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The need for aid in India
Although the focal point for Tibetans in India is usually Dharamsala, the seat of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile, the Tibetan community is scattered over more than 25 settlements.
Tibet Relief Fund supports a wide range of projects in India in the fields of education, healthcare, community care, youth initiatives and projects that help preserve Tibet’s cultural heritage.
Projects in India
Ngoenga School for Disabled Children , Dehra Dun
Ngoenga was established by the Tibetan Government in Exile in 2000 and is the first school of its kind for children in exile with disabilities. It is a residential school and currently accommodates forty-eight pupils aged between five and twenty years from all over India and Nepal.
Ngoenga School is desperately in need of additional teaching materials, special equipment and other resources, as well as financial help to meet the day-to-day running costs. The annual school fees are £695 per child, and you can now become a Friend of Ngoenga School by giving regularly to a fund that assists with the ongoing expenses of individual pupils. Friends of Ngoenga will receive annual updates about the school and the progress of the children supported by the scheme.
Tibetan Homes Foundation, Mussorie
His Holiness the Dalai Lama established the Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF) in 1962 in order to provide residential foster homes and education to Tibetan refugee children. Currently THF has over 2,400 children under its care; eighty percent of them were born in Tibet and many are separated from their parents and other relatives. Great care is taken to help them grow up to become responsible citizens and every effort is made to impart the rich traditions, moral values and cultural heritage of Tibet. THF also cares for 300 elderly Tibetans.
General dormitory needs: The children use blankets throughout the year, but the blankets currently in use are over fifteen years old. We urgently need to raise funds for new blankets, pillows and 950 pillow covers. Individual donations of £30 will buy ten blankets or one hundred pillow covers. THF sees 250-300 new arrivals each year and the number of children under its care continues to increase. Ten iron beds and twenty mattresses are urgently needed for the new children who recently arrived from Tibet.
Tibetan Muslim School, Srinagar, Kashmir
Tibetan Muslims are recognised for their cultural contribution to Tibetan society, especially their influence on music and literature. Under Chinese occupation they experienced the same hardships and suffering as Tibetan Buddhists and many escaped to Kashmir.
Today there are approximately 1,100 Tibetan Muslims in Srinagar, but the settlement is one of the least developed communities in exile with a complete lack of basic educational infrastructure and facilities. For almost 20 years the community’s school has been an increasingly unstable structure composed of rusting tin sheets.
With the help of Tibet Relief Fund phase one of the building of a new school is complete. Tibetan Muslims in the area now have a healthier environment in which to teach Tibetan language, culture and history, sustain Tibetan Muslim culture and to economically empower the community.
Youth Opportunity (YOTA), Delhi
Tibetan settlements have traditionally operated as closed communities with little integration into the Indian community. As a result one of the most pressing problems facing the Tibetan communities in India is youth unemployment. Literacy rates are high but employment opportunities for Tibetan young people are few.
Consequently, Tibetan youth are frustrated, disillusioned and despairing. This frustration often manifests as social problems such as depression, alcohol and drug abuse. Tibet Relief Fund founded the YOTA to help address the increasing problem of youth unemployment by creating a long-term sustainable programme. Recently launched in Delhi, the project ranges from giving careers advice to schoolchildren, to assisting young adults to establish new businesses and create employment opportunities. There is also a focus on training courses, CV writing, life skills and motivational workshops, confidence building and interview techniques.
Longsho Youth Movement, DharamsalaLongsho is a Tibetan youth movement that was established in 2001 by four young Tibetans, inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s acknowledgement that Tibetans can learn a great deal from the Jewish Diaspora about survival in exile. Seed funding was provided by Tibet Relief Fund. The Tibetan Jewish Youth Exchange provides Longsho with a link to Jewish youth movements in the UK who offer opportunities for Tibetan youths to broaden their experiences by participating in overseas volunteering projects.
Each year approximately 200 young Tibetans aged between ten and twenty-three years participate in annual Longsho summer and winter camps that provide workshops on education, leadership training, organisational development and fundraising. Tibet Relief Fund is currently trying to raise funds to cover one year's expenses, which includes the cost of a winter camp for 100 children, a summer camp for 120, salaries for two full-time staff and office overheads.
Choephelling Drinking Water Project , Miao, Arunachal Pradesh
The remote Tibetan settlements in Arunachal Pradesh are recognised as the most impoverished of all in exile. Choephelling Tibetan Settlement in Miao is home to three thousand inhabitants divided into five camps. Currently water is supplied by three sources located two kilometres from the settlement. The water collection system is inefficient, resulting in wastage, and distribution is uneven and inconsistent. Water is carried through rusty pipes to an overhead tank in each camp, all of which are old and leaking. Plans are underway to create a practical solution to these problems by creating a water supply infrastructure that is efficient, healthy and sustainable. Completion of the project will solve the serious water problems in Choephelling Tibetan Settlement, and will significantly improve health problems amongst the inhabitants.
The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala
Computerisation of Tibetan library: The LTWA is the largest collection of Tibetan documents in the world, and serves as a national library for the entire Tibetan community in exile and many scholars from around the world. Plans are underway to replace the library’s outdated system and to create a digital library that will host its collection online. This will increase the library’s potential to assist the Tibetan community in their plans for a future Tibet, meet the needs of visiting scholars, and make the information accessible to an international audience.
The Merilyn Fund was established in support of the Oral History Department of the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. This department has a collection of over 20,000 hours of audiotape and 30,000 pages of cultural and religious importance. It includes recordings and transcriptions of personal interviews with Tibetan refugees, members of the Government in Exile and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Tibet Relief Fund is currently supporting the project to transfer this information to digital media for use as a permanent scholarly and cultural resource.
Help us to put compassion into action - donations are always welcome and greatly appreciated. Another way of supporting our projects in Tibet, India and Nepal is to purchase gifts through Enlightened Gifts where there is a range of goodwill gifts, a great selection of cards, books, CDs and Tibetan crafts.
