2007-08 Expeditions Schedule

Feb. 1 - Feb. 25, 2009
(Includes MS 4 extension)

This lower altitude winter camp will cover villages in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Our team will provide care to approximately 2400 patients in out-patient clinical settings. A 3-day stay is scheduled at Dharamsala-home to exiled Tibetans and their religious leader, His Holiness, Gyatso Tenzing, the 14th Dalai Lama. Team will depart from various international gateways on their way to New Delhi. A combination of rail and road takes us from New Delhi to the Shivalik range, or the outer Himalayas. We drive through the Shivalik range covering villages and finally enter the mighty Dhauladhar or the White Mountain Range at lower elevations.

Trip Description & Photos

March 1 - March 24, 2009
(Includes MS 4 extension)

This 24-day medical/dental expedition is being organized to help meet medical/dental needs of local villagers and Tibetan settlers of Eastern Himalayas. A total of 2,000 patients are expected to visit our clinics. Team members travel to Kalimpong and cover four remote villages in the Eastern Himalayas. After providing care to approximately 1,200 needy patients in a 6-day clinical work period, we travel to our second site at Yuksom located in a remote corner of Western Sikkim.

Trip Description & Photos

April 1 - April 28, 2009
(Includes MS 4 extension)

Dharamsala lies in the shadow of the Dhauladhar, or White Mountain, Range which reaches an altitude of 18,500 feet. Six miles north is Mcleodganj, home to the exiled Tibetans and their religious leader, His Holiness Gyatso Tenzing, the 14th Dalai Lama. The local population is a mix of Tibetans, Gaddis and north Indians, and the village buzzes with travelers from around the globe.

Student Extended Work Period: An extended work period of two weeks has been scheduled for residents and 4th year students. Following the regularly scheduled camp, students will work with the local physicians and trek through 4 villages in the Dhauladhar range and provide care to local villagers.

Trip Description & Photos

June 3 - June 22, 2008

Once a part of the ancient western Tibetan kingdom of Guge, Spiti's villages provided a stop-over for trade caravans between Kashmir and Tibet. Spiti is a thinly-populated region with a population count of one person per square mile, its altitude and remoteness have limited the local health care providers to serve the region on regular basis. This is a land of 9th century Buddhist monasteries and the village of Kibber, the world's highest, permanent human settlement. Camps are set up at Shimla, Tabo Monastary and the village of Sagnam.

Trip Description & Photos

June 26 - July 16, 2008

‘Lahaul’ lies in the rain-shadow of the Greater Himalayan Range. Separated by the infamous 13,000 feet high ‘Rohtang Pass,’ snow and avalanches on Rohtang cut Lahaul off from the rest of the country for almost 6 months each year. A combination of rail and road takes us to Manali (6,600 ft), and then on to our first clinic site in Lahaul district. Camp/clinic sites include remote villages of Pangi and Miyad valleys, and a patient count of 1,500 or more is expected in our clinics.

Trip Description & Photos

July 16 - August 4, 2008

Team members fly into Leh, which at 11,500’ has the highest airport in the world. We set up our medical camps at two Tibetan Settlements. After our camp at Leh, we travel over one of the most rugged terrains of the Western Himalayas and reach Tso-Morari Lake situated at 15,000 feet. Its shores are dotted with small Tibetan villages one such is called Karzok. We set up camp at a local school and administer care to the locals and nomads from the surrounding areas. Our expeditions take us there in the month of July.

Trip Description & Photos

This is a medical/dental trek through several remote Trans-Himalayan villages of Zanskar (Ladakh). Team members will fly to Leh (11,500ft). After rest and acclimatization of 2 days, team members will drive to Padum and set out on a trail which is high in altitude, rough, challenging and lies above the Himalayan tree line. All clinic and campsites are located between 12,000 ft – 13,500 ft. Access to health facilities is extremely limited for the local people and the only way to get to them is on foot.

Trip Description & Photos

Oct. 1 - Oct. 24, 2008
(Includes MS 4 extension)

A trek over the 13,800 feet high ‘Chansal Pass’ takes us to the remote settlements and villages of Dodra-Kwar. Cut off for seven months of the year due to a harsh winter and heavy snow accumulations, this region has very limited access to health care. Our team will travel by road and then trek for several days to cover these settlements and villages and provide care to all of its patients. This expedition is moderately strenuous. Altitude, rain and wet ground conditions can make this a challenging experience.

Trip Description & Photos