We visited a Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Center in Darjeeling and it deeply impacted our hearts. The Center was started in 1959 following the escape of the Dalai Lama into India, during the invasion of China. Thousands of Tibetans fled into neighboring countries during these days with little more than the clothes that they were wearing and what little provisions they could carry with them as they began the long and difficult trek over the Himalayas.
Today this center is home to over 650 Tibetans and many work there doing various things like weaving, painting, and making all sorts of handicrafts in order to support themselves. They make things like scarves, blankets, paintings, shoes, etc., and sell them in a showroom nearby where the proceeds go back into the Tibetan Community there to provide for their basic needs.
We spoke to a couple of them and were touched by their lives. One lady, L. Wangmu, gave me a multi-colored wool blanket that she had woven. I didn't know what to do, because she has so little, and yet she offered something so precious. I was humbled by her generosity.
