Tibetan Girls Scholarship Program
Impact Stories
Tsewang Yangzom was born in Tibet but had to flee to India when she was just five years old. She is the youngest member of her family and currently lives in India on her own, while the rest of her family remains back home in Tibet. Tsewang loved reading from a young age and was always fascinated by literature.
With support from the TGSP, she was accepted and enrolled in Indraprastha College for Women at Delhi University, one of the oldest and most prestigious women’s colleges in India, to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She says that the scholarship made her academic journey smoother and more meaningful, and studying literature has increased her confidence and broadened her career prospects.
Tsering Lhamo drew inspiration from films to pursue a career in law at a young age. While the portrayal of lawyers in movies sparked her interest, she had no knowledge about the practicalities of studying law and becoming a lawyer. During her twelfth-grade year, she attended a career awareness session organized by the Tibetan Legal Association that cemented her decision to pursue law as a profession.
Tsering’s parents work as farmers in the summer and sell garments at an outdoor market during the winter. Despite the exorbitant cost of tuition that her family couldn’t afford, Tsering was determined to study law. Thanks to support of the TGSP, she enrolled in a bachelor’s program at JSS Law College in Mysore. In addition to excelling academically, Tsering interned at the Karnataka High Court in Bangalore, where she gained valuable insight and experience in court proceedings and judgment writing. She says she is particularly keen to pursue a career in corporate or human rights law.
Raised by a single mother, Pema Kiden grew up in Lachung, a small town in North Sikkim. After the untimely demise of her father when she was five, her mother became the sole breadwinner and struggled to support the family. At school Pema developed a deep passion for Tibetan language and culture, and after completing high school was accepted by Namgyal Institute of Tibetology to study traditional Tibetan medicine, also known as Sowa Rigpa. As the first generation in her family to attend college, Pema was highly committed to her studies, and completed an internship at the Bangalore branch of the Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute. She says she hopes to open her own Sowa Rigpa clinic one day.
