Impressions of 48th Wellbeing Tibetan Medical Camp January 28 – 29, 2016 at Sylviander House

It is the 7th Wellbeing Camp at Sylviander House, which takes place here since almost 1 year, starting in February 2015. 

As mostly, beautiful morning light welcomes the tibetan team, the campaigners and the patients … 

This time the team is:

Dr. Dorjee Rapten Neshar

Dr. Lhundup Dorjee

Yeshi Chodon

Tenzin Nangsel

Tenzin Dhonden

Always they arrive with heavy suitcases filled with medicine, tea, massage oil, balm … 

This time Victoria can join as a campaigner again, but Sethu couldn‘t come – we will manage without him. 

Victoria, Alexander and others help whatever is needed, also with translations between the doctors and the patients, who do not speak english.

Eswar is the chief of coordination! He informs the patients, hands them the application forms and tries to keep the timing. Also he will tell to Dr. Dorjee, how long he can take a nap after lunch, and then wakes him up in the right time. 

As always, Tenzin Nangsel writes the bills, Yeshi Chodon and Tenzin Dhonden distribute the medicines.

Everything goes smooth. Even so many patients come to see the tibetan doctors there is no hectic.

Families come for consultation, old and young people, meanwhile some foreigners consult the doctors regularly and take the medicine for 2 months. 

Among them my very good old friend Chandrakala from Germany, I haven‘t seen her for 18 years. In 1985 we met first time at Varkala Beach, which was not yet discovered by the tourists that time and so quite lonely – we were the only 2 foreigners there. She became the protagonist in a chapter of one of my books. 

Of course, there are always some patients who come without registration, which causes a delay every evening. But nobody complaints, it is convenient here to sit and wait and watch the cats playing.

Because the tibetan team will visit an ayurveda museum near Thrissur on Saturday, the January Wellbeing Camp has 2 days only. 

Normally on the last day of the camp, the tibetan team has to rush, packing their suit cases fastly to reach the train on early evening at Aleppey station to return to Bangarore. But on this Friday evening we can relax together and enjoy the tibetan food, Tenzin Nangsel and Yeshi Chodon are preparing for us …

Expecting his favorite meal, potatoes and milk-cheese-soup, Dr. Dorjee is happily playing some music and gives a short dance performance for our entertainment.

Then Dr. Dorjee carefully distributes to each one a bowl of soup … milk-cheese-soup! I couldn‘t imagine before, but it really tastes good … 

… and the potatoes are a perfect combination.

Since 1 year now we host this tibetan team, and as more I get to know these friendly people, it surprises me gladly, what a peaceful happy atmosphere they create when we sit together for our meals or in the evenings under the stars on the verandah. 

Thanks to Dorjee la for that homely evening with a simple warm food from Tibet … 

Thanks to mother nature for all the wellbeing given to us … thanks for these precious moments when spirits of plants appear in front of my eyes – in our garden …

Online Registration: www.friendsoftibet.org/wellbeing/ SMS: +91.9400354354 

Fax: +91.11.47615142 Email: wellbeing@friendsoftibet.org 

Triple New Year‘s Surprise at Sylviander House

In the morning of the 1st day of the new year 2016 some of our guests went for a swim at the nearby beach. Then on their way back a kitten followed them into our garden. It was lost somewhere on the small road to Sylviander House. 

It was a boy, probably 4 weeks old. We called him Eisbär. 

I gave him diluted milk with a filler and hungrily he understood immediately. Then I made him a cosy bed in an old cane bag, where he slept for hours in my writing room. 

Around afternoon, when I was watering my plants, we heard the scream of another kitten, the brother of Eisbär. We called him Sylvester. How happy they were to be together again. 

In one of the big paperboxes in the artist‘s studio, I arranged a little appartement for them, a corner with some cloth to sleep, in another a clay bowl with sand as toilet, which they didn‘t understand yet and used it to snuggle with eachother. I put another clay bowl with cloth for that purpose and trained them to use the toilet by taking one leg and pawing in the sand. 

The next morning as during night already we heard again a kitten screaming somewhere nearby, but couldn‘t see it. Then the sream stopped. Later a guest looking from the southern verandah saw the kitten squatting in the neighbor‘s garden and went there to fetch it: It was a girl. We called her Lissy. What a joyful meow, when I put her in the box of her brothers. 

Now they were three. And how hungry! 

It often happens here in Kerala, that people take the kittens from a cat around the house and bring them far away. Then the mother cat can‘t find her kids anymore and the kittens are to small to survive. 

The same must have happened to our foundling Leo, when he suddenly appeared in our garden, tiny 3 weeks old.

It was not possible to feed 3 hungry kittens with the filler. Of course they had no patience, all 3 wanted to drink at the same time. I had to teach them to drink the milk from the bowl. Then to eat dry cat food soaked in water. Hunger made them learn fast. 

Between eating they took a short break to jump on my lap, to cuddle for a while, then running back to the meal … 

The similar behaviour I observed, when Bianca was feeding her kittens. They interrupt drinking, jump on Bianca‘s back or on her head, play and return for drinking …

    © Silvia Fouani 

The 3 foundlings grew every day a bit. After a short time I understood, they didn‘t like to stay in their paper box appartement anymore. So I let them run freely in  Alexander‘s studio. The cane bag was then their sleeping hut, mostly inside, sometimes on top of it.

What a yelling, always when I entered the room. They ran towards me, played around my leg, on my leg, on my lap, biting in my toe … 

Slowly I fell in love with Sylvester. He was the one, enjoying the most being cuddled and tickled. 

It was clear from the beginning, that we cannot keep the kittens. We have already 3 cats. But I would care for them until they are strong enough to be given to people who like having a cat. To find such pet lovers is not easy here in Kerala. Rarely somebody has cats in the house. If somebody has a dog, this poor pet will spend live long in a cage outside of the house. 

I was optimistic. In the right time we will find somebody. If not for all 3 kittens, then some could live outside the Sylviander House with the others, Bianca, Rosso, Apricot … 

Secretly I wished, Sylvester would stay … 

… but fate had other plans … 

When they were around 2 months old, our carpenter came for doing some works. He saw the kittens and immediately he wanted to have 2, a girl and a boy … 

… and when his rikshaw driver picked him up and had a look at the kittens, he also wished to have one. 

2 days left to say good-bye … 

After almost 4 weeks being a mother for these 3 kittens, they will get a new home.

I put them in a basket and drove them to the new place … 

The 2 daughters of the carpenter were exited and spontaneousely choosed Lissy and Sylvester. Eisbär would go then to the rikshaw driver who is a neighbor.

Of course, the 3 kittens were exited too, running through the room, under the sofa, into the kitchen … 

When they got a bowl of milk, they drank, but didn‘t even finish in need to continue their exploration of the new place. 

After one day we phoned the carpenter who told us, that everybody is very happy and the kittens had slept in his bed. 

How lucky these kittens are.