Tara Mandala Seniors’ Home

In 2000, Jurme Wangda, OFT’s President, having grown up in Kalimpong, recognized that senior Tibetans without family in Kalimpong (West Bengal, India) had a desperate need for a home. This ageing population of Tibetan refugees, who had escaped with His Holiness in the 1950s, had medical as well as financial needs and no family to assist them to realise their rights to shelter and healthcare. They needed a home that was a warm and solid shelter with medical facilities nearby.

The 50-bed Tara Mandala Seniors Home was a joint project between OFT and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whose wise advice launched this project: “If your task is to benefit others, you should have the courage to start it even if it seems difficult to be achieved.”So that is what OFT did.

OFT was exceedingly lucky to have the support of dependable friends: The Tibetan Relief Committee matched OFT’s $200,000 and donated the land, and the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala assumed responsibility for the management and running costs of the home. A grant of $1,000 in recognition of this achievement was awarded by Friends of Peace Ottawa in 2013. In 2012, after 12 years of fundraising, OFT reached its goal of raising $200,000 and the Tara Mandala Seniors Home was officially opened.

Today, the nearby Tibetan Medical Clinic provides traditional Tibetan Medicine, a Health Department Clinic provides Western Allopathic Medicine, and a local clinic provides cardiac treatment. As for the social component, directly beside the building stands the Tibetan Community Hall, where a multitude of events and ceremonies take place.