Practicum Summary:

A Case Study of Hope Corner Voluntary Group in Lhasa, Tibet

Through gathering information from its members and participants, Tsering Digi explores the way that the organization Hope Corner, of which she is a founding member, can better promote positive social change within the community of Lhasa in Tibet Autonomous Region of China. This research also seeks to evaluate the impact of Hope Corner’s activities on young children and adults in the community of Lhasa, which is not only a holy place for Tibetan Buddhists, but also an important cultural and economic center in Tibet. This study addresses the problems associated with rapid economic development, including a widening gap between rich and the poor, the increased importance of material goods, alcoholism, gambling, computer game addiction, and a disregard of traditional moral standards. During the past several years, Hope Corner Voluntary Group established six regular activities to respond to the need to build trust, consciousness, identity, and knowledge through different forms of communication: English Corner, Tutoring for Community Children, Language Exchange, Scholarship, Mentoring Program, and Social Welfare Projects. Tsering recommends that Hope Corner recruit more stable volunteers to maintain current activities and initiate new activities and seek recognition from the government to increase the possibility of receiving more funding to create programs that meet the needs of the community. In addition, Tsering acknowledges the need for a more effective administration, which can be established by distributing tasks and improve record keeping. Other improvements that can be made include forming partnerships with local organizations, creating marketing materials to promote awareness of Hope Corner, and holding sessions at English Corner to collect the thoughts and ideas of community members.