This Sunday, September 19th trekking tour operator Sherpa Journeys and the Colorado Musicians Consortium will co-host a Tibetan Medicine Benefit Concert and Nepali Dinner at A Spice of Life Event Center in Boulder. The goal of the evening is to raise funds for healthcare in the remote villages of Nepal and to help preserve endangered traditional Tibetan medicinal plants.
The Tibetan Medicine Garden Project begins
Sherpa Journeys owner, Kathleen Haggerty has organized a humanitarian and cultural trek to the lower valley of Mt. Everest where tour participants will plant a garden of medicinal herbs. Sherpa Journeys is sponsoring a doctor, Sonam Tsering Sherpa, in the village of Maratika where he will use medicines from the garden in treating local villagers.
The scoop
Click here for event details. Organizers request an RSVP in advance.
Who: Anyone interested in traditional medicines, Tibetan/Sherpa culture, world music
What: Tibetan Medicine Benefit Concert and Nepali Dinner
Cost: $45 includes full Nepali dinner, world music, Tibetan medicine and culture presentation, two raffle tickets. organizers request an RSVP in advance.
Where: A Spice of Life Event Center, 5706 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder, CO
When: Sunday, September 19th, 4:00pm – 8:30pm
Why: To raise funds for healthcare in the remote villages of Nepal and to help preserve endangered traditional Tibetan medicinal plants.
Behind the scenes
Yesterday I caught up with Haggerty to ask her some questions about Sunday’s event and the Tibetan Medicine Garden Project.
Q: How did you get involved with Traditional Tibetan Medicine?
A: I started a company called Sherpa Journeys with a local friend Karma Sherpa and we wanted to bring more people to Nepal because tourism is the only real industry there and they need the work. With the economy suffering, fewer travelers have visited taking away their livelihood. Also it is such an amazing culture of people; they are so intelligent and resourceful and kind and generous and loving people. A true inspiration to humanity. We can learn so much from them.
Q: Sherpa Journeys is sponsoring a doctor, Sonam Tsering Sherpa. Where is he studying medicine?
A: He is learning in the Everest region called Solu Khumbu at a medical clinic and school connected to and funded by a large monastery called Thupten Choling which is run and funded by a great Lama called Trulshik Rinpoche who was a teacher of the Dalai Lama. This village is a few days walk from his home which is called Maratika which is where our Tibetan Medicine garden project is located.
Q: At Sunday’s event, Drs. Nashalla and Tsundu Nyinda are giving a presentation on Tibetan medicine and it’s role in preserving Tibetan/Sherpa culture. Who are Drs. Nashalla and Tsundu Nyinda?
A: They are a local couple. Both are Tibetan medicine doctors who met while getting their education in India. They currently have a practice in Louisville. She is American and he is Tibetan.
Q: Once the initial herbs are planted in the lower valleys of Mt. Everest how long does it take before these can be harvested?
A: Each plant has it's own timing, but many can be harvested within a year, others take up to three years.
Q: Who will tend, cultivate and look after the herb garden in the Everest region?
A: Sherpa Journeys is sponsoring a full-time gardener who will live next to the garden and tend it daily. This is key for success.
Q: Can you give one or two examples of how the native plants can help people stay healthy and maintain wellness?
A: Tibetan medicine excels in chronic pain and disease including cancer. The medicine is the most expensive part of providing health care for the village and the garden will cover much of this need. Of course, they will still need to purchase others (medicine), as there are thousands of medicines used in Tibetan medicine as well as metals. We hope to provide some of these with the funds we are raising for the project as well as some basic first aid care such as bandages, splints and things like that.
Q: What do the Sherpas in that region do now to seek medical assistance?
A: Many get no care. When they are extremely ill, they cannot walk several days to the next hospital or clinic so many illnesses go untreated. I have seen people on the trail while trekking with my groups with a broken hand in extreme pain, another man just pulled four teeth without anything to numb him, I've helped a man with flu like symptoms so bad that he was unable to walk and I took him to his brother's house 20 minutes away and put him in bed without any medicine except what I had in my daypack. He was too sick and weak to walk and it was a full day walk to the next doctor. Women traditionally go into the field alone and birth their children; some children and mothers do not survive.
Q: How many people will benefit from the garden?
A: This particular village has 10,000 people in area. There are also surrounding villages that people can come from for care. They will pay on a donation basis.
Q: What is the connection between the Colorado Musicians Consortium and this project?
A: The music producer Sheldon Sands (who is playing with the Nepali singer/songwriter Bijay Adhikari on Sunday night) is a board member of the Colorado Musicians Consortium and is collaborating with Sherpa Journeys to produce this concert of amazing artists of world music.
Q: What items are expected at the silent auction?
A: We have some authentic Tibetan and Nepali items of a Buddhist nature - tapestries, singing bowls, scarves - as well as items and services from many local business who were kind enough to donate for this event for example: cosmetic dentistry, gift certificate for restaurants in Boulder, paintings from local artists, clothing from a local designer a mini vacation in Summit county and also in Nederland, yoga and much more.
Q: When does the humanitarian and cultural trek to Nepal take place?
A: We have a small group going October 9th through October 31st, we really could use more people for this group to help plant seeds in the garden. This tour is about getting this program off the ground - no pun intended.
Click here to see Sunday night’s lineup and to RSVP for the event.
Contact Sherpa Journeys directly for more information on upcoming treks or to join their October trek and help plant the initial Tibetan Medicine Garden.
Sherpa Journeys
240 Kohl Street
Broomfield, Colorado 80020
Call 303-469-1987 or email info@sherpajourneys.com.
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