The Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre based in New Delhi, funded by the Friedrich Naumann Stisftung successfully concluded a 9 day long 8th Youth Leadership Workshop titled Today’s Youth: Tomorrow’s Leaders at Staff Mess, Gangkyi in Dharamsala from June 9- 17, 2009. The workshop was attended by 50 students from 12 different places including 2 participants from USA.
The main objective of this workshop was to groom Tibetan youth for their future responsibilities. To make the students understand thoroughly the structure and functions of Tibetan exile government based in Dharamsala. It also Aimed at helping the Tibetan students to have a better knowledge about the current political situation concerning Tibet and making them more responsible Tibetans.
During the 9 day program the students were introduced the organisational structure of the Tibetan Government in Exile and Non-Governmental Organisation by 31 different resource persons from various department and offices. Besides lectures and panel discussions, the students were taken on tour to all the departments of the Tibetan Government in Exile, offices of the Non-Governmental Organisations and cultural institutions in and around Dharamsala.
Questionnaires were again distributed to all the students to evaluate the level of knowledge acquired through this workshop, which revealed that the workshop proved to be beneficial and productive. Following are some comments from student.
“It helped us in clearing many doubts and I believe we are now in position to explain the workings of the Tibetan Government in Exile to others” said Tenzin Choedon of Delhi
“This workshop taught us the importance of Tibetan languages, religion and culture thereby instilling the sense of belongingness to a rich cultural heritage and pride of our identity” said Thinlay Chukki of Mangalore
As we found there was a noticeable positive change in the attitude of the students by the end of the 9 day learning. The workshop gave them a sense of an identity and responsibility, which they promised they’ll carry forward with renewed enthusiasm. The beneficiaries of the program expressed deep appreciation for the program in giving them a wholesome understanding of Tibetan government in exile and their role in the future
