Projects: Tibetans In Exile
Working closely with more than 27 Tibetan Refugee Settlements, we help forge new lives in exile. Here's a sample.
Passing on the Richness of Tibetan Culture
Lopheling School in Manang, Nepal
Six remote mountain villages in Manang, Nepal, became home for 68 Tibetan refugee families, who settled there after escaping Tibet in 1959. In these villages, spread out over 30 miles, the Tibetans, struggling to make a meager living in trading, herding or farming, longed for their children to have the chance at a better future that only education can bring. There was a primary school, but it was empty - the distances were too great for the children to attend.
Today Lopheling School has 71 children gleefully learning Nepali, English and Tibetan, thanks to an AHF-built hostel and funding for teachers. When they graduate, they'll continue their education in schools run by the Tibetan Government in exile. Lopheling School has revitalized this far-flung Tibetan community, making good on a promise of hope for the next generation.
Six remote mountain villages in Manang, Nepal, became home for 68 Tibetan refugee families, who settled there after escaping Tibet in 1959. In these villages, spread out over 30 miles, the Tibetans, struggling to make a meager living in trading, herding or farming, longed for their children to have the chance at a better future that only education can bring. There was a primary school, but it was empty - the distances were too great for the children to attend.
Today Lopheling School has 71 children gleefully learning Nepali, English and Tibetan, thanks to an AHF-built hostel and funding for teachers. When they graduate, they'll continue their education in schools run by the Tibetan Government in exile. Lopheling School has revitalized this far-flung Tibetan community, making good on a promise of hope for the next generation.
Tibetan Elders Rock the House
TWA Elderly Home, Kathmandu
The contentment at the Elderly Home in Kathmandu is contagious—and the prayer wheels rarely stop turning. Here, 79 Tibetan elders who had nowhere else to go and no one to take care of them, thrive in a safe, loving home. They may be impoverished but they are a spirited group, relieved to have found a refuge from the many hardships of living in exile.
For eleven years, AHF has worked with groups of volunteers from the Tibetan Women’s Association to operate this home for the elders, first helping them buy and convert the building and now taking care of half of the home’s expenses and all emergencies. Even though they live with the unmitigated loss of country and family, these elders have finally found some security and happiness in their old age—and their smiles radiate with gratitude.
The contentment at the Elderly Home in Kathmandu is contagious—and the prayer wheels rarely stop turning. Here, 79 Tibetan elders who had nowhere else to go and no one to take care of them, thrive in a safe, loving home. They may be impoverished but they are a spirited group, relieved to have found a refuge from the many hardships of living in exile.
For eleven years, AHF has worked with groups of volunteers from the Tibetan Women’s Association to operate this home for the elders, first helping them buy and convert the building and now taking care of half of the home’s expenses and all emergencies. Even though they live with the unmitigated loss of country and family, these elders have finally found some security and happiness in their old age—and their smiles radiate with gratitude.