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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
March 3 - March 9, 2005 Edition
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Trying
new things March 3, 2005 Story by Pat Waring Photos courtesy of Ben Sinnett
Drawn to a project rebuilding a ruined Buddhist monastery in remote Mongolia, sponsored by the California-based Cultural Restoration Tourism Project (CRTP), Steve proposed the idea to his son and daughter. While daughter Ty, 15, opted out of the challenging trip, 13-year-old Ben was all for it. “He’s always game to try new things,” says his dad. Seven months later, in July, 2002, the father and son boarded a plane for a 22-hour trip and a great adventure. The journey would take them to a place entirely new and exotic, while opening their eyes to a way of living they had never imagined. And now that simple action, that chance discovery of a project listed at the end of a magazine article, is changing two other lives too. Steve Sinnett hopes it will come to touch many others as well. This winter, Batbileg Tsamba and Baatarzorig Batsukh, both Mongolian natives, are here on Martha’s Vineyard working as carpenters with South Mountain Company. It was a dream of Steve’s, as he worked alongside the Mongolians, that some of them might come to the United States, refine their carpentry skills, and bring the new knowledge back home. He also wants his Vineyard neighbors to learn about CRTP and the opportunities it offers, so some may one day choose a service trip instead of visiting a beach or ski slope at vacation time. Bat and Baatar will be on hand with representatives of the tourism project Friday evening at Island Co-housing for a dinner and discussion and the community is invited. On the job Hammers were pounding and saws were humming at a West Tisbury construction site this week where Bat and Baatar were on the job. They worked with focus, paying close attention, handling tools with care. In their heavy boots and warm gear, bantering with the crew between tasks, they seemed like any number of craftsmen out making a living in the Vineyard winter. Lunch break was a jolly time, with Bat and Baatar sitting on the floor with their colleagues, chatting as they all shared bags of chips and a chocolate cake. Both men are slender, dark-haired, slight, with warm, engaging smiles. Bat, the only one of the pair who knows English, spoke about his experience and translated for Baatar. This was Bat’s second visit to the United States. He traveled to San Francisco 10 years ago for a three-month English course. Today he serves as on-site translator for CRTP. He is divorced with a son, 10, and daughter, 15. Although not a carpenter by trade, he worked construction during this visit. Baatar, on the other hand, is head carpenter at the temple building site where Steve was impressed by his skills. “It’s exciting here, said Bat, 36. “We always use hand tools at home. We don’t have such beautiful power tools.” He said that, although skilled with their simpler tools, carpenters back home cannot do the precision woodworking possible here. “The most important thing is we have a great team here,” he said with a grin, acknowledging his American colleagues. Baatar, 34, has never been to America before and was awed by the sight of the ocean. “It seems like endless water…I like it very much,” he said through Bat’s translation. “I can’t tell you what it’s like watching two grown men behave like children,” said Steve, recalling their exuberance when he first took the visitors to a Chilmark beach. “It helped remind me of the things I take for granted.” Time passes quickly According to Bat, two of the most notable differences between here and home are the weather (it’s warmer here, even now) and the food (it’s much more varied). The houses in general are bigger, more ornate, and use much more wood. Large houses in Mongolian cities employ a lot of brick and concrete, said Baatar. In the countryside, locals live in simple, round insulated tents called gers. And while here on the Vineyard sweatshirts and sweaters can often suffice, in Mongolia traditional sheepskin coats and thick felt boots are needed to keep out the bitter cold and wind. Nearing the end of their visit, the men say the time has passed quickly. “Three weeks seem like three days,” said Bat. “there are so many things to see and people are very nice.” Baatar, who has a wife and two-year-old son at home, agreed that people on the Vineyard have been very friendly and hospitable. For their part, the crew members were all smiles with Bat and Baatar along on the job. “They’re delightful,” said carpenter Mike Drezner. “They really try really hard.” According to project foreman Billy Dillon, the pair used chain saws, jig saws, and table saws — “everyday tools for us that Bat and Baatar are not used to using every day. But if you give them an axe, they can work wonders.” And Billy said language provided little barrier at the worksite. Somehow, it was easy to communicate with few words, thanks to the visitors’ wish to make themselves understood and the fact that “the carpentry is pretty universal.” A remote world “The idea of building a Buddhist community that had been destroyed, and being in a completely different and far away place — it seemed like an adventure just to get there,” says Steve, recalling his excitement when he and Ben traveled to Mongolia. They flew from Boston to Los Angeles to Seoul, Korea, then to Ulan Bator, Mongolia’s capital. After a two-day stop in the city, the Sinnetts headed into the countryside in a four-wheel-drive van. Within an hour they were completely away from all civilization, passing only an occasional modest dwelling. Eight hours into the country they arrived at the Baldan Baraivan Monastery site where, despite the language difference, they quickly felt comfortable. The pair was given their own ger for sleeping, saw the project, and met the Mongolians. “I was overwhelmed by their generosity, kindness, and camaraderie,” says Steve. “Even though we couldn’t speak each other’s language, I felt right at home.” Along with the Sinnetts were a half-dozen other Americans traveling with the CRTP program, as well as the program’s