A profile of the new film, Journey from Zanskar: A Monk’s Vow to Children, and raising awareness about the living conditions of Zanskar.
“Don’t film us,” exhorts a parent in the new film, Journey from Zanskar: A Monk’s Vow to Children. “We look like corpses.”
But a monk responds: “The rest of the world will see how things are in Zanskar.”
And it’s a good thing, too. The residents of Zanskar don’t have it easy and, too often, are forgotten. Zanskar, you see, is a sort of No Man’s Land.
Found in Northern India on the border of Tibet, Zanskar was once part of Tibet, but became part of Kashmir when the British drew the region’s borders. China, Pakistan, and India have repeatedly since tried to claim Zanskar — often through bloodshed. Buddhists in the region are flanked by non-Buddhists and so are largely ignored when it comes to attention and aid.
“There are no phones, no hospitals, no running water or sewers, no public electricity,” Richard Gere narrates in the film. “There is also no universally affordable education that teaches Tibetan language, culture, and history.”
That, says Geshe Lobsang Yonten, “is why we bring kids from Zanskar all the way to Manali” — where there is a school that teaches those subjects, along with others. Manali, however, is 180 miles away, through the mountaintops.
And it’s actually not easy to find candidates to bring.
Zanskari families are understandably torn about giving their kids up to Geshe and the people who work with him to deliver Zanskari children into a brighter future. (The Manali school can take only 15 children, and these children must be 5-8 years old to qualify.) On one hand, they might not see their kids again for 10-15 years — because money is so scarce. On the other hand, no comparable opportunity is likely to show itself.
Geshe himself left Zanskar for a monastery at age 16. So he’s a believer. But it’s not easy: transporting the kids is a treacherous affair — their party could even be attacked by religious extremists. All along the way, altitude sickness, exhaustion, deep snow, rock slides, and hypothermia will remain threats.
All in all, in the journey depicted in the film, Geshe, aide Lobsang Dhamchoe, and their party will take 14 children with them to Manali, walking about 20 miles at a time. After days of trekking, they’ll still have to climb an additional 3,000 feet to get over the treacherous Shinku Pass. When they reach the point of the trip where they can begin to travel by auto, even that will be rough going: the bus they rent will be expensive, unheated, and uninsulated. Geshe, the children, and those who accompany them will ride “frozen, exhausted, dehydrated, and hungry.”
When they do finally arrive in Manali, it’s a beautiful sight. The kids enjoy their first-ever hot showers, their first-ever apples. It really is a new beginning. There, the children are to be enrolled in Drakpo School, run by headmaster Lorey Jangchop Gyaltsen. But the party has arrived in the middle of the school year. Geshe and his crew, though, offer to pay a full year’s tuition, and this leads the school to admit the children — minus one child who is delivered to a monastery, and another, to a nunnery — immediately. The trip is a success!
Not that there isn’t crying. The heartbreak felt upon seeing the families’ separation is palpable early on in the film, and when Geshe and his companions — some of whom are parents of the kids they’ve brought with them — leave Manali, the children are distraught. It’s not easy for the parents either. (It’s not even easy to watch!) But then, as Geshe says:
“Me and my friend Dhamchoe, we are always happy. It doesn’t matter if the weather’s cold, snowing, problems…. We’re always expecting the children will be come well-educated.” Geshe considers all the effort part of living up to his Bodhisattva’s Vow, to save beings from suffering. His success is hard-won, but it’s real; the film wraps up with very positive updates on children we’ve met, and this post-script title card:
So that children no longer leave Zanskar to get a Tibetan education, the monks of Stongde Monastery are building a school [to] combine the best of traditional Tibetan education with the best of modern Western education. The school will be free for all area children.
And activist and Lion’s Roar contributor Heidiminx — who has been deeply involved in the film and its cause — adds:
“If you want to donate and have 100% of your donation go directly to the kids of Zanskar, do it via the cause’s website, http://savezanskar.org.”
And she offers another great idea — watching the movie with others to spread awareness: “If you want a copy to do your own screening, to help raise funds, email me!” You can do so at minx<AT>builtonrespect.com, or, via Facebook.
Doug M: A very powerful and moving video.
JUST watched it – Amazing!