TTF President Lobsang Nyandak visits India Tibet Fund Field Notes - October 2018.… · TTF staff shared their thoughts on the general condition of vulnerable Tibetan refugees and

1Field Notes

April -September 2018

Field NotesTashi Delek!

The Tibet Fund ‘Field Notes’ is a half yearly newsletter prepared for our colleagues in New York, Dharamshala and Nepal and board members across North America. The idea of the newsletter was discussed and given the go ahead during President Lobsang Nyandak’s visit to India in April 2018.

The newsletter will bring focus to initiatives being taken by the head office and highlight important activities being implemented and monitored by the field offices in India and Nepal. The newsletter will feature updates on U.S. federal grant activities, reports on staff field monitoring

and learning visits, key meetings and presentations, and updates on TTF supported civil society organizations.

We hope this newsletter will provide a cohesive narrative of TTF’s activities in North America, India, and Nepal, and give us an opportunity to take pride and learn from the extensive work TTF is doing to help build a resilient, self-empowered Tibetan community.

The first edition of this newsletter has been prepared by the field office in Dharamshala and future editions will contain more inputs from staff in New York and Nepal.

Mr. Lobsang Nyandak visited Dharamshala and New Delhi in April for a series of networking and partnership building meetings. During his six-day stay in Dharamshala, Mr. Nyandak visited The Tibet Fund field office and held debriefing sessions with staff and consultants on their work and responsibilities. Field staff gave presentations and suggestions were gathered on improving coordination and collaboration with the CTA. Mr. Nyandak spoke about various new initiatives being undertaken by TTF and encouraged staff to further build their professional and technical expertise.

In Dharamshala, Mr. Nyandak held meetings with Department of Finance Kalon Karma Yeshi and SARD Director Kaydor Aukatsang. He also visited offices of the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy, Delek Hospital, LHA Charitable Trust, and Tibetan Legal Association, and met with staff of Manjushri Educational Services.

In Delhi, Mr. Nyandak briefed Mr. Mark White, Mission Director, USAID/

India about TTF’s longstanding partnership with the U.S. government in managing federal grants. He also spoke about TTF’s contribution to the Tibetan community through private funding, especially in the fields of higher education, primary health care and strengthening of civil society organizations. The meeting was attended by Thomas Kress, Paul Aiyong Seong, and Balaka Dey from the Office of Social Sector Initiatives.

Lobsang Nyandak also visited the office of Patient Care Trust (PCT), an NGO providing medical assistance

and support to Tibetan patients visiting Delhi, and met with its director. He also met with a cancer patient from Nepal who has been receiving medical and sustenance support from TTF through PCT. While in Delhi, Mr. Nyandak met with staff of Drokmo, a newly established NGO supported by TTF working for gender equality in the Tibetan community.

Mr. Nyandak was accompanied by TTF Vice President Mr. Bob Ankerson and Mr. Sherab Woeser, Deputy Program Director, TTF field office, for the meetings.

TTF President Lobsang Nyandak visits India

Mr Lobsang Nyandak with staff at TTF Field Office, Dharamshala

2 Field Notes

A delegation from the U.S. State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) comprising of Ms. Jennifer Cole, PRM Program Officer, Mr. Alex Ave-Lallemant, Regional Refugee Coordinator, and Mr. Tenzin Pema, Refugee Program Assistant, visited Dehradun and Dharamshala in April. The delegation visited beneficiary schools, hospitals, and training centers accompanied by Mr. Bob Ankerson. They met with senior CTA officials in Gangchen Kyishong and also interacted with recently

arrived Tibetan refugees at the Reception Center.

In Dharamshala the delegation visited TTF’s field office followed by a working lunch. TTF staff shared their thoughts on the general condition of vulnerable Tibetan refugees and provided suggestions for possible PRM interventions. During the meeting, Ms. Jennifer Cole commended TTF for visible improvements in reporting quality.

PRM delegation with TTF field office staff

PRM Delegation Visit to India

TTF marked the 30th anniversary of the Tibetan Scholar-ship Program (TSP) with a daylong event attended by CTA President Dr. Lobsang Sangay, Kalon Dr. Pema Yangchen, Jillian Turner, U.S. State Department Program Officer, and Bryce Isham and J. P. Das from the U.S. Embassy in India. TTF Vice President Bob Ankerson, TTF Scholarship Coor-dinator Tenzing Choephel, and TTF Deputy Program Di-rector Sherab Woeser were also present.