organizers, Mark Hintzke and his wife, Jen Weisner. Three trained interns from CTRP helped keep life and work functioning smoothly. Mongolian Communists had ravaged the once thriving 18th-century monastery in the 1930s, killing most of its several thousand inhabitants and sending others into exile. At one time, the monastery had been one of the three main cultural hubs of Mongolia, and among the largest monasteries in the world. A handful of elderly monks returned to Baldan Baraivan in 1991 and began the daunting job of restoring the monastery, soon realizing they needed more help. Mark Hintzke learned of the project and in 1998 agreed that CRTP would facilitate the project. Although the monastery is not occupied now, monks often visit the site. They gathered in large numbers for the traditional and colorful Mani Buteel Festival, held while Steve and Ben were there. Steve has a wealth of photos of the remote yet lovely countryside, expanses of flat meadows surrounded by high hills, huge rocks, and close-ups of the delicate wildflowers that grow there. There are shots of smiling monks in their glowing orange garb, Americans and Mongolians working and playing together, the cozy sleeping spaces, the busy dining hall, and the exotic buildings taking shape. Ben took many of the pictures. Mongolia is the second most sparsely populated country in the world, he says. The winters are windy and bitter cold; even during their mid-summer visit there were frosty nights. Steve and Ben quickly settled into the routine — an early breakfast served in a simple, open-air dining area, a community meeting to discuss assignments, and days filled with work and easy camaraderie. Nothing was familiar, from the plain but hearty food to the chilly summer climate, the barren landscape, and the traditional sleeping accommodations. There was no electricity, no machinery, no vehicles. For Steve, an accomplished carpenter, working with only hand tools was a challenge. Yet he threw himself into the project, doing whatever was needed, learning as he went from his Mongolian counterparts. He painted a dragon and carved an ornate mandala design and a deer on an ornamental gate even though he had never done such things before. Steve was delighted with trying his hand at something new, and quietly pleased with the results. Although only required to work five hours a day, Steve and Ben put in much longer shifts. “I wanted to work hard and help out of respect for them,” says Steve. Giving something back “When I first heard that my dad was going to Mongolia, I was excited, but I had no idea where in the world Mongolia was,” recalls Ben, now a sophomore at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, N.H. But once he learned more about the trip, he was excited about going to a new place so far away. “My dad told me that we would be going during the summer. I didn’t want to miss out on my summer vacation, but I went anyway because it was a new experience,” Ben wrote in an e-mail to the Times. “I didn’t really know what to expect, so when I got there everything was new and exciting. The experience as a whole was so enjoyable that there was no one part that was better then another.” “The first project I had was to clear out a small side temple. The roof had caved in and there was dirt on the floor. We cleared the dirt out and found a lot of little offering bowls. When I wasn’t working I would go on walks. I would walk up the hills that were around the temple and sit on the top and look down at the temple and the surrounding land.” Ben said it was not hard to be away from youngsters his own age and American distractions, like television and games, because he kept so busy. “There was always something to do, so I never thought about what I was missing at home,” he said. “I liked it because there was something to do and I felt like I was helping the people to get something back.” Over those first weeks and during a second visit with Ben last July, Steve came to have high regard for the hard-working Mongolians. He was moved by their simple, basic way of living, struck by their determination, touched to discover that they sing when they work. He marveled at how the Mongolians manage, using what little the harsh climate and earth provides, calling it “an honest way to live.” Steve began to wonder what would become of the skilled carpenters when the project was complete, whether they would have new challenges, more jobs where they could gain experience and satisfaction. He began to formulate a plan to bring some of them to the Island, give them work where they could learn while immersed in a new culture, send them home with not only knowledge and experience but maybe a bag of tools too. Steve tried his idea out on John Abrams of South Mountain Company where he had worked for many years. John suggested he bring the proposal to a coordinating committee of the company. After discussing it, the committee members endorsed the plan and soon Steve was making arrangements to bring Bat and Baatar to the Vineyard. “This wouldn’t have happened without South Mountain, without them agreeing to be partners,” said Steve, expressing gratitude to the company and work crew for welcoming Bat and Baatar. After a weekend visit with Steve to Boston and to New Hampshire to see Ben, Bat and Baatar will board a plane for the long, long journey home, bringing happy memories and new ideas. Steve plans to continue his connection with CRTP and keep working on the monastery project. Clearly impassioned by the project and all he has experienced in Mongolia, he is hoping that learning about it and meeting Bat and Baatar will inspire others as well. At least, he hopes it will get people considering, “When you go to a place, what do you really want to leave behind?” Whatever the future brings, it is sure that the ripples from Steve’s chance encounter with a magazine article three years ago are continuing to spread. Explore Mongolia 6:30 pm, Island Co-Housing, common house, Rock Pond Rd., West Tisbury. Cultural Restoration Tourism Project participants and Mongolian guests tell about monastery restoration and rebuilding efforts in Nepal and Mongolia. Dinner. Free. 508-693-2744. |
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