Excerpt from "Touching lives by MAJORIE CHIEW" from this article from TheStar Monday February 22, 2010.
Far-reaching aid
The compassionate arms of volunteers reach out to the far ends of the Earth. Some 39,000m up in the Himalayas lives a small community of 400 impoverished Ladakhis at the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre in Ladakh, Kashmir, in Northern India. For 23 years, they had to rely on well water which was not available during winter. Power supply was also disrupted after a certain time at night.
“Each building had a small well for water supply. This well water was pumped up to tanks on the roof-top. However, the pipes were not winter-proof, so piped water was frozen in the winter. A tanker would make its rounds to supply water to the buildings during winter,” explains retiree Lee Keat Hin, 68.
Lee from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, had volunteered his services as project manager for a solar hot water project in Ladakh. The project was funded by an anonymous donor from Sandakan, and Malaysian volunteers readily offered their services.
“The new water supply system has an insulated 450,000-litre reservoir and insulated pipes for distributing water during winter,” says Lee.
With the installation of solar panels for the seven buildings, at a cost of RM600,000, hot water was available to the community, even during winter.
The Ladakhis were overjoyed to find water gushing out of the tap to meet their daily needs. They could enjoy hot water too, thanks to the solar hot water system.
Lee was a technical assistant with a plantation company, prior to his retirement.
In 2006, Lee was approached by a friend, Charlie Chia, 54, general manager of a property firm, for his expertise during a charity lunch. For his volunteer work in Ladakh, Lee had to forego a one-and-a-half-year contract as project manager of a new palm oil mill in Papua New Guinea.
Devachan going through a harsh winter in the desert. Thanks to a generous Malaysian donor, folks here were able to get piped water and a solar hot water system after years of depending on well water and in the winter, tanker water.
Lee’s first trip to Ladakh was in 2007. He was there for 10 days to get a feel of the place and to see if he could fit in.
“For the first two days, I was gasping for air and was advised to take it easy to allow the body to acclimatise to the high attitude,” Lee recalls.
The Ladakhis call the area surrounding the meditation centre, Devachan (which means shangri-la). Located on a sprawling 80ha of desert land, the centre has a school, hospital and guesthouse for visitors.
Devachan, an integrated community, was set up by Ven Sanghasena, a Ladakhi monk, in 1986.
“Initially, Ven Sanghasena took in 20 children, aged three to four, from poor villagers in the Himalayas to provide them with education. The young charges were housed in a small school and hostel,” says Chia.
“In 1992, the first batch of children graduated and six stayed behind to work in the school,” says Chia, who plans to revisit Devachan soon.
‘For the first two days, I was gasping for air,’ says Lee Keat Hin of his first trip to Ladakh
Lee himself has been to Ladakh thrice. His second trip was in May 2008 to implement the water and solar power project. He stayed on for four months. When he left, the reservoir was completed and water pumped into it, ready to be channelled to the buildings.
According to Lee, the reservoir of reinforced concrete was built to store water for domestic use and for irrigation of orchards. Two wells were dug to channel water to the reservoir.
Lee’s last visit in July last year was to oversee additional piping works for the solar hot water system. He was there for two months.
“It is satisfying to know that I can do my bit to benefit the folks up in the Himalayas,” says Lee.
Far-reaching aid
The compassionate arms of volunteers reach out to the far ends of the Earth. Some 39,000m up in the Himalayas lives a small community of 400 impoverished Ladakhis at the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre in Ladakh, Kashmir, in Northern India. For 23 years, they had to rely on well water which was not available during winter. Power supply was also disrupted after a certain time at night.
“Each building had a small well for water supply. This well water was pumped up to tanks on the roof-top. However, the pipes were not winter-proof, so piped water was frozen in the winter. A tanker would make its rounds to supply water to the buildings during winter,” explains retiree Lee Keat Hin, 68.Lee from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, had volunteered his services as project manager for a solar hot water project in Ladakh. The project was funded by an anonymous donor from Sandakan, and Malaysian volunteers readily offered their services.
“The new water supply system has an insulated 450,000-litre reservoir and insulated pipes for distributing water during winter,” says Lee.
With the installation of solar panels for the seven buildings, at a cost of RM600,000, hot water was available to the community, even during winter.
The Ladakhis were overjoyed to find water gushing out of the tap to meet their daily needs. They could enjoy hot water too, thanks to the solar hot water system.
Lee was a technical assistant with a plantation company, prior to his retirement.In 2006, Lee was approached by a friend, Charlie Chia, 54, general manager of a property firm, for his expertise during a charity lunch. For his volunteer work in Ladakh, Lee had to forego a one-and-a-half-year contract as project manager of a new palm oil mill in Papua New Guinea.
Devachan going through a harsh winter in the desert. Thanks to a generous Malaysian donor, folks here were able to get piped water and a solar hot water system after years of depending on well water and in the winter, tanker water.
Lee’s first trip to Ladakh was in 2007. He was there for 10 days to get a feel of the place and to see if he could fit in.
“For the first two days, I was gasping for air and was advised to take it easy to allow the body to acclimatise to the high attitude,” Lee recalls.
The Ladakhis call the area surrounding the meditation centre, Devachan (which means shangri-la). Located on a sprawling 80ha of desert land, the centre has a school, hospital and guesthouse for visitors.
Devachan, an integrated community, was set up by Ven Sanghasena, a Ladakhi monk, in 1986.
“Initially, Ven Sanghasena took in 20 children, aged three to four, from poor villagers in the Himalayas to provide them with education. The young charges were housed in a small school and hostel,” says Chia.
“In 1992, the first batch of children graduated and six stayed behind to work in the school,” says Chia, who plans to revisit Devachan soon.
‘For the first two days, I was gasping for air,’ says Lee Keat Hin of his first trip to Ladakh
Lee himself has been to Ladakh thrice. His second trip was in May 2008 to implement the water and solar power project. He stayed on for four months. When he left, the reservoir was completed and water pumped into it, ready to be channelled to the buildings.
According to Lee, the reservoir of reinforced concrete was built to store water for domestic use and for irrigation of orchards. Two wells were dug to channel water to the reservoir.
Lee’s last visit in July last year was to oversee additional piping works for the solar hot water system. He was there for two months.
“It is satisfying to know that I can do my bit to benefit the folks up in the Himalayas,” says Lee.
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