Sep 26 21:51pm Shigatse hotel
Today is rather relaxing. Gao and I went to the farm while Jie took Deegee for the checkup at the hospital. We started with an interview with Nobu – his biggest problem is lack of self-confidence, but he is still young (only 19) and that can be trained. I noticed that he was very passionate when he spoke Tibetan to Nyima explaining his opinion, but he was not confident enough to express himself in English or Chinese. Honestly his English is quite good. I think he is trainable and can be a good candidate for the future cheese factory. Then we went to the cheese workshop to see them making cheese from scratch. We noticed that the cheese they make is still quite basic and very much home style. If we want to be able to sell and make profit and later on expand the production, then a lot need to be changed. Zhaxi and Chunxiao stopped by at the farm on their way back to Lhasa and I was proud to be their tour guide – Paul joked that he could leave me here to be in charge:). They were impressed by the children, the farm and the atmosphere They offered their help to bring more people here and spread the word. I believe anybody come here would be touched – Ive never been any place in my life that is more close to Shangri-la than this!!!
We also tried out the breads the girls made and found that the recipe needs to be improved – they dont really have any real recipe! I can tell they are passionate about baking and all they need is the right guidance and experience – I will buy them some good bakery recipe books and send them some home recipe. I am sure they will do well.
We did a lot of research during the day while Gao fixed all the broken computers at the farm and set up the wireless network for the office – He is so valuable! We found lots of good information that would help the team here – the key problem they have is that they dont have anybody fluent in Mandarin that can do research on all the Chinese internet sites and get them information and help. This really needs to be changed.
We hiked up the mountain behind the farm and the view from there is just spectacular. I sat next to Mike, overlooking the farm, the village and the mountains, I really didnt want to leave: My heart has fallen for this place and the people here…
I will never forget the drive back this evening: The golden sky in front of us, the dark clouds hanging above the mountain, the music playing in the jeep… I was like in a different world. I was so touched that I didnt even want to take any photos because I wanted this picture to be carved onto my heart.
Now I understand Why Gao kept coming back to this land every year, because somehow piece of my soul is left here as well, together with the children, the people and the air….