Chagpori Activities 2020 - Shakya Dorje Emchi

Dear Chagpori Support Group members and Friends,

Greetings from Chagpori. We hope this e-mail finds you all well. Below please find a short account of the activities at Chagpori during the past one year.

Activities at Chagpori during 2020

H.E. Rabjam Rinpoche graciously accepted our request to bless Chagpori pharmacy at Salugara on 27^th January 2020 and also gave the oral transmission of Yuthog prayer to the doctors and students of Chagpori.

College Department:

We are glad that 12 students from the 8^th batch completed their 5 years of medical studies. They appeared for their oral exams in November and the written examination started from 14^th December till 31^st December 2020. They will undergo one year of internship from January 2021. First they will start with one month of preliminary practice (Ngondro) according to Yuthog Nyingthig. This is a special practice according to the Chagpori tradition. Then they will go to the different clinics of Men-Tsee-Khang and other clinics for their clinical internship. We gratefully thank our sponsors who have sponsored them.
As the teachers and all our students live at the College premise, we were able to continue with the classes during the year.
Dr. Shibu a leading practitioner in Tuina therapy from Taiwan, conducted an intensive workshop in Tuina therapy at Chagpori College in March. There were more than 40 participants from Chagpori, Men-Tsee-Khang (Dharamsala), Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (Sarnath) and Namgyal Institute of Tibetology (Sikkim) who attended the course. As all the flights to Taiwan was cancelled Dr. Shibu stayed at Chagpori till mid-December. He continued to impart his knowledge to our doctors & students and also treated several patients in the region.
On 3^rd December we had an admission test for new students. Due to the travel restrictions several prospective students who applied for admission could not come for the test. We plan to have another test at the end of February 2021. Classes will commence from March 2021 for the new students.

Clinic Department:

Our clinics in Darjeeling, Takdah and Kurseong catered to the needs of the regular patients even during the initial days of the nationwide lockdown. From June when the first phase of the lockdown was lifted, the clinics have been functioning like usual.
Dr. Shibu helped us in introducing Tuina treatment in our clinics, as some of our doctors got the opportunity to get first-hand training under him for more than 8 months.
We re-opened our clinic at Salugara market on 27^th November which is convenient for the patients to come. For the last few years it was functioning from the pharmacy which is further away from town.

Pharmacy Department:

From mid-April our doctors resumed work at the pharmacy in Salugara. We made medicines for flu, cough and fever in larger quantities and also the other medicines for our usual requirement at the clinics, before the start of the monsoon. This was essential in order to be able to cater to the needs of the patients.

Relief Work:

During this period many people have been affected by Covid-19 in the region. Our clinics gave free medicines for the better management of Covid-19 and also to boost ones immunity. We even conducted fourteen times ‘free medical camp’ in the region, with the sole aim to benefit the under-privileged needy people. This was possible with the generous support of Dr. Shibu, Rigdzin Foundation and Association Dordjeling.
With the generous help of Dr. Shibu and Dr. Edward essential relief food items were distributed six times altogether benefitting 576 needy families around Takdah and the adjoining villages/closed tea gardens.

As this pandemic affected everyone, we at Chagpori tried our best to cope with the ever evolving situation and help the people in the region by giving free medicines and relief food items.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our friends and well-wishers for your constant support and concern.

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous Year 2021.

Board members, staff and students of Chagpori