Family’s odyssey a history lesson

Tale of Tibetans’ exile unfolds as woman studies her uncle’s life

Sep 11, 2009 04:30 AM

Dasey Wangkhang Silva is the niece of one of the first two Tibetans to come to Canada. She is documenting that pivotal time in history.

Stuart Laidlaw

Faith and Ethics Reporter

Dasey Wangkhang Silva is worried.

Her oldest relatives are getting on in age and soon they will be gone – taking with them the stories of an important chapter in her people’s struggle to survive.

“Their memories are too important for us to lose,” she says. “I want to keep them alive.”

She has already lost her uncle, Tsering Wangkhang, who died 10 years ago. He was one of the first two Tibetans to come to Canada at the invitation of Pierre Trudeau and Bata Shoes in the 1970s. She fears the story of how this country opened its arms to the followers of the Dalai Lama will soon be forgotten.

MODEL TIBET VILLAGE: Tibetan Residential Quarters in New York or New Jersey‏

A Tibetan Residential Quarters, an exclusive Tibetan community, will be built in either New York or New Jersey. This project will be undertaken by the Tibetan Housing Society, with the Office of Tibet, New York, providing necessary support and guidance.

An apartment complex of two and three bedroom units will be built, and the units will then be sold off to individual families. The apartment complex, which is to be a model Tibetan village, will contain a temple, a day care center, a recreation center, a basketball court and a library.

The following proposal contains further information. Please contact Ms. Tenzin Dickyi at tibetvillage@gmail.com  and 212-213-5010 ex 14 if you need the proposal in Tibetan.