The association Tibetan-Flemish Circle of Friends, based in Belgium, was founded in 2007 and works for the Tibetan community on social-humanitarian, cultural and educational level. Our mission is to provide support for the Tibetan community in social-humanitarian, cultural, educational and religious matters. The organization has the following objectives:
- a cultural exchange between the Tibetan
community and its individual members and the Flemish community; this exchange is based on cooperation and intercultural dialogue and wants to contribute to a realistic perception and understanding of both cultural communities;
- material, financial and service support and assistance in all possible forms, aiming at supporting the presence, retention, performance and the integration of the Tibetan culture and community, both in Belgium and abroad, on social-humanitarian, cultural, educational and religious level. The association can develop, organize, manage and support all the possible activities, and can cooperate with organizations or individuals, nationally and even internationally. From 2007 to 2009, the Tibetan-Flemish Circle of Friends has organized the cultural project "Tibet, A long look homeward" in many places in Belgium, an exhibition on Tibet with workshops, lectures, performances of Tibetan singing and dancing, film projections and meditation sessions. The exhibition is an exact copy in Dutch of the permanent exhibition at the Tibet Museum in Dharamsala, and was established in coorperation with the Tibet Museum and with the Office of Tibet in Brussels. Following this initiative, our association has also developed an educational package for schools and the exhibition "My name is Dolma Tsering", the story of a young girl escaping Tibet with her younger brother. Since 2009 our association also organizes social projects for the Tibetan refugees in India: a shoe project for the Tibetans in Dharamsala (October 2009 and April 2011), the construction of a morgue for a Tibetan Old People's Home in Chauntra (December 2011) and a water filter project for Tibetan refugees in Mainpat (Summer 2012). At the beginning of 2012, the Tibetan-Flemish Circle of Friends has a new board, all volunteers. The Tibetan-Flemish Circle of Friends is also a member of the International Tibet Network, a global organization that groups all Tibet associations.
