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ABOUT LADAKH; THE YUTHOG FOUNDATION; TRANSPORT & ACCOMODATION
Your T&C friends and contacts for travel to Ladakh are Ravneet, Jyoti and Ashu from Sadhana Travels, Delhi, India.
Ladakh is part of the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau, lying between the Karakoram and the Himalaya mountain chains. It is one of the highest and most remote regions in India and is closed for six months a year due to harsh weather. It is often referred to as ‘Little Tibet as half the population are of Tibetan origin. In the village of Nurla, a day’s drive from the capital city of Leh is the Amchi Health Worker Training Center of the Yuthog Foundation.
The Yuthog Foundation is a charitable Trust, founded in 1997 by Amchi Tsewang Smanla, a seventh generation traditional Tibetan doctor. The aim of the Foundation is the preservation and promotion of traditional Tibetan medicine (amchi) in Ladakh. Today this highly sophisticated medical tradition is on the verge of extinction.
Traditionally, amchis do not charge patients for their consultation and treatment. Instead, they rely on villagers who help them with farm work, food supplies and other basic necessities.
This type of rural economy is fast dying out, and the livelihood of the amchi is increasingly difficult to sustain in a new monetary economy. What is also on the verge of extinction is a community-based curative and preventive practice, traditionally the responsibility of the village amchi who promotes the need for basic hygiene, clean water, proper diet, a healthy lifestyle and mental care.
Amchis are important community functionaries in village life, the main spokespersons in community decision-making for the preservation of harmony in the family and in other social relationships. The Yuthog Foundation already has in place workshops and various types of exchange programmes between practising amchis.
Now the Foundation hopes to generate resources and income by expanding the current Centre at Nurla and developing the teaching programme there. Sponsorship to pay amchis to practice and teach, and to pay for young villagers to train in basic health care and eventually full medical training has been set up. Students selected from village communities where no medical facilities (even amchi) exist, are to be trained at the Foundation for three years during the three winter months, and return to their villages for the rest of the year to do farm work, while putting their study into practice. At the end of three years, they will qualify as amchi ‘Health Workers’ and rejoin their community. Those who show motivation and competence will be offered further study to become fully-trained amchis.
TRANSPORT & ACCOMMODATION
Flight from Delhi to Leh: These are …..a week, take approximately …..hours and cost approximately ……$US
Journey from Leh to Nurla: by car……….
Accommodation: ………..
Trips