September Update

September Update Post Floods, 9/23/10

Impact

In the time since the last update from LNA, the impact of the floods on people in Ladakh came even closer to the nuns. After a couple of weeks, Dr Palmo’s nephew was released from hospital, and Sonam’s aunt’s family relocated to the house of relatives in Spituk. When the workers returned, we learned that the ‘mistry’ (foreman) had lost his house which was close to the Indus River at Spituk. He and his family are still living in a tent in a relief camp. We discovered that LNA’s accountant, who had just given birth to twins and had a toddler as well, spent 5 days camped in the mountains after the night of the flood. Even though her area was not flooded, she did not feel confident that she could evacuate quickly enough if there was further rain and flooding.
The young nuns who attend the Lamdon School discovered that their very popular Maths teacher and his wife died in the floods and a student from class 10.

The biggest impact that we saw was in Sabu.

Visit to Sabu

Picture 1 Destroyed house at Sabu

LNA’s former driver, Angchuk, lives in Sabu, and we had heard that his elderly father died in the floods. Dr Palmo went for a condolence visit shortly after the disaster, and then a group of us went to pick vegetables on August 29^th. Angchuk’s family has been supplying LNA with vegetables to dry for the winter, and milk. After his father’s death there was no-one to pick the vegetables, as Angchuk has TB. The day of our visit was a glorious late summer day, with the typically clear Ladakhi blue sky, which made the destruction on the opposite side of the valley from Angchuk’s home all the more shocking. His father had built the house with the proceeds of his work growing and selling vegetables and milkproducts.

Angchuk's father's house & cellar where he stored vegetables for the nuns during the winter

Angchuk’s father was going to Angchuk’s house to warn them when the flood waters swept him away. His body was not discovered for many days, and was far down the valley from the house. The Prime Minister and a number of other senior government people visited Sabu and they have promised to rebuild it as a ‘model village’.  The authorities have also promised that no-one currently living in a tent will still be there after November 15, when the weather will be freezing. Let us hope that all the promises are kept in time.

Sonam shouldering a very heavy load of vegetables

Reconstruction

Thanks to the support from the friends from Switzerland , timely donations from a number of friends and supporters and the excellent relationships that LNA has built up with trades people in Leh over the years, the nuns were able to start reconstruction very quickly. The work did not go as quickly as we might have liked, as there were insufficient workers, but under the circumstances, all went well. The labourers worked very hard, supervised and assisted by the nuns. It was a common sight to see the nuns, from Dr Palmo to the youngest school student, balancing on the roof to perform various tasks, including ‘watering’ the concrete to ensure it did not dry too quickly in the dry atmosphere, and crack.

Dr Palmo and LNA's engineer checking the work on the new roof on the office building

The workers continued with the construction work on the new accommodation block, as this work was still under contract, the roof needed to be completed and the upstairs rooms will be needed to provide short-term accommodation for families affected by the floods. Dr Palmo plans to offer 3 day respite care (Tibetan medicine, psychological and spiritual support) during the winter.

Plastered external wall

Workers moving sheet metal to the roof

As always the nuns take an active part in building!

As there was a new wall at the front of the roof it was possible to replace the statue of the turning of the wheel of Dharma with the two deer. This is a sign that a building is a monastery/nunnery, and it must be placed above the meditation hall. A number of monks who are expert on sacred buildings came to advise and assist the nuns, also with the two banners at each end of the roof. It was a happy day on September 18 when the statue was returned to its place.

Construction team and monk replacing the Dharma wheel

View of the sheet metal roof: perhaps not a thing of beauty, but safer!

LNA Vehicle

As you know, the LNA vehicle was totally destroyed in the flood. Several weeks after the flood the insurance people came up from Delhi, and gave priority to processing LNA’s claim. This was quite time consuming for the nuns, but the results were very positive: the insurance company paid out Rs 100,000 on the vehicle, and that money was transferred to LNA’s bank account.

The nuns researched the best vehicle to buy to replace the little Maruti Suzuki. We saw several such vehicles totally destroyed at Sabu, and when we travelled to Rizong Monastery on (date) we saw the stare of the roads after the floods, and decided that it was important to have a more powerful vehicle and a safer one. In addition, the nuns had been planning to buy a larger vehicle in 2011 for herb collections and the mobile clinic as part of the Amchi Project. So the nuns decided to take the plunge and apply for a loan from the bank to purchase a Bolero Camper (truck) while one was still available in Leh (the roads will close for the winter quite soon.)

