1. Update on Amchi Project

making medicines at LNA,

Dr. Palmo and other Amchis

Thanks to the on-going funding by Bioligo, and the hard work of the Amchis, the Amchi Project is progressing well, providing much-needed medical services to patients in Leh. Two clinics have been opened, both called Rinzang Clinic, in  Skalzangling and Dargasling. One clinic is rented from a monastery, and the other from a private family. Both clinics are close to public transport links, and operate six days per week (closed Saturday).

Dispensing medicine, Dargasling Clinic

It was decided to open two clinics so that the Amchis could develop their practical experience, and to inform the community that LNA is now providing medical services. LNA  plans  to have clinics in villages, using donated space (in nunneries or women's organisations), thus eliminating the need to pay rent.

The pharmacy store has been completed. It has been built underground, beneath the new accommodation block at LNA. In order to make it operational, cupboards and shelves are needed to store herbs and raw materials for making medicines.

The Amchis are already making their own medicines, with materials bought in Amritsar, and herbs and plants collected last summer.

The clinics are attracting a wide range of patients: women and men, young and old, nuns and monks, and foreign visitors during the summer. The service is especially appreciated by women, as they feel free to discuss all of their concerns with female practitioners.

The Amchis have found that patients prefer to take the medicine in powder form, rather than pills. Patients report that the medicine is very effective, as it is so fresh, and they get results in a very short period of time. Dr Palmo has noted the increased effectiveness of the medicine, compared to her training experiences in Dharamsala, where the medicines were affected by the humidity, and by being stored for longer periods.

As a result of this new information about the attitude of Ladakhi patients to the type of medicines prescribed, the Amchi Project has re-thought its plans for the pill-making machines (funded by Bioligo), and now plans to make pills to supply to other Amchis In Ladakh. The Amchis will collect more herbs and plants this summer.

The Field Research Laboratory (Leh Unit) for vegetables and medicinal plants is now offering support to the Amchi Project.  They have donated medicinal plants for The Amchi Project to plant. These plants have been planted in a rented field near Spituk.

Plans for 2010

• Increase the number of patients seen
• Furnish the pharmacy store with shelves and cupboards
• Deepen the experience of the Amchis
• Cultivate medicinal plants on land donated by supporters
• Collect more herbs in summer
• Purchase a maxi truck to facilitate herb-collecting trips and to use as a mobile clinic
• Supply pills to other Amchis and generate income for the project
• Develop links with villages, especially women's groups, so that LNA can visit regularly, providing Amchi and Dharma services, with villages contibuting to transport costs, and paying for medicines dispensed

Second Group of Amchis to be Trained

LNA has decided that it is necessary to consolidate the current project, before beginning the training of a second group of Amchis, which Bioligo has agreed to support. The next group will begin training in 2012.

2. Construction Project

LNA is in the process of completing the construction of the accommodation block (including the Amchi pharmacy store) at the Lower Skara site. The nuns and local supporters have been very busy, stripping the poplar branches of bark, and 'watering' the cement columns to ensure that they do not dry out too quickly.

Nuns and Lay women stripping poplar branches

The nuns at LNA can turn their hands to any activity: doing pujas, studying, cleaning, gardening, helping with building work, including climbing over the second floor of the accommodation block to pour water over the cement columns. All in a day's work!

Early morning construction work!

It is not difficult to accept the reality of climate change, when there is snow in Ladakh in late May, and many days of grey, cloudy weather!

Click here to see our photo gallery of the construction this year and also the last few years.

3. Ceremonies

Monlam

The nuns participated in the annual Monlam ceremony at the main Gompa in Leh in mid-May. Nuns came from a number of regional nunneries. It took place over 5 days, and the nuns spent each day chanting. This prayer ceremony is for world peace and for the long life of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and all Rinpoches and lamas.

Saka Dawa

On the 27^th May, Ladakh celebrated the birth, enlightenment and Parinibbana of the Buddha.

For the first time, a group of nuns from LNA were invited to sing at the ceremony held at the Polo Grounds in Leh. The song was about the Buddha's life.

LNA young nuns singing Vhandana 'Vandhana' at the Saka Dawa ceremony

4. New Activities

Gardens

LNA is renting land behind Spituk Monastery, in order to grow vegetables and experiment with cultivation of medicinal plants. There is a good source of water in this area, but the soil is not so fertile. One of LNA's hopes for 2010 is to secure funding to buy land being offered in Sabu village. This land is fertile, there is a good source of water, and the environment is pollution free. This would enable the cultivation of more vegetables, to improve the nutrition of the nuns, and also of medicinal plants. Leh is becoming increasingly polluted, and the environment at the LNA office is much more stressful than in the past.

Painting Classes

Painting classes began at LNA in our teacher, Mr. Manla, is a highly skilled and respected in Ladakh, and he wishes to share his skills with the nuns before he retires. The nuns are learning to paint thangkas, paint lama tables and statues. This will be an income-generating project in future, and it is also an appropriate extension of the range of activities that nuns in Ladakh are engaging in. Previously, only monks painted thangkas, monastery walls and statues.

Making Prayer Flags

Another income-generating project is the making of prayer flags. LNA sells these in the market in Leh.

New Website

LNA is very thankful to Maggie Lavelle for designing and creating a new website for the LNA. As well as training Thubten Youdon and K. Chodon  in how to manage and update their new website.

She has installed two local PC's as localhost webservers so that Chodon and Youdon can learn to build and manage websites as well as keep the LNA site updated with fresh new information.

The updates are then taken to the local Internet cafe and the nuns have been taught how to upload their changes to the Internet version of their website.

We deeply appreciated her for time, energy and the skill in training and sharing her knowledge and experience for the nuns in Ladakh.