User:Dondrup dolma/sandbox

Sonam Tenzing Jamyangling, education activist Sonam’s year of birth is not known but around 1947 in the village of Katsel, Medrogungkhar, Tibet. At an early age he was put in Katsel monastery and later attended Drikung Nima Changra college. At the Chinese ockupation of Tibet in 1959 he escaped with his uncles and cousins by crossing the Himalaya mountains and arrived in India. After staying in the refugee camp in Misamari he was sent to school in Happy Vally, Mussorie. There he was selected by Dalai Lama along with 19 other young Tibetan boys to study in Denmark. This “education abroad” project was initiated by Prince Peter of Denmark and Greece together with Dalai Lama. The 20 boys stayed in Denmark for 4 years under the care of John Fenneberg. 15 of them continued higher studies at ORT, Organization Rehabilitation Through Technic, in Tehran, Iran on a scholarship from the Norwegian Refugee Council. After which they returned to serve the Tibetan government in exile by helping to build up the settlements in India and Nepal. Sonam worked in the settlements of Bylakuppe, Mussorie and Sonada, Darjeeling. For health reasons Sonam returned to Denmark in 1978 and when released from hospital was sent by his teacher Kalu Rinpoche to translate and help at the first Buddhist center in Sweden. 29 years after he left Tibet and after 17 years of volunteer work at the center Sonam was given a chance to return to Tibet. He then decided he must try to help his own people. In 1988, he founded the Swedish Tibetan Society for School and Culture with the aim to build 108 schools in the Tibetan countryside. The organization grew to have sponsors and 1 600 members before the goal was reached in 2006. At that time 13 000 children were attending the schools and also 108 libraries attached to the schools had been completed. One of the first vocational training schools in Tibet was built by the organization to preserve the Tibetan culture and handicrafts. The organization has continued with many projects in the Himalayan region concentrating on education, environment and culture. Home page: www.tibet-school.org www.tibetsummit.com