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In order to provide the
health conditions and the lives of the local people,
Dolpo Amchi Medical Centre and School was established.
It will also serve as a place of study and training so
that the valuable Amchi Tradition of Tibetan medicine
and healing can continue.
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The people of the high, remote Himalayan region of Dolpo
live under extremely harsh condition, often in poverty
and without health care or other basic amenities of life
(tele-communication, electricity, water provision,
roads, etc.). Although it is the largest district in
Nepal, Dolpo is one of the very poorest and the most
isolated. |
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The Amchi Association is sincerely interested in all
work to benefit those suffering from desease and
illness. Although their own financial are limited, the
Dolpo Lama Amchi Association is deeply concerned about
preserving the ancient cultural heritage of Dolpo, like
the masked dance and song performance of the lamas and
many old monasteries in the area.
Working cooperatively, the Amchi hope to meet the
difficult challenges facing their communities. The
degeneration has also directly affected their work, as
medical treatment depends upon the medical plants that
grow naturally within the ecosystem of their region. It
has also brought a decline in the wildlife native to the
high mountains.
In this regard, the Dolpo Amchi Medical Centre and
School will work to serve as a model of strategic
approach, and also to promote it by:
1. Alleviating suffering and poverty by
assisting in economic development, through training and
employment opportunities to increase income.
2. Providing loans to households interested
in improving their handicraft skills and production, and
training in new skills for supplementary income.
3. Ensuring the continued survival and
protection of precious medicinal plants by intensive
cultivation.
4. Giving low-income families the
opportunity of increasing their income by cultivating
medicinal plants.
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Background
Construction of the Dolpo Amchi Medical Centre and
School was initiated with the support of WWF Nepal in
2002, under the Northern Mountain Conservation Project.
The centre is strategically located at approx. 4,100m
above see level in the Dho-Tarap Valley of Dolpo, east
of Shey-Phoksundo National Park. The area is visited by
a growing number of pilgrims, visitors and traders every
year.
There is immense natural beauty; alpine flowers and
medical plants are found everywhere. The people lead a
very simple traditional life.
The clinic and the entire facility is called Sangye
Menlha'l Khang (The Centre of the Medical Buddha). When
completed, the facility will contain; an administrative
office, library, examinion and treatment rooms, resident
physicians quarters, kitchen, patient ward with private
kitchen, training and class rooms, bath house, green
house and garden for cultivating medicinal plants.
The actual treatment began on 8th July 2003. On 21st
April 2004, official registration of the project with
H.M.G. Nepal was completed at the Dolpo District
headquarter in Dunai. The Honourable Tashi Tshering
Rinpoche and the Chairman of the Dolpo Amchi
Association, Amchi Namgyal Lama, formally inaugurated
the Medical Centre in the spring of 2004.
The Dolpo Amchi Medical Centre and School will provide a
place where Amchis of the Sowa Rigpa tradition will
maintain this heritage, by both restoring the teachings
and building upon the practice, thereby preserving it
for future generations. Amchis will have a facility for
advanced studies, putting into practice the theoretical
aspects of their field.
Objectives
1. To
develop basic skills and knowledge of the English and
Tibetan languages, to facilitate trainees' study and
practice the Amchi medicine.
2. To develop basic skills and
knowledge on diagnosis of common human disorders and
diseases, management of common health disorders,
preservation and promotion of human health through
practices of Traditional Amchi Medicine.
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Study
1.
Initially, students will be drawn from the various
village schools on the basis of the results of an
entrance exam.
2. Himalayan Amchi Association
will adopt its own curriculum and the duration of the
course will be six to nine years. |
Resource Persons - Teaching and School Staff
Chief Medical
Instructor: Amchi Namgyal Lama
with
- Local Amchi as
assistant
- Tibetan language and grammar
teacher
- Englisch and social studies
teachers
- Science and mathematics
teachers
- Cook |
Final Goals of School and Medical Centre Project
1.
Train and produce at least 20 Community Amchi Assistants
(CAA).
2. Send at least 10 CAA level
students for further study.
3. Support for further study via
Trust Fund; individual donors and through scholarships.
4. Create at least Rs 3,000,000
budget to be collected for Trust Fund throughout project
period.
5. Promote village culture -
life tours for visitors and introduce traditional
medicine practice. |
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