Students 2010

Students 2009

Volunteers

  is everything going alright? I am a student at ETTI and I have just graduated. I like to play basketball and sing. I do not dare to say that I am very smart, but compared to other students I was a good student and my teachers liked me. My home is WeiXiDa city and my parents are farmers. Because my family is poor, after middle school I stopped studying and I let my younger sister study. And so I came to ETTI. Before coming to ETTI, I understood very little and I could not speak any English. After being at ETTI, my English skills and computer skills definitely improved a lot, and I also learnt many new things. ETTI gave me a chance to begin a new life. Here I also learnt about business and how to run a good business. ETTI made my life better and taught me to have a new aim in life. I don't know what exactly to write in order to express myself because it is hard to describe all that I feel. Now I have found a good job and I will continue to learn from others. Thank you so much! Although this letter is short it contains all of my heart-felt gratitude. Thank you so much for your help! From now on I will continue to work hard and study hard, and repay your kindness. Finally, I wish you well. TashiDeIek, Keri
  After I finished middle school I did not know what I should do, how to find my path in life. It was you who gave me this chance to be able to choose a path. I now understand a lot more. From ETTI I learnt how to use a computer, and most importantly it helped me correct my English pronunciation etc. I also thank all the teachers for their support and help. Again, I thank you for giving me this chance to study and learn. Gini   I am a very normal girl, nothing special. My parents are farmers. l did not know how exciting the outside world is. I'm not particularly good at anything but I am really happy and grateful to have this chance to study at ETTI. In these three months, l have learnt many things, and understand more about the outside world. Just like you, in the future I will help others too if I have the chance! Thank you! Cherry   We have had a good week. We learned many things. Without you this could not have happened. I hope you keep continuing to do this. Thank you so much for your kindness. Carl 3 July 2010   I am a normal boy. My name is James and l come from Deqen. There are three people in my family, my father, my mother and me. My father and mother are both farmers. l have studied in ETTI for three months. I learnt a lot of things, like computer skills, English, Mandarin, hotel management etc. The teachers are all very good. They are serious about teaching us, and l also study seriously, so l have learnt a lot. I am really happy to have this chance to learn a lot. In the future l will help others too! Thank you. James   This week we learned much about how to be a boss. This is a very useful thing. Thanks for your kindness. Jack   I am very ordinary. Because my family is poor, so I did not have a chance to continue studying. I did not know how big the world is. But ETTI has changed me. I have learnt how to be a good person. I have learnt the importance of having a goal, and having the right attitude and gratitude. I have also learnt English and more. Thank you for your donation and for everything that you gave us. You gave me strength. You gave us a chance to study. We have had a nice week. Even though it was only a short week, l learned many things. Even though you did not leave your name, but you left your love and heart. You live far away, but you helped me in China. l hope you are happy every day. Thank you for your love. I will work hard, and live each day to its fullest, and have a good future. Thank you very much from my heart. Jewel   Thanks so much for everything that you guys have done for the past week. Without you this could not have happened. I hope you keep continuing to do this. Thank you so much for your kindness. Lily   My home is in Ji Di Cun Ci Lang She. Since I came to ETTI, I have learnt many things. First, how to interact with other people, also how to use a computer. I also understand more about the outside world and people. Thank you for this chance to learn so much these three months. My English especially improved a lot. Thank you to all the teachers too, I am hopeful about my future. Crystal   I am really honored to be in ETTI. I am very grateful to you for donating, You changed my life and made it better. I have learned a lot of things in ETTl like English grammar and pronunciation, Thank you so much! Sapphire   My hobbies are playing basketball and swimming. There are five people In my family - my father, my mother, my brothers and me. My parents are farmers. After I finished middle school I stopped school. I worked outside for a few years. Later I heard that Shangri-la had a school for youths who had not found jobs after finishing middle school, so I came to this school to study. Although lt is only three months, I learnt many things here, my English speaking skills and computer skills improved a lot. Before coming to ETTI I did not know any English, and I could not use a computer. So I am very grateful to ETTI and to you for everything you have given me. Lastly I hope ETTI continues to grow and become better. Bailey   How are you? Although we are apart and we don't really know each other, I already see you as my family. Thank you. Because of your help, I had a memorable week. I also learned a lot of things. I have already found a good job. From now on I will work hard and won't disappoint you! Lastly, I wish you all good health and good luck in your work. Thank you! Rose