The plan was to buy the vehicle in Jammu, as it would have been cheaper. A relative of Dr Palmo’s was returning from Delhi on a business trip and was going to purchase the vehicle in Jammu and drive it to Leh for the nuns. However, on the day when he was in the city there was unrest, and it was clear that the insurance company would not cover the vehicle for the drive back, as there was a risk of damage from stone throwing. Such are the vicissitudes of life in J & K! So the vehicle was purchased in Leh (with a good discount, as the dealer wished to support the nuns).  LNA posted another first: the first bank loan granted to nuns in Ladakh!

New Mahindra Bolero truck

Many of the monasteries have such trucks and they are very practical for Ladakhi conditions. At present two of the nuns can drive, and two had driving lessons before the flood. Thye were unable to practice due to the loss of the LNA vehicle, but will start now and then take the test for their licenses. Dr Palmo is now determined to learn to drive!

Visit to Rizong

On September Dr Palmo, Thupstan Dolma and Marianne travelled to Rizong to check on the damage there. Rizong Monastery and Nunnery were flooded last year; the damage was not as serious this year as last, but the isolation of the nunnery, with no telephone or vehicle, is a concern. The nuns evacuated to the monastery school, which they were able to reach by a walking track as the road was badly damaged by the flood.

Waiting for bridge at Basgo to be repaired

The drive from Leh to Rizong finally convinced us of the wisdom of buying a more powerful vehicle, as the roads were often very rough, in spite of the army’s efforts to repair them after the flood. Twenty bridges were destroyed, but, like this one, most have been replaced by single track bridges by army engineers. The road to the monastery and nunnery was badly damaged again this year, but repairs had been made.

Subsidence on road (after repairs)

Such is our world, we had the strange experience of informing the volunteer English teacher at Rizong, a New Zealander, that her home town of Christchurch had just experienced a serious earthquake. She travelled down with us to the nearest major town to telephone as there were no links at Rizong. Dr Palmo and Marianne had a session with the young nuns to find out how they felt about their situation. All the nuns said their reaction to the flood this year was fear. When asked, “Fear of what?” they answered, “fear of dying”.

Water course above the nunnery

Dr Palmo talking to the nuns

We visited the monastery and saw the damage done this year, including the destruction of the road built for the ceremony for Rinpoche who has been named the Gaden Tipa, a very high position in the Geluk tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

Mud piled up above protective wall around school

Returning to Normal

Drying herbs in the newly painted upstairs room

It was important for the nuns to return to normal activities, both for their own well-being, and because so much needed to be done to prepare for winter: collecting herbs so that there would be enough medicine for the Amchi Clinics and the extra needs of people affected by the flood, drying food for the winter, meeting visitors.

Helping workers with soil for roof

Visit of the Dalai Lama

As well as the physical cleaning up and reconstruction, the psychological and spiritual has been important. It was a great day for Ladakhis when The Dalai Lama visited on September 13, met many of the survivors in the main gompa and gave a very healing talk to the reported 25,000 Ladakhis who listened to him at the Lamdon School. The nuns were at the front, and one nun said it was difficult to remember what he said as she was so moved she cried most of the time.

Waiting for the Dalai Lama outside the main gompa

The nuns have also had healing ceremonies at the nunnery:

Butter lamps for healing puja at LNA

LNA had a number of visitors in recent weeks, even though most tour groups cancelled. The first was Giny from Holland. She stayed in the nunnery and was a welcome presence as one who had not been affected by the floods who came to offer support to the nuns (including generous donations from her friends at home). A number of groups visited and had sessions with Dr Palmo and Giselle also from Holland stayed. Some members of the French support group visited several times, met their sponsored nuns and delivered donations from supporters and friends in France.

French supporters, Florence, Veronique and Michele

Ginger from IWP (international Women for Justice and Peace, www.womenforpeaceandjustice.org and three friends from Thailand also visited and brought donations from Thailand.  The nuns have just finished cleaning and leveling the courtyard area after months of mess caused by the building work, and getting ready for the winter. Many friends and supporters are continuing to make contact and send donations and this is very much appreciated by the nuns.

