Scholarship Fund

Our partners in India 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.

The TSF initially started a pilot program in 2013 with the Rinchen Zangpo Society for Spiti Development, which runs the Munsel-ling School in the Spiti valley. Young graduates were looking for a chance to continue their education. Spearheaded by TRAS director, Lynn Beck, TRAS began supporting two students per year with this new fund.

The clear benefits and successes of the pilot program encouraged TRAS to invite the Voice of Children (VOC) and the Dekyiling Tibetan Handicraft Centre to participate.

The Voice of Children (VOC) is based in Uttarakhand in northern India, and is comprised of two NGOs, AMAN and Vimarsh. Because of the large catchment area and huge demand for post-secondary education, Vimarsh and AMAN are each selecting two new candidates per year.

The Dekyiling Tibetan Handicraft Centre is a charitable society working on behalf of Tibetan refugees. For many years TRAS paid for the creche for the workers' babies and toddlers.  Several of these children were then sponsored during their school years by TRAS members. These are now the students applying for the two annual scholarships.

Prior to receiving a scholarship, all students must submit their admission confirmation to their respective NGO.  Each student selected receives a three-year scholarship of $1,000 CAD per year.

The recipients have all been happily sharing their excellent report cards with TRAS, allowing us to both see their progress and share in their enthusiasm.

Each year TRAS receives cards and letters from all the current year scholarship recipients thanking the donors to TRAS for the opportunity to continue their post-secondary studies.

The need for post-secondary education is very high in these poor underserved areas. Each NGO has been able to select two new scholarship candidates each year. These are bright, motivated students whose background reveals a picture of poverty, deprivation, ill health and often a single parent. Their stories are very compelling and their ambitions inspiring, including the desire of one student to become a University Professor!