{"id":3118,"date":"2017-03-08T14:02:06","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T14:02:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tibetfreunde.ch\/en\/?post_type=post_publications&#038;p=3118"},"modified":"2017-03-08T14:02:06","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T14:02:06","slug":"who-are-we","status":"publish","type":"post_publications","link":"https:\/\/oldtibetfreunde.interweavers.ch\/en\/publications\/who-are-we\/","title":{"rendered":"Who are we?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Who are we?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We are a Swiss-based NGO for <strong>development cooperation<\/strong> and <strong>humanitarian assistance for Tibetans in the Himalayan countries<\/strong>. Our non-profit association was founded by a group of involved Swiss women in 1988. Since almost 30 years we work on a volunteer base for the Tibetan people in Exile. Presently &#8211; end of 2016 &#8211; we have <strong>567<\/strong> members and <strong>1047<\/strong> sponsorships<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are our goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We <strong>support<\/strong> <strong>self-help activities<\/strong> organized by the Tibetans in exile through sustained development cooperation with associated Tibetan organizations.<\/li>\n<li>We assist the Tibetans in cases of <strong>severe need<\/strong> or <strong>disaster<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>We work towards keeping people in Switzerland aware and informed of the Tibetan cause both in Tibet as well as in exile.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What are our activities?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>TIBETFREUNDE arranges individual sponsorships that enable Tibetan children and youngsters of poor families to receive <strong>primary school education<\/strong> and <strong>vocational training<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>We assist in the <strong>foundation, maintenance<\/strong> and\/or <strong>extension<\/strong> of Tibetan schools and vocational training centers.<\/li>\n<li>We arrange sponsorships for single<strong> old men<\/strong> and <strong>women<\/strong>, often ill and without means of existence otherwise.<\/li>\n<li>We contribute on a regular base to <strong>health care<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Which institutions are we cooperating with?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For <strong>Tibetan children refugees<\/strong> in India and Nepal:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201eTibetan Children\u2019s Villages\u201c(TCV), Dharamsala, India<\/li>\n<li>Sambhota Tib. Schools Society STSS, Dept. of Education, Dharamsala, India<\/li>\n<li>as well as several Tibetan schools in India and Nepal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For <strong>health care <\/strong>in India:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Tibetan Delek Hospital, Dharamsala, India.<\/li>\n<li>For <strong>distressed elderly people<\/strong> in India and Nepal:<\/li>\n<li>\u201cCentral Tibetan Relief Committee\u201d (CTRC), Dharamsala, India<\/li>\n<li>Tibetan Women&#8217;s Welfare Group, Nepal<\/li>\n<li>Lodrik Welfare Fund, Pokhara, Nepal<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For <strong>nuns and monks <\/strong>of Tibetan convent schools in India and Nepal:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jamyang Choling Institute, Dharamsala, India<\/li>\n<li>Sherab Choling Institute, Village Morang, Spiti, India<\/li>\n<li>Tibetan Nuns Project \u2013 several nunneries<\/li>\n<li>Manjushri De-chen Learning Center, Kathmandu, Nepal<\/li>\n<li>Taksham Monastery, India<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For <strong>students <\/strong>of institutes in India for philosophy or Tibetan medicine:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>College of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarah, Dharamsala, India<\/li>\n<li>Men-Tsee-Khang, Tibetan Medical &amp; Astro Institute, Dharamsala, India<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What have we achieved so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Since the foundation of the association to today (end 2016), we have raised <strong>CHF 3\u2019445\u2019229<\/strong> \u00a0towards various <strong>relief<\/strong> <strong>projects<\/strong> in India and Nepal.<\/li>\n<li>Over <strong>CHF 10\u2019415\u2019532<\/strong> till today has been raised from foster parents \u2013 who either transfer their payment for sponsored children, students, elderly people as well as for nuns and monks directly to India or Nepal or via our association.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Current annual contributions (2016)<\/strong> for sponsorship as well as for projects in the area of education and health in India and Nepal amount to about <strong>CHF 584\u2019735<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How can you get involved?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Becoming a <strong>member<\/strong> of TIBETFREUNDE for <strong>CHF 60<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Sponsoring a Tibetan child or a distressed elder <strong>(CHF 350 to 600 annually)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Sponsoring Buddhist nuns and monks <strong>(CHF 420.- to 500 annually) <\/strong>or<\/li>\n<li>Students of Tibetan medicine<strong> (ca. CHF 1000 annually)<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Making a<strong> one-time donation<\/strong>, for a project of your choice<\/li>\n<li>With a <strong>testamentary disposition<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u25ba<strong>Sponsorships\/donations are tax exempted under Swiss law<\/strong> \u25c4<\/p>\n<p><strong>Our own administration and management costs are kept to a bare minimum \u2013 presently (2016) under 3% of turnover \u2013 as board and administration work is done exclusively on a voluntary base.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sponsorship contributions and donations are going to India and Nepal 1:1<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>ZEWO<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The Swiss foundation, ZEWO states that &#8220;personal individual sponsorships for children in foreign countries are fundamentally problematic&#8221; Organizations that deal in the mediation of sponsorships are often rejected. The reason for this rejection is based on preconceived notions. Our Project Partners in Tibetan Institutions in India and Nepal as well as our organization hold a completely opposite opinion with regards to personal individual sponsorship programs.<\/em><br \/>\n<em> It is for this reason that we have decided not to apply for the ZEWO seal.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who are we? We are a Swiss-based NGO for development cooperation and humanitarian assistance for Tibetans in the Himalayan countries. Our non-profit association was founded by a group of involved Swiss women in 1988. Since almost 30 years we work on a volunteer base for the Tibetan people in Exile. Presently &#8211; end of 2016 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpl_publications_category":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldtibetfreunde.interweavers.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_publications\/3118"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldtibetfreunde.interweavers.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_publications"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldtibetfreunde.interweavers.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post_publications"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldtibetfreunde.interweavers.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldtibetfreunde.interweavers.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oldtibetfreunde.interweavers.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"wpl_publications_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oldtibetfreunde.interweavers.ch\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wpl_publications_category?post=3118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}