2015/11/21
TRAS has embarked on an exciting initiative. The TRAS Scholarship Fund [TSF] is now in its third year of its pilot program.
Our partners overseas had expressed a need to provide post-secondary education, especially for girls in remote isolated villages in the Himalayas. In response to this request, TRAS initiated a pilot program with our longstanding partner, Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development which operates Munsel-ling School in the Spiti Valley, India. Each year two worthy students have been selected to have their university studies supported by TRAS. Each student receives $1000CN per year for 3 years.
Currently, we have two female students completing their B.A. degree and four students enrolled in a B.Sc. program. These six girls are bright, determined students from poor rural homes with no hope of continuing their education without TRAS support. Not only are they role models for other students in their isolated villages but they wish to return as educators themselves to Spiti.
To quote Tashi Angmo, the most recent candidate selected, ”To be a good teacher and serve my younger brothers and sisters of Spiti Valley would be my life’s greatest achievement.”
Due to the success of the pilot project we have invited 2 trusted TRAS partners from other regions of India to submit applications to the TSF.
The Dekyiling Handicraft Centre is a Tibetan community in Dehradun, India, long supported by TRAS through projects and sponsorship. In response to the TSF opportunity Kesang Wangdu replied, ”I am extremely grateful to TRAS for supporting children for post-secondary education. Earlier we have had children needing sponsorship but we failed to get new sponsors after class X. I therefore have no words to thank TRAS for supporting this genuine problem faced by many students after class XII.”
The Voice of Children project, run by two Indian NGOs in Nainital and Almora, will also be selecting two students. Raghu, the co-ordinator, writes: “Especially for girls it will be great opportunity to become independent because after 12th standard generally their parents do not allow them to continue their studies and they go to their marriage ceremony. Generally their husbands work in very low paid work and poor working conditions in Metro cities of India and after marriage the girls face more challenges in their life. This Fund can change their life.”
A very generous TRAS donor has offered to match Scholarship fund donations up to $10,000. Therefore, $500 will be doubled to fund a deserving student for one year [$1000] of university education. Please donate today!!
Give the gift of education to bright girls like Tashi Angmo and help them to lift their communities out of poverty.