FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Volunteer Trip to Conserve Tibetan
Buddhist Art
Q. What eligibility requirements are there to
participate in this trip? Are there any physical requirements for travel
in
A. Some wall paintings conservation tasks can be performed by the average person with no previous experience and only a little training. Educated, caring, patient volunteers can do these tasks very well provided they don't suffer from color blindness or shaky hands. We're hoping to get a multi-talented team that can help us with tasks besides cleaning of the wall paintings. For instance, we'd like to document the contents of the murals as they are slowly revealed and identify their contents. It would be great to have a handyman (or handy-woman) who is good with a hammer and screw-driver. We'd love to have a nicely edited video made about the project. And for people who enjoy interacting with Tibetan villagers, it would be marvelous to help them improve their cooking, English, and general hospitality skills.
You do need to be in good health because travel in
Other factors that would disqualify you from the program would include (but are not necessarily limited to) - (1) you have a medical condition that requires close and easy access to a modern hospital; (2) you have a medical condition that makes long car rides painful or damaging; (3) in the past you have had a Chinese visa revoked and you were told that it cannot be reinstated; (4) you plan to use the trip as a platform for for anti-Chinese activity; (5) you are accredited by the Chinese government as a foreign journalist and you have not obtained permission to join the trip from the relevant authorities.
Q. What tasks will I perform as part of the art conservation project?
A. This will be organized by our head conservator. He will ascertain your level of hand-eye coordination before assigning a specific job to you. There are many different wall paintings we are working on as well as ceiling panels and altars, all in different states of preservation, with various tasks to perform. Some tasks demand a great deal of hand-eye coordination and others demand less, so jobs can be apportioned accordingly. Cleaning work generally requires repetitive action with a small tool such as a scalpel, cotton swab, or toothbrush, working it inch by inch over the surface of the mural, usually with the help of water or some other solvent. It is meditative work that is not suited for people with an impatient disposition or inability to see up close. (of course you may wear eye-glasses). Because the work can cause eye- and hand-strain, the team takes frequent breaks.
If any volunteers are utterly hopeless at cleaning wall paintings, there is plenty of other work to do. Volunteers can help prepare the materials, keep the stock room organized, take photographs or videotape, or simply document the work through written notes. If you are knowledgeable about Tibetan Buddhist art and iconography, you can assist with the groundbreaking work of documenting what's in the paintings as they are slowly revealed. If volunteers are willing, we might also send a few people over to the local primary school, which has been closed for several years and is in need of clean-up and refurbishment. Teaching English to villagers would also be invaluable.
Q. What are the contents of the murals we'll be working on?
A. So far they seem to depict Buddhist deities, legendary tales of the lives of Buddha , and many symbolic & decorative elements such as lotus flowers, clouds, and so forth. Some paintings contain inscriptions in the Tibetan language. No experts have yet viewed these murals to analyze their meaning and we hope that some of the volunteers will want to take on this aspect of the project. Some of the paintings are so dirty that we cannot (yet) make out their contents. That is one of the most important reasons for doing this project: to find out what's underneath the dirt.
Q. What will the lodging be like?
A. Most of the time we’ll stay in small hotels where we’ll lodge in twin-share rooms with attached bathrooms with squat-style toilets and showers. The hotel in Tagong is an exception: it does not have attached bathrooms, although it does have communal facilities. The beds have electric-heated mattress pads, but the rooms will not be heated. Note that power outages are common, and there may be periods – even several days in a row – in which hot showers will not be available and the mattress pads will not work.
Those who opt to stay in Tibetan village or tent homes should expect very simple accommodations and rustic conditions.
Q. What about drinking water?
A. In all towns that we’ll visit it is possible to buy bottled spring water
and we will keep some on hand, especially for long bus rides. In hotel
rooms you will invariably find a thermos of water that has been boiled or a
small electric kettle, and if that's not enough then the hotel attendant can
provide additional boiled water. Tibetan families also keep boiled water ready at hand
for all sorts of purposes, most often to make
tea. This water has been obtained from springs or mountain streams and is
probably the cleanest water you'll find in
To avoid the environmental damage caused by plastic litter, we encourage everyone to carry their own reusable water bottle and minimize their use of commercially bottled water.
