US doctor’s drive to improve health in Tibet
Print Edition
Staring at a large thangka of Potala Palace hanging on the wall of the north stairwell of the Boulder Municipal Building in Colorado State, Dr Bill Warnock paused for a long moment, plainly overcome by his thoughts.
“This thangka was given to the people of Boulder in 1987 by the mayor of Lhasa,” the president of the Boulder-Lhasa Sister City Project said.
Thangka, meaning “cloth painting,” is a traditional Tibetan painting art form.
Boulder, Tibet’s only sister city in the United States, is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, about 40 kilometers northwest of Denver.
“During my first trip in 1988, I was impressed by the friendliness, compassion, and appreciation shown by the Tibetan people. This motivated me to develop and implement many exchanges, particularly to help Tibetans in rural Lhasa Prefecture in health care and solar electricity,” Warnock said.
Established in 1986, the sister cities project has contributed to the development of Lhasa and other Tibetan areas in China through exchanges in health care, education, environmental protection, culture and art.
As an American who has visited Tibetan areas in China 22 times since 1988 — 17 journeys to Lhasa and five to Tibetan areas in the western part of southwest China’s Sichuan Province — Warnock has witnessed many changes over the years.
“Lhasa and the surrounding rural areas of Lhasa Prefecture have become much more developed over the past 30 years,” he said.
“Having led so many health care delegations to Lhasa, I have seen a tremendous change in Lhasa City Hospital. During our exchanges in 1991 to 1993, the hospital staff performed very well, but they were rather limited by their facilities. When we conducted a training exchange there in 2010, the hospital had been completely re-built with modern facilities through funding from China’s eastern province of Jiangsu,” said Warnock.
“We advertise our fundraising drives through our website, e-mails, texts, phone calls, and occasional fundraiser dinners,” he said. “A significant fraction of support has come from in-kind contributions and through partnership with other organizations,” he added.
Former Boulder mayor Shaun McGrath remembers his 2008 visit with a Boulder delegation to Lhasa following an invitation from the Lhasa mayor, as “a wonderful experience.”
“It’s a very beautiful city with a wonderful deep culture of Buddhism. It’s a nice mix of both the old and the new,” said McGrath, noting that sister-city partnerships are meant to build close relations across nations at city level.
He praised the work of Warnock and his group and continuing efforts to further relations between the cities.
Lisa Morzel, a member of the Boulder City Council, said: “Dr Warnock had done incredible service.
“We are proud to be sister city of Lhasa and we are very happy to learn more about the people of Lhasa and the culture of Lhasa. We hope this will lead to more cultural exchanges.”
Warnock will soon set off on his 23rd trip to Tibetan areas in China for the upcoming Student Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Project in Sichuan Province later this month. The sister cities group has raised some US$30,000 thanks to donations from 79 different individuals, foundations and corporations.
To avoid future suffering, 45 Tibetan primary school students who have been tested positive for cysticercosis, a dangerous and highly prevalent parasitic disease, will travel to the city of Xichang in Sichuan to undergo MRI brain scans with funding assistance from the group.
“I keep working every year to help Tibetan people improve their medical condition. I have paid for most of my trips to China from my own funds because it’s hard enough to raise funds for the health care,” said Warnock. “I am very excited about this project. I’ve not met any of the 45 kids, but I think it’s going to be a big chance for them to have a successful future.”
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