Corporate responsibility
Corporate social responsibility can lead to development cooperation that improves lives.
Day 1 - From 0 to 3500
And here we go again! In India, in the Himalayas, this time in Ladakh, to visit all the supported Tibetan grandmothers, grandfathers, children, monks, nomads and their goat herds.
Arriving from zero to 3,500 m above sea level is always a bit of a challenge. But lots of water, sleep and brufen are slowly easing us. Today we are able to slowly climb up to the Thiksey monastery. We traditionally start our journey here, with this place and the monks we are connected by an “umbilical cord”. It was their visit to Ostrava in 2006 that was a great inspiration for the beginning of all our development projects.
We have a magnificent welcome, because the important Rinpoche – Yongzen Ling is visiting, whom we meet in the most beautiful temple of Ladakh, at the Buddha Maitreya. Afterwards, we walk through all the temples, meet old and young familiar monks and enjoy the incredible views. The strip of green trees and fields is expanding every year, but new houses, roads and cars are also being added. Progress cannot be stopped…
After lunch in the monastery dining room, we go to the house of our dear friend monk Čamba and chat. Čamba’s knowledge of Czech words is admirable and brings a smile to our faces. We firmly believe that he will soon visit the Czech Republic again.
Čamba also introduces us to a new project – a shelter and rescue station for injured and sick dogs, which is built a short distance behind the monastery. Čamba manages everything and has rescued over 500 stray dogs in a year of operation! There are currently about 260 in the shelter, we visit all of them and even though there are 9 of us, we don’t have enough hands to play with and pet them. It’s a huge amount of work and the driving force is Čamba’s selfless help to those in need and his heart full of kindness and compassion. We are grateful to have such a friend! He is a great inspiration for us.
Day 2 -Tibetan children right from the start
Early morning wake-up in Thiksey, breakfast and a quick transfer to Choglamsar, so that we have enough time for Tibetan children: This is how our day begins, the main focus of which is a visit to TCV – Tibetan Children Village in Ladakh. The director and other staff welcome us in the traditional way, with one container of milk and the other with tsampa and barley. We also receive a katak – a ceremonial white scarf. The director briefly introduces us to the history of the school, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
We then tour the school, classrooms and houses where the children live. Over 1,400 Tibetan children study at the school and more than 500 live here. Since 2018, there has also been a class for children with special needs, thanks to the initiative of the Dalai Lama.
The afternoon was less busy, most of the time was spent processing SIM cards in Leh.
Day 3 - Old and new acquaintances
Another unforgettable day is coming… Children’s morning arrival at school, singing the Tibetan and Indian anthems, practicing songs for the 90th birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama. For the first time, we hear the version of “Happy birthday to you…” in Tibetan.
We adopted this school last year and now we are meeting the first 16 supported children. We take portraits for the donors and quickly move on, because we are waiting to meet the CRO, the main representative of the Tibetan government in exile in Ladakh. Since February this year, this has been the young Mr. Tashi, a very capable person with a kind heart. The cooperation is now working better than ever! As a gift for his election, we are giving him a Czech Becherovka.
And then the main part of today begins, which is meeting with Tibetan grandmothers and grandfathers in various exile camps, finding out new information and taking portraits for the donors. We have gotten to know most of them over the years. Some have been adopted for 17 years! Like smiling grandfather Kalsang, who is an incredible 86 years old.
There are a total of 21 exile villages in Ladakh, 12 here in central Ladakh and 9 nomadic villages on the Changtang plateau. We are going there for four days tomorrow. We will visit the elderly in adoption, the nomads and their goat herds and three Tibetan schools, where we will hand out food purchased from the ProTibet Nutrition project.
Day 4 + 5 - Towards the heavens
Early in the morning we set off towards the nomadic village of Nyoma, which lies at an altitude of 4,200 m above sea level.
The journey is long but beautiful. We are surrounded by views of the majestic Himalayas, we drive along the highest road in the world and we let ourselves be carried away by a landscape where one feels small and humble.
Upon arrival, we are welcomed by children from the local Tibetan school. They prepared a modest meal for us and beautiful traditional dances. Their joy was contagious. Thanks to the Nutrition for Tibet project, we were able to bring them eggs and fresh mangoes – they ate them with gusto right there.
At the end of the day, we visited seniors who are involved in our adoption program.
Tomorrow, more nomadic villages await us high in the mountains. No signal and with minimal oxygen, but we are happy!
Day 6 - Nomadic villages at the end of the world
Yesterday started with a drive from Noyma to Hanle. This place can be called “the end of the world” – it is the closest exile village to the Tibetan border. The road ends here and no one will let us go any further.
There is a Tibetan exile school with ninety students. In addition to the classrooms and rooms where the children sleep, we saw a beautiful program full of traditional Tibetan dances.
We also visited senior citizens and had the unique opportunity to visit their homes. Often in small dwellings with only small stones in the middle and on hard ground without a mattress. This is the reality of old people living so high in the mountains. Programs like “Heating ProTibet” help them survive the winter. If you have a moment, we would be happy if you support the project!
On the way from Hanle, we visited an abandoned temple of the same name with a beautiful view of the surrounding five and six thousand meter peaks.
And finally, our journey took us to the nomadic village of Sumdo, where we witnessed a magical celebration before the start of the summer holidays, full of dances in traditional costumes called chupa.
Den 7 - The night closest to the stars
The last two days were like something out of another world.
Yesterday we woke up in the nomadic village of Sumdho after a night we will never forget. The cultural celebration full of traditional Tibetan dancing, singing and joy lasted until the early hours of the morning!
