To promote our Trees for Tibet campaign, we created a short stop-motion animation about a Tibetan farmer named Doje. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of that video:
http://vimeo.com/20061816
If you never got a chance to “Meet Doje”, check out the video here:
For more information, visit www.treesfortibet.org
Making a difference is easy. Start by planting 1 tree.
Check out this new video about our work at the Tibetan Settlements:
To help plant more trees and create jobs for the Tibetan people, visit TreesForTibet.org!
April 23-25, 2010, Prana Yoga in Miami hosted Living Tantra Part 1: Tantric Tradition and Techniques with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait. “We had a great time!” said Dona Piza, owner of Prana Yoga. “We brought people from everywhere: the Caribbean and from all over the US. Most people just know asana, so Living Tantra was a doorway for many people into other dimensions of yoga.”
After the seminar was over, Prana Yoga graciously donated all of its proceeds from the weekend to support the Himalayan Institute’s Trees For Tibet campaign. This generous donation will be used to plant 900 trees in the Tibetan refugee settlements! “We like to support the Institute,” said Dona. “Other places might do a little bit of chanting between the poses, but the Institute is different. It’s all about the teachings and the humanitarian work. I know that when we give to the Institute it’s going to go to a good cause.”
This coming year, Prana Yoga has more exciting events planned:
Yoga classes and fundraising events are fun ways to share information and raise money to plant more trees. If you’d like to create your own event, click here to get involved!
After many months spent establishing a successful demonstration plot and nursery, the Himalayan Institute has finally begun to put pongamia tree seedlings into the hands of Tibetan farmers. Over the past two weeks, 3,000 ready-to-plant seedlings were distributed in 12 villages.
In general, the biggest obstacle to success in tree plantation projects is getting people motivated enough to maintain the trees over a long period of time. In the Energy Farming pongamia project, there is a strong built-in incentive to care for the trees because it is the fruit that is most valuable, as compared with growing trees for timber or firewood.
Additionally, there is continued support for the communities involved. Each Tibetan refugee settlement in India is organized into smaller community structures called camps. It is at the camp-level that the Himalayan Institute’s Energy Farming technicians have been working to distribute pongamia seedlings. The whole community has to be on board for the Himalayan Institute to begin working with them. Seedlings are distributed through these camps, rather than to individual farmers, so that there is an established structure in place for help and accountability with raising the trees. The HI Energy Farming team of specialists communicates with the leaders of the camps and is available to step in and assist with specific problems that may arise.
There has been overwhelming interest in the pongamia seedlings. The first 3,000 seedlings were all distributed immediately upon being grafted. Another 20,000 seedlings are being nursed and will be passed out among the participating camps as soon as they are ready for planting.
Soon you will have the opportunity to directly help the people of the Tibetan settlements by sponsoring the cultivation and planting of pongamia seedlings. Watch for upcoming news about the Trees for Tibet campaign!
The Rabgayling Settlement is a small community of just a few thousand residents, most of whom are farmers. While walking to and from the farms, people greet each other with a salute-like wave and broad smiles. In a small town like this, everyone knows everyone else and the community operates based on the trust built between individuals.
So when the Himalayan Institute first arrived in 2008, the initial reception was warm but cautious—we were newcomers and had not yet proven ourselves worthy of their trust. Most organizations that have served the Tibetans have done so through donation, so the people at Rabgayling were unaccustomed to having a humanitarian organization living and working in their settlement.
Today, after two years of working with the people of Rabgayling, the Energy Farming program is a fully integrated part of the community. The community has a strong sense of ownership of this project and, when help is needed, dozens of people come to lend a hand.
10,000 New Seedlings
Farmers were initially skeptical about the benefits of Energy Farming, but after seeing the techniques and concepts in action there has been a huge shift in attitude. Now there is an overwhelming demand for pongamia seedlings, as farmers clamor to plant them on their own land. To meet this demand, the Energy Farming nursery at Rabgayling has planted 10,000 new seedlings, which will be distributed to farmers once they reach maturity. 3,000 of these seedlings are ready for grafting, the final stage before they can be planted.
A Green Wall of 1,000 Trees
For several years the settlement has struggled to prevent wild elephants from invading its farms, where they trample and eat valuable crops. To keep the elephants out of the settlement, a 7-mile long concrete trench was built along the border shared with the national forest where the elephants live. To further support this effort, the Himalayan Institute has planted a row of 1,000 pongamia trees along the trench to create a green wall. The leaves and seeds of the pongamia are inedible, which should help to discourage the elephants from entering the settlement.
The completed trench will be bordered by a row of 1,000 pongamia trees.
By investing in long-term local relationships and putting down roots of its own in the communities where it works, the Himalayan Institute not only gains the trust and support of the community, but also the knowledge and refinement to improve upon the existing humanitarian projects around the world.
Humanitarian Blog 