Dharamsala, Northern India – where many exiled Tibetans have settled since the Chinese took control of Tibet in the 1950s. This group, The Gyuto Monks, have rebuilt their way of life here, with the help of international supporters.....like Australians Maureen Fallon and her translator colleague, Sonam Rigzin.
For 16 years, Maureen and Sonam have toured small groups of monks from here around Australia, raising all the money to build this monastery in India.
MAUREEN FALLON: In the time that the monks have been coming to Australia, each year, it’s taken us quite a long time to find out that the monks have suffered from various illnesses. They don’t want to cause trouble and they very rarely will tell you they’re sick, but over time we’ve realised this and we have found out.
SONAM RIGZIN: Over the last 16 odd years Maureen has always managed to help fix their problems. One of the….
Super in at 01:02:28:14
Sonam Rigzin
Gyuto Monks Australia
Out at 01:02:34:16
common problems, which they all say is Phowa, which is literally translating stomach, gut disorder.
MAUREEN FALLON: About 8 years ago we meet, there was a Swiss doctor ……………………………….
Super in 01:02:38:15
Maureen Fallon
Director- Gyuto Monks Australia
Super Out 01:02:44:21
actually in Sydney to meet the Dalai Lama and she said, I recognise what’s wrong with that monk, I know what test is required, I know what will cure it. I will take him to an Australian doctor. She did. It was Helicobacter Pylori.
NARRATOR: Helicobacter Pylori, the bacterium that causes stomach ulcers, is endemic in poor countries. If it’s not treated it can eventually cause stomach cancer.
MAUREEN FALLON: There are 100,000 Tibetans in India, if 80% of them have it, that’s a lot of people. The biggest cancer in the Tibetan community is stomach cancer.
[Addressing the Monks] The good news is that we can now treat you.
NARRATOR: Maureen and Sonam had an instinct that there must be a connection between the common gastric pain that Tibetans call Phowa and Helicobacter Pylori. With the backing of a specialist medical team in Australia, they’re here now to test that theory.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: How many years have you had Phowa for? How long?
MONK: Maybe 20 years.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: 20 years!
NARRATOR: So they brought a nurse and final year medical student, Courtney Harrington, to test and treat a small pilot group of monks. If that works, the idea is to ultimately make the cure available to the rest of the Tibetan exile community. They have just 18 days on the ground here, to get the pilot study done, so Courtney can’t waste any time.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: Does the Phowa pain go to your back?
MONK: Yes.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: Pain in back? Yeah. Here? Just here? Sometimes there, okay.
NARRATOR: Courtney and the monastery nurse Tsering are looking for those monks with the most serious symptoms of Phowa.
Super in 01:04:38:02
MONK #1:
When it is really bad it stops me from going to prayers.
OUT at:01:04:41:23
IN at 01:04:41:24
MONK #2:
I am afraid I might die of Phowa.
Out At 01:04:46:09
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: How much blood? Little specs?
I’m very keen on social justice and obviously this project, you know it’s me to a tee. It’s a population that is exiled and refugee, you know but you come here and they just, they have so much love to give.
[With the monks] Sounds like that probably we can help.
NARRATOR: With limited testing and treatment kits available, Courtney and Tsering have some difficult choices to make, but high on the list is this latecomer, scholar monk, Geshe Dheema.
GESHE DHEEMA says
Super in 01:05:46:11
I have a bloated stomach after eating
Out at 01:05:53:14
CUT to 01:05:53:15
and a burning sensation in the gut.
Out at01:05:59:16
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: We are working together. Tsering is obviously pivotal and she’ll be re-testing them after the treatment.
NARRATOR: A monk’s job is to pray so in a Tibetan monastery no medical project would be complete without a puja or prayer to the medicine Buddha. To remove any obstacles to the testing and treatment, the senior monks chant for the success of Courtney’s work. It’s a thirsty job and the salty butter tea just keeps coming.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: To a western mind, it seems like a big leap from chanting a medicine Buddha prayer to a modern medical test but I’ve found that the monks are essentially very pragmatic.
