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In July and August of 2007, several board members and supporters of The Sogan Foundation joined Sogan Rinpoche for a journey to Golok, Tibet to celebrate a newly-constructed and soon-to-open technical/scientific high school – our foundation's first humanitarian project. In this new photo gallery with captions, we share more images from that memorable time.

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September, 2009 was a time of travel for TSF founder and board chairman, Sogan Rinpoche. This was his second trip to Savogna, Italy, where he gave teachings at Polava di Savogna, a Dharma Center located in this town in northeast Italy. He also had the opportunity to do some sightseeing in the beautiful surrounding region. At the conclusion of teachings, Rinpoche spoke about the humanitarian work of The Sogan Foundation and its new undertaking, the Bayan Water Project, now in the final stages of fundraising with construction projected to start in spring, 2010.

On October 13, the Asia Society in NY will hold a film series that touches on environmental changes on the Tibetan Plateau, and the implications for the people who live there.

The short article about the film series repeats the same concerns that we heard on our first visit to Golok in the summer of 2005 – the grassland, that fundamental support for the nomadic way of life, is more quickly overgrazed now than in the past, with the number of patches of sandy soil increasing and growing larger; the pastures are overrun in places by picas, an adorable but voracious rodent, causing yet more degradation of the pastures; the mighty Machu (Yellow River) has overflown its old banks, and now fills valley bottoms with a lacey network of shallow rivulets.

This is such an important issue. As the article notes, the Tibetan Plateau is the "water tower of Asia," with glaciers that feed several of the major Asian rivers in addition to the Yellow -- the Yangtze, Mekong, Ganges and Indus Rivers among them. Those glaciers are melting. Environmental degradation on the Tibetan Plateau will have grave implications not only for the people who live there, but for many more millions of others throughout Asia whose lives depend on those rivers.

I am hoping these films will be showing somewhere closer to my neighborhood. If you attend the series in New York, send an email at info@sogan.org and let me know what you thought.

Located on the grounds of Bayan Monastery in Golok, this small settlement of elderly nomads reflects the ancient Tibetan tradition of caring for aging members of the community. Simple dwellings provide a welcome change from the physically demanding life of nomads. Elevation in this area of Golok is about 13,000' and while there is a spring to provide water, reaching it requires a potentially dangerous and tiring walk and it is not protected from contamination. The Sogan Foundation has committed to providing a basic water infrastructure for this small but growing community.

The Golok landscape reveals the rich culture and tradition of its inhabitants. Grazing yaks remind one of their ancient, nomadic tradition, while the stupas and prayer flags represent their spiritual commitment to be kind and compassionate to all living beings.