Christiane Mordelet is a bridge that connects the country of La Meije and Ladakh, the country of Tibetan culture. Thanks to the Peace Weaving association, 20 children and 10 adults from Ladakh have been welcomed into the valley since Wednesday.

Christiane Mordelet, how did the idea of ​​doing a school exchange come about?

“I have traveled a lot around the world. And, in 1977, nearly 50 years ago, I traveled to the Himalayas, to Ladakh to be precise, to give a solar energy course. When I returned, the school director in Ladakh contacted me to offer me a school exchange with Himalaya and the idea was born. The first exchange occurred in 1982 with Lyon and Brittany. In 1986, I created the “Tisser la paix” association to continue this exchange. More than 20 exchanges took place with Ladakh, Greenland, Great northern Canada, Chile and Mongolia. For me to introduce culture and I organize many conferences for that. Of the 20 or 25 school exchanges I did, I don’t remember very well, I did a two-way trip of about 1,200 kids. »

Why did you choose La Grave?

“I wanted to show these kids the mountains of France and I know La Grave so I arranged this exchange. This year it will be performed with 20 children and 10 adults from Ladakh and 14 children and eight musicians from Mongolia. Unfortunately, Mongolians can’t get a visa for more than three weeks in France because after that is exam period in Mongolia and the kids have to go back. Only Ladakh people can come to La Grave. »

For most of the breeders’ children

Where do these Ladakhs live?

“In Ladakh, these children are from the small village of Sharra and in Mongolia they are from the village of Barrun Bayan Ulaan and, for both groups, we are lucky to have the mayor of the village participating in this exchange. Most of these children were children from herding families. »

Why is Ladakh and Mongolia the main exchange you founded?

“It is very important for me that everyone knows my motivation. I was very friendly with Bakula Rimpoche, a great Buddhist scholar who was born in 1917 and died in 2004. Bakula Rimpoche was a great Lama with a communist spirit who believed that communism was a secular version of Buddhism. He went to the Soviet Union where he met all the heads of state and particularly Stalin. But when he saw that Stalin had killed nearly 200,000 monks and civilians and burned nearly 400 monasteries, it meant a lot of damage to Mongolia, he was not happy at all, and he wanted Mongolia to be independent again. In January 1990, students took to the streets of Ulaanbaatar [capitale de la Mongolie, NDLR] to strike and expel the Soviets. Bakula participated in this protest meeting with the military and the Soviets withdrew without a drop of bloodshed. Thus he participated in the liberation of Mongolia. Once upon a time caravans traveled between Ladakh and Mongolia and Bakula wanted to renew the bridge between these two countries. I met him in 2003 in Ulaanbaatar and asked him: “How can I help you?” He replied: “Re-establish relations between Mongolia and Ladakh” and perhaps one day caravans will depart between these two countries. Bakula for me is someone who really works for peace and I have only one dream today, which is to give him the Nobel Peace Prize, even if he is no longer around. »