  I'm 17.  I'm from San Ba. I' m Na Xi.  I left school this summer. Then I did farm work for a short time. Some times I met some foreigner in my hometown. My parents are farmer. They do farm work in my hometown. I thought ETLI could teach me English. And I thought if I could speak English. I can change my life. So I came to ETLI.  I could study English and computer at ETLI.  Computer is also very important for my future. I could talk to foreign teacher. I thought talk with foreigner could improve my English fast. I think study at ETLI will help me in the future.  And ETLI teach me English . I think ETLI is this good for us . Because it teach me Important things. Also teacher is very good in ETLI. I like ETLI very much!    I'm 16 years old.  I'm from Sanba.  I'm Na Xi.  I come to ETLI before, I help my parents do housework.  My mother is a farmer.  My father is a veterinarian.  Because I like studying English and computer.  Studying English will help my future look for good job.  I think ETLI is very good.  It help we studying English and computer.  I loyalty thank ETLI's teacher give me this studying chance.   I am Tibetan.  Before I come to ETLI I helped my parents do farm work.  Because in my home haven't enough money, so I can't go to school to study.  My parents are farmer, I'm very glad came to ETLI.  Because I can study again.  When I at home, I felt very tired and worried, so I not want stay home everyday. I want to go out to study more knowledge. At ETLI I study English, computer and tourist service. If I can learn English well I can find a good job is easy. However when I finish study I must find a good job then help my parents do something, this is my plan. I think ETLI is a good school, our teachers use different ways teach us. I can learn many things in here. As far as I am concerned, English is very important. I must study English well , I  will becoming a guide.   I am Na Xi, I am nineteen years old. Before I come to ETLI, I am studied in NO.5 Senior School. My parents are both farmers , they  are working a farm in my village.
I come to ETLI, because I think I must leraning a foreign  language special English, and etli  can  provide the enveriment for me.  So i go  to here. In the etli, i leaning english, computer and tourist servise.
I  think etli's principles of teachinjjg is different form another school in china. That is include classes , homework and activities, many times, the classes is very interesting, not too difficuit, but  i can  leaning more thing. I think  when i study finished here. I can speck english and i can use  computer.  i find job more easy than  other people. And i can meet more people and i can  leaning more  knowledge for.   You put us on the road to success. Before this training started our future was uncertain.
our home is very poor and economy is struggling, after I graduate from middle school I didn’t know where I would go .But because there are people like you who help us and have a kind heart ,so I con go to Eastern Tibetan Training school studying again .Now I graduated from there ,also I found my job I work in Songzanglika hotel I do all of my work with a lot of confidence.
For the rest of my life, I will work harder to achieve my dream, again thank you very much for helping me.
Thank You,
康学良
KangXueLiang
  we will never forget you giving us this opportunity. thank you very much for your help. It is extremely good of you to do this for me. How do you feel today? I feel like a new man. Its really diferent from what I expected. Before this training. my future was uncertain. I don,t know how to thank you. I believe that. nothing is impossble if I work hard. For the rest of my life, I will work harder to achieve my dream.
In order to have a future, you must have a dream. though everyone have a dream, they are different.
After 5 years, I will own a village. It will be locate in my hometown--------weixiTachengqinbie, in the home of yingxing trees. The tree’s height is 39m and the tree is so big that the trunk’s circumference is such that it takes 8 peoples’ arms length in order to circumvene it. It have a history of 1500 years. Thousands of visitors come here every year. What's more, in our village we are now putting in a new vineyard with grapes from France. After 3---4 years we will be able to taste geniune French wine. At that time, the number of visitors will increase a lot. with the development of tourism, there will be other retailers. So I think it’s available to build a village for people to relax themselves. Tired people come here, and drink wine under the yingxing trees. How beautiful and confortable these days are.
But， I need your help . I hope you can help me and support me. In order to realize my dream and make a happy life , I will try my best to get the best grade. In order to be the best person, I will ignore discouraging words. I deeply believe, if you put in a lot, you will gain a lot..
The door of my family is always open to welcome you to visit us anytime. I hope we are best friends.
Thank you
He Hu (Jonny)
 So I write the letter to thank you. Now I graduated Eastern Tibetan Training Institute. I will be going to work. I find a good job. Thank you for give me an opportunity to study English .My family is poor, so I have to give up my study. But I find an opportunity to study more at ETTI. So I was offered a job by three hotels: Holy Palace hotel, Paradise hotel, and Song Zan Lin Ka hotel. I decide to go to work in Song Zan Lin ka hotel. I like the hotel, Song Zan Lin ka hotel is great building and I can learn more English. I will work hard in hotel and take my job seriously, because I don't want to disappoint the people who supported me. I hope you will continue to help. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. All the best.
Sincerely yours
Hai Xia
海霞
 You know ,if not your kind help, I don't know where I would be.I used to be very poor and fail in English, but at the Eastern Tibet Training Institute school study three mouths my conversational English improve a lot.
I know without your help and support and teachers encouragement, I would not be able to communicate with English speak people.I believe in the future I will study very hard to make my dream come true, which is to help those who need more help than me .I believe I can achieve my dream.
After my graduation, I had five job offers from: Paradise hotel ,Holy Palace hotel,SongZanLinKa hotel,Xin Hua hotel,Good Luck and Happiness hotel. I decided to work at SongZanLinKa hotel.The hotel help me learn English and skill.Finally I will work hard.
Thank you again from my bottom of my heart. All the best .
Thank you ,
余婵娟
Chan Juan
 I'll never forget your kindness to me and give me studying a opportunity. thanks. Before this training my future was uncertain.
After facing continuous defeat I bravely face my fist job in my whole life this is your help and support. We all graduated from ETTI. I have 3job offers, Paradise Hotel, Holy Palace Hotel and Banyan Tree Hotel. I chose to work in Banyan Tree. I will do my best in every thing with success; there will be a bright tomorrow. Your help make ETTI better and better.
I hope I can help many people work for the rest of my life. I will work harder to achieve my dream.
Lastly I wish you good health and success
thank you
Ba song
巴松
 With your kind offer, I graduated from this school and received many job offers. Now, I can do many jobs such as, housekeeping, waitress, and so on. I am also well paid, whats more, I have set a new aim in my life, I will try my best to achieve this goal, though I can not be a famous person, I can try my best to help the society. I deeply believe if all of the students do a little, we can truly make a difference. Thank you very much, for giving me this good opportunity to realize my dream.
sincerely Yours
和秀清
He xiu Qing
2009 6 26
  My name is Du Fa Ju. I’m 19 years old.My hometown is Ha Ba. There is a famous snow mountain called Ha Ba snow mountain. I'm Na Xi people. I have a young sister. I like playing badminton and reading,and sometimes,I cook