Dharamshala September 22 – The three day conference of the Tesi Environmental Awareness Movement (TEAM) concluded yesterday at the Ratoe Chuwar Guest house. The conference which started on 19 September was attended by representatives from cross sections of the Tibetan community. The TEAM had invited resource persons from the Tibetan Children’s Village school, Institute of Tibetan Buddhist Dialectics, the Planning Commission and the Tibetan Centre for Conflict Resolution. The conference will discuss various issues ranging from disseminating environment awareness among the various Tibetan communities and building an environmentally sound community.
“The need for such a conference is felt as a result of a growing threat of the Tibetans being absorbed into globalization,” says Tsering Yanki of the TEAM.
The conference had discussed means to educate the Tibetans about the environmental threats and remedies, especially among the school-going lot. A project called ‘Earth Steward Workshop’ during the Amaravati Kalachakra 2006 is in the pipeline. Around 40 school children who have no homes to go for winter vacation will be taken to the Kalachakra site where they will be given practical environmental education by the TEAM. The school children along with five instructors will take the responsibility to clean up the religious site on daily basis. “We aim to conduct a month-long activity to revive ecological consciousness among Tibetan pilgrims through a youth empowerment, leadership and service training in ecological issues at Amaravati. Brochures will be published for distribution at the biggest religious initiation of Tibetan Buddhism.
TEAM is a newly established non-profit and non- governmental organization based in Dharamshala with an objective of creating awareness about environment among the Tibetan community.
