7,000 feet up winding cliffside roads lies Mussoorie, a charming tourist destination literally built into the sides of Himalayan foothills. We spent a week there at Landour Community Hospital, a Christian missions facility that serves most everyone in the area.
On my first tour of the grounds I saw: coffee, a flat-screen TV, & TOILET PAPER. That's when I thought to myself-- this must be God's country! The town was formerly a British hill station, so Western influence was palpable throughout.
In the mornings, we would see patients at the hospital, then most afternoons were spent running health camps in nearby villages. On our first afternoon we drove to a nearby Tibetan refugee camp that housed & schooled orphans. I bet we saw 50-some children & teenagers that day. Lots of upper respiratory viruses, skin infections... the usual suspects, but unfortunately, like most places in the region TB is a pressing concern.
It was actually a lovely camp. The children wore well-kept uniforms & played carefree in the courtyard amidst a stunning landscape backdrop. Ironic that such a beautiful project should grow out of the bitter disputes between China & Tibet that tore these families apart. Fitting that these young exiles find refuge in India, who troubles itself with almost no one & embraces pluralism instead of being burdened by it.
The best part of that day was hiking to their hilltop Buddhist temple. From the prayer deck all was silent with just a faint trail of laughing children's voices deep in the valley bellow. Tibetan prayer flags were condensed on this viewing perch and extended downward in every direction, keeping a beat as they flapped in the cool breeze.
Mountains stretched out before us, one after another as far as the eye could see. In that moment I thought I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life.
In the mornings, we would see patients at the hospital, then most afternoons were spent running health camps in nearby villages. On our first afternoon we drove to a nearby Tibetan refugee camp that housed & schooled orphans. I bet we saw 50-some children & teenagers that day. Lots of upper respiratory viruses, skin infections... the usual suspects, but unfortunately, like most places in the region TB is a pressing concern.
It was actually a lovely camp. The children wore well-kept uniforms & played carefree in the courtyard amidst a stunning landscape backdrop. Ironic that such a beautiful project should grow out of the bitter disputes between China & Tibet that tore these families apart. Fitting that these young exiles find refuge in India, who troubles itself with almost no one & embraces pluralism instead of being burdened by it.
The best part of that day was hiking to their hilltop Buddhist temple. From the prayer deck all was silent with just a faint trail of laughing children's voices deep in the valley bellow. Tibetan prayer flags were condensed on this viewing perch and extended downward in every direction, keeping a beat as they flapped in the cool breeze.
Mountains stretched out before us, one after another as far as the eye could see. In that moment I thought I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life.
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