US Tibetan Student Alliance Each year student service groups such as Youth International and Landmark College come to Dharamshala in hopes of volunteering in support of Tibet.  We place them in appropriate service learning situations and provide community orienatation activities during their stay.  We love student service and feel it is an excellent educational experience while helping Tibetans!! Tibetan-US Pen Pal Project:  Begun in Spring 1999, three foreign teachers visited TCV's oldest boys' hostel to interview them and initiate a pen-pal project linking them with US students.  At present, 40 students have US pen pals at the San Franscisco Waldorf School and the Mendocino Community High School. The benefits of such grassroots, intercultural dialogue on subjects such as Tibetan freedom, life in exile and life in the USA are priceless.  The following is an excerpt from an interview by Ravi Lau, one of the projects coordinators and founders. "American youth can learn something from us here in TCV.  We are all from different areas and experiences, but here we are all like one family.  If we have problems, we can solve them.  We have something we believe: most important is that you should believe in your friends.  Whatever you do, do for others, and if you can't help them, at least don't harm them. Friends of mine who lived in the West said, [that there], 'Money is God. Job is Religion.' and that conversations can easily be superficial, and many relationships are based on money.  This is why USA helps Kosovo or Kuwait, and not Tibet, because Tibet has nothing material to give.  They wish to help, but aren't gaining anything commercial.  Also, they are afraid to disrupt trade relations with the Chinese market, which has a lot of power in India.  But I think the commercial economy can collapse at any time." ---Sonam Wangdue, age 18, TCV Student Our 1996, our Global Student Cultural Exchange Program provided US Students with a two-month program, during which they studied the Tibetan situation and offered helpful community services.  The program culminated in a fortunate private group interview with the Dalai Lama.  We may offer this program again in the future.           Our 1996 Student Exchange program meet the Dalai Lama         Back to the Top