In the morning we went to visit a local school and then to visit some seniors who are involved in our adoption. The children enjoyed eggs from the ProTibet Nutrition project for breakfast!
Their smiles gave us exactly the dose of energy and joy we needed after a sleepless night. We packed up and set off for the beautiful Tso Moriri Lake. The silence, the beauty of the mountains and the blue, clear water were priceless. And the bravest of us even took a swim.
But the best was yet to come – a night spent with the nomads. We saw their daily routine: milking and processing the milk. The shepherd dogs followed our every move and we spent the evening under a beautiful starry sky.
We visited the new seniors we are taking in for Adoption ProTibet and wrote down their life stories.
We said goodbye to the nomads and set off on a short trek and began our journey back to civilization.
Day 8 - Tibetan seniors, the memory of Tibet
In recent days, we have collected photos and information about seniors and nomads who are newly in need of financial support. We can provide this to them through adoption.
We have to work with materials – photos and stories of people we have personally visited and interviewed. Their life stories are powerful – among them are the last of those who were still born in Tibet.
Day 9 - Good relationships are the basis of good cooperation
We are very grateful for the excellent cooperation with the Sonamling Tibetan community in Ladakh. Young people in leadership positions brought drive and enthusiasm, but also kindness and humanity to the work Today we were invited to dinner and received a gift
CRO Ambassador says: “We extend our gratitude to MOST ProTibet.
Over the past decade, we have had the privilege of hosting our dear friends and sponsors from MOST ProTibet at Sonamling Tibetan Settlement in Leh and the Jangthang region. We were especially honored to welcome MOST ProTibet’s founder and director, Ms. Jana, on their recent visit.
During their stay, they toured the school premises, spent meaningful time at TCV School Ladakh, and visited senior citizens’ homes both in the camps and in the Jangthang region. We are deeply grateful to MOST ProTibet for their unwavering support over the years.
Their contributions have had a significant impact: providing scholarships to families, supporting the nomadic families of Jangthang with the purchase of goats and fodder, offering winter tuition fees in Leh and Jangthang for the younger generation – the future seeds of Tibet – and providing emergency relief during the harsh snowstorms.
To express our heartfelt appreciation, we hosted a dinner with the leaders of the nomadic camps today. As a token of gratitude, they presented Ms. Janou with a gift and a copy of the new book “A Voice for the Voiceless” by His Holiness the Great 14th Dalai Lama.”
The Chief Representative (CRO) also expressed his sincere gratitude on behalf of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamsala and all the people of Sonamling to MOST ProTibet for their continuous compassion and support.
Day 10 - Back home - almost.
Diskit Monastery – home. A place we love to return to. Three days ago, right after our arrival, we were the first to go to the huge statue of Maitreya – the future Buddha, who is supposed to come only when the teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni disappear from people’s minds.
We were accompanied by little monks from the local monastery school, whom we had come here to see. After a few moments, they showed us that they can be naughty like any other child, for example when they had small battles among themselves, which tested the patience of the older monks a little. And we fell in love with them, again!
The most valuable thing about all of this is the friendship that is deepening between us, the children and the monks.
We really feel like part of one big family. At the final festive dinner, the monks gave us a thangka – a traditional Tibetan painting with a Buddha sewn into brocade, which they gave us as a symbol of gratitude and blessing.
Together we said goodbye and set off on the last part of our journey, which will end in Leh. Thank you. For every smile and for every moment that confirmed to us once again that home can be high up in the Diskit monastery.
Day 11 - Candlelight dinner - not a choice, but a necessity
What can you do in one day? Well, we showed you yesterday 🙂
In the morning we left Diskit for Leh and it was a really intense farewell. We will miss the little monks very much and even though we shed many a tear, we know that the year before we visit them again will fly by like water.
After five hours of travel over a five-thousand-meter pass, we arrived in Leh, where a completely luxurious hotel was waiting for us – compared to the last few days. We didn’t settle in too much, we quickly used the running hot water (that was a joy!) and set off for the working part of the day.
A taxi took us to Choglamsar, where we visited many seniors in their homes in several exile camps – they will be joining our adoption program in a few weeks.
Seeing how these people live, hearing their stories and being a part of their everyday life for a while regularly confirms to us how much the adoption program makes sense.
Then we had dinner with the CRO – the representative of the Tibetan government in exile and twelve leaders of the individual camps. It was a wonderful evening with great company. We reminded ourselves that we are not dealing with each other as business partners, but as members of one big family.
The evening was accompanied by laughter, occasional power outages (quite common in India) and we also took home a beautiful gift – His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s new book – Voice of the Voiceless.
Thank you once again for the invitation and for a wonderful evening.
Now we have the last two days in Leh, finishing up the administration and then home!
Day 12 - Thank you all and see you next year
Our trip through India is over – we are just landing back in Prague
In the last few weeks, we have visited monasteries in Ladakh, nomadic villages on the Changthang plains and the busy streets of Delhi. We slept at altitudes where even yawning counts as a sport, constantly drank butter tea and saw a world that touches the heart differently than we are used to
It was a journey to discover Tibet outside of Tibet – and also a lot about each other.
We are not only taking on a lot of experiences, but also the transformation that such an intense time will bring. We laughed, were silent, looked for a signal and meaning, and somewhere in between all of this, we grew close to each other and created shared experiences that will never be forgotten.
Being part of Most is not only about helping others and those in need, but also about creating a community of people who want to change the world for the better through kindness. And we had such a group here this year.
So hopefully again next year, or even sooner at one of our events!
