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Day
4 - June 30 - Saturday
We left the Church on time, but got very lost trying to find the
spot where we had stopped walking the day before. Our caravan of
two vans and one car weaved from one country road to another. Finally,
we found the route to our walking spot.
Today,
as we made our way through industrial, rural areas in New Jersey,
we seemed like a fine tuned team of walkers and activists. The walkers
are quite strong and determined. Not surprisingly, we walked three
extra miles and covered 15 miles.
One
of the walkers, Dorjee Tso, developed blisters on both feet. After
stopping to “pop” and clean them, she jumped back out
of the support van and continued to walk.
In the
evening, two Tibetan families drove 2 hours from New York City to
bring us a great Tibetan dinner. Jamphel Chonphel and Dechen Wangmo
prepared and sponsored the dinner, while Choenyi and Rabten helped
serve. This was the first time we had momos on the walk.
After
dinner we offered Jamphel, Dechen, Choenyi, and Rabten khatas and
profusely thanked them for taking the time to drive and for bringing
us such a great meal. Their presence really energized us.
We also
gave a khata to one of the three documentary filmmakers, Ole Brereton
who had been with us since leaving Indiana. Ole needed to leave
to take carry of some family responsibilities. We will miss him!
Following
this, two of our younger walkers, Tenzing Nyima and Tenzin Wangchuk
performed a couple of fantastic rap songs they had written about
working for Tibet’s independence and living in harmony with
China. They performed their songs in both English and Tibetan. This
was the second time on our walk they had shared their talent with
us. All of the older walkers felt extremely happy to realize the
passion and commitment the rappers demonstrated to return Tibet
to the Tibetans. Our younger walkers all smiled hearing their friends
stand up for Tibet! |