Delhi, October 27 – The five Tibetan youth entrepreneurs selected by Youth Opportunity Trust Asia will have a rare opportunity to meet and share their experiences with HRH the Prince of Wales. At a function planned at Samyeling Tibetan colony, Majnu Ka Tilla on 29 October, the five Tibetans will be given opportunity to interact with Prince Charles.
The Prince of Wales will be welcomed by the Tibetan children with Khatas. The event will also feature a smaller version of Free Spirit Festival with performances by Tibetan singers and appearances by the two Miss Tibets, 2002 and 2003.
Lobsang Wangyal, a freelancer and an event manager associated with the production of Miss Tibet pageants and Tibetan Music Awards, Tenzin Choedak, a creative artist, Kalden Dorjee, a designer, Dicky Dolma, a beautician and Norsang Lateng, a software professional are the five Tibetans short listed by YOTA.
With His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the patron, Youth Opportunity Trust Asia (YOTA) is modeled on Youth Business International, the international arm of the UK charity The Prince’s Trust. YOTA focuses on helping displaced and disadvantaged youth, including Tibetans, living in India, Nepal and elsewhere in Asia, to become entrepreneurs.
The trust was registered in Delhi India in May 2003 in response to a seriously escalating problem of unemployment amongst Tibetan youth.
The youth entrepreneurship programmes, are part of a global network coordinated by YBI and working to a formula that mobilizes the business community and supporters to provide access to seed funds and business mentoring for young people with viable business ideas, who are unable to find help elsewhere. The results to date have been startling. Over 65,000 have been set up in business worldwide, with over 65% of those still trading in their 3rd year, an impressive survival rate for young people starting from a disadvantaged background.
The trustees of YOTA include Ms Swati Roy, a great grand niece of Rabindranath Tagore, a social worker in prisons, with a particular focus on Aids, the mentally disturbed and leprosy and Mrs. Anup Mahajan, director/owner of 50yr old travel and tourism company Ambassador Travels, Delhi.
