DENTAL MISSION
The Pureland Project is excited to have the opportunity to bring dentists to a remote corner of the world where their work is needed. The Pureland Project has been working in Tibet for fourteen years, supporting Tibetan communities to sustain their culture, land, and wellbeing. The people of Tibet are very proud of their homeland, and see their slice of this earth as a pureland. Every aspect of this trip will inspire you.
DESCRIPTION:
The Pureland Project is excited to have the opportunity to bring dentists to a remote corner of the world where their work is needed. The Pureland Project has been working in Tibet for fourteen years, supporting Tibetan communities to sustain their culture, land, and wellbeing. The people of Tibet are very proud of their homeland, and see their slice of this earth as a pureland. Every aspect of this trip will inspire you.
Tour: We land in Chengdu--famously known as the food capital of China--and then make our way into the Tibetan Plateau of Qinghai Provence to work in the nomadic ancient kingdom of Nangchen. We will will offer service work and learn from Tibetan nomads for 9 days, in 4 different villages.
PRICE INCLUDES:
International and domestic airfare, 3 meals a day and accommodations for 2 people per room. Soft drinks, alcohol and extra snacks not included.
THE TRIP TO TIBET:
The area of Tibet we will journey to is known as Kham. It is considered the wild west of Tibet, inhabited mostly by nomads, as the rugged mountains are not hospitable to any other way of life. Tours to the region are quite rare, yet as roads are built, the area is subject to rapid change.
We will begin the tour in Chengdu in Sichuan Province of China. Chengdu a culturally rich and diverse city in the Western region of China. From Chengdu we will fly up to Yushu in Qinghai Province and travel to Nangchen.
Our time in Nangchen will be spent primarily in Nangchen. Meg (Registered Yoga Teacher) will offer yoga and meditation each morning in the monastery for those interested. After breakfast she will share Tibetan lessons, after which the clinic rotations will begin. The volunteers will enjoy home style Tibetan meals prepared by our favorite school chef. Between clinic sessions the team will take field trips to meet lamas at monasteries, hike to a sky burial site, and visit a Tibetan Host Spring. From Nangchen we will head back to Chengdu via plane from Yushu. We will have a final celebration dinner in Chengdu before boarding our flights back to the US
TRIP LEADER:
Margaret “Meg” Ferrigno, PhD is the founder and Executive Director of the Pureland Project. Meg voluntarily runs the Pureland Project and organizes annual tours to raise funds for Garchen Rinpoche’s village schools and medical projects. Meg speaks Tibetan and spent several years in Tibet at GarGon.
Jamyang assists as the tour guide for this trip, having done various medical missions across Tibet, and having worked for over a decade with meg in the region, he knows the communities well and helps organize the villages and the supplies as well as translates both the language and culture for the volunteers.
$2,000
14
days
9/6/20-9/20/20
ITINERARY:
DAY 1: Fly to Chengdu
Arrive at the Chengdu airport. We will stay two nights to rest in a great little hotel near the Tibetan quarter.
DAY 2: Chengdu
We will take the day to explore Chengdu and experience the different cultures that coexist in the city. DAY 3: Drive from DAY 3: Chengdu to Yushu
A 1.5 hour flight will bring us to the plateau, a beautiful Tibetan town set at 4,000m.
DAY 4: Yushu to Nangchen to GarGon
After a Chinese breakfast, we will begin our drive to Yushu (Jeykundo-Tib.) http://www.plateauperspectives.org/yushu.htm. Jeykundo is a fabulous little town. This district center was leveled by an earthquake in April of 2009. We will take an hour to do khora(circumambulation) of some holy sites in Yushu and learn about the history of the region. We will then depart for our four hour drive to Nangchen (Sharda- Chin) http://www.nangchen.org/, where we will have lunch and take a stroll through the town some have likened to the wild west! The next four hours in the jeep will be incredibly scenic as we leave the beaten path and enter the truly nomadic regions of the borderlands. We will reach the monastery in time for dinner, and meet some of the community with whom we will spend the next week http://thepurelandproject.blogspot.com/.
DAYS 5-10: GarGon & Dental Clinics
Morning meditation and yoga will be offered for one hour each morning followed by a Tibetan/Chinese breakfast. We will spend these days creating and maintaining the dental clinic in an existing medical clinic. We have scheduled different monasteries, nunneries, and villages to come for the services. During this time we will stay in the lower monastery and take hikes to different sites. Our experience here will be unlike other: staying in a Tibetan monastery and spending time with nomadic tribes, we will be welcomed warmly to this community after over a decade of focused assistance here.
DAY 10: Gyalsum to Yushu
We will say our goodbyes in the morning, drive to Nangchen for lunch, and make it to Yushu for dinner. Here we can buy souvenirs, walk khora of a sacred site, join in evening circle dances, explore town, and take hot showers!!!
DAY 11: Flight Yushu to Chengdu and final dinner celebration
We will enjoy our last night together over hot pot. We will have a closing circle and reflect on the experience.
DAY 12: Flight from Chengdu to Philadelphia
Arrangements can be made for volunteers to stay on for extra tours to Lhasa, Amdo, or China.