COMMUNITY KITCHEN FOR TIBETAN REFUGEES: SEPTEMBER 9 TH , 2010
Dec 31, 2015
COMMUNITY KITCHEN FOR TIBETAN REFUGEES: SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2010
Introduction
Anoop Jain BS Environmental Engineering,
Northwestern University class of 2009 Came to Mcleod Ganj in summer 2006 3 years later, wanted to give back in a
bigger capacity
In the Beginning…
Desire to build a public radio station
Students could practice English
New medium to spread word about the Tibetan cause
Response to an Expressed Need: Qualitative
Public Radio Station?!
About 20,000 ft of space that could be filled by everything a human could ever need
Food, clean water, access to medicine
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Shelter, clothes, warmth, security
Family, love, sense of belonging, religion
Purpose of This Kitchen
1. Better Nutrition and Health for Tibetan Refugees By providing cheap, well-balanced meals By offering nutrition and health education classes
2. Cooking Training Facility/Tourist Restaurant The kitchen will be a training venue for those refugees who
want to become chefs, waiters etc By bringing in chefs from around the world, we hope to train
our chefs in a variety of cuisines. They will be given a certificate
Money from restaurant will be used to help sustain the project 3. Event Venue
For special family events and occasions These exist here, but are very expensive
Kitchen Progress
Construction will begin in October after the last group leaves and after the rains end
Hoping it will be open by Jan/Feb
Working with Sarah Walker (University of Brighton, England) to develop nutrition curriculum Both of us will be back early spring to incorporate that in
to the English language course curriculum
During now and opening, will be focusing on cost analysis and sustainability
Tibetans in India
Chinese occupation started in 1951 Dalai Lama left Tibet in 1959
He has been followed by thousands of Tibetans
Before 2008: Approximately 2,000 refugees came to India per year
Since 2008: Number of refugees has dropped to approximately 900 per year
Health of Exiled Tibetans
109,015 Tibetan refugees living in India, Nepal, and Bhutan
Males 7,829
Females 7,769
Gastric Problems 20.8%
Liver Cirrhosis 3.7%
Diabetes 4.5%
Blood Pressure 14.9%
Cardio Vascular 0.6%
Tuberculosis 6.7%
Pneumonia 3.9%
Cholera 0.4%
Reported Incidence of Illnesses of Tibetans Living in Exile, 2009
Life Style Disease
Pathogenic Disease
Source: Tibetan Department of Home 2009 Census Data. To be released later this year
Our Students
Surveyed 110 students
Survey was double sided: One side English, one side Tibetan
A translator was used in every class to explain the questions in Tibetan
Demographic Data of LHA Students
Laymen 31
Laywomen 33
Monks 31
Nuns 4Average Age 29
Money For Food/Week
372 Rs
Fruits Eaten/Week
2.5
Average Monthly Income
2630 Rs
Not all survey participants recorded data in the following categories
Tibetan Food
Tsampa: Roasted barley flour (or wheat/rice flour) mixed with salty butter tea Nutritional value:
Carbohydrates
77.7g
Energy 352 kcal
Sugar 0.8g
Dietary Fiber
15.6g
Fat 1.2g
Protein 9.9g
Nutritional value of barley flour per 100g
Also contains trace amounts of Ca, Fe, Mg
Thukpa: Type of Tibetan noodle soup Thenthuk is a type of Thukpa. It is usually
served with either meat or some type of mixed vegetable
Momo: Type of dumpling filled with either meat or mixed vegetables. Served with chilies and soy sauce
Butter Tea: Tea leaves, butter, salt, milk Traditionally made with Yak butter, but not
readily available in India
Response to an Expressed Need: Quantitative
Chai: Milk tea or butter tea
Bread: Traditional Tibetan bread
Other: Porridge, eggs, cereal
Other: Meat, tingmo (Tibetan steamed bread), porridge, tsampa
Thukpa: Could be thukpa or thenthuk
Other: Tingmo, tsampa, bread, rice, dal, meat
Testimony
Doma: Came from Tibet in 2006 with her family (husband & 3 children). Took 1 month and 20 days to walk across the Himalayas.
Stayed at the Tibetan Reception Center in Dharamsala for 21 days. When they left, they only had one blanket with nowhere to sleep
They now have a tiny house with no bathroom. 500Rs/month 3 meals a day
Sometimes they are forced to miss meals BF = Tsampa or Bread. Egg maybe once or twice a week.
Also Butter tea Lunch = Rice & Dal with some mixed veg Dinner = Thukpa/thenthuk with mixed veg
Doma told us that she would love to learn how to cook healthy, well balanced meals that are affordable
Conclusions
No one is starving This community needs help with health/lifestyle
education
Only eating 2.5 servings of fruit a week Should be 2-4 servings per day
Diet is entirely too carbohydrate heavy Not enough protein and vegetables
Too much butter, fatty oil, salt is used in food preparation
Lack of knowledge regarding healthy eating/cooking
Problems We Might Face
Money Price of fruits and vegetables is on the rise Our students and members of this community can not
afford to buy foods that are considered healthy
Students not taking full advantage of the services we are hoping to offer We want to influence long-lasting, holistic health/lifestyle
change
Moving Forward
Working with different schools, monasteries and organizations in the MG area to implement a health, nutrition and lifestyle curriculum with them This will help create healthy living awareness throughout the
Tibetan community
Implement monitoring system to find out how beneficial our services are Free health clinics like the free eye exam
Our students can go visit other organizations and present on the importance of health Serve as living examples Opportunity to practice English
Thanks for your time!Questions?