中国神山志愿者之家

中国神山志愿者之家缘起于中国西藏岗底斯救助孤儿、贫困无助儿童志愿者工作站。发起于2006年，发起人任怀平。

中国神山志愿者之家，主要为中国西部尤其是藏区提供教育、环境保护、文化传承的支援与研究。

中国神山志愿者之家的宗旨是不计报酬，不求回报，为国内外关注慈善事业及富有爱心人士创建的爱心窗口，救助孤儿及贫困、无助儿童，发展藏区慈善事业，让更多的人关注藏区，了解藏区。
截至2008年年底，志愿者之家救助的孤儿及贫困、无助儿童总计有41名。并正在阿里普兰县巴嘎乡塔尔钦筹建一所孤儿院。希望更多有爱心，有社会责任感的人士参与到藏区慈善事业当中来，并深切的盼望有更多的人来关注藏区慈善事业，给予本志愿者之家支持和帮助！

2005年，任怀平游历了大半个西藏，当他来到这里，被神山雄伟、壮丽的景色所折服，被圣湖的圣洁美丽所陶醉，可也发现还有不少藏族孩子因贫困无法正常读书，有的小小年纪就失去父母，成为孤儿。目睹这些，他毅然放弃北京的一切，只身来到这里。任怀平的妻儿都在海外，他本人曾是北京一所大学的副教授，生活条件很好。知道任怀平的人几乎都不相信他能在海拔4700米的地方扎下根。但是，任怀平仍执着地坚持了下来。 任怀平说，他一生最大的愿望，就是在神山脚下，建一个孤儿院，让那些失去亲人的藏族孩子，有一个温暖的家。

志愿者之家博客：http://blog.sina.com.cn/kailashvolunteer，上面有神山志愿者之家的相关介绍、救助活动、物资发放情况、受助情况等信息，欢迎浏览。

你能做些什么
1．捐献衣物：如果你的衣橱里有旧衣服以后再也不穿了，你可以把它捐献出来。
注：不需要短袖，阿里没有夏天。
2．捐款：不在乎多少钱，每一分钱都可能改变一个失学儿童的一生！
3．一对一爱心救助贫困儿童。
站长/受理人：任怀平
邮编：859500
邮寄地址：西藏阿里普兰县巴嘎乡塔尔钦志愿者工作站
唯一指定捐款帐号：
开户行：中国农业银行普兰县支行
开户名：任怀平
帐号：95599 8387 08562 73415

背景介绍：
阿里

阿里地区位于西藏的西部，是青藏高原海拔最高、高原形态最完整的地理单元。大部分地区海拔4600~5100米，被称为“世界屋脊之屋脊”。这里土地辽阔，人口稀少，边境线长达1116公里。阿里地区管辖7个县：普兰县、札达县、噶尔县、日土县、革吉县、改则县、措勤县。

藏西是古象文化的发祥地。象雄历史悠久，早于雅隆部落崛起于青藏高原，以狩猎和游牧为主，并兼营农业。象雄地处中亚和欧洲的第二条古丝绸之路边沿，有人称此路“麋香之路”。藏西旅游资源独具特色； 阿里普兰境内“神山圣湖”、神秘的古格王朝遗址、状若丛林的扎达土林地貌、著名的鸟岛班公湖及众多的古代岩画等。

阿里交通：从拉萨到阿里有两条道，北道1760公里，南道1190公里。北道车更多点，南道几乎只有旅行团才走。都要先从拉萨经过拉孜到达桑桑后的22道班，分岔点就在过了桑桑后的22道班。一般北道车多点，南道通常是旅行团才走，但是拉萨到阿里，北道更远更难走。藏羚羊班车“北线”经省道运营，全年通车；每隔2~3天定点发出班车；“南线”经国道219线，为季节性通车，班次不定。从阿里狮泉河出发到主要旅游景区程数：狮泉河—古格遗址273公里，老路；狮泉河—普兰398公里，主道；狮泉河—扎达255公里，老路；狮泉河—日土120公里，主道；狮泉河—神山294公里，主道；狮泉河—圣湖324公里，主道；狮泉河—班公湖136公里，主道。

冈仁波齐

冈仁波齐与梅里雪山、阿尼玛卿山脉、青海玉树的尕朵觉沃并称藏传佛教四大神山。冈底斯山脉横贯在北部昆仑山脉与南部喜马拉雅山脉之间，如一条巨龙卧在西藏西部阿里广阔的高原上。它高高扬起的头，如一座大金字塔，耸立在阿里普兰的高原上，这就是海拔六六五六米的主峰冈仁波齐。
冈仁波齐，位于东经８１°，北纬３１°海拔６６３８米（另说海拔６７１４米），是冈底斯山的主峰。冈仁波齐峰形似金字塔（藏民称象“石磨的把手”），四壁非常对称。由南面望去可见到它著名的标志：由峰顶垂直而下的巨大冰槽与一横向岩层构成的佛教万字格（佛教中精神力量的标志，意为佛法永存，代表着吉祥与护佑。冈仁波齐峰经常是白云缭绕，当地人认为如果能看到峰顶是件很有福气的事情。

