My Bylakuppe Gatekeeper!!!!!

After contacting the Himalayan Institute on facebook and having them refer me to a guy, Mr. Abella, the manager of Global Humanitarian projects for the Himalayan Institute, and then he referring me to Mr Damdul, manager or the Organic Research and Training Center in Bylakuppe, I finally made my first Tibetan contact. After writing a brief email explaining that my husband and I are going to Bylakuppe for the summer for me to study agriculture and him music I received the most exciting response, if only I had this response earlier. He kindly explained the need for a Protected Area Permit, which I already knew about, and strongly suggested that the information listed should be for religious purposes in order for the Indian Government to pass it easily. More importantly, Mr. Damdul happily shares that they are more than willing to share information they have learned and experienced with organic farming and that maybe they can learn from me as well. I don't know if I will have much to share as I will be able to use my time to volunteer for them and learn from them. I did send a letter back of gratitude and asking a few more questions about volunteering for them bu I have yet to receive a response.

Having a gatekeeper is comforting. I now know that I will have at least some kind of access to farming information and very important information that is. This organization, the Organic Research and Training Center, is becoming more and more important as I see how much they have helped the community just by teaching the people farming techniques. Once I arrive in Bylakuppe I plan on making contact with Mr. Damdual and going on with my project from there.

Social Situations

We (my husband and I) have a place to live, I have possible contacts or gatekeepers, possible social situations and only 48 days until I get on a plane and begin building rapport with these gatekeepers and possible actors in these social situations.  It hit me in the last class period that although we organized actors, location, and activity into a social situation these are real people, real locations, and real activities that I will have more than just a research attitude for the people and location , as it is now, but I will have real emotional connections and relationships with the place and the people. As time to leave approaches I think of how I will build rapport with the people.

 I realize that  most relationships will be built through my host family and my gatekeepers I get in contact with but obviously it will be more than just that. I will come to know and build relationships with people in the community and I hope those relationships will spread. I expect that those relationships will start with my host family and the people I farm with but I don't know where it will go from there. It could be with nuns in the monestary, it could be with people I meet in the markets, in could be with students who I would love to know more about. I am sure that as I play sports with those on the field and ask families about their family tree that I will certainly begin to know individuals in the community and I can't wait to experience that.

I am excited to get there and buy clothing suitable for the culture --  To wear the married women attire and to know what is customary verse popular, and what is casual verses formal. I am excited to have the people teach me about their culture.

Gatekeepers

As part of my journal today I decided to find some people to contact in Bylakuppe that could help me find an opportunity serve on the farms. Though many of the email address I found were old I did find a few that may be able to help. One of the organizations I emailed was the Himalayan Insitiute. They are based in Pensyvaniya but have helped in several Tibetan communities all over India, particularly Bylakuppe and Rabgayling. One  of there projects is to build trees to help return chemically damaged soil to its organic state.


They have also played a part in helping diversify crops on the plantations. I hope that by contacting them I can find more specific information out about where I can help on these diversified plantations and that they can help me contact individuals that can build my rapport in the community.

One of the other organiaztions I contacted was the Bylakuppe Settlement office which is connected to the Central Tibetan Relief Commitee. They play a  key role in training and demonstrating orgainc farming  in over 10 Tibetan Refugee communities. "In each settlement one or two agriculture extensionists organize trainings and assist the farmers to adopt several organic techniques, which include both traditional and modern practices.

• Soil fertility is maintained by appropriate crop rotation, green manures, cover crops, application of compost, vermicompost, biofertilizers, and traditional preparations like jeevamruth and panchagav.
• Pests and diseases are controlled through the application of home-made leaf extracts, integrated by purchased biopesticides whenever necessary.
• Biodynamic methods have been introduced and are increasingly popular among farmers."http://ctrc.tibet.net/agriculture.html

As I get in contact with these different organizations I can a hoping I can gain access to farms in Bylakuppe and individuals that I may interview. I want to gain rapport with  the Tibetan refugees so that I can become involved in farming in Bylakuppe. As I gain more and  more contacts I can recieve access to the farms thourgh gatekeepers.