A preoccupying situtation
After the Chinese invasion en 1949, thousands of Tibetans fled their country and became refugees on the other side of Himilaya. A great amount of them worked in road building and never left India since. The majority is now very old and are without family nor close relatives. Lots of them are now living alone, isolated in small and sometimes dirty rooms in the shadows of the Tibetan exile community. They have poor nutrition; the medical and social services are irregular and there is little help with the daily necessities. Most of them suffer from severe arthritis, which makes every movement very difficult and painful, some of them spend weeks in bed, unable even to get up.

The existing help...
In India, there are twelve old people's homes in various Tibetan communities. In McLeod Ganj, there are two. The Tibetan government provides one of this two, and the other was built with the generous help of a German couple. These two offer home for few hundreds person, but there are many more who need help. In Ladakh, there is one home for about 50 elderly. The people who live outside these homes have to wait.
In Ladakh and in McLeod Ganj the Tibetan Children's Village takes care of a certain number of elderly refugees by providing food and little homes or by trying to find a sponsor for them.

...Not enough
Still about 400 others live in 12 camps around Choglamsar/Ladakh. A serious population try to survive close to the Tibetan border area and an unknown number of them hide in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala. Their living circumstances are very difficult.
These people have nowhere else to live, and they do not want to move anywhere else they just would like to finish their life peacefully and quietly -- what we all wish for ourselves.
Age brings health problems like diminished vision, and hearing and digestive troubles. Every step is painful to take, our immune system weakens, and we become increasingly dependent on others.

Our action
We have created this project to help these "elderly orphans" of Tibet. After all, that we have experienced there, it is clear that there is still so much to do for these people.