ACT 4 TIBET
ACT: Assist the Children of Tibet
Tibetan Refugee Camp Mainpat India
The Mainpat Tibetan Refugee Camp was established in 1962 by the Government of India in order to rehabilitate more than a thousand Tibetan refugees who fled from Tibet during the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1959. All the necessary arrangements such as temporary huts and ration supplies could not be made prior to the arrival of the settlers who faced a lot of initial hardships.
Mainpat was nothing more than a jungle where only a few local Indians dared to live. It was a beautiful landscape in a very isolated place.
The Tibetan people built huts which gradually developed to better houses where they live today. The condition of the roads remains in bad shape.
Not too long after 1965, settlement's only school for Tibetans (Central School for Tibetans) had started with the help of CTS and DoE(Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration, Dharamsala) with Creches at some of the camps.
The first Monastery (Gelug) of the Settlement was built by Dhakpo Rinpoche at Camp 1. After that a second monastery (Kagyue) came up by the grace of Khentse Ripoche at Camp 2. Following that, after a real long time, came the third monastery (Nyingma), which is now the biggest of them (compared to the structure of the monastery building), at camp 3 in 1995 by His Eminence Penor Rinpoche. There are few other small monasteries in the Settlement such as Nyingma-Choetsok and a monastery at camp 6. Recently in the year 2000, another monastery (Kagyue) had started its construction at camp 3.
We highly encourage sponsors to send letters and small parcels to the Tibetan Refugees that live in Mainpat. They will be more than happy to reply to you, which will create a wonderful connection with someone from Tibet. Don't hesitate to send a postcard, photographs, drawings, poems, letters, and even small gifts to the person you support.
Sending mail
We strongly recommend communication with the sponsors. It is a great gift that should be taken advantage of for many reasons.
Send mail to the following address:
New Monastery
Mainpat Tibetan Refugee Camp
P.O. Kamleshwarpur, Dist Surguja
Chhattisgarh, 497127, India
Appropriate gifts
Giving small gifts is acceptable and greatly appreciated. For the monks and nuns, they enjoy toys, books, clothing, shoes, school material, blankets, and personal items. However, expensive gifts like VCR's, computers, playstations, expensive clothing, large amounts of money (over $100), complex electronic devices, cellular phones, etc. are not good gifts and should not be sent to the monastery. Any gift that might distract them from their studies and duties and monastic vows are inappropriate. Please be mindful of this as you prepare to send a gift. You may send small amounts of spending money, but it is best not to make it a habit as the monastery takes care of all their personal needs.
See the list of Needed Supplies for ideas.