Carving
and plaining wood for the main temple
The local
community is very excited to witness this progress. Mongolians, both
locals and from elsewhere, came to visit the site in record numbers.
CRTP has implemented many programs to help accommodate the increase in
local tourism by providing information about the monastery and it’s
history. It is great to see the people of Mongolia reconnecting with
their culture and history. The numbers of visitors is in the order of
ten times greater than when we started the project five years ago.
Scrapping
& scoring the old plaster
Dutch Embassy
aids in Materials Purchasing
The only set
back in the work at the temple this summer was our difficulty in
procuring lumber. Many of the local suppliers are unable to provide
lumber in the size and volume that we need. We believe that this
problem has been solved for 2004. A grant from the Dutch Embassy in
China has made it possible to purchase lumber through the winter.
Thank you Guido for volunteering your time and energy into securing
this grant! This year we will be having the lumber for 2004
purchased and prepared during the winter months. In May we will have
all of the materials at the site and ready to go to work.
Carving
details for the first floor beams
The Garden
continues to Grow
We had a great
year with the garden. The green leafy stuff that came from the garden
was a welcome additional to our diet. The cook welcomed the new
ingredients, and learned to prepare many delicious treats. The
spinach pies were big hit with the staff and the participants loved
the salads. Once again we have expanded our capacity with the garden
and look forward to even more great stuff next year. Crossing our
fingers for tomatoes!
Odd Jobs
During the first
two weeks of August a group of six Mongolian fine artists join Baldan
Baraivan for their 2nd annual visit. The participants at
that time were excited to have the artists assist in the painting of a
traditional ger and were able to witness the artists’ works develop
during their stay. The artists generously donated their works (paintings
& drawings) to CRTP for fundraising purposes. If you are interested
in purchasing one, let us know. We will also be putting the images on
the web for you to see – we’ll let you know when they are up.
Mongolian Artist
In his spare
time, Gary Cleworth, returnee-participant constructed a fine piece of
furniture for our camp: the first Adirondack chair in Mongolia – now
that’s luxury!
Looking forward
to next year
Our “Schedule
2004” is prepared and we are ready to start taking reservations for
individuals and groups for our next season. We are offering some
exciting program options including: horseback riding or cycling trips
(departing outside Ulaan Baatar and riding to Baldan Baraivan),
home-stay, an Artist’s Program (with some traditional instruction),
and ger building. We already have verbal commitments to have a Tibetan
Monk come to the site who will be doing teachings. Also, there is a
credit course being offered through Pace University in New York that
will be bringing students for a one-week stay at in May/June 2004.
Please inquire if you would like to join our regular program or any of
our special interest groups
Other news, CRTP
is working with the Mongolian Ministry of Culture and some NGO’s to
participate in a temple restoration training course for next summer.
Several experts will come from around the world to help train the
Mongolian crews in temple restoration procedures. CRTP staff will
participate in the training program. We are excited to be able to
provide some of the best training technology available anywhere to our
restoration staff.
We hope that you
are able to join us next year. The summer 2004 schedule is posted on
the website, (www.crtp.net)
and is available via email by request. (info@crtp.net)
Get in touch
with us and get signed up! It promises to be our most successful
summer yet!
Note: For those of you who were not
on our earlier emailing list, you can find the other Field Up-dates on
our website.
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