Archive of Past Events

Dear Friends, 

The worldwide Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) Family cordially extend our warmest invitation for your gracious presence on the occasion of our “TENSHUG” offering to His Holiness the great 14th Dalai Lama –Tenzin Gyatso and 62nd TCV Founding Anniversary dedicated as a gratitude to Kasur Ama Jetsun Pema

On: October 26 & 23, 2022

At: Tsuglakhang – Main Temple in Mcleodganj and Tibetan Children’s Village Dharamsala Cantt., (HP) India respectively.

President/Organizing Committee
Head Office, TCV

Invitation

Until 1993, Spiti was totally isolated. A high altitude desert valley lying on the border of India and Tibet, it was hidden behind the “Inner Line”, a no-man’s land between the super powers where only Indian Border Police were allowed.

The valley was populated by eight small villages and several Buddhist Monasteries, as it once had belonged to the Tibetan kingdom of Guge.

In 1996, I was one of the first foreigners to visit, attending a Kalachakra ceremony given by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama to celebrate the 1000^th birthday of Spiti’s Tabo monastery. As we drove north through  the valley following the ceremony, we came across “The School”, named Munsel Ling (from Darkness into Light) by the Dalai Lama, two days earlier. A long white building in the middle of the desert landscape Curious, we entered and were greeted by the young lama Tashi Namgyal from nearby Ki Monastery who had been instrumental in its construction. Lama Tashi proudly showed us around and introduced us to the students: 75 children, 2 kindergartens and one Class 1, boarded by local families. He shared his dreams of developing the school, one year at a time and building accommodation for his young charges, to provide education for the children of Spiti whose parents, subsistence farmers, were illiterate.

At that time, little did I realize that the school would become part of my life and to which I would return several times. Back home in Vancouver, to my surprise I discovered TRAS was supporting House Mother training and immediately joined the board.

Fast forward to 2019. The school is now a virtual village with students from kindergarten to Grade 12. The scruffy urchins, I first met, are now eloquent, educated young people who are helping to develop their community. Lama Tashi has realized his dream through much hard work and resilience. The people of Spiti are no longer considered unworthy of education. It is wonderful to see him honoured for his efforts, which he relentlessly pursues even today.

TRAS has been there from the beginning, assisting him financially with many projects over the years. TRAS sponsors have provided funds to train the first doctor, the first vet, engineers, teachers, nurses etc. The need continues and currently, I am proud to be sponsoring my third young person through medical school. These children are bright, intelligent and thirst for knowledge; they deserve to be supported in every way possible.

Congratulations to Lama Tashi.

TRAS Speaker Series is very pleased to present:

A evening with Professor Mark Turin

Date:  March 4, 2016

Time:  Doors open at 7:00 pm – talk at 7:30 pm

Location:  Sutherland Secondary School, 1860 Sutherland Avenue, North Vancouver (free parking)

Cost:  By Donation.  (Handicrafts and baked goods will be on sale) Proceeds to TRAS

SPACE IS LIMITED – REGISTER by email at cbunbury@sd44.ca  or by phoning the TRAS office at 604-224-5133

Event Details:

In this presentation, anthropologist, linguist and broadcaster Mark Turin will share insights from his 25 years living and working in Nepal and the greater Himalayan region. Mark’s richly illustrated talk will position the nation’s response, relief and recovery, following the catastrophic earthquakes of April and May, 2015, in a deeper historical and social context. Reflecting on Nepal’s extraordinary ethnic and linguistic diversity, Mark will speak to the creativity and resilience of the country’s citizens in the face of mounting uncertainty.

Speaker bio:

Mark Turin is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at UBC, where he also serves as Chair of the First Nations and Endangered Languages Program. Prior to moving to Vancouver, Mark was an Associate Research Scientist with the South Asian Studies Council at Yale University, and the Founding Program Director of the Yale Himalaya Initiative. He directs the Digital Himalaya Project, of which he is a co-founder, and the co-editor of the longest running open-access journal of Himalayan studies, entitled HIMALAYA. Follow him on Twitter: @markturin

Mark and his wife Sara were instrumental in bringing to TRAS the ‘Twin your Toilet’ reconstruction project in Dolakha.

This special event is co-hosted by the new Global Perspectives Program at Sutherland Secondary School in North Vancouver.

 

 

What does Nepal’s future look like?  Join us for this informative presentation on Nepal.

A talk by UBC Professor Sara Shneiderman

Date:  March 25, 2015

Time:  Doors open at 6:30 pm – talk at 7:00 pm
Location:  Tsengdok Monastery, 1502 Angus Drive, Vancouver
Cost:  By Donation  (proceeds to the READI Nepal Education Project in Humla)

SPACE IS LIMITED – REGISTER BY phoning the TRAS office at 604-224-5133 or e-mail to info@tras.ca

Event Details:

In this talk, anthropologist Sara Shneiderman will share her research on Nepal’s political transformation. From the Maoist-state civil conflict that ended in 2006, through two elections, several ethnic and regional identity-based movements, to an ongoing constitution-drafting process, Nepal has experienced dramatic upheaval and change over the last several decades. Illustrated with recent photographs from her visits to rural and urban areas of the country,  Professor Shneiderman will highlight the key issues under debate in the state restructuring process, and consider how they affect the daily life and aspirations of Nepali citizens.

Speaker bio:

Professor Shneiderman is a socio-cultural anthropologist working in the Himalayan regions of Nepal, India, and China’s Tibetan Autonomous Region. Her research explores the relationships between political discourse, ritual action, and cross-border mobility in producing ethnic identities and shaping social transformation. Current research projects include an ethnography of “post-conflict” state restructuring in Nepal, and an exploration of trans-Himalayan citizenship across the historical and contemporary borders of India, China, and Nepal.