NARRATOR: Out of 500 odd monks, 65 are short listed for the next stage of the project. A breath test that will tell the team who’s infected with the bacterium.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: [To the monks] Then what we will do is you will drink one of this. It has water in it.
SONAM RIGZIN in Tibetan
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This water contains the chemical
that tests for the bugs.
Out at 01:07:31:24
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: I’m trying to explain to them that they need to drink this urea substance and then you get Sonam who is rather a joker and a bit of a larrikin going, come on boys, bottoms up. Drink it for me. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to alcohol.
SUPER In at 01:07:58:13
MONK: [To another monk waiting outside]
It’s nothing mysterious, it’s just a bug.
Out at 01:08:04:00
NARRATOR: Half an hour later the monks waiting outside the clinic are tested again to see if the bacterium is present. As the monastery nurse, it’s important that Tsering be tested too. She joins in with the last group.
[Sending parcel of test results] But time is critical – the tests have to be analysed in Australia and the results emailed back to India before Courtney knows who’s infected. Sending an urgent parcel means a 15 kilometre drive up into the mists of McLeod Ganj, the political and spiritual centre of the Tibetan refugee community in India.
At first, the back alley office doesn’t inspire confidence.
DHL GIRL: Within 5 days, or after 5 days… it takes kind of 4 days, 5 days or 6 days.
MAUREEN FALLON: Is there any faster way?
DHL GIRL: Faster way? No I assure you this is the fastest way.
NARRATOR: But to the experienced, in India there is always a faster way.
MAUREEN FALLON: We’re only here for a very short space of time and we need to have this reach Australia and we need to have further advice from Australia as to what to do next so every moment…
DHL GIRL: So how much fast you want?
MAUREEN FALLON: As quickly as possible. If it could fly out on Monday, it would be really good.
DHL GIRL: [On phone]
Super in at 01:09:55:02
Can you speed up the process?
It’s medical test tubes that are urgent.
OUT at 01:09:59:06
[To Maureen] Maybe there is faster… more money…
MAUREEN FALLON: Yes I understand. Can you organise that for us please? [to camera] That is a huge relief, a huge relief. I was about to fly them back myself you know tomorrow.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: [Leaving DHL office] Good work. Mission accomplished.
NARRATOR: Back at the temple, it’s the culmination of a 5-day ceremony, rarely witnessed by outsiders. The prayers are for Mahakala, the deity revered as the protector of all Tibetan monasteries. This ritual, dating from the 14th century, is performed to demolish all obstacles on the path to enlightenment.
MAUREEN FALLON: Well today I’m here at Gyuto monastery to make a black tea offering to the monks. Gyuto monastery has a very democratic system and everyone is treated completely equally. To each young monk you make exactly the same offering and everyone receives an equal gift.
There’s a group of monks in the monastery called the 59-ers and they are the old monks who were in Gyuto Monastery in Ramoche temple in Lhasa Tibet who were young men, young monks in 1959 when the Chinese shelled Lhasa and they were completely decimated. A monastery of 900 people was reduced to about 90. So yes I do feel emotional.
Super in 01:12:05:08
Maureen Fallon
Director- Gyuto Monks Australia
Super Out 01:12:11:10
I feel very connected to them and they are part of what makes Gyuto, Gyuto.
NARRATOR: With the tests well on their way to Australia, the team’s focus turns to raising awareness about simple personal hygiene. Sonam comes up with the perfect solution, a hand washing mantra that takes 7 seconds, the same amount of time it takes to wash off 90% of the bacteria. And Sonam’s 7 second mantra becomes a hit.
SONAM RIGZIN: [Demonstrating mantra with young monks]
SUPER in at 01:12:48:09
If you wash your hands you won’t get sick.
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In 01:12:50:15
If you don’t wash your hands you will get sick.
Out 01:12:53:06
In 01:12:53:07
If you wash your hands you won’t get sick.
