Tibetan Settlement Office in Shimla organises Youth Development Program[Monday, 31 August 2009, 9.49 a.m.]

Tibetan youths take part in a session on Tibetan Buddhism/Photo: TSO, Shimla

Shimla:
The Tibetan Settlement Office in Shimla organised a ‘Youth Development
Program’ on Sunday, August 30, 2009 keeping in view the development
strategies of Central Tibetan Administration for Tibetans-in-exile.
Around 65 Tibetan youths from 8 different cluster units in the Shimla
area registered and attended the program. The program featured
talk on general perspective of Tibetan Buddhism by Ven. Shedup Yonten
from Thupten Dorjee Drak Monastery, Shimla, an informative session on
HIV/AIDS and Substance Abuse by the Mr. Tenzin Lekphel, Director of
Dharamsala based NGO, Kunphen, a presentation by the Tibetan Settlement
Officer, Shimla, Mr. Tenzin Ngodup on opportunities provided by the
Central Tibetan Administration for Tibetan youths, a ninety minutes
brainstorming session on future youth development programs in Shimla
area and a musical performance by local Tibetan youth band called
Yangchen Gatseling band.

Mr. Lekphel of  Kunphen speaking to Tibetan Youths in Shimla/Photo: TSO,   Shimla

In
his introductory remarks, the Settlement Officer, Mr. Ngodup said this
program is a preliminary meeting for future youth development programs
and stressed on the importance of constructive and active participation
by all the participants in the brainstorming session to develop future
programs for achieving a viable and thriving Tibetan community in
Shimla.”Programs developed by the members of the community
themselves in a participatory manner will be more effective and
sustainable than the ones which comes from the top”, he added. Mr.
Lekphel, the Director of Kunphen found the presence of large number of
youth participants very encouraging and productive. A young participant
from Panthaghati, Shimla said more youths in the area should take part
in such programs. A student from St. Bedes College, Shimla said
programs like this create awareness on various issues among Tibetan
youths in the area and the Settlement Office should organise such
programs frequently. During the brainstorming session, all the
participants were divided into four subgroups to discuss and propose
future youth development programs. At the end of the session,
representatives from each group read their proposal to the whole group.
Most of the groups suggested having cultural related activities, career
counseling sessions, employment exchange programs and a playground.
Other proposals include workshop for parents on childcare, gender-based
workshop and talks on healthcare.Mr. Tenzin Namgyal, the
Secretary of the Tibetan Settlement Office, Shimla in his concluding
note thanked all the people involved in making the program possible. He
said the ideas developed during the day’s program were constructive and
the next step now should be taking collective responsibility by all
stakeholders in materialising them. –Report filed by the Tibetan Settlement Office, Shimla