Tibetan Exile Tells of Life in Homeland

Even on an international vacation, Rinchen Khandro Choegyal feels an obligation to carry a message about the harsh conditions in her homeland of Tibet.

The 43-year-old president of the Tibetan Women’s Assn. lives in exile with her husband--the younger brother of the deposed Dalai Lama--and two children in Dharamsala, India. Many Tibetans fled to Dharamsala and set up a government in exile after the Chinese takeover of their country in 1959.

At a recent reception in Brentwood home of Frances Wender Kandel, sponsored by the Women Lawyers’ Assn. of Los Angeles, Choegyal spoke about life in exile and her concerns about Tibetans living under Chinese rule. She is touring the United States as a guest of the International Lawyers’ Committee for Tibet and the U.S. Tibet Committee.

“Things are very, very bad in Tibet,” she said in a telephone interview. “Tibetans have no say to anything. Children are not getting education, and women don’t have the right to have more than one child.”

Choegyal said many of her relatives in Tibet are in prison; some have been killed.

“People have been very sympathetic,” she said. “Many say they never knew what was happening there.”

Choegyal and her husband, Tendzin, plan to visit Disneyland before leaving for San Francisco, Montana and New York, then returning to India.

Santa Monica resident Carressa Carlstedt, executive director of the West Los Angeles Meals on Wheels program, will be chairwoman of the 16th annual conference of the National Assn. of Meal Programs.

The conference, titled “Choices: Hunger or Harvest,” will be held Sept. 8-11 in Long Beach and will focus on issues of administering and maintaining Meals on Wheels and congregate meal programs for seniors and other adults.

The Los Angeles Chapter of the American Society of Women Accountants has elected Beverly Hills resident Abby Harris as its president for 1990-91.

Jodi King of West Los Angeles was elected treasurer of the chapter, which focuses on advancing the interests of women in all fields of accounting.

The Santa Monica Synagogue will install Cantor Mark Saltzman, a pianist and cellist who graduated from UC Irvine, at 8 p.m. Friday at the synagogue, 1448 18th St. in Santa Monica.

Saltzman, a native of Barstow, will assist Principal Roslyn Roucher in establishing composing workshops in which fourth- through sixth-graders can create services and liturgy.

Culver City resident Luis O. Rivas has been elected president of the West Los Angeles Assn. of Life Underwriters for 1990-91 and will represent the group at the association’s national convention this month in Seattle.

Rivas, a past chairman of the Culver City Chamber of Commerce, is a 24-year veteran of the underwriting business.

Saint John’s Foundation, the development and fund-raising arm of Saint John’s Hospital and Health Center, has named six new members to its board of trustees.

They are: Paul Schweitzer, a retired lawyer from Holmby Hills; Pacific Palisades resident Charles F. Smith, president of the financial consulting firm Charles F. Smith and Co. Inc.; Jerry Grundhofer, a Glendale resident who is president and chief executive officer of Security Pacific National Bank; Donald G. Tronstein, a commercial real estate developer from Beverly Hills; Lucia Myers, a Beverly Hills resident known for her community work, and Aubrey L. Austin, a Santa Monica resident who is president of Santa Monica Bank.