这座亚洲历史上最著名的山峰，从久远的时候起，就被西藏苯教、佛教、印度教及古耆那教的信奉者尊为神灵之所在的世界中心。冈仁波齐在藏语中意为“神灵之山”，在梵文中意为“湿婆的天堂”（湿婆为印度教主神），苯教更是发源于此。从印度创世史诗《罗摩衍那》以及藏族史籍《冈底斯山海志》、《往世书》等著述中的记载推测，人们对于冈仁波齐神山的崇拜可上溯至公元前１０００年左右。据苯教经典描述：一条从冈仁波齐而下的河，注入不可征服的湖泊——玛旁雍湖。有四条大河由此发源，流向东、南、西、北四方。流向东方的是当却藏布马泉河（下游为布拉马普特拉河），绿宝石丰富，饮此水的人们如朗驹一般强壮；流向南方的是马甲藏布孔雀河（下游为恒河），银沙丰富，饮此水的人们如孔雀一般可爱；流向西方的是朗钦藏布象泉河（下游为苏特累季河），金矿丰富，饮此水的人们壮如大象；流向北方的是森格藏布狮泉河（下游为印度河），钻石矿藏丰富，饮此水的人们勇似雄狮。印度人称这座山为Kailash，也认为这里是世界的中心，每年有络绎不绝的来自印度、不丹、尼泊尔以及我国各大藏族聚居区的朝圣队伍，使得这里的神圣意味绵延了几千年。

几个世纪以来，岗仁波齐一直是朝圣者和探险家心目中的神往之地，但是至今还没有人能够登上这座神山，或者说至今还没有人胆敢触犯这座世界的中心。旅行者把目光投向这块圣洁之地不过是最近几年才有的事，不过人数依然不多，这或许是一件值得庆幸的事情。

玛旁雍错

玛旁雍错海拔将近4588米，是世界上海拔最高的淡水湖之一，最深处81米，转湖周长大约90公里。坐落在冈仁波齐东南30千米，面积400多平方千米。早期的苯教徒称它为“玛垂错”，传说湖底聚集了众多的珍宝。
玛旁雍错得名于11世纪在此湖畔进行的一场宗教大战，它在藏语中意为“不可战胜的湖泊”。藏传佛教噶举派与苯教的争斗逐渐获胜后，便把已经沿用了很多世纪的“玛垂错”改名为“玛旁雍错”，即“永远不败之碧玉湖”。沿湖而建的佛寺甚多，现存8座。

《大藏经，俱舍论》中记载，印度往北过九座大山，有一大雪山，雪山下有四大江水之源……。佛经中说的大雪山就是神山冈仁波切，而四大江水之源指的就是圣湖之母玛旁雍错。东为马泉河，南为孔雀河，西为象泉河，北为狮泉河。“玛旁雍错”--“不可战胜的碧玉之湖”，藏语里“玛旁”就是不败，无能胜的意思。

根据古印度和佛教的宇宙观，四条流过印度大陆的河流发源于玛旁雍错，分别是Indus，Ganges，Sutlej和Brahmaputra，实际上只有Sutlej的源头是玛旁雍错，不过其它河的源头也在附近。

佛教徒认为，玛旁雍错是最圣洁的湖，是胜乐大尊赐予人间的甘露，圣水可以清洗人心灵中的烦恼和孽障。她是佛教，印度教，苯教所有圣地中最古老，最神圣的地方，她是心灵中尽善尽美的湖，她是这个宇宙中真正的天堂，是众神的香格里拉。万物之极乐世界。

2009年5月3日的上海日报关于中国神山志愿者之家的报道：http://www.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=399618&type=Feature
Mission to teach kids on high
THE spaceship program engineer Ren Huaiping was stunned by the abject poverty of residents on his first visit to the remote village of Taerqing at the foot of the religiously sacred Mount Kailash in Tibet Autonomous Region.

They lacked everything in this Himalayan village 4,700 meters above sea level, from clean water to vegetables, clothes and medicine, not to mention books and writing paper for school. The villagers were scraping for a living from the desolate, rugged land and never thought of educating their children whose days were spent herding goats or yaks.

That initial visit was in 2005 and things have changed in the Ngari Prefecture village since Ren returned a year later, having quit his Beijing job.

Ren settled in the village with the aim of establishing a care program for orphans whose parents have died in the harsh natural elements in an inhospitable region.

"I could hear an inner voice telling me to stay and help," said Ren as he recalled how he made up his mind to live in the isolated highland village. Mount Kailash, whose Tibetan name means "precious jewel of snows," is believed to be the most significant peak in the world without known climbing attempts. It therefore doesn't have the commercial infrastructure such as other areas that supports climbing expeditions.

In the past three years, Ren has established a volunteer center that attracts a dozen young people each year to work and teach in the poverty-stricken area and provides more than 30 volunteer teachers to schools in the prefecture.

