Teaching in Tibet
(I moved to India because…) I didn’t want to be the poorest student among all my classmates. I want to be a useful person, not a destructive man. This was my destination when I left the school in Tibet. I wanted to learn English. I want to become a peaceful person, not like a rude person, not like a negative person and I believed myself that I was a simple man. (…) This is my golden time to learn more knowledge and to become a useful person. This is my second step to become an educated person.
These are the words of 23 year old Samo from Wayan Rho village in Tibet. He is now a student at Educational Support Tibet (ES-Tibet) in Northern India. He’s one of many: every year, more than 4000 young Tibetan people aged between 18 and 30 make the arduous trek over the Himalayas from Tibet to India. Their destination is Dharamsala – the Indian town where the Dalai Lama has established the Tibetan Exile Government.
Here there are several organizations that seek to support the refugees. One of them is ES-Tibet, which was created to complement the existing educational opportunities by the Tibetan Transit School (TTS). ES –Tibet provides further education for students who excel at TTS. At ES-Tibet the students are taught the skills they will need to succeed in business back in their native homeland: English, Computer Skills and Chinese. The teachers are volunteer native-English speakers. Their vision is to provide young Tibetan refugees with the skills to live their lives independent from the refugee centers so they can find their place in society.
When the ES-Tibet wrote to us and told us that getting English speaking volunteers was one of their biggest obstacles, we knew of some of our readers would be interested in this opportunity.
The volunteers are provided with accommodation and meals, and enjoy the experience of learning firsthand about the complex Tibetan situation, and how it affects young people. ES-Tibet prefers that volunteers stay at least 3 months and be at least 25 years old.
If you’re interested in learning more about their mission, volunteering in Northern India or donating to the cause, please inquire via the ES-Tibet page.