Website and communication

As you know, communication is always a challenge in Ladakh, but it is more difficult now as a result of flood damage. LNA has a slow internet connection at the nunnery through a mobile phone provider. The broadband connection is not expected to be functioning again for many months. Ginger linked a blog to the website, making it easier for the nuns to add more material. Please visit the website, check the news by clicking on ‘latest news’ or ‘flood recovery updates’ on the left-hand side, and sign up to receive updates to the website. This will make it much easier for LNA to stay in touch, as they will only have to make one upload to the website.

Next steps

• Subject to funds being available, completing the reconstruction of the wall on the Leh side of the LNA complex. Building a cement wall and creating a drainage channel to send any future flood/rain water out to the road.
• Spring, 2011, adding a sheet metal roof to the new accommodation block.
• Offering support to people affected by the flood, through the Amchi Clinics and at LNA with a 3 day respite care program.
• Spring 2011, creating more gardens in the courtyard, flowers, vegetables and fruit trees.
• Giving Dharma talks and support to women in villages as requested by women’s groups.
• Ensuring that more nuns know how to drive!
• Trying to maintain contact with friends and supporters by updating the website every 4-6 weeks.

Floods August 2010

Just after midnight, on Friday August 5, the nuns were woken by severe thunder, lightning and rain, an unprecedented experience in Leh. Ladakh is an alpine desert, with the mass of the Himalayas creating a rain shadow, which prevents the rain clouds of the monsoon from crossing into Ladakh. The main source of water is snow melt in spring. However, as Rizvi commented in 1996, this seems to be changing:

“As the twentieth century draws to a close, there seems to be a general perception that the Great Himalaya is no longer functioning as an effective barrier, and that the amount of annual rainfall, especially during the months of the monsoon, is increasing.”

Rizvi, Janet (1996) “Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia”, Oxford University Press, p. 35

This spring/summer was characterized by snow in May, and several showers, followed by very hot weather. The nuns commented that the weather was now very unpredictable.

There had been some rain the day before, and one bridge at Nimmu, on the main road from Srinagar to Leh, had been cut. Otherwise, there was no warning. The nuns were very frightened, as Ladakh is an alpine desert, in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, and thus not subject to the annual monsoon. It was raining heavily, so the nuns stayed up, and spent their time chanting in the meditation hall. Water broke through the wall on the town side of the LNA complex, and brought a stream of muddy water into the rooms on that side. The water was rushing down the hill from the town, and created a streamlet on the adjacent vacant block. Fortunately, much of the water found its way onto the main road.

Picture 1 Vacant block where water formed a stream and broke through the wall

At 5 a.m. the nuns began surveying the damage. Several of the rooms on the town side had muddy water on the floors, and leaks from the ceiling. The biggest mess was upstairs in the main building, where muddy water covered part of the office and several rooms. In the office, the fibre glass section of the ceiling allowed in the water, and also part of the roof had collapsed and the earth roof slid in as mud. In Ladakh, the ceiling is made of poplar beams, the spaces between are filled in with poplar branches, and then earth is packed on top. These ceilings look very attractive from inside, and the earth overlay provides for insulation in the severe Ladakhi winters. As the average annual rainfall has only been a few millimeters, there has been no need to worry about rain.

Picture 2 Office, with mud descending through the wooden part of the ceiling

Picture 3 Top floor room, very sunny, being used to dry vegetables for winter

In the end room of the main block, the nuns were drying vegetables for the winter; muddy rain leaked in and made a fine mess of the dry vegetables. One of the bedrooms was very badly water damaged, with water leaking down the walls, and creating a small lake on the floor, resulting in damage to the floor boards. This was especially unfortunate, as the two occupants, students, had just moved in, after a reorganization of the space at LNA.

Damage to Grinding Machine

Water leaked into the painting room downstairs, the pill-making room and the corridors. When the Amchis (Tibetan medicine practitioners) resumed their work making medicines, they discovered that the machine had been damaged.

Picture 4 Pill making room, at end of downstairs corridor

At the time of the floods, LNA was in the final stages of building a new accommodation block.  This was needed to provide accommodation for the students, who had been living in a group of nine in the large room next to the office. Last week, the students moved into the lower floor of the new block. They were very excited to have more space, and begin organising their books. Sadly, water leaked into a number of these rooms from the second floor, which was still not complete.