Out 01:12:58:22
My passion for this Tibetan public health program is two pronged. One is humanitarian and one is political. Humanitarian is of course you would like to alleviate their suffering whichever the way you can. And my political interest in it is that to regain free Tibet.
Super in at 01:13:42:04
Sonam Rigzin
Gyuto Monks Australia
Out at 01:13:48:09
We cannot afford to lose one single Tibetan person.
NARRATOR: Eventually, 5 days later, the anxious team gets a text from the breath analysis lab in Sydney. The results have been emailed but in India things are never quite as easy as they sound.
MAUREEN FALLON: We have news from Australia that the results are in but we are here in India and the internet is sporadic at times. Today is not the best day.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: It’s a little slower than usual. Here we go. [Reading email] Hi Courtney and Maureen. A rough count looks like 36 positives and 9 equivs so 45 of 65 screened will be eligible for treatment.
MAUREEN FALLON: A low count is 3 is that what you’re saying? And some of them are 57 and 45. That’s pretty serious. That’s serious helicobacter.
SONAM RIGZIN: It’s a hell of a helicobacter! Am I right? [Maureen rolls her eyes]
MAUREEN FALLON: We’re down here because we’ve just received the results of the tests. The good news is that the pilot project has been worthwhile and the bad news I guess is that 70% of the monks are showing positive for Helicobacter Pylori. Our thinking was correct. It seems there may well be a connection between Phowa and Helicobacter Pylori and now we will get busy and start treating the monks.
NARRATOR: Much to her surprise the monastery nurse also turns out to be infected.
TSERING: Yeah I was so surprised ‘cause normally I don’t have that much problem with Phowa. If I eat a lot of chilli food, at that time I have pain.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: [To the monks] We can help your Phowa. That’s good isn’t it?
NARRATOR: It’s treatment day at the monastery and some last minute help rumbles in.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: This is Nick and this is Vic.
Super in at 01:16:11:02
Courtney Harrington
Medical Student
Out at 01:16:17:05
They are some more medical students from Australia, so we found them at dinner last night and went hey come over and help dose all the monks for the first time.
[Advising them] Better tell them to take it in front of you with water and then go downstairs and get some milk tea.
VIC: Okay there is butter tea coming up.
NARRATOR: The treatment kits have all been donated. The monks have to take a combination of three different antibiotics twice a day for 7 days. Geshe Dheema turns out to have the highest infection rate of all.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: You have the highest level of H Pylori. Huge level.
VIC: [With the monk taking medicine] Perfect!
SONAM RIGZIN: He would just simply like to express on behalf of the monastery for you two boys showing interest in the health need of the monastery and it is just a gesture to express their gratitude.
NICK: It was such a wonderful opportunity to be here. It was just beautiful. I think we’ve learned so much just from the very brief time that we were here.
NARRATOR: While Courtney has been treating the monks, Maureen has been putting them to work.
MAUREEN FALLON: In a fit of enthusiasm at the beginning of the week, about 3 days ago I said to the monks, we need a line of sinks outside the dining rooms. If you can fit those sinks by Friday I’ll pay for them. So right here, this is Friday morning. We have the pipes, we have the sinks, we have the plumber and it’s happening. And hopefully by the time we leave on Monday, it’ll be functioning and the monks will be washing their hands.
KITCHEN MONK in Tibetan
Super In at 01:18:18:08
If you wash your hands you wont get sick.
OUT 01:18:21:21
IN 01:18:21:22
This is where they’ll wash their hands.
OUT 01:18:24:03
IN 01:18:24:04
It was provided by Maureen and Sonam. Thank you.
Out At 01:18:29:19
NARRATOR: While the plumbers chip away at the concrete, upstairs in their boardroom the 59-ers are looking after the serious business of money, Gyuto style. They are chanting to invoke Zambhala, the monastery’s deity for health and prosperity. This woman is an official Tibetan state oracle. In a trance, she is the medium who embodies the female spirit, Youdonma. Her presence and her predictions are integral to the monastery’s ceremonial life.
