ROAD BLOG AHEAD

Hey friends, I’ll keep this brief and hope that nobody is put off because I’m posting this here but we are really in a dilemma . The picture above is of an elderly (65 year old) Tibetan woman named Sonam Yutron. She and her husband live in al room here in Tso Pema. Most of you know that we are living in a small village in the Indian Himalayas where many Tibetan refugees have settled. I administer (voluntarily, I’m not paid in any way except in satisfaction which is high) a sponsorship program that finds people to send a little bit every month to old folks, children, refugee nuns and monks who have no other source of support. Lena, is our translator and doctor. She treats whoever comes to her and is really the only competent medical care in town at this point (occasionally there is a visiting doctor at the monastery, but this only happens a few times a year.) This who effort is totally grassroots, no corporation or sponsoring organization as the bureaucracy of that would be more than we could handle. A lot of the expenses come out of our pockets - we came with a suitcase full of medicines herbs and vitamines we bought and have used most of them. We buy antibiotics on an average of four times a week for those who can’t afford them and subsidize those who can. Lena treats both the Tibetans and the Indians here, whoever is sick. There are huge vitamin deficiencies among other things. So. The immediate problem: A few days ago, Lena was asked by an elderly man if she would come and take a look at his sick wife. Sonam Yutron. Lena went into their tiny room and was overwhelmed by what she found. The woman has crippling and severe rheumatoid arthritis. She’s bedridden and in extreme pain, crippled in her legs, hands and spine. She can’t get to the bathroom, so you can imagine that condition despite her loving husband’s best efforts. She hasn’t been able to leave her house or even see the sunlight in a year. We need to do something here. We’ll get her the necessary anti-inflammatory medicines of course and try to get some lab tests done. But her being bedridden is probably the most serious aspect. It’s causing other associated problems on top of the arthritis, including a really bad quality of life. What we want to do is get her a wheelchair asap so she can get out of bed and out of the house and her bedding can be changed and she can get out in the light and air. Unfortunately, we’ve checked and wheelchairs are almost as expensive here as in the west. So we’re trying to raise the money - we need a minimum of $100 and possibly $200. So I’m putting out an appeal to everyone I know. If people feel able to send even a buck or so via Paypal, we can get Sonam Yutron a wheelchair and she can sit up and see the sun again. A ramp can be built to get her out of the room they live in. Medicines and things like clean linens and bedpan can be obtained. Anything contributed that exceeds the $200 will go into the fund for medicines and vitamins for the refugees and poor villagers. The Paypal address to donate to is: zangmo@customjuju.com. I’ll let everyone know what we’ve collected and post pictures on my blog of Yutron and others we help.