Picture 5 The morning after, drying school text books, on verandah of new block

Later that morning, the enormity of events began to emerge. Sonam, the cashier and driver, arrived with her two small nieces, in great distress. Sonam had gone to the bank on Thursday afternoon, but for some reason, it was closed, so she decided to visit her family, and make an early start with the bank. The family was woken up shortly after midnight by rising waters, and had to scramble to the second floor to save their lives, a particularly terrifying experience for the 10-year old twins. Fortunately the whole family survived, but the house was destroyed, and the LNA car, parked outside, was washed away. Dr Palmo discovered that her niece and her son, living in Sabu, had been washed away for one kilometer. The house was destroyed and the boy suffered injuries to his legs. He has had an operation and is now doing well.

There was no electricity and the phones (landline and the two mobile networks) were not working, so it was very difficult to get information. Later that day (Friday) we were told that the situation would remain dangerous for three more days, and we should evacuate to higher places. At first, we planned to go to Spituk Monastery, but then realized that it would be very crowded, as the young boy believed to be the reincarnation of Bakula Rinpoche had just arrived there from his home in the Nubra valley. This day was expected to be a joyful one for Ladakhi Buddhists, as Bakula Rinpoche was a very famous and beloved religious figure (those of you who have been to Leh will know that the airport is named after him), a member of parliament representing Ladakh, and the Indian ambassador to Mongolia, where he supported the renewal of Buddhism after the end of the communist regime. The plan was that he would stop at villages and towns from the Nubra valley to Spituk, and greet people. In the event, we saw him very briefly as he drove past the nunnery, a moving moment for the nuns still in shock from the floods.

Evacuation to Shanti Stupa

We then decided to go to Shanti Stupa, on a high rocky hill above Leh. The main temple was crowded with people. Dr Palmo placed a picture of the Dalai Lama at the base of a large statue of the Buddha, and the nuns chanted for several hours, accompanied by many of the lay people. There were no facilities (one earth toilet!) but the crowd was very good-humoured. We spent a rather sleepless night, on the concrete floor, with bodies everywhere, rather like the proverbial sardines in a can. Next morning we left at 5 a.m. and walked back to LNA, about 4 km. The road was damaged in parts, with the bitumen washed away, and layers of mud and rocks. We missed dinner the night before, so the nuns quickly made tea and chapattis when we returned.

Shortly after our return, it started raining again, and the nuns rushed back to Shanti Stupa. I decided to stay as I thought there was no danger. Later that day a group of nuns returned and asked me to go to Shanti Stupa for the night, but I decided not to, as I felt it was safe, and wanted to show the nuns that I (with more experience of storms) was not afraid. (Not to mention the possibility of getting a better night’s sleep in bed at LNA!)

Surveying the Damage

Picture 6 Water damage in the new building, showing the need for a metal roof

Next morning, when the nuns returned, we began surveying the damage, with the help of Swiss friends, Rolf, Alex and … who are engineers and architects. It was clear to all of us that the traditional Ladakhi rood was no longer appropriate, and as well as making immediate repairs, we would need to plan to add sheet metal (corrugated iron) roofs above the existing ones.

The Swiss friends made a detailed inspection of the buildings, with extensive photos taken by Alex, and assured us that the buildings were structurally sound. The nuns were not convinced about the safety of the buildings, especially the main building, where water had entered most rooms. They were afraid that the roof would collapse, as the earth was saturated with water, and therefore very heavy.

The nuns began building a wall from the front of the building to the road, and made a canal on the vacant block, to ensure that any future stream of water would be diverted to the road and away from the LNA building. They also started removing wet bedding from the rooms, and hanging them out to dry.

Picture 8 Reinforcements along outer wall, bedding hanging out to dry

Checking on the hostel students

On Sunday, August 8, we travelled to Stakna to check on the hostel students. Angmo and Lhamo walked from LNA to Choglamsar, where the hostel is based, on the Friday morning, as there were no communications, and we did not know how they were. All the students were well. However, building works were taking place, and there was an opening in the roof, so water leaked in. Choglamsar was one of the worst hit areas, and water was running down the road outside the hostel, so the young ones were very afraid.

Picture 9 Young  students from the hostel, in their temporary shelter in the gompa

With Angmo and Lhamo in the lead, the nuns (including Palmo and Angmo’s 78 year old mother, also a nun) evacuated to high ground, to the Gompa (temple) at Ranbirpur, near Stakna Monastery. There the villagers looked after them, providing food and water.

