About us

Shatsa 

Living in a culture of reading poverty, Shasta is a non-profit organization investing in motivating children to read. Shasta is formed by a group of like-minded Tibetan youths to build a community that embraces every child and provides encouragement to catch the reading bug. We turned a year-old, setting children on the road to lifelong reading.

MISSION

Our Mission & Vision

We conduct reading intervention programs in various camps every weekend. Our programs include read-aloud, story-telling, story scripting, reading activities and games, movie screening, and many more. Along with reading intervention programs, we were overwhelmed by children’s response on organizing the first-ever ‘Reading Fest’ in the town last winter. We also carried out a workshop for the parents of camps no 1 and 2 in January on developing a love for reading among children.

Due to the current pandemic, our programs have come to stand still for a while. Meantime, we are carrying out reading programs on our social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook. We have been actively engaging with children through Digital appropriate reading activities like story-telling, reading out loud, story scripting, to name a few. We hope to resume our work soon. Stay safe and be home.

Members

Tenzin Panten

One thing she would love to change about her childhood was to be able to access a variety of children’s books. She found an answer in giving back to the community from where she belongs and received a lot by having Shasta organization with like-minded peers. She highlights with a beacon of hope. “I am hopeful that one day I will be able to meet someone who will say, I love reading merely because of Shasta.”

Dawa Dolma

Born and raised in Ladakh where reading culture is under poverty, she believes inculcating reading habits among children can prevent many social issues and joblessness among Tibetan youth. She is an avid reader and stern believer of books as one of the most valuable assets in our life. And of course, children of Sonamling deserve this gift.

Tenzin Geche

As a kid, he was a complete novice to books but a keen video gamer. He found books boring and the idea of a boy with book seems uncool to him. Books were never an element of his proximity. As he grew up and learnt that reading is the prime source of knowledge and information. So, he formed Shatsa with the current members to create an environment where Sonamling kids will be guided to become lifelong readers.

Urgen Lhamo

She is fond of reading aloud since her childhood and when Shasta organization was formed, the opportunity added meaning to her passion. When she is not reading in a library, she is found reading aloud and then after several pages she naturally finds herself reading silently. She believes strongly that the change should first start in oneself and from where we are no matter how small.

Pema Dolma

She barely recalls love for reading when she was a child, it was always something to do with reward or marks. The real joy of reading was missing in her childhood. As the saying goes ‘Better late than never,’ she realised the importance and joy of reading in her college days. She does not want the children of Sonamling settlement to repeat the same mistake and help them to fall in love with reading.