Sponsorship programs

We have programs to help the exiled Tibetans in need.

In 1959, when Tibet was violently invaded by the Chinese army, one million two hundred thousand Tibetans were killed and many were forced into exile in order to save their lives. The Tibetan people have been fighting for their subsistence ever since. Still today, crossing the Himalayas on foot, the exodus continues.

The Sponsorship projects have five targets:

• Children
• Youngsters
• Elderly
• Monks and nuns
• Geshes

The Tibet House Foundation delivers the money it has collected exclusively and directly to the schools where the child studies or to his/her parents or tutors. The Foundation does not receive any benefit from the help to children, elderly, etc. but only wishes to see that they have the chance to study and carry on with a decent way of living.

To contribute to this sponsorship program of the Tibet House Foundation is not solely an act of solidarity but also a way of helping protect a millenary and peace lover culture.

Sponsoring children

The children for whom we seek sponsorship live in different parts of India and Nepal and many of them have been born in these countries, where their parents arrived as Tibetan refugees crossing the himalayan mountains. Nowadays a lot of Tibetans still try to escape from the Chinese regime in Tibet, but those who achieve it are few.

The money we receive from the sponsors serves to help them pursue their studies, in order to have a better chance for their future career. Tibetan children learn their own history, language and traditions and also receive a modern education; later on they can pursue a degree in an Indian university. In this way, we are indirectly helping these countries be prosperous while slowly reducing poverty.

The minimum amount required to cover the maintenance and educational needs of a child is 20 euros per month. If you are interested in this humanitarian task, please indicate your full address, your wishes and we will select a child from the most urgent cases and will send you a picture and information about the child. You can keep in touch with them by letters (post mail) and you can also visit them and follow the progress of their studies, health and family situation, etc.

Sponsoring the young

These are young Tibetans who need to finish their school training. They finish their studies at 18 or 19 years old and then have the possibility to pursue a degree in university or vocational education, depending on their interests and qualifications.

While children, the probability of being sponsored is higher, but when they reach the age of 14 or 15 it becomes more difficult to find sponsors for them that help with their expenses. Many of them cannot continue with their studies because their parents cannot assume the school and travel expenses. Depending on the location of the refugee camp in which they live, they have to move to distant educational institutions and then their expenses are increased due to their maintenance. The majority of schools near the camps offer education only up to 8th grade, after which they need to register in another school, out of the camp and usually very far from their home.

These young boys and girls are in a very critical situation because if they don't finish the basic studies they can't go on to higher education. They get stuck in the way, deprived either of the possibility to grow intellectually and of finding a better way of life. Unfortunately, a lot of them have no choice but to stay with their parents and work in the fields. Others enroll in the Indian Army where they are provided with food, shelter and a salary, or emigrate to big cities to find a job of any kind. The bravest attempt to emigrate to Europe or America if they get a Visa.

The amount to help them in their studies is 20 euros per month. Don't forget them. They need you! Help them pursue their dreams!

Sponsoring the elderly

Have you ever thought of helping the Tibetan elderly?

These are the Tibetans who lived in their beloved Tibet and were forced into exile, crossing the himalayan mountains even in winter, when their country was subdued, their monasteries destroyed and their identity repressed. While some didn't finish the journey, others were more fortunate and finally stepped on Indian or Nepali land. During their youth they worked on the construction of roads, in the fields or in quarries on the Himalayas under really severe conditions.

Now, when their strength is fading, they receive no help from the government, and even those who do, don't have enough to cover their basic needs and their medicines.

The minimum amount is 17 euros per month. For them this amount means a lot, since it enables them to ease their pain and cover their needs of food, etc. They will be very grateful!

Sponsoring a monk or nun

A lot of families feel forced to send their children to monasteries and nunneries as the only hope for them to have a chance to study and improve their life conditions. Some will deepen their knowledge of buddhist teachings and others, when leaving the monastery or nunnery, will have an education which will help them face life.

We need your help! They are just like any other boy or girl but due to circumstances in their family (death of their parents, extreme poverty) they have had to go live in monasteries or nunneries, as if it was a boarding school, away from their friends and relatives.

With your contribution of 20 euros per month you are helping that the monasteries and nunneries can cover the expenses of their stay, education, food, medical care, textbooks, etc.

Don't forget them, they need you!

Sponsoring a future geshe

For monks who wish to study to become geshes (doctor in Buddhist Philosophy)

To begin, the students must take 1 year of basic buddhist philosophy, after which they proceed to 6 years of Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) and the first chapter of Pramanavartika (Valid Cognition). Later, they study 3 years of Madhyamaka Philosophy (Middle Way) and continue with the Pramanavartika. Once finished, they go on to 4 years of Vinaya (Monastic Discipline), Abhidharma (Metaphysics) and several advanced courses from the other 3 higher schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Finally, they are asked to take an intensive 2-year course in Tantra (Vajrayana) in order to receive the Geshe degree.

A student must study for 16 years at least. Beside the courses in philosophy, they learn advanced tibetan grammar, literature, poetry and english, according to their interests and capacities. The minimum amount to help in the studies of future geshes is 25 euros per month.

Contribute to their intellectual development, they need you!