Oswega, IL:
July 1 to 19
 |
|
| Monks with the
Kramer Family: Brian, Jack Henry & Jaime |
Ngawang, Phuntsok,
& Jigdal with Brian Kramer |
Geshe Lobzang Samten & Gloria
Beacon
News: July 16, 2009
By CHRISTINE
S. MOYER cmoyer@scn1.com
Five-year-old
Abby Damato has been saving
money in her piggy bank for years.
The
Yorkville girl collected the coins and
"paper money," as she calls it, to buy those special treats that
little girls like.
(Marianne
Mather/Staff Photographer)
Abby
Watching the Monks Create Mandala
Abby
Damato, 5, of Yorkville, closely watches
Tibetan monks as they create a sand Mandala at Allied First Bank in
Oswego.
Abby donated $110 from her piggy bank to the monks after her mother,
Donna,
explained their plight to her. Above at center, Tibetan monk Ngawang
Phuntsok
prays before working on the sand Mandala, which will be poured into the
Fox
River on Saturday to free its healing energy.
But after hearing
about the Tibetan monks who
don't have a home in their native country visiting the Fox Valley, Abby
decided
to make a huge donation to their cause.
"I explained
persecution the best you
can to a 5-year-old," her mother, Donna, said in a phone interview,
with
Abby chatting in her tiny voice in the background. "I told her they
were
kicked out of their country, and people were mean to them."
Abby didn't
like that. So she fished $110 out
of the piggy bank to help the monks buy pillows, blankets, food and
clothes.
Abby visited
the monks a couple times last
week when they were creating a sand Mandala -- artwork made of grains
of
colored sand -- in the lobby of Allied First Bank in Oswego. She
watched the
monks intently as they went about their work.
"She has a
very caring spirit,"
Abby's mom said. "She's very concerned about people."
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|
| Sangyal Preparing to Work on the Sand Mandala |
Completed Mandala |
Deconstructing the Mandala
Dispersing the Sacred Sands
 |  |
| Phuntsok Sitting in Front of the Fire Puja | Monks Chanting a Fire Puja |
