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| Thinley Norbu, Thinley, Yangkey(Accountant), Monlam(TVA Director), Monlam Dolma |
Mundgod January 4th to 16th 2008: His holiness the Dalai Lama arrived at Mundgod on January 3rd for the opening of Drepung Loseling Monastery’s New Temple . During the 13 day visit, a large number of devotees flocked in to get a glimpse of His Holiness and listen to his teachings.
Tibetan Volunteers for Animals (TVA) headed by Mr. Lobsang Monlam (Managing Director) and Geshe Sonam Dawa (Board Member) organized an exhibition to educate Tibetans and to create awareness on Vegetarianism, Animal rights and Rabies. A huge poster titled ‘Hell on Earth’ explained the suffering of animals created by humans - for food, clothing, entertainment and in the name of scientific research. “Millions of animals are mercilessly slaughtered everyday for food, clothing and other purposes. We don’t expect anyone to help these animals, the least we expect is not to harm them; when you eat meat, you are harming them” said Tenzin Tsering, a young Volunteer from TCV School Veg Club Bylakuppe.
Another poster titled ‘What’s wrong with silk’had information on the secret and cruel process of silk production. “To produce 100 grams of silk, 1,500 silk moths have to be boiled alive and killed” explained Monlam Dolma, another young volunteer from TCV School Veg Club Bylakuppe. “An average silk-Chupa has more than 200 Gm of silk, i.e. more than 3,000 silk moths. A normal 4 feet Silk brocaded Thangka Painting has about 1KG of silk, i.e. more than 15,000 silk moths, what could be tragically more ironical?” she added. A huge poster containing information on Rabies was also displayed and explained to the visitors. TVA runs an animal welfare program called ‘We CARE’ to help sick and injured animals. The program is aimed at vaccinating the dogs against rabies and providing medical care to the sick and injured animals.
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| Monlam Dolma: explaining "The Samsara of a silk moth" |
This time TVA received 73 signatures from people who pledged to leave meat off their plates for good. A Video CD containing slaughter house scenes were given to them so that they could watch it if ever they feel like eating meat again. A Vegetarian starter guide containing a lot of information on Vegetarianism was also given to them. More than 10,000 Booklets, stickers and pamphlets on Vegetarianism, silk and compassion for animals were also distributed at the Exhibition.
In the evening, documentaries, speech of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa and movies on Animals were shown in the Exhibition Tent attracting a huge crowd. The documentary movies touched the hearts of the audience and brought tears in their eyes where as the movie ‘BABE’ (the story of a pig) brought pearls of laughter on their lips. Every evening, while the visitors were busy watching the movies in the tent, the members of TVA took a round of the Monastery to check for any sick and injured animals so that they can be treated and taken care of.
The exhibition closed on 16th January 2008. After reaching Mysore, all the volunteers were taken to ‘Fantasy Park’ (a water park on the outskirts of Mysore) where they finally had some good time. “It was a lot of good work and a lot of fun in the end. We feel so good and satisfied” said Thinley and Norbu, volunteers from TCV School Veg Club, Bylakuppe. TVA wrote a letter to the Mundgod Representative office requesting the Chairman to urge Tibetans to abstain from Meat during His Holiness' visit. We thank the Mundgod Representative officer for banning Meat at all the restaurants in Mundgod from January 1st to 20th.
TVA is a registered non-govt. and a non-profit organization managed and run by a group of young Tibetans determined to make a difference.
