India
Our involvement in India began even before TFI was formally established. TFI’s President Tom Nazario traveled to India as part of a UN team in 1999 and was inspired to create TFI from what he saw there. It was at that time that Tom discovered one of the biggest problems India faced was access to education, particularly for girls. Later, TFI was compelled to take action when they saw the struggles of the refugees from Tibet.
In India, TFI has supported schools, educational centers, community organizations that support Tibetan refugees and programs that provide pathways out of poverty for low-income families. Below please find a short description of each of the programs we continue to help in India.
Source: Lha Charitable Trust
Lha Charitable Trust
Since Lha Charitable Trust’s founding in 1997, they have been providing social services for the Tibetan refugee community in northern India by offering language and computer courses, as well as providing a daily soup kitchen.
In their efforts in focusing on the needs of the community, Lha also developed two outreach projects. These projects target the development of a Water Filtration System and HIV/AIDS Education Program. The water system aims to reduce water-borne diseases and the education program aims to spread awareness of these medical conditions.
Source: SevaChild International
SevaChild International
SevaChild’s goal is to eradicate the presence of vitamin A deficiency disorders throughout India by ensuring that at-risk children are supplemented with the vitamin A that is necessary to protect them from serious illness, blindness and even death. In addition to this work, during the COVID-19 crisis, SevaChild has been preparing and distributing packages of basic food supplies that will sustain a family of five for one month. TFI assisted in this effort by providing for 250 families.
Source: Shanti Bhavan
Shanti Bhavan
Shanti Bhavan is a boarding school in southern India which provides children from backgrounds of generational poverty with a safe living and learning environment and the skills they need to succeed as they grow into adulthood. The school starts with children as young as age four and continues with support and education through college as many students are accepted at universities in India and abroad.
TFI started a partnership with Shanti Bhavan in 2021 with plans to renovate their girls’ dormitory building in honor of our Children’s Fund sponsored student Priyanka Singh, who passed away in early 2020. In Priyanka’s memory, we provided these girls with something Priyanka herself was never able to have: a safe and comfortable place to pursue her education. We know these girls will go forward to excel in their chosen careers and bring about positive change within their communities.
The Priyanka Singh Dormitory for Girls opened in the fall of 2022 at Shanti Bhavan for the 80 students who live in this home away from home as they grow and look forward to a wonderful future, something seldom afforded to the poor in India, particularly girls.
Source: Tabitha Enabling Academy
Tabitha Enabling Society
Tabitha Enabling Society provides education and support to children with special needs in the Northeast regions of India. Here, they offer traditional academic classes along with occupational therapies and daily life skills. However, with some children being bed-ridden or unable to go to school, the academy also offers home-based education. In addition to giving children opportunities, Tabitha brings disability awareness to the community so that families that have disabled children can seek assistance early in their child’s development. Unfortunately, when almost no laws exist to help or bring services to this marginalized population, it often takes the efforts of caring individuals to even notice and act on the needs of the disabled and, but for them, these children and others like them might go completely forgotten.
Source: Zilla Parishad
Zilla Parishad
The Zilla Parishad School was brought to TFI’s attention by one of our Board Members, Bobba Venkatadri, who grew up in Unguturu Village in southern India but later came to the U.S. and became a successful businessman. Upon approaching retirement, he decided to try to make sure the children growing up in his village today might have the same opportunities he received.
Thereafter, Bobba’s first project was the installation of a water filtration system which helped reduce water-borne diseases. Next, he provided the local high school with a digital classroom so the students can remain competitive through learning with the latest technologies.
Bobba, along with his friends, has been building an entirely new primary school through partnership with the local government. The building project opened to some 300 students in the fall of 2022 and serves as a model to others.