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: As a medical student and having no idea what was going on, I thought oh my goodness this lady is going to be on the floor and I’m going to have to resuscitate her. It was only when Sonam was like, shut up Courtney. It’s fine. It’s actually what she is meant to be doing, I thought oh my god I am so silly. So it’s really where you think oh gosh cultural faux-pas let’s put it that way, cultural faux-pas.
NARRATOR: Maureen Fallon knows what it costs to run this monastery, so she’s always looking for innovative ways the monks can both create income and serve the local community.
MAUREEN FALLON: Yeah we can do it. You’d get a substantial building on here… fantastic!
NARRATOR: She can see how a Phowa clinic can help.
MAUREEN FALLON: There are plans to build a small hospital here - a clinic - and to provide a model for utilising this kind of service, this kind of care for the Tibetan community which is spread all around India.
NARRATOR: Instead of a lifetime of pain for traditional treatments, locals would be able to have a one off cure.
MAUREEN FALLON: It’s not heart surgery, it’s not transplants, it’s something that for around about the equivalent of Australian say $200 we can test and we can treat and we can change lives.
NARRATOR: Geshe Dheema the monk with the highest infection rate has some good news for Sonam.
SONAM RIGZIN: He is very delighted to have this treatment. Although it is only 3 days into the treatment of a 7 day program, he is experiencing remarkable differences in his wellbeing.
GESHE DHEEMA:
Super In at 01:21:41:14
My chest and upper back used to feel very tight
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IN 01:21:47:12
– and after eating, my stomach felt very bloated.
OUT 01:21:50:20
IN 01:21:50:21
Now I feel as if a big blockage has been removed.
OUT 01:21:55:04
NARRATOR: And he says thank you with a traditional prayer.
GESHE DHEEMA: [Prayer]
IN 00:22:00:21
To care for others is precious.
If this thought is not born in you, may it arise.
OUT 00:22:05:15
COURTNEY HARRINGTON: It’s been life changing. It’s amazing. It shows for the first time that all my studying and all my... you know, late nights in the books can actually help someone you know, somewhere, make a little bit of a difference. So it’s my first taste of actually being able to help someone with medicine and I love it. I’m very thankful.
MAUREEN FALLON: [To young monks] What do we do? How do we do it?
YOUNG MONKS CHANTING:
IN AT 00:22:42:23
If you wash your hands you won’t get sick.
If you don’t wash your hands you will get sick.
If you wash your hands you wont get sick.
If you don’t wash your hands you will get sick.
OUT AT 00:22:53:08
NARRATOR: Six weeks later, when the monks line up on re-testing day, everyone knows the drill and Tsering has got it all under control.
IN AT 00 23 31 14
TSERING: [To monk] Do it properly.
OUT AT 00 23 33 22
NARRATOR: The results from the follow up tests show that 80% of the monks who took the antibiotics are now cured of the Helicobacter infection.
IN at 23 31 14
TSERING: [To monks] Don’t leave just yet.
OUT AT 00 23 46 23
IN AT 00 23 48 09
MONK #1: Since the treatment all my pains have disappeared.
CUT TO MONK #2: Since the treatment I feel really good. now I can sleep well.
CUT TO MONK #3: I can eat and drink anything. I am very grateful.
OUT AT 00240608
MAUREEN FALLON: It’s really only through the generosity of Australians, their understanding of who the monks are, the impact of the monks on their lives, that we have been able, in spite of everything, to continue to help them. We’re not in this to win medals, we’re Australians, we’re in this to build dunnies (toilets) and indeed that’s what we’ve done.
PAGE 1
CAMERAS
MARK GOULD
JIGME TSERING
SOUND
JANET BELL
EDITOR
NICK BRENNER
ANIMATION
LUKE MARSHALL
PAGE 2
THANKS TO
PROFESSOR BARRY MARSHALL N.L.
MRS ADRIENNE MARSHALL
PROFESSOR TOM BORODY
PROFESSOR NIGEL HOPE
DR ROSS GRANT
Producer Director Writer
Mark Gould
EXEC PRODUCER
STEVE TAYLOR