Monday, December 16, 2013

These Friends of Mine by Allison Sturm




Rogpa Charitable Trust was established in 2004 and it means “Trusted Friend and Helper” in Tibetan. Rogpa is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to preserving Tibetan culture and empowering low-income Tibetan refugees to become self-sufficient.

Before our program incorporated a volunteering aspect to it, I decided ahead of time that I wanted to work at Rogpa Baby Care Center for my Bonner hours. Having been a camp counselor for three years, I was very excited to get involved with the children. Upon arriving at Rogpa, I was given a tiny sheet of Tibetan phrases that I was expected to use with the children. A few phrases that became ingrained in my Tibetan vocabulary were: “Come here” “Sit down” “Don’t do that” “Sorry” and “Clean up”.
On my very first day, I arrived at Rogpa around 12:30pm. As I walked into the Baby Care Center an immediate “awwww!” escaped my mouth upon seeing a little more than 20 napping babies perfectly lined up on mats on the floor. My boss Kalsang, led me to the locker room and helped me put on a green smock over my clothes and introduced me to 5 lovely Tibetan women who work as teachers at the center. However, within minutes, as the babies awoke from their naps, chaos began to ensue. Sitting on the floor, watching the babies interact, I was a bit timid. I kept thinking, “Will these babies like me? I must look like some weird “Inji” (foreigner) to them.  No more than five minutes had passed and my worried mind was put to rest, as three children came jumping at me for a full embrace. I was surprised by how friendly these children were; because I thought it would take them much longer to warm up to me.
After a week of working the afternoon shift, I decided to switch up my schedule and work in the mornings. My day started at 8:30am and ended at 12:30pm. Even though it was an early shift, there was never a dull moment in between. One of my favorite parts of the day was roll call. During this time, the children would sit in a line according to their group. As the teachers called out names, each child would raise their hand and shout “La yod!” I must have laughed every time they did this, because nearly every child, especially Pema Dorje in particular, jumped up with such excitement and shouted “La yod” with such passion, to make it known that they were fully present. My second favorite time of the day was singing and music time. One song I will never forget is the Rolly Poly song which goes like this:


“Rolly poly, rolly poly
Out out out, out out out.
Rolly rolly poly, rolly rolly, poly
In in in, in in, in
Rolly poly, rolly poly
Up up up, up up up
Rolly rolly poly, rolly rolly poly
Down down down, down down down
Rolly poly, rolly poly
Loud loud loud, loud loud loud
Rolly rolly poly, rolly rolly poly
Quiet quiet quiet, quiet quiet quiet”


Music time was great especially when the teachers would play Tibetan music. The children loved being picked up and spun around the room. I adore picking up and holding children, but after you pick up one child, you can forget about having a chance to rest, because then all of the children want to be picked up by you, which can be exhausting. But as for “first times” I am now able to say that I can successfully change a child’s diaper. Being the youngest in my family, I have never done such a thing, until working at Rogpa.
Feeding time is probably the most hectic time of the day. There were some days where I would be feeding two children at once. Lunches consist of either green or white porridge. Even though they don’t look very appetizing, the children gobble it up; and some even go up for seconds.
As for special days, Wednesdays and Fridays are the best days of the week. Wednesdays are known in McLeod Ganj as “White Wednesdays” which is a day in which Tibetans dress up in their cultural attire and speak pure Tibetan for the whole day. I love seeing the children all dressed up. I even wear my chuba on Wednesdays to show my support. On Fridays, Rogpa organizes a field trip to the Dalai Lama’s Temple! The children are so happy when they are allowed to go. At the temple, volunteers walk around with a child, picking them up so they can spin the prayer wheels as they recite the mantra “Om Mani Padme Hum”. The whole day is filled with running, laughter, and of course smiling faces.
Overall, Rogpa has been a great place to get involved with the Tibetan community. On my very last day, all five of the teachers gave me a hug, thanked me, and told me to take care of myself. Before I left, one of the teachers put a white kata around my neck, and that’s when I truly realized that I would be leaving India fairly soon. I’m very sad that I’m not able to work at Rogpa anymore, but I made a promise to myself, and that promise is to return back to Earlham and raise awareness and funds for Rogpa Charitable Trust. Even if I can’t be physically present within the Tibetan community in exile, I will still be ever present for the cause.
Sending all my love to the Rogpa babies
<3 Allison 


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