Tibetan Home of Hope is a home and school for children who would otherwise be abandoned – a home in the deepest sense, where young people receive loving care, food, shelter, medical attention and the practical foundation needed to develop into independent adults with a full appreciation of their Tibetan heritage.
They are unique in that they provide for Tibetan children in their native land – where there is a desperate and immediate need. Harsh living conditions mean that each year thousands of Tibetan children are left on their own. Sadly, many of these children are sent to orphanages outside of their native country, far from their family contacts and cultural roots.
Founded in 2006 by Tibetan Doctor Tashi Dolma, Tibetan Home of Hope occupies a spectacular location along the banks of the Yellow River in the Amdo region of Tibet, 1,000 miles east of Lhasa. Their buildings are constructed and designed traditionally, using locally-produced, environmentally-friendly Tibetan building materials.
Childcare
Tibetan Home of Hope provides for 130 children at a time. Their curriculum and approach to childcare is based on that of the Tibetan Children’s Villages, which for 50 years have been educational communities for Tibetan children living in India. They provide onsite schooling for children through third grade. Fourth through twelfth graders are sent to the village school, and their tuition is paid through Home of Hope donations.
Education
Children up to grade three are taught at Home of Hope. Children in grades four through high school are driven to the local village school approximately three miles away.
When needed, there are tutors on staff to assist the children with homework.
Higher education is encouraged for high school graduates. There are opportunities to learn a trade or craft within our Farming/Artisan Programs when a child is not academically motivated.
The children at Home of Hope are exposed to the Farming and Artisan Programs within their daily lives. Although they may choose to not get involved in these programs, their day-to-day presence is a healthy reminder of the balance shared throughout nature.
For more information, please visit www.tibethope.org
The Founder
Tashi Dolma is a trained medical doctor who was forced to flee her homeland of Amdo, Tibet, in the winter of 1990. Her journey in exile started from Nepal to Bodhgaya, India, where she received Kalachakra Teaching from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. She then went on to spend the next three years in exile at The Tibetan Children's Village in Dharamsala. During this time, Tashi continued her medical practice caring for the health of 500 children, from infants to teenagers, at The Tibetan Children’s Village.
Her destiny took a dramatic turn when she was offered the opportunity to go to Europe in November, 1992, to visit Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium and Austria. Individuals she met on this important trip helped her to gain legal entry to the United States. Tashi Dolma and her family arrived in the U.S. in March, 1993, where she rebuilt a life with her husband and their two children. Today she operates a successful Tibetan Healing Clinic in New York. Tashi Dolma has never forgotten the people in her homeland who continue to struggle in harsh living conditions with little opportunity to escape the interminable cycle of poverty. She founded Tibetan Home of Hope in December of 2006 with the goal of providing urgently needed housing and education for the large and growing number of orphans in Tibet.
