![Karuna : Compassion in action [link to homepage]](http://www.karuna.org/images/logo.png){kind=logo}
Gangzi Prefecture Tibetan Cultural Centre (GPTCC)
Tibet… what visions does it conjure up?
Monks…? Buddhism…? Dali Lama…? Riots…? China…? Ancient culture…?
All of these (and many more) are true but many Tibetans fear that their ancient traditions are being eroded. This view has been compounded in recent years by Chinese imperialism. Karuna has helped the GPTCC to respond to these fears by funding the Kham cultural centre and library.
The Kham cultural library enables Tibetans to express themselves and their culture in relative freedom. Despite being colonised, the one way Tibetans can retain their culture and traditions is by teaching the next generation to respect and value them. That is the aim and the purpose of the Kham cultural library.
The centre is responding to the needs of Tibetan people in China; the Tibetan language is not taught in Chinese schools but Tibetan children want to learn the language of their parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. The GTPCC is responding to the community’s desire and is holding Tibetan language classes. The same is true with Tibetan history, Tibetan philosophy and Tibetan culture; the community wants to learn so the centre runs history, philosophy and culture classes. There are now regional centres being set up in 10 Tibetan language schools, which will allow over 8,000 students the chance to access Tibetan culture, literature and history.
With the help of Karuna the GPTCC is expanding its operations so that it can reach even more of Tibet’s population. The project is creating a digital archive, which will contain 2,000 videos, 50,000 images and 17,000 books including a number of important Tibetan classics. These resources will be accessible remotely for any of the 900,000 Tibetans in China to use and enjoy.