Far removed from the 'Tiger' Economies of East Asia, the high plateau of Tibet is the heartland of the Yak economy!
Three female Yak, or dri, produce enough milk to feed one person!
The vast nomadic grasslands of Tibet are only habitable thanks to the lumbering yak. Virtually everything that a nomad family has or needs springs forth from their dependable herds. Beyond meat and wool, the yak - or more accurately the female yak, called "dri" in Tibetan - produces a rich milk used in making cheese, yogurt, and, of course, the ubiquitous yak butter, its smell prevalent throughout Tibet. Yak caravans still reach out to the remotest areas of Tibet and - where farmed - yaks are the plateau's tractors. yak bones make jewellery and tent-fastenings, and yak dung is used to fire the otherwise fuel-less stoves of the Tibetan plateau.
It costs just £85 to sponsor a yak, and help to preserve a tradition!
The nomadic way of life, unchanged over centuries, is increasingly under threat from changing social and environmental conditions. In 1995-6, devastating blizzards ravished the eastern Tibetan plateau, killing hundreds of thousands of animals, and leaving many nomads destitute. Although the life of a nomad is hard, the alternative - migration to the cities where they are unqualified for more than manual labour - is almost always much worse.
Since 1996, Tibet Foundation has been purchasing yaks from people and monasteries in the richer lowlands, and redistributing them among the poorest highland nomads. We are also providing yaks to worthy institutions such as Boomsar Old People's Home. The 'Yak for Life' scheme makes a real contribution towards helping people remain self-sufficient, and keeping their tradition alive!
To sponsor a yak costs just £85. Aid to Tibet will purchase one dri (a female yak) with a calf, and distribute them to one of the neediest families in the region. There is a funny side to the programme too - donors can name the yak (for their donor's certificate, at least), and receive an exclusive 'Yak for Life' tee-shirt.
Many thanks for your support.
N.B. There is an amusing aspect to the programme, too, whereby a donor can give a name to the yak (at least, for their donor's certificate), and receive an exclusive 'Yak for Life' tee-shirt !
http://www.tibet-foundation.org/
