Building Bridges Project is designed to bring together young people from the Tibetan and Indian communities to foster better understanding of cultures and develop respect and encourage learning and sharing. Under this project, we facilitate school outreach/exchange programmes, school and youth exposure visits. Over 142  Tibetan students from three Tibetan Schools in Dehradun and Himachal benefited through this programme last year.

ENVISION under the Building Bridges Project, facilitates the Mentoring Programme for the students to expand their horizon, to influence and motivate the students and help them to adapt and adjust outside their comfort zone.

Main Objective

• To foster better understanding and develop respect, care, learning and sharing between Tibetan and Indian Communities
• To expand the comfort zones of Tibetan students
• To nurture friendship and relationship between communities, institutions and individuals

This programme was aimed to facilitate the emotional, intellectual and holistic growth of the students by encouraging and promoting a structured interaction with accomplished and successful members of the larger Dehradun society who would act as mentors, becoming an interface between the outside world, dominated by an Indian culture and a Tibetan culture which can loosely be described through Indian eyes, as soft but yet extremely supple with tremendous inner strength.

The Exchange Programme agenda includes buddy activity, an activity introduced with the objective of helping Tibetan students make personal connection with at least one  Indian student, School campus and classroom tour led by their new buddy, friendly basketball match between the two schools for boys and girls, and finally, a skit performance added to the agenda this year. Theatre is another engaging medium which helps in breaking barriers and building confidence.  Students of both the schools were divided into eight groups comprising 10 students each and were made to work together to come up with a script, rehearse and perform a skit addressing various themes such as on anti-bullying, time management, compassion in action, and family bond.