Q. Will I be able to contact friends and family at home during the trip?
A. It is possible to make outgoing international phone calls from all towns but
the service is not reliable in Sha-de. If you have a
mobile phone with "world-wide" service then it might work in Kham but probably not. There are internet cafes where you
can check email in many of the larger towns but not Sha-de.
You can purchase a Chinese mobile phone and service for about $100. (
Q. Will I meet any Tibetans who speak English?
A. Few Tibetans that you will meet in Kham can speak English. We will have at least one Tibetan-English translator to assist with communication. Our Nepalese conservators do speak English but the Tibetan assistants in our project and the village people do not.
Q. What will we be eating during the trip?
A. You will be delighted to discover that Chinese food in
If you are a vegetarian then we require that you bring along extra protein foods to supplement your diet. A vegan or really strict vegetarian who cannot abide food cooked in a wok that once held meat, will find travel in Kham very rough going.
For breakfast, in Sha-de we're able to arrange
some western foods such as oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, and freshly made pan-bread,
as well as tea and coffee. Elsewhere, it will be hard to get these things
but we'll try, and Chinese breakfast materials - rice porridge, steamed buns,
pickles - are readily available. You will have an opportunity to try Tibetan tsampa though most foreign visitors to
We will regularly order soft drinks, tea, and beer with lunch and dinner. If you want to drink something else, then you are welcome to order it at your own expense. Other available beverages include coconut milk, sweetened yogurt drink, milk, and other alcoholic beverages such as whisky and wine. Fruit juice is, generally speaking, unavailable, although we can and will procure fresh fruit. We strongly suggest that you refrain from over-indulging in alcohol, especially for the first few days, as alcohol contributes to Acute Mountain Sickness.
Q. What if I get sick?
A. Kham Aid staff accompanying you will carry a
first aid kit for treating minor accidents (cuts, burns) and common
illnesses. Because the medicines stocked in our kit may be unfamiliar to
you, we suggest, for maximum confidence, that you
bring along your favorite brands of the most likely-to-need medicines.
Generally speaking, because of
Most people who visit
Malaria is not present in Kham but mosquitoes in
In case of serious illness or accident, we require that all field workers carry medi-evac insurance. You can buy this from any company as long as it covers emergency evacuation. If you don't know where to get it, we can sell you coverage under our standard policy for $15/week. See our health page for more information on evacuation and other health issues in Kham.
Q. What will the weather be like?
A. Climate and weather vary dramatically with elevation on the Tibetan
plateau. In late October and November it is likely that the weather will
be clear and dry, cool in the daytime and cold at night. Nighttime temperatures will drop below
freezing in most of the Tibetan towns we visit, especially in Tagong where the
elevation is higher. It is unlikely
although not impossible that we will experience a snowstorm, but usually in
autumn snow doesn’t stay on ground long and melts by
Q. What clothing should I bring?
A. See this packing list.
Q. Can I bring my children?
A. On the whole, this trip is not really suitable for children. If you believe that your children are exceptional and wish to bring them, please be aware that we cannot guarantee that there will be suitable volunteer work for them to do, and they are likely to distract you from your own contribution to the project. If your children are an impediment to the conservation work then we will ask you to take them away from the worksite and entertain them somewhere else in the village or in town. We make no guarantee about the availability of local Tibetans to watch your children, nor can we guarantee their safety since Tibetan villages have wandering livestock, guard dogs, open fires, and other hazards beyond our control. Also, if your children prevent others in the group from enjoying visits to monasteries and other sacred sites, we will ask that you forego these visits and wait with your children in the hotel.
Q. Is this trip tax deductible?
A. About one-third of your payment is a donation to Kham
Aid Foundation that we will use to support the wall paintings conservation
program in Minyak. We will let you know the exact amount after the trip is over
and all bills paid, and we will provide you with an official letter
acknowledging your donation which can be used to claim a deduction on your
taxes if you are a
If you are not American and you want to get a tax advantage from the trip, you'll need to find a legal nonprofit/charity in your own country that is willing to receive the donation portion of your payment and then forward it onward to us. Your best bet is to contact a local charity that does work similar to Kham Aid's (i.e. helping Tibetans), or go through your church. Before making any payment to a go-between, make sure they commit to sending your money to us and check your local tax laws to confirm that they do permit this sort of "flow-through" arrangement.
Q. The dates of the trip are not convenient. Will you be offering this opportunity again at a later time?
A. If our two trips fill up, we will consider adding a third. Write to us for more information.