Event

Hosted by Dr. Fariha Khan

Thupten Chonyi was born in India. He is one of the first Tibetans who settled in Philadelphia. There were four Tibetans in Philadelphia in 1996. On February 11, 2001, they have set up the Tibetan Association of Philadelphia for the first time with 32 members. Since then, the Tibetan community has grown extensively.

"We started Tibetan Sunday School for the first time on September 2, 2004. However, with two children graduating from High School and with a lack of resources, we were left with no option but to close the Sunday School Program on June 9, 2005. On April 23, 2011, we once again started Sunday School with 19 children. I had an opportunity to serve as Head of the Sunday School from the year 2011 to 2015. We started Philadelphia Tibetan Sunday School with the intention to let people learn the Tibetan language and culture. It is an important program that is running effectively, except with the difficulty and inconvenience of not having a permanent place for the service and numerous events of the community throughout the year. Everybody knows everyone in the community. It is a tight-knit community. I love being in this community".


Tsering Jurme is a Tibetan refugee born and raised in south India. He went to school and college in India and has a degree in bachelor of science. He was two terms appointed Vice president (2006-2008) and President(2012-2014) of the Tibetan Association of Philadelphia.
He was also one of the members involved in advocating the convention center for bestowing the Liberty medal award for His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 2015.
He is currently serving housing committee members of the Tibetan Association of Philadelphia working on applying for grants and raising funds to buy a cultural center for the organization. He is a contractor by profession.