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$1 = $10,000

Yes, that is correct! Each $1 donated will help TRAS win a $10,000 donation through The Great Canadian Giving Challenge sponsored by CanadaHelps and the GIV3 Foundation.

How does it work?

Every $1 you donate to TRAS through CanadaHelps in June earns TRAS a chance to win a $10,000 donation ($3 minimum donation gives 3 chances to win).

If we are the charity lucky enough to win the challenge the $10,000 will go to very good use.
The 500 children at Munsel-ling School in the remote Spiti Valley in northern India are receiving a good education, thanks to TRAS members’ support. But their cleanliness is another story. The children wash themselves and the clothes they are wearing by soaping themselves and standing in a murky grey water pond or in one of the irrigation channels leading from it to nearby farmers’ fields.  The results are poorly washed clothes, skin diseases and soapy water ruining the crops.

TRAS has promised to build a large water storage tank to collect clean spring water, 2 simple outdoor laundry stations (one for the girls, one for the boys) and a soak pit to remove the soap residue from the water before it reaches the farmers’ fields.

Results: cleaner clothes, healthier children, happier farmers! Will YOU help make this happen?

Make your donation to TRAS during the month of June via Canada Helps – and help give TRAS a chance to win $10,000 from the Great Canadian Challenge! Every dollar you donate = 1 vote for TRAS in the draw for the winner.

Learn more about the challenge here.

Dear TRAS members, 

May there be light and peace in the world, and success for people like you who are working to make the world a just and better place.

Thank you for being there.

As we are counting down the days to the Tibetan New Year on February 27, the Trans Himalayan Aid Society board and staff would like to take this opportunity to wish all our friends and members warmest good wishes and our hope for a peaceful, healthy and fulfilling New Year.

As Losar draws near, we would like to introduce the customs of Guthuk, an interesting aspect of the Tibetan New Year. On the next-to-last-day of the old year – this year, on February 25 – Tibetan families prepare a special dish called Guthuk, a hand rolled noodle soup. On this day rituals are performed to drive out all the negative forces of the old year. In each bowl of soup there is an extra-large ball of dough that contains a piece of paper, like a fortune cookie. The paper has the name of an item signifying a specific human characteristic, positive or negative.

As family members sit around the steaming pot of broth, a dough ball is served along with Guthuk. Each dough-ball revelation (which produces lots of laughter!) is said to represent the innate disposition of the person. If you really believe you possess that characteristic, especially when it is negative, then it is an opportunity for you to reflect and leave that trait behind with the old year. So if you get wool, it means you are kind, if you get chili, it means you have a quick temper. Some other samples are:

Wool – kindness

Sun and moon – glory and fame

Chili – a quick temper

Charcoal – cold-hearted

Salt – laziness

Square mat – easy-going

For more details, and a recipe for Guthuk, see Jampa Yangchen’s post: https://simplytibetan.com/2012/02/19/guthuk/

This Valentine’s Day, let’s show our love for young girls in the Himalayas by giving them an education and setting them up for a fulfilling life, rather than leaving them to be coerced into early marriage. Your donations will go to the TRAS education projects in northern India and Nepal, where our partners are working hard to change this grim practice.

How to Donate:   https://tras.ca/donate/