30 Year Anniversary of Tibetan Scholarship Program

Around 70 TSP alumni attended the event, marked as “Thirty Years of TSP’s Capacity Building in the Tibetan Community in Exile.” In her remarks, Jillian Turner high-lighted the bi-partisan support for the Tibet issue within the U.S. Congress and expressed high confidence in con-tinued funding for TSP. Since its inception in 1988, the Tibetan Scholarship Program has benefited 443 Tibetans from India and Nepal.

30 years of TSP being marked in Dharamshala

3Field Notes

PRM delegation with TTF field office staff

TTF organized a capacity building workshop on monitor-ing, evaluation and learning (MEL) for our PRM program partners in May. The three-day workshop was led by Ms. Katrina Edwards, TTF’s Nepal-based Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant. MEL officers and dealing of-ficers from CTA Departments of Education, Home, and Health, SARD, the Tibetan Transit School, and TCV Suja School benefitted from the workshop.

Capacity Building for CTA Program Partners

Sessions focused on the basics of MEL, effective report writing, data management, and reporting on PRM indi-cators. Participating partners discussed next steps to meet the donor requirements for Accountability to Af-fected Populations (AAP) and Protection from Sexual Ex-ploitation and Abuse (PSEA), and conducted field visits where they met with patients at the Bir Primary Health Center, students at TCV Suja School, and residents at the Chauntra Elders Home.

In September, over 200 participants from around the world convened in Dharamsala to discuss critical challenges in four “pillar” areas of development for the next 50 years: education, health, economic devel-opment, and culture preservation. Five-Fifty Forum: Towards a Resilient Tibetan Community, was funded by USAID and organized by CTA.

In attendance from The Tibet Fund were Board Mem-bers Joe Wood and Tsewang Namgyal, President Lob-sang Nyandak, Vice President Bob Ankerson, Deputy Program Director Sherab Woeser, and Education Pro-gram Coordinator Jamyang Gyaltsen. Tsewang was a panelist on the economic development panel, and Jamyang Gyaltsen gave an excellent presentation on “Key Challenges to Providing Quality Education in Ti-betan Schools.”

Tsewang, Joe, and Lobsang also visited the Dharam-sala field office where they spent time with TTF staff and met several TTF supported civil society organiza-tions (CSOs): Tibetan Legal Association, Patient Care Trust, LHA Charitable Trust, Drokmo, and Manjushri Educational Services. CSOs shared their ongoing ac-tivities and plans, and Joe and Lobsang gave them recommendations and suggestions.

During his visit President Lobsang Nyandak also met Kalons of the CTA Departments of Finance and Home. At the end of their visit all TTF staff and board mem-bers gathered for a farewell dinner, joined by Mr. Namgyal Tsering, Managing Director of Reimagining Doeguling Tibetan Settlement (RDTS).

TTF Board Members and Staff Participate in Five-Fifty Forum

TTF Education Coordinator Jamyang Gyaltsen giving his presentation at the Five-Fifty Forum

Board members. TTF staff and Namgyal Tsering at Hotel Tibet in Dharamsala

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TTF organized a series of workshops on organizational self-assessment and strategic planning and fundraising for five of its civil society organization (CSO) partners in Dharmashala. Two specialists, Mr. Pratik Kumar and Ms. Dawa Dem, were hired to lead the workshops. TTF grantees Manjushri Educational Services, LHA Charitable

Trust, Tibetan Legal Association, Drokmo, and Patient Care Trust took part in the workshops.

Following one-on-one consultations with the experts, CSOs took part in extensive workshop sessions on organizational self-assessment and strategic planning, which included

deliberations on organizational vision, mission, values, and SWOT analysis. Sessions on fundraising capacity and sustainability planning were also conducted. CSOs are currently in the process of completing multi-year organizational strengthening plans, working in close coordination with the experts.

Tibetan Civil Society and Community Empowerment Program

4 Field Notes

Mr. Pratik Kumar leading an organizational self-assessment and strategic planning workshop

Ms. Dawa Dem leading a fundraising capacity building workshop

MES launched the Tibetan Baby Box Project, an innovative initiative that provides early childhood care and education (ECCE) to Tibet-an parents with young children. Boxes contain-ing educational and sensorial toys, interactive story books, and essential hygiene products for babies and toddlers are given to parents.

MES also provides counseling to parents about the importance of talking and storytelling, harmful effects of excessive screen time, long term effects of emotional and physical abuse, and the importance of free play. So far about 150 parents in Dharamsala, Bir, Chauntra and New Delhi have benefitted from this initiative. Over the next 3 years MES aims to scale up its Baby Box Project to at least 500 parents in In-dia and Nepal.

