Tuesday, October 24, 2006, Dharamsala. (Day 3 of the conference)

The restaurants are closed again! I use chips to survive today. I enjoy the view on two birds. I hear later that they are closed to participate at the two day festivities at the TCV.

Tim, one of our geeks gave us an interesting map of the Tibetan Children Village (TCV).

He also gives us a map with a GPS route he took to walk from McLeod Ganj to the TibTec (Tibetan Technology Center) where he worked preparing the logistics of the meeting. From McLeod Ganj you take the road (see day 2 for pictures) and at the arrow you follow the rocky path see day 1) until you reach the brown field, which is the sports area in front of the auditorium.

You can make the map dynamic by downloading and saving this file and double click on it (You should have Google map installed and be on-line and you have to go around logging in/security).

Alternatively, you can see here the route taxis will go (first go down then climb again).

The presentations about Wi-Fi networks setup by volunteers or enterprises are really heartwarming.

For instance, the network in Nepal, where the people live at high altitude, pretty much isolated. From the bus stop to home there are no roads and people have to walk a whole day to reach home. By installing a community network, people can make telephone calls, read the news (there are no paper newspapers), consult medical doctors for remote consultation and so on.

We hold many panel discussions. This one is on applications and their potential for empowerement of rural communities, lead by Malcolm Matson.

After lunch staff of the TCV approach to surprise me with the introduction of our sponsor-child, Thinlay.

True, when I planned to come to Dharamsala, I had the plan to visit him at a nearby village. However, when I asked the organization about my plan, they had to inform me that he moved to faraway district to follow a school over there. So far away that I had dropped the plan to meet him.

However, he had figured that if I travel all the way to India, he will travel to Dharamsala to meet me! Good initiative and a happy surprise! Thanks.

If you want to support Tibetan children in exile, please visit their website.

After the close of the conference, we dash to a restaurant close to the auditorium for some food to be well prepared to visit the show the children will receive for their anniversary at the auditorium. We are just in time to get our food before a group from the conference comes in and occupies the whole remainder of the restaurant.

Thanks to that timing we are in time to come into the auditorium, now packed with 2000 children plus teachers, staff and guests. We go to the balcony and meet Thinlay's brother-in-law, Thinlay stays with him. After the show, he will drop me at my guesthouse, as the third person on his motorbike. Again we are in time, because we can find a place on the last part of the still free side balcony when a bunch of children come in.

The atmosphere is wonderful, very peaceful, the children are very orderly and they sing forte with the Tibetan popstars.

Thinlay's brother kindly meets us at 8 PM to ask if I want to go home. It is a good idea, because I am the first one on the agenda for tomorrow.

The three person ride on the bike over the bad road is a very smooth one and I feel saver than in a rickshaw! Thanks!