| This project needs: | Volunteers to work with a Tibetan Community in India. |
I am writing to you regarding our school, E.S.Tibet (Educational Support Tibet - www.estibet.ch) We are a non-profit organisation set up to offer a chance of further education to young Tibetan adults.
Only few of our students were able to attend school back in Tibet. The wish to receive education (next to seeing H.H. Dalai Lama) forced them to go to India risking their lives over the Himalaya. In India they hope to get knowledge on computers and in English.
The main goal of ES-Tibet is to educate Tibetans in India, in order to improve their work perspectives once they are back in Tibet. New arrivals in India from Tibet are educated for five years in the Tibetan Transit School (TTS). ES-Tibet seeks to complement this educational establishment. We started a school in India in which carefully selected TTS-students are educated further for two years in English, Computer Skills and Chinese. These three subjects were identified as key elements for professional success once the students are back in Tibet. Every two years ES-Tibet carefully chooses about 20 new students via an elaborate selection procedure. The students then live and study in the school. ES-Tibet provides them with food, medical cover, accommodation, and even some pocket money every month, as well as meeting travel costs at the end of the course, so that they do not need to worry about such things while studying at the school.
The curriculum of English in ES-Tibet is, to start with everyday English, English grammar and then to move on towards Cambridge English Tests starting with Key English Test (KET), Preliminary English Test (PET), First Certificate in English (FCE) and ACE (Advanced Certificate in English).
Knowing most of the students are going back to Tibet, we also teach the students Chinese, which is essential for them when they get a job back in their native land. We are trying to reach at least a level which enables them to understand and speak everyday Chinese.
The computer program we offer them is as follows; computer fundamentals, Microsoft Office Package 2003 and 2007, Web Design, book publishing, Adobe CS3 complete, player and converter, Internet, Windows Installation, Hardware, Network Troubleshooting and configuration.
With regard to the Cambridge Examinations the last eight years ES-Tibet has brought success to 52 students. Forty six of them passed PET (Preliminary English Test) and six of them passed FCE (First Certificate in English). After finishing two years education at ES-Tibet most of the students want to go back to Tibet. 80% of the 40 students, who have completed their studies at ES-Tibet, have returned to their native country and all of them have found employment there. Three of them are self employed, some are English teachers, some are tourist guides, some are translators in NGOs in Tibet and some are doing Further Education in China.
ES-Tibet is an eight-year-old non-profit-making organisation which has successfully educated 60 Tibetans and which is currently educating a further 22 students in Dharamsala, north Indian. They will finish their studies in the summer of 2009. The school has a good reputation and is the first choice for many Tibetans. This is illustrated by the fact that when ES-Tibet last advertised for the next batch of students to register (for 2009 – 2011), there were more than 82 applicants! Unfortunately, as the school is in a rented building, the number of students ES-Tibet can accept is limited to 20. In the future ES-Tibet aims to increase this number and to build a schoolhouse expressly designed for this purpose.
Our teachers are native English-speaking volunteers. Obtaining new volunteers is our biggest obstacle at the moment. The school provides all meals and accommodation for volunteers and the school itself is set in a picturesque area by a river and a small forest. It is an ideal opportunity for anyone who would like to live amongst a small Tibetan community, teach in India or simply give something back. We are located near the popular tourist town of McLeod Ganj. We are constantly seeking native English-speaking volunteers and any help you can offer us in this regard would be greatly appreciated. Please check our website to hear the testimonies of previous and current volunteers.
The school provides all meals and accommodation for volunteers. It is an ideal opportunity for anyone who would like to live amongst a small Tibetan community, teach in India or simply give something back. Any help you can offer us in this regard would be greatly appreciated.
Please contact me for further information.
Lugyal Gerster
Educational Support Tibet
Email:lugyal.gerster@gmx.ch