Manjushri Educational Services: Tibetan Baby Box Project

Parents with Tibetan

baby boxes distributed

by MES in Dharamsala

Parents listening to

an MES presentation

on ECCE

CSO Capacity Strengthening

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Drokmo, a newly formed CSO working on gender equality issues in the Tibetan community, received its first seed grant from The Tibet Fund. Drokmo plans to increase awareness of menstrual health management (MHM) and prevent sex-ual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in the most economically disadvantaged Tibetan settlements in India and Nepal. Between April and September, they conducted baseline surveys, trainings, and workshops at six Tibetan schools in West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh. Later this year, they plan to provide training and workshops on MHM and SGBV at Tibetan schools in Nepal. Trainings and workshops are intended to equip female students to better safeguard their mental, physical and emotional health.

In June, Drokmo collaborated with TTF to launch the Girls Scholarship Program, which provides full scholarships to girls from India and Nepal who have completed high school and have no financial support to pursue higher education. The first year saw around 60 applicants, out of which 12 young women recipients were selected. These young girls will pur-sue their studies in different fields such as law, hotel management, nursing, fashion design, and tourism management.

Drokmo: Empowering Tibetan Girls and Women

The Tibet Fund began supporting the Tibetan Le-gal Association (TLA) in 2016. Between April and September TLA provided pro-bono legal aid ser-vices to 85 Tibetan refugees in India on matters related to legal documentation, registration of societies, wills and testaments, marriages, birth, and death and legal representation before subor-dinate and higher courts of law.

Patient Care Trust (PCT) provided medical advo-cacy services to 102 vulnerable Tibetan patients from April-September. PCT provides pro-bono services to economically vulnerable Tibetans with severe medical conditions, elderly Tibetans with-out family support, and newly arrived refugees. It helps patients navigate the complex hospital sys-tem in Delhi, provides Tibetan translation when needed, and seeks funding for those unable to afford medical expenses.

Tibetan Legal Association Patient Care Trust

Drokmo founders Kaysang and Pelyoun giving a presentation at Sambota Tibetan school in Tezu, Arunachal Pradesh

5Field Notes

The Tibet Fund began supporting LHA’s Secular Ethics Research Fellowship Program, a new initiative to promote the practical application of secular ethics in Tibetan society. Kunchok Tenzin, a student of Buddhist philosophy, received a one-year fellowship grant to research the application of secular ethics in primary education in Tibetan schools. The new fellowship program was inspired by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whose thoughts on secular ethics and universal responsibility are widely recognized and revered. From April to September, LHA also provided language and computer skills training to more than 426 Tibetans through short-term courses at LHA’s training center in Dharamsala. Other TTF supported activities included talks on consciousness and activism, basic Tibetan Buddhism, secular ethics and the re-sponsibility of Tibetan youth, and mindfulness. In April, Professor Samdong Rinpoche gave a four-day lecture series on “The Four Aspects of Mindfulness,” which were attended by over 80 participants and live stream broadcasted.

LHA Charitable Trust

Reimagining Doeguling Tibetan Settlement: Fighting Hepatitis B

Chronic Hepatitis B is the main cause of liver cancer, the second most common type of cancer in Tibetan communities in India. It is estimated that about 12% of Tibetans are infected with Hepatitis B. In Septem-ber, the first-ever Hepatitis B PCR laboratory and liver elastography facility in the Tibetan exile community, was set up by the Gajang Medical Society (GMS) hos-pital in Doeguling Tibetan settlement. Run by Ganden Jangtse Monastery, the hospital has been administer-ing a community-based Hepatitis-B control and treat-ment program since 2013.

Support for the new laboratory was coordinated by Reimagining Doeguling Tibetan Settlement (RDTS). TTF provided about half the cost of the new lab equipment. Once fully functioning, the new labora-tory will drastically bring down the cost of diagnos-tic blood tests for Hepatitis B patients, to about $20 per sample from an average cost of $75, and will also improve the speed and reliability of test results. Lab services will be available to Hepatitis patients in the most populated Tibetan settlements of South and Central India as well as Tibetan students in Banga-lore, Mysore, and Mangalore.

6 Field Notes

Cancer is a leading cause of death in the Tibetan exile community. With TTF support the Tibetan Cancer Society organized a cancer detection and awareness camp in Mundgod Tibetan settlement in South India in September. The aim of the camp was to create awareness, reduce cancer related stigmas, and provide tests to diagnose cancer along with other diseases prevalent among Tibetans. The health camp provided free medical examinations such as electrocardiography, mammograms, ul-trasounds, pap smears, H-pylori stool tests, sugar tests, and I-breast examinations. Expert oncologists, cardiologists, gynecologists, breast cancer specialists and general physicians conducted the medical examinations with the help of TCS members and volunteers. Beneficiaries of the camp included the general public, monks, nuns, and elders from the elders home. The medical camp was preceded by a cancer awareness talk by cancer specialists from the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Banga-lore. The health camp successfully concluded with community members becoming more sensitized and aware about cancer.

