DHARAMSHALA: A four-day workshop to encourage entrepreneurship in the Tibetan community began yesterday at the Institute of Small Trade Learning Centre (ISTL), Neelamangala, in Bangalore in southern India.

Thirty-four Tibetan youth comprising 19 females and 15 males are attending the workshop being organised by the Central Tibetan Administration’s Women’s Empowerment Desk of Social and Resource Development Fund.

“This workshop is the third of its kind organised at Neelamangala for young trainees who are learning various small-scale skills like beautician, hair dressing, medical transcription, cookery, tailoring, and multimedia. The resource persons are Ms Dikey Yangtso, the director of 360 degree Boutique in Bangalore, Dr. B Tsering, the director of the Dalai Lama Institute, Mr Sonam Topgyal the former chair person of Tibetan Chamber of Commerce, Mr Damdul Jigirpon, the Director of Institute of Small Trade Learning Center and Mr Kunchok Woeser and Mr Tenzin Thupten, hair dressers and ISTL alumn,” said Tenzin Tseyang, a staff of the Women’s Empowerment Desk at SARD, who is coordinating the workshop.

Tseyang said main goal of the worshop is to produce more skill and service based entrepreneurs especially women entrepreneurs in our community in the long term. It also aims to address some common problems faced by some of the trainees in past like lack of self confidence to sell their own skills in the market, and lack of achievable goals and proper information on the opportunities available.

Tibetan youngsters are being provided training in vocational courses at ISTL under the Youth Empowerment Support programme of the Department of Home. While Women’s Empowerment Desk organises parallel workshops for these trainees starting last year.

Last year’s workshop participants commented: “This workshop enriched, inspired and motivated us”.