Choemeys, Tibetan butter lamps, shone brightly as mourners clutched malas, Tibetan praying beads, to mourn the loss of 126 people who died in an earthquake earlier this week in Tibet at the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago Cultural Center, in Evanston, on Wednesday.
About 50 people gathered at the Cultural Center to offer the only thing they could to the place they had previously called home at one point in their lives. Mourners expressed their frustration with the situation’s limitations, saying there is no direct way of sending aid, and lines of communication are difficult to maintain.
“This is very tragic, very tragic, and the worst thing is that we can’t do anything,” said Tseten Lungkara, the former president of the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago. “I was trying to find out if there are any relief agencies that I can support — there isn’t any.”
“We can only pray,” he said. “It’s difficult to explain… You hope they can get a little bit of solace in this difficult period.”
According to the Associated Press, the earthquake struck an outlying county in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. According to state media, more than 46,000 people had to be relocated following the quake, and 188 others were injured.
Over 500 aftershocks were recorded after the earthquake, which the U.S. Geological Survey said measured magnitude 7.1. China’s earthquake center recorded a magnitude of 6.8.
Legal complications of Tibet’s sovereignty in China have also muddled communication with the Himalayan region. In a December interview with ABC, Tibet’s exiled President Sikyong Penpa Tsering, said then, “It’s very difficult to maintain communication … China controls all communication.” He said censorship and limited information coming out of Tibet is a common practice in the region.
Tashi Phuri, the president of the Tibet Center Chicago, said the lack of communication has led to uncertainty for Tibetans in Chicago. He did not know if his wife’s uncle was in Tingri, the earthquake’s epicenter, at the time of the quake.
“It’s difficult to contact, normally there’s no connection,” Phuri said. “If he’s in that village, given the types of houses that they have … we are giving (his chance of being alive) more or less 50-50.”
“Everything that we talk is censored,” said the Tibetan Alliance of Chicago’s President Tseten Dorjee, who was born in Tibet and is also a U.S. citizen. “If I got the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, they will not give me a visa if they think that I’m from Tibet.”
In a statement from the Tibetan Alliance for Chicago, Dorjee said, “Although, we are eager and desperate to offer relief, the Chinese government would not make it possible. But we urge the international organizations like the Red Cross and other humanitarian agencies in the world to take active part in the relief efforts. Tibetan communities across the globe will be more than willing and eager to offer relief aid through those agencies.”
“At this point, all we can do is pray for the deceased and for those who are affected by the destructive earthquake.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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