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Resident helps Tibetan refugees

(left to right) Jim Lafromboise and Andrew Ouimet, from Baystate Medical Center's warehouse in West Springfield, help Cheri Brady load the medication. Reminder Publications submitted photo
By Natasha Clark

Assistant Managing Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW With all of the hype about the Beijing Olympics, it can be easy to forget that China is known as one of the top 10 human rights violators. It has an ongoing tension with Tibet, which continues to erupt into violence and result in deaths, since it invaded Tibet in the 1950s.

Many Tibetans including The Dalai Lama, the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people and its government, continue to live in exile. India has become a place of refuge. East Longmeadow's Cheri Brady will travel to India to do her part in the field of medicine. Brady will meet up with her friend Susan Carpenter, who resides in Ohio, and the two will head over to India. From Aug. 23 - Sept. 15. they will stay in Menri Monastery in Dolanji, south of Solan in the foothills of the Himalayas.

"It's a camp in Dolanji, a Tibetan refugee village. There's a school there for Tibetan children. What I am going to be doing is working with some of the orphans and children," Brady said.

A health practitioner, Brady will help out in the health clinic.

"[It's] understaffed and under-supplied as well," she explained.

Thanks to Baystate Medical Center, $1,000 worth of medication will head overseas with Brady and into the underserved clinic.

"I asked [Dr. Michael Lemanski] if he had any antibiotic samples and a couple weeks later he said that Baystate Medical Center had procured a $500 grant for medication for me to take with me," Brady recalled. "I went away for a week came back and there was another message saying that Baystate would match that grant dollar for dollar. I got $1,000 worth of supplies. Dr. Lemanski and Bill Sepaniak were the ones that took an interest in my trip and actually procured the grant for medications and then matched the grant with personal hygiene and medical/surgical supplies."

Brady said she is still willing to accept monetary donations for the refugees, but can not take any more medication. She already had to bring an additional suitcase for the medicine alone.

"Every single penny goes directly to the children, not for any of our expenses. Children rely on donations for shelter, food and clothing and any medical care," Brady said.

Camps like the one Brady will visit are very instrumental in helping the Tibetans keep their culture. The Chinese government has been accused of forcing Tibetan children to learn in Chinese while prohibiting use of their native language. They have also been criticized for enforcing religious and social repression.

"There is a genocide of the Tibetan culture," Brady said. "So many of these people risk their lives to escape. They have to cross the Himalayas. India allows them a place to stay. Money will go in my hand directly to the children."

Since Brady is leaving at the end of the week, she said she is more than willing to accept donations after her return on Sept. 15.

"I try to do [something] like this every two to three years. This is something that feeds my soul. People are so grateful. In the long run they give you so much more in return," she added.

Anyone interested in contributing can send a donation in care of Cheri Brady to 20 Powder Hill Road, East Longmeadow, MA 01028 or they can send an e-mail to cheribrady@aol.com.

"Even five dollars can go so far," Brady said. "It doesn't have to be a lot of money."