Tibetan Youth Excellance College Fund
TIBETANS IN THE UNITED STATES
The very first Tibetans to arrive in the United States came in the early 1950's and was followed by a very small trickle of individuals who came on an individual basis. The only "groups" that arrived during this period were a handful of scholars who came to the University of Washington, in Seattle, and a dozen or so Tibetans who came to work as lumberjacks in Maine, both in the mid 1960's. By the end of the 1980's there was a grand total of approximately 500 Tibetans in the United States.
In 1990, the U.S. Congress, in a special bill allowing 80,000 Polish refugees to emigrate to the U.S., set aside 1,000 visas out of this total for Tibetan refugees from India and Nepal. Within the next year the first of 1,000 Tibetan immigrants stated to arrive, and since they were not officially designated "refugees" by the State Department, had no access to any governmental support but depended on self-organized "Tibetan Resettlement Committees" that provided them with temporary homes and jobs.
Within the next ten years they were joined by family members from India, Nepal and Tibet; and total population of the Tibetan-American community probably exceeds 10,000.
COLLEGE BOUND
The children of these new immigrants and the second generation of Tibetan-Americans have now started to graduate from high school and are attending colleges and universities. There are over 200 of these young Tibetans attending college.
As children of immigrants, many at modest low paying non-professional jobs, are in need of scholarship assistance. Each of the approximately 20 Tibetan-American community organizations, like the Tibetan Association of Northern California, are trying to help their children with a community driven scholarship programs. These programs make a huge difference to the students and their families, but more support is needed to help these youths achieve their dream of attending college.
To contribute, please contact span@agnt.org or send a check to:
AGNT
220 Santa Anita Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Additional Resources
Related Websites:
Committee of 100 for Tibet
www.c100tibet.org
The Dalai Lama Foundation
www.dalailamafoundation.org
50 Years in Exile
www.50yearsinexile.org
Videos: His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Books
Immigrant Ambassadors: Citizenship and Belonging in the Tibetan Diaspora
by Julia Hess
Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World
by Robert Thurman
Ethics for the New Millennium
by His Holiness the Dalai Lama