Picture 10 Streams in the normally dry desert below the gompa

The students stayed at Ranbirpur until for four days. We inspected the hostel, and decided it was safe for the young ones to return. During their second night back at the hostel, there was thunder and lightning, and the students were afraid, so they evacuated to the library at the nearby Central Institute of Buddhist Studies. In future, if there are any problems, the hostel students will be able to evacuate to the library, only five minutes away, so safer and less disruptive.

Picture 11 New staircase, now removed, and some water damage in one room

The hostel is a purpose-built passive solar building, and it stood up well to the rain. However, like the buildings at LNA in Leh, it is now necessary to consider installing a metal roof.

Damage to Leh

On Tuesday, August 10, we finally had time to go up to the town. Sonam very bravely drove past the scene of the disaster. The damage was devastating.

Picture 12 View from platform near entry gateway to Leh, over the area near the bus station.

As you can see, some of these buildings are of concrete, with metal roofs, but the force of the water was so great that much was destroyed.

Picture 13 Stream bed down which water flooded

The cleaning up had already started by the time we saw the damage, and of course, the army had already worked to find any survivors and remove bodies. Altogether 185 people died and many more were injured. Some of the dead were migrant workers who come to Leh in summer to work on building projects. Most come from Bihar. Shortly after the disaster, the government provided free flights to evacuate many of these workers who were both terrified and also at risk because of living in flimsy accommodation.

On Sunday, August 15, the police informed LNA that the car had been located, almost a kilometer away from where it was parked. It was totally destroyed, and we are awaiting information about the insurance situation. Currently we are told that either 50%  of the value will be paid, or zero, if the floods are classified as an ‘act of God’!!

Picture 14 Sonam and Chodron trying to retrieve documents from the destroyed car. Is there anything that nuns can’t do?!

This picture was taken on August 17. Note that Sonam is wearing a face mask; the air quality in Leh is so poor that most people have been wearing face masks since the floods. There is mud and dust everywhere. Even those areas which did not suffer severe damage had water leaking into buildings, and streams of water and mud.

Picture 15 Mud and soil piled up below bus stand      

Summing Up

The nuns at LNA were very lucky that no-one was killed or injured.

Although the damage in parts of Ladakh (the area around the bus stand in Leh, and many villages: Choglamsar, Sabu, Nimmu..) was severe, it was not as extreme as in Pakistan, as far as we understand.

Notwithstanding this, for all Ladakhis the floods have been a great shock, as this is a desert area where it does not rain! Over the centuries, Ladakhis have developed a culture and way of life in this harshly beautiful region, but now face the challenge of having to adapt very rapidly to changing climatic conditions. This means learning to live with rain and storms, to understand which are potentially dangerous and which are only light showers, and to adapt building methods to the new situation. The latter will be costly, requiring imported materials and more skilled labour. Traditionally, Ladakhis have build their won houses using local materials.

For the nuns of LNA, as for the rest of the population, the next six months involves dealing with their ongoing fear of rain and storms, learning to sleep through the night in spite of thunder, and preparing for an uncertain winter.

Cleaning and repair work has begun, and there is still the hope that there will be sufficient materials and labour to install the new metal roofs in the short time (until the end of October) remaining for building work.

The road to Srinagar is still closed, but an alternative route has been opened to Manali, and this will allow the students who attend school there to return, and, we hope, the import of necessary materials for rebuilding and to sustain the population during the winter.

Recovery and Resilience

Picture 16 Young nuns after working on roof standing, next to the washing!    

Picture 17 Working on the roof

Picture 18 The local Buddhist and Moslem Associations began relief work immediately

Picture 19 Dr Palmo and the Swiss friends discussing plans for new metal roof (Photo, Alex Furger, Switzerland)

Needs

LNA is grateful for all of the friends who have contacted us to ask about our safety, and to express solidariyt, and to those who have already doanted funds for repair and reconstruction. We would be grateful for any furhter donations which supporters, sponsors and donors feel able to give. Although the floods have been a setback for LNA’s plans, the nuns are determined to re-assess and continue their work, and in particular, to offer services to those who suffered during the forthcoming winter.

(Marianne Wiseman, for LNA)