Tibetan Cancer Society

7Field Notes

The Tibet Fund co-organized two summer study programs and a family Buddhist retreat for Tibet-ans in North America. In India, a five-week Summer Study Program was held at Sarah College for Tibet-an students born and brought up in the West. 21 participants gained an in-depth understanding of their cultural heritage, traditions, the Tibetan com-munity in exile, and issues associated with Tibet. Students were offered courses in meditation, Tibet-an language, Tibetan culture and civilization, and Ti-betan Buddhist philosophy, and practice. They also visited the Tushita Meditation Center, Tibetan Med-ical and Astrological Institute (TMAI), Central Tibet-an Administration (CTA), Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Tibetan Parliament in Exile, and Nor-bulingka. In the U.S., a two-week Summer Tibetan Study Pro-gram was organized by The Tibet Fund and Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies in Ithaca, New York. 28 youth participated and studied Tibet-an buddhist philosophy, meditation, history, poli-tics, and Tibetan language.

In June, 17 participants attended a three-day Bud-dhist retreat in Redding, Connecticut, for Tibetan families residing in North America, at which they learned Buddhist philosophy and engaged in differ-ent kinds of meditation.

The Tibet Fund organized the Let’s Talk in Ti-betan! competition in partnership with the Of-fice of Tibet in Washington, D.C., aimed at en-couraging Tibetan children to learn, speak, and showcase their Tibetan language skills. Tibetan children aged 6 to 18 residing in North Ameri-ca participated by recording 3-4 minute videos of themselves conversing in Tibetan. The com-petition was divided into two sections, one for children aged 6-12 and one for children aged 13-18, and each winner was presented with a cash prize of $200.

Cultural Heritage Preservation in North America

Summer Study Programs and Family Buddhist Retreat

Let’s Talk in Tibetan Online Competition

Summer Study students at Sarah College, Dharamsala

Summer Study Program participants in Ithaca, New York

8 Field Notes

Ms. Tenzin Chodon: Tenchoe did her Bachelor’s in Science Nursing from Manipal College of Nursing and M.Sc. Health In-formatics from Manipal University. She also did a Postgraduate Diploma in Biostatistics and Database Management from the Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad. Before joining TTF she worked as a staff nurse at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, and volunteered at the CTA Department of Health in Dharamshala. Tenchoe is based in the Dharamsala office and works on health components of USAID and PRM funded pro-grams.

Ms. Tenzin Dadon: Dadon did her Bachelor’s in Science Bio-chemistry, Genetics, Biotechnology from Oxford College of Science, Bangalore University, and M.Sc. Medical Biochemis-try from Dr. Allmpgibms, University of Madras. She also did a Post Graduate Diploma in Medical Lab Technology from Apollo Medskills, and completed a course in Community Initiatives in Inclusion from ADAPT, Mumbai, UK Women’s Council. Dadon is based in the Dharamsala office and works on the education and health components of USAID and PRM funded programs.

Ms. Tenzin Tseyang: Tseyang did her Bachelor’s in Economics from Stella Maris College and Master’s in Econometric from the University of Madras. She was then selected to study In-ternational Economics at the University of Warsaw, Poland. Before joining TTF she served as teacher at TCV Gopalpur and TCV Lower Dharamshala schools. Tseyang is based in the Dha-ramsala office and works on data collection, analysis, and re-porting for USAID funded programs.

Ms. Norzin Dolma: Norzin did her Master’s in International Law and Diplomacy from Fletcher School, Tufts University, with cross-registered courses taken at Harvard University. Norzin has over ten years of work experience, including as Research Officer, Senior Program Officer, Acting Executive Director, and member of the Board at the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy; Head of the UN, EU & Human Rights Desk at the CTA; and other capacities in different institutions. Norzin is based in the New York office and is responsible for implement-ing TTF’s resource mobilization strategy and supporting fund-raising efforts of the Executive Director and Board of Directors.

Ms. Tenzin Metok. Metok holds a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Kamala Nehru College, Delhi University and a Master’s in So-ciology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As an alumna of the Tibetan Scholarship Program, she holds a Mas-ter’s in Sociology from State University of New York, Buffalo. Metok is based in the Dharamsala office and works primarily on TTF’s privately funded initiatives in India and Nepal.

Welcome to new members of our team!

Tenzin Chodon, Tenzin Dadon and Tenzin Tseyang

Norzin Dolma

Tenzin Metok

9Field Notes