive Director

Tibetan Refugee Health Care Project
an initiative of
Alternative Resources Unlimited Inc.
a 501c3non-profit organization

All mail: 101 W. 23 St. #158
New York, NY 10011 USA Phone: 212-627-4757
Email: amchila@aol.com cc:amchila@yahoo.com Website: www.tibetanrefugeehealth.org
Everyone has the possibility to shape the future of humanity." H.H. the XIV Dalai Lama