Indigenous Lenses

With the completion of Fate of the Lhapa, Sarah is directing Indigenous Lenses’ fundraising efforts towards humanitarian work in Nepal, fulfilling her promise to the three old Tibetan Lhapas. During their initial interactions, Sarah promised each man that as long as they were alive and she was able, she would continue to return to their refugee camp and help. So she has continued to do just that. In a country where the average annual income is below $300, basic necessities in our world become luxuries in their world. The cost of education for one year in Nepal is $150. This includes tuition, uniforms, text books and test fees. In a country that values boys over girls and where the annual average income is $300, the education of girls is not a high priority. Indigenous Lenses is currently paying for the education of 11 girls. We are also paying for the education of two boys from a low caste family. Children from these low caste families are frequently discriminated against and are denied access to educational opportunities. Our commitment to each child is that, once accepted into our program, we will support them financially for as far as they wish to go in the educational system. In 1959, when China invaded Tibet, thousands of Tibetans fled over the high Himalayan Mountains and settled into refugee camps in Nepal. Despite the help of the international community, many Tibetan elders struggle to survive. Indigenous Lenses is committed to providing food and shelter for indigent Tibetan elders through a monthly stipend program. Focus will be placed on those elders living in the refugee camp who have no family members or visible means of support. Indigenous Lenses was created to fund the documentary, Fate of the Lhapa. At that time, the three Tibetan shamans, who are the subject of the documentary, requested that Sarah continue to return after the documentary was completed and help support both their healing tradition and their refugee camp. Indigenous Lenses provides each shaman with an annual gift of $500. It is an honor for Indigenous Lenses to support this ancient healing tradition that is in danger of extinction. In Nepal, to make an appointment, have an eye exam and get a new pair of glasses costs $25. If someone becomes ill and needs to see a doctor, the total cost of the exam, diagnostic tests and medicine averages $50. To pay for a year’s supply of medicine for a seizure disorder is $75. Frequently, when Sarah is ’on the ground’ in Nepal, she is approached in the Tibetan refugee camp with requests for eye or medical help. Indigenous Lenses supports the cultural preservation of Tibetan crafts through the purchase of Tibetan incense bags and Tibetan prayer beads (mallas). These items are created by two Tibetan women living in exile in the refugee camps in the Pokhara Nepal area. Indigenous Lenses is in a unique position to improve the living conditions of the people and communities that we serve. These special projects come to light during Sarah’s annual visits. Past projects have included purchasing a two burner propane stove for two Tibetan Elders with no way to cook food, a water tank so the Tibetan Elders did not have to haul water, the building of a stone path so a Magar village could more easily access the river for drinking water, bathing and washing clothesand the repair of a roof and building of a porch for one of our Tibetan shamans.