Camp Tibet: a summer camp for young Tibetans growing up in North America
Imagine…
Imagine growing up far from your homeland, faced with all the challenges of being a refugee in a foreign country — where hardly anyone speaks your language, understands your culture, shares your religious traditions, knows your history, or hardly anything about where you and your family come from. How quickly would you begin to lose your connections to your culture? To your language? To your own family’s history?
…giving young Tibetans a chance to connect…
…more deeply with their culture, with nature…
Then imagine getting the chance to return to your roots, and reconnect to your heritage — without traveling 10,000 miles away. The chance to step away from all the stresses and distractions of the modern urban world — while having fun, exploring nature and making new friends — friends who understand just what it’s like to be a young Tibetan growing up far from Tibet.
…and with new life-long friends!
Camp Tibet: Summer camp for young Tibetans
Summer camp is a treasured experience for many Americans. For young Tibetans, it’s the chance of a lifetime to develop and deepen their own connections to their history and culture — in an experience they’ll never forget! Starting with long days of outdoor fun and friendship — at a summer camp where boys and girls can play games, climb rocks and trees, go canoeing in fresh water, hike, backpack, explore the woods, build campfires and learn wilderness skills — connecting with nature and each other. Every day, a new experience that emphasizes learning, cooperation, responsibility, and interdependence.
Kids, campfires, kindness.
Every day…
The focus of life at Camp Tibet are the special activities for campers focused on Tibetan culture offered every day — part of a carefully chosen program that uses Tibetan language, art and music for a hands-on approach to learning more about everything — from traditional Tibetan dance and rock carving, to how to make prayer flags and momos.
…with a Tibetan focus.
Led by Tibetans
Camp Tibet’s daily programs and Tibetan activities are led by Tibetan staffers and counselors who are present and in camp, every day and night, for the entire week — along with special guests, including Tibetan lamas, community leaders, mentors, educators, artists and musicians, who join the campers for special activities.
…imparting wisdom and compassion.
How you can help:
You probably know someone who had a chance to attend a summer camp as a child — so you know what an incredible opportunity this is. Now you can help a young Tibetan get the chance to go to a great camp, starting with the inaugural session of Camp Tibet, in the summer of 2025.
By sponsoring a young Tibetan, and making it possible for a Tibetan girl or boy (ages 9 to 15) to attend summer camp, you can give these children a rare chance to be immersed in the beauty of nature, explore the natural world, learn new skills and make lifelong friends — while learning more about their own culture, their language, their history, the rich legacy of Tibetan art, music, dance and even food — all in a peaceful and safe environment.
Sponsor a young Tibetan at Camp Tibet!
Tibetan summer camp, re-born.
The video below — recorded during a previous Tibetan summer camp held in upstate New York — together with the photos above, offers a glimpse into what Tibetan Summer Camp can mean for the young Tibetans who are able to join with other young Tibetans for one amazing week of summer camp.
From 2004 to 2018, the Tibetan camp at Tanager Lodge (now closed) hosted hundreds of Tibetan children from across North America for a one-week summer program for Tibetan children ages 9 to 15.
The focus of the Tibetan camp at Tanager Lodge was on Tibetan activities, as well as traditional outdoor camp life, community-building, and wilderness living. Leaving behind telephones, television, computers, and electricity, campers slept in tents, swam in the lake, and ate meals together on open porches.
ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ་།
THANK YOU to Tad Welch and Ali Moore, long-time friends of Tibet who were the organizers and hosts of the Tibetan camp at Tanager Lodge for their pioneering work on behalf of the Tibetan community, as well as for sharing this video and showing a wonderful example of what a Tibetan summer camp can look like — and demonstrating what a difference it can make in the lives of young Tibetans.
