.

JOURNEY FROM TIBET

Asang, a meditation instructor at Evanston’s Heartwood Center, escaped from Tibet through the Himalayas to India shortly after his sister and her baby died during childbirth.

In the fall of 2000, Asang went to Lhasa to find a guide who could help him get out of Tibet and seek an education. A group of 32 men, women and children set out on this treacherous journey that took about 30 days.

Asang and his fellow refugees could only travel at night as they walked through Tibet and China to avoid being shot at by day. There are no photos from that time of their ordeal.

Very little food was available. Asang had only a bit of butter and tsampa, a Tibetan food staple made from barley. By the time the group made it to the summit in the Himalayas on the Nepal side, they were near starving, but elated. Now they could travel during the day and felt sure they would reach their destination safely.

The trecherous journey through ice and snow

The treacherous month-long journey
through ice and snow with their guide
leading the way.

Asang and companion escape over the Himilayas

Asang (left) and companion escape
over the Himalayas to reach this area of Nepal.

Refugees take only what they can carry on their backs.

Refugees take only what they can
carry on their backs.

Asang and a fellow Tibetan refugee

Asang and a fellow Tibetan refugee are thrilled
to reach the Nepalese side of the Himalayas,
despite the continuing difficulties of
their journey.

Tibetan refugees reach Nepal

The entire refugee group celebrates
reaching Nepal.

 

Once they reached a populated area, a Tibetan reception was held for them in Nepal. Asang sold his clothes to raise money for his trip to school in India. Someone gave him a pair of shoes to get to Dharmasala.

He soon made his way to India where he studied at the Dalai Lama’s school for Tibetan refugees. He met Nancy, an acupuncturist, during her trips there study and to provide healthcare services for Nomad women. They married in 2006 and the couple has expanded Heartwood’s mission to promote women’s health to include helping women like Asang’s sister from suffering a similar fate.

Asang and Nancy on their wedding day in India

Asang and Nancy on their wedding day in India.

Heartwood Foundation — headed Asang and his wife, Heartwood’s Nancy Floy — will honor his sister and all the women at risk by creating a vocational boarding school for Tibetan girls. Asang and Nancy offer talks or presentations to any type of group interested in learning more about this critical situation. The couple also teaches a meditation class on Friday evenings at Heartwood; all proceeds from the class go toward the Heartwood Foundation Tibet Girls School.

Tibetan woman

Nomad girls and young women have no real
access to an education.

young nomad woman with child

Girls look forward to having a vocational school
available to them with the
Heartwood Tibet Girls School.

young nomad woman