The Tibetan Nomad people of the Ka-xiong valley exist today much like they have in the past. There are no roads, no electricity and no access to even the most basic health care facilities.

Like their parents before them, the nomads live in yak hair tents following herds of yak, sheep and goats from pasture to pasture. Although rich in cultural heritage, generations of illiteracy combined with their nomadic lifestyle have produced a situation of great poverty and hardship.

At the same age as a Western child enters kindergarten, a Tibetan nomad child is sent out to the mountains alone, despite the climate, with nothing more than a bag of dried cheese for a snack, to care for the family’s animals.  While it was easier in the past to maintain their pastoral lifestyle, in today’s climate of economic and social change it creates entire communities that foster the cycle of poverty.

Children denied basic health care and education have no future in a world in which literacy is essential. Tibetans without an education or vocational skills are unable to participate in China’s economic boom and are essentially disenfranchised in their own country.

As more and more Tibetans leave their country looking for a brighter future or send their children to foreign lands in search of an education, Tibet is deprived of the brightest and best of its resources, its people. A strong Tibet is built from the inside, through education and training, not by sending its most talented minds overseas.  

Children from the poorest Tibetan nomadic families will be selected for participation in our program, especially orphans and those from single parent families with an emphasis on the selection of girls. The importance of educating girls cannot be overemphasized in a culture that favors males over females.

The 2001 report from the All-China Women’s Organization shows female illiteracy and semi-illiteracy in the nomad areas of China as 2.5 times that of men. Studies conducted by the World Health Organization indicate that the level of health and well-being for children in developing countries is directly tied to the level of education of their mothers.

Education is both a human right in itself and an indispensable means of realizing other human rights. As an empowerment right, education is the primary vehicle by which economically and socially marginalized adults and children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate fully in their communities.

Education has a vital role in empowering women, safeguarding children from exploitative and hazardous labor and sexual exploitation, promoting human rights and democracy, protecting the environment and controlling population growth.

But the importance of education is not just practical: a well-educated, enlightened and active mind, able to wander freely and widely, is one of the joys and rewards of human existence.

Just as a seed needs certain conditions to grow and develop into a flower, so do human beings need the right conditions to grow to full maturity. Without proper nourishing food, sufficient clothing and all that is needed for good health, a child will not grow well and may not even live. Likewise, without the proper loving guidance and education, a child’s life is lost.  It will not be possible for the full potential of the adult to flourish. And though the child may grow into an adult, the potential of mind will be stunted and this loss is tragic.