A Whirlwind of Devastation in Our Village
Unfortunately, our village was devastated by the torrential downpour and hailstorm from several days ago. We are struggling to find shelter as many of our homes have been destroyed. The monastery seems to be still alright — although the exterior of the building has seen better days… Water flooded some of the books that were stacked against the bookshelf’s lowest level but the majority of the artifacts and relics that I was studying from seemed to have made it through the storm.
The weather has been freezing outside and gusts of frigid air have still been blowing. Fortunately everyone seems to have survived the hailstorm, although many are injured. I knew we should have bought some of those amulets they were selling in the village! Those who bought them were not affected at all by the storm. Both themselves and their homes are fine. Hopefully they will help out with the rebuilding of our village as we need all the help we can get. For the past couple of days, I have been helping out in the village. My husband, Dorje is a healer and he’s been working long hours the last couple of days helping the sick. I went down to the village square yesterday and saw many prayer yesterday. I believe they were praying for the weather to get better and for the injured to heal quickly. I saw the ritualists setting up a shrine earlier today with a similar purpose.
Supplies are running low. Many of our crops did not survive the storm and what little we have left is quickly running out. The extra supplies I bought before the storm have dwindled down. We’ve shared all that we’ve gotten with those around us but every day we see families with young children going hungry. We could ask for help from a neighbouring village — maybe get them to donate some supplies to us, or we could trade some of our goods with them in exchange for necessities, but we first need to fix the bridge to get out of the village. The bridge in and out of our village has been broken and is in need of repair so our community has decided to raise funds and supplies to fix it. I would like to donate but I’m not quite sure where to go… I will have to figure that out soon!
I’m not even sure that the closest village to us would be able to help. I’ve heard from others in the village that their settlement has been struck with a illness. I hear it’s a naga that’s causing it. I do hope everyone is alright! During my schooling when I was younger, I learnt that the naga are spirits who when disturbed, cause sickness. Perhaps the villagers polluted the river? Or cut down trees or affected the environment surrounding a body of water? Or maybe someone disturbed the spirit? I hope they fix the situation soon! I would hate to hear of more people getting hurt. Oh the tragedies that are affecting us! The hailstorm in our village and the sickness in the next village… I wonder if it may be someone’s black magic who caused the hailstorm. Maybe they are responsible for the naga sickness as well? That would be awful…
Some of our villagers will need to leave to help out with the sickness over there. The healers will go of course, to treat the sick and alleviate their suffering. I know Dorje is already planning with the other healers their plan for their journey there and their schedule while they will be there. The ritualists will also need to go because they may be able to solve the problem with the naga sickness. The farmers and builders will be staying behind to help with regrowing some of the crops and finding shelter for us. The rest of us, including the scholars and artists will be helping out in different ways — as we’re needed — with the rest of the village. I have some experience with healing from my earlier training. I’ve also picked up some skills with Dorje’s work as well. In order for the villagers to go help out, however, we need to fix the bridge!
I can only hope for the best for our village and neighbours in the village next to us. I know it will be a difficult few weeks coming up but I have faith that we will be able to pull ourselves out of this. Especially since winter is coming, the weather’s getting cooler and the sun’s out less during the day, we will need to get everything back in order soon. Everyone will need to pitch in with supplies to rebuild the village and bridge so that we can regain a sense of normalcy. I should go back to helping with the patients… I can’t take a break for too long.
Talk to you later,
Tashi