Ren has adopted eight Tibetan orphans, effectively establishing the highest orphanage in the world, and supports another 43 children to go to school. He rented a bungalow for 1,000 yuan (US$680) per month as the volunteer center and sought help from local schools and authorities to build a database of children in the area.

Apart from learning to cope with the high altitude thin air, Ren also had to contend with the shortage of fresh vegetables and living without a bathroom, electricity and tap water. Fetching water from a melting glacier has become a daily toil for the 55-year-old which he does in a trek that takes 90 minutes without a vehicle.

Ren's first contribution to the village was two public toilets as he considered them a good start to introduce civilization and hygiene to the locals. The normally simple construction, however, took almost two years to complete and cost Ren about 100,000 yuan.

"Physical labor is very arduous with tenuous air at this high level and water is so scarce that even carrying a bottle of water induces gasps for breath," Ren explained. "Every brick had to be transported from elsewhere" and was an additional burden after fetching water over a long distance.

He added that it takes weeks for a caravan to bring in much needed necessities.

"Building an orphanage will cost more money and time," said Ren. "I'm still far away from the budget needed for the project."

Today, eight orphans are living in the volunteer center, which Ren said is "by no means an orphanage" because it also serves as an inn to cover the children's expenses. He has spent all his savings on the venture and is compelled by economics to couple his community work with running the inn business. "The inn could bring us approximately 15,000 yuan a year and would improve the life of these kids," he said.

Ren wants the children to live in a better home with at least books and a playground. He recently found four more orphans in Yanhu, another village in the prefecture, which he aims to bring in.

Unexpectedly, the inn gradually became a communication platform as international travelers carried Ren's story back home. Some even set up blogs and Websites for the volunteer center and regularly update information about Ren's undertakings.

These Websites attract not only public attention but also volunteers and donations. "My family also learned about my work via those Websites," said Ren.

Asked what his family thought about him, Ren said, "they thought I was crazy but they now begin to understand me after reading those stories online."

"Even though my wife can not join me in this desolate environment, she gave me a lot of support." Ren's wife, a university researcher, now lives in Germany. She often phones him and sends money and materials.

Before leaving for Tibet, Ren was the general manager and chief engineer of two Beijing companies with a yearly income of 400,000 yuan. Having worked in the countryside as a young laborer during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), Ren was accustomed to living in hardy conditions but going to college changed his life.

After graduating from a polytechnic university in 1980, he joined the People's Liberation Army and was assigned to work in an aeronautic and space institute where he met his wife. He later took part in the Shenzhou spaceship program where he was responsible for ground surface experiments.

In 1997, he left the institute to work as general manager and chief engineer for an international company. But after his first trip to Taerqing, Ren soon made up his mind to spend the rest of his life helping Tibetan children. "I won't leave here as long as my health permits," he said.

Although his family now understands and supports him, he still has regrets, highlighted when he returned home for the first time in three years last October. "I saw my 80-year-old father with tears in his eyes, having no idea whether he would live to see me the next time," Ren recalled.

Today, everything in the volunteer center goes smoothly. One of Ren's regular jobs is to go deep into the pastures to hand out cash to poor herdsmen's families who are supposed to use the 100 yuan monthly stipend on their children's nutrition and education. Transport remains the biggest problem for Ren though the local police have offered him transport to visit remote rural families.

The sum he spends on travel equals the amount of money he has raised for the children. "But you have almost no choice because this remote place has no bank," Ren said. "Few cars go between Taerqing and Ngari (seat of the Ngari Prefecture). The driver rules the road and can ask any fee he wishes." After a lot of bargaining and with fuel included, the fee is usually about 3,000 yuan for a single trip to the yurts (wood lattice-framed dwellings) scattered far out on the pastures.

Ren and his team once rented a car but it broke down and they had to pay more to have it fixed. He once walked for more than 13 hours to get home during a severe snowstorm during which the temperature dropped to minus 30 degrees Celsius.

The snow was knee-high and the conditions life-threatening but his strong will got him safely through to Taerqing, although his clothes were frozen stiff. "Though I was extremely tired, I knew I could not stop because, if I did, I feared dying," he said.

Despite the great risks of traveling on the rugged highland terrain, he insists on making the routine visits to the herdsmen's families because he believes face-to-face communication is very important.

"The nomadic Tibetans have a totally different mentality," he explained. "Education never comes to the mind of a herdsman. They regard it as useless, a waste of time and money. They feel destined for life on the grassland."

As a result, Ren often spends hours to persuade them to let their children go to school. "Otherwise the kids would be illiterate and forever live at the mercy of the elements," he said.

Even with his support, some children are reluctant to go to school and sneak out of the classroom, usually with approval from their parents.

This year, the only school, named Ping Guo, persuaded to stay two pupils who tried to run away.
Last year, three escaped. "To talk to the locals about the importance of education is one of my main tasks here," Ren said.