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The TCV Outreach Programme – supporting Children in their own Family...

When the Tibetan Children’s Villages were first founded, many of the children were indeed orphans or had lost one of their parents. Many had been separated from their families for years, even decades after they had fled from Tibet.

This has changed considerably over the past twenty years and increasingly so in recent years. Now brothers and sisters, parents, aunts and uncles have followed the children into exile. And the children themselves, who fled around the time the Chinese seized power in Tibet, are now raising their own children in exile.

The Head Office of the TCV in Dharamsala created the TCV Outreach Programme to accommodate the new situation. This programme provides support for the children within their families wherever they are throughout India. Usually the children attend local TCV-schools or one of the CST’s (Central Schools for Tibetans) which can also be found in smaller settlements. But key to the project is the fact that the children stay with their families. The parents receive a monthly payment from sponsors and with this can pay schooling, clothing, food and medical care.

Many sponsors appreciate the fact that the Outreach Programme allows the children to experience the love and affection of their parents, siblings and relatives as they grow up and prevents them from having to go through the torment of fleeing Tibet and homelessness.