Scholarship Fund (TSF)

(Last update: 2018/08/12)

The TRAS Scholarship Fund (TSF), established through the generosity of two anonymous donors, provides bright young students the opportunity to continue their education after high school. With the knowledge and skills gained from quality universities in India, these students are then able to return home and make a powerful and tangible difference within their communities!

The Story so Far:

The TSF initially started a pilot program with the Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development, which runs the Munsel-ling School in the Spiti Valley. The school has been very successful, with TRAS supporting several projects including desks for classrooms and greenhouses for growing food during the long winters. Young graduates were looking for the chance to continue their education.

Spearheaded by Director Lynn Beck, TRAS began supporting two students per year with this new fund. The successful applicants receive $1000 (Canadian) per year, for three years of post-secondary education. This allows them to pursue their education and reach their full potential.

The clear benefits and successes of the pilot program encouraged TRAS to invite the Voice of Children and the Dekyiling Handicraft Centre to participate. As of November 2017, TRAS had 14 students enrolled in the TSF. Thanks to the TSF and their own hard work, several students have graduated, including Tenzin Yangzom and Tashi Tsomo, who are now both pursuing their master’s degrees!

Tashi Angmo

Our Well-Deserving Recipients:

Our partners abroad select the most passionate and hardest-working individuals to be a part of our program. These promising students have excelled in their studies and look forward to becoming excellent role models for their communities.

Tsering Dolker

In the words of Tashi Wangmo (BA third year) “I am elated to share with you that I scored good marks (70%) in my previous exams and I will keep trying to do my best in my coming days. I think I am very lucky…I am very thankful to you for your kind help.”

We are also very thankful to Tashi, as it was her hard-work and dedication (not luck!) that led to her success!

Tashi Tsomo

Our first two recipients studied to become teachers so that they can give back to their communities. In our second year, the two young women (Tashi Tsomo and Sherpa Dolma) were accepted at the prestigious Miranda College in New Delhi, studying mathematics. As mentioned above, Tashi Tsomo graduated with a BSc (Math honors) and has gone on to an MSc at Delhi University.

Sherpa Dolma

 

Sonam Dolkar

The TSF recipients have been happily sharing their excellent report cards with TRAS, allowing us to both see their progress and share in their enthusiasm! Through the help of TRAS, its partners overseas, and especially donors like you, the TSF has provided an excellent opportunity to aid these young women in fulfilling their dreams, lifting themselves out of poverty, and improving their homes and local communities.  We thank you for your gifts, and we thank these students for their hard work and tenacity!

 

2020 Scholarship Report

2019 Scholarship Report

2015 Scholarship Update.

2014 Scholarship Update

Rinchen Zangpo Society Newsletter!

Dear TRAS members, 

The Rinchen Zangpo Sociey has just published its winter newsletter, where you can read about Spiti Valley news and views such as updates on the Munsel-Ling school, a visit with the Dalai Lama, and more! Please visit the Rinchen Zangpo Sociey website www.rinchenzangpo.org or click here to be taken directly to the newsletter. 

SpitianLosar celebrated in style at the Sidhbari hostel
Spitian Losar celebrated in style at the Sidhbari hostel

Humla Delights Café featured in Nepali newspaper

What a boost for the Humla Delights Café in Simikot, the little capital of Humla District in Nepal! This article appeared in the main daily national newspaper in Kathmandu.  All profits from the goodies sold at the café go to the READI Nepal hostel for the TRAS education project there.

humla-cafe

Nepal: One Year After the Earthquake

A year has gone by since the devastating earthquakes in Nepal – and Nepal’s people have shown their incredible resilience and determination.

True, there are reports of promised aid not getting through, and a lack of comprehensive planning – but the PEOPLE have just pulled together and made the best of it. TRAS members who have visited recently talk of cheerful, smiling people going about their daily lives -it’s almost as though the disaster has drawn them closer to support each other and do what they can themselves to make life bearable.

These photos, from the Times of India, show that many buildings have not been rebuilt, but they have cleared away the rubble,  tidied up, repaved damaged streets and it’s almost business as usual!

The world has suffered new calamities recently and  many people have moved on to help in other places – but those of us who love the beauty of Nepal and its people know that much still needs to be done to bring lasting improvements. Several aid agencies and charities are still working hard to support the local efforts, TRAS among them.  Strong, sanitary toilets are being rebuilt in the Dolakha villages with the funds TRAS members have sent.

Nepal: Response, Relief & Recovery

2015-05-29 03.02.27TRAS 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.