Compassion Mandala: The Odyssey of an American Charity in Contemporary Tibet

by Pamela Logan

Overview

Eastern Tibet, or Kham, is a place of rugged ranges and torrential rivers, home to the fierce Khampa rebels who tried for a decade to defeat China's army and win independence for Tibet. Pamela Logan is an inveterate traveler who fell in love with Kham and was deeply affected by the poverty she saw there. With the help of many friends, she started a nonprofit to do the impossible: bring development and humanitarian assistance to Tibetans under Chinese rule.  

This book chronicles Logan's fourteen years of work in Kham: helping children stay in school, saving the lives of babies and mothers, providing job training to nomadic herders, improving health care, assisting communities hit by earthquakes, and repairing centuries-old architecture.  

Compassion Mandala records Logan's first-hand observations of rural Tibetan society and China's relentless efforts to modernize it. Outlining each gate of the development mandala - areas such as education, health care, jobs, and the environment - she explains how Tibet has changed over the past century, giving historical context to contemporary challenges. She details obstacles faced by Tibetans as ethnic minorities in China, and she describes how they are adapting to China's rapid development and the tidal wave of Chinese migrants arriving in their homeland. She portrays many individuals she knew: incarnate lamas, ordinary farmers, educated professionals, corrupt officials, devoted Buddhists, and a brilliant young woman determined to overcome her humble origins and realize her dreams.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781735053813
Publisher:	Hibiscus Books
Publication date:	09/20/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	376
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Seeking a path to the highest places, Pamela Logan studied aerospace at Caltech and Stanford, worked at a couple of NASA laboratories, and taught college-level aeronautical engineering before setting aside her technical career to explore Asia. As science director at the China Exploration & Research Society, she led a wall paintings conservation project at a Buddhist monastery in the Tibetan region of Kham; she also helped search for Silk Road ruins using spaceborne imaging radar. In 1997, Logan launched Kham Aid Foundation, a nonprofit that she led for fourteen years doing development and humanitarian assistance projects on the eastern Tibetan plateau. She lives with her husband in Colorado.

Table of Contents

Contents

Maps

Timeline

Preface

Prologue

PART I

The Beginning

A Guarded Welcome

Kham: An Introduction

Education

Schools, Children, and Books

The Tea Road to Kham

Guardian of the Future: Gyalten Rinpoche

Guardian of the Past: Sögyal

Openness

Journey to Dzokchen Monastery

A Monastery Business Plan

Our Scholarship Program Starts

A Major Misstep

Encounter with the Dalai Lama

Gaining Momentum

Rescued by Herders

Sögyal's Circle

PART II

Health

Searching for a Health Care Path

Encounter with a Prostrating Pilgrim

Environment

Trees and Mountains

A Prodigal Child

The Disabled

Earthquake!

Maternal Health

Midwife Training

News and Progress in Degé

Assessing Health Care Needs

Biking the Road to Degé

The Bridge is Finished

PART III

Income Generation

Modernizing Agriculture

Tourism Takes Off

Clinic Aid Delivered

Scholarship Challenges

School Renovation

Education Obstacles and Transitions

Information

A Poor Family

Greenhouse Setbacks

Mother to a Whole Village

Among Nomads

PART IV

Cultural Heritage

A Grant for Preserving Culture

Changes on the Grasslands

Preparations

Shaolin Monks and a Rumble in Lhagang

Handicrap

A Crafty Abbot

Conflict

Hostage

More Conflict

Chess Moves

A Girl Meets Her Sponsor

Ancient Homes

Redemption in Dorakarmo

A Sick Student

Advance Work

The Greenhouses Go Under

PART V

Governance

Corruption

Picture Frames

The Test

Community Ties

The Life and Times of Wayö Village

Gaining Trust

Our Girls Overcome

Repairs to an Ancient Home

Search for the Perfect Product

Market Linkages

Integrated Community Development

Return to Palpung Monastery

Looking Back-and Forward

The Prodigal Child Takes Wing

A Terrible Year

PART VI

Resilience

At University

Under the Radar

Into the Blue

Reckonings

Farewell Tour

Bittersweetness

The Next Generation

The Wisdom to Know the Difference

Chimé

FINAL NOTES

Epilogue

Gratitude

On the Use of Pseudonyms

Places

Index

Editorial Reviews

09/28/2020

In a memoir resonant with authentic devotion to serving others, Logan (Tibetan Rescue: The Extraordinary Quest to Save the Sacred Art Treasures of Tibet) painstakingly chronicles the work of the American charity she created to aid the deeply impoverished Kham region of Tibet. After becoming fascinated by the fighting styles of other countries, Logan initially explored the area of Kham to discover more about their warriors. Immediately drawn to help the region’s poorer residents, Logan left her aeronautics career and began volunteering, eventually starting the Kham Aid Foundation. Logan tells the moving stories of raising money for conservation projects, assistive equipment for disabled people, and education, as well as acquiring sponsors to give individual children educational scholarships.

Logan acknowledges that humanitarian work in the region is often dirty and difficult, but she always maintains a positive viewpoint, and the individuals she helps seem to share her attitude of hope and thankfulness. Sometimes her narration is a little dry and removed, but when she lets herself get personal, her writing shines. Readers with some background knowledge of politics in Tibet and China will have the best grasp of the nuances of Logan’s work. Those unfamiliar with the region will still appreciate the comprehensive firsthand exploration of areas both troubled and beautiful, as well as the helpful maps.

Throughout, Logan takes time to detail the importance of establishing trusting connections with locals, the complicated nature of international relations, and the speed with which networks and contacts can change. Although she delves into the corruption of government officials stealing money earmarked for the children and shares cautionary advice for Americans doing humanitarian work in China, Logan also brilliantly reveals the rewards of her labors: babies’ lives saved at birth, educated girls who achieve great success. The resilience and beauty of the Tibetan people stand out in this sweeping account.

Takeaway: Readers curious about daily life and humanitarian work in Tibet will be swept up by this marathon account of the Kham Aid Foundation’s founding and work.

Great for fans of Charlie Carroll’s Peaks on the Horizon: Two Journeys in Tibet, Gillian G. Tan’s In the Circle of White Stones: Moving through Seasons with Nomads of Eastern Tibet.

Production grades Cover: B Design and typography: A Illustrations: A Editing: A Marketing copy: A

BookLife Reviews

"A memoir resonant with authentic devotion to serving others. . . . The resilience and beauty of the Tibetan people stand out in this sweeping account."

- BookLife

"A highly recommended, inspirational survey . . . Compassion Mandala exposes Tibetan culture and people in a way few that other books achieve."

- Midwest Book Review, D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer

"Rich descriptions of alpine villages at the end of nearly impassible trails . . . [This] book should hold special interest for students of Asian Studies and Tibetan Buddhism."

- BlueInk Reviews

From the Publisher