Dharamshala: On the 27th of March, the Tibetan Handicapped Children's Craft Home (Nyingtob Ling) celebrated their tenth anniversary. Tibetan media were invited to a press conference which attempted to dispel recent rumors directed at the center and gave an account of the center's history.
Since the founding of the Children's Craft Home in 1999, rumors had circulated that the center had contaminated the water of a neighboring school and blocked the passage of construction vehicles to a nearby monastery. After complaints from the directors of both institutions to the Private Office of His Holiness, officials were dispatched to investigate the allegations.
In a speech delivered at the Children's Craft Home in May 1999, His Holiness stated that the center should henceforth make an effort to be more transparent with their transitions in an effort to clear the air of rumors.
In the statement given to the press on Saturday, the founder and director of the Tibetan Handicapped Children's Craft Home, Ngawang Lhamo, also a member of the Tibetan Parliament, presented the media with a full audit of the center's expenses since its opening, inviting them to review the budget themselves.
Of the development of the center, she said "The Children's Craft Home was started with the help of loans in 1999." She added that the center was proud of their achievements, saying "Since the establishment of our center, we have taken on 200 handicapped adults and children. We provide them with education and training, which has allowed 2 girls to enter the TCV as fully functioning students. We also helped 10 children gain enough responsibility and self-reliance to return to their families. The center has also received several international art awards honoring the work of the residents." Lhamo also introduced the center's staff and workers.
In terms of future projects and developments on the Tibetan Handicapped Children's Craft Home, she said, "We hope to enroll not only handicapped people from the Tibetan exile community, but also from the Himalaya region. We are hoping to build exercise facilities, a playground, and a library with books from inside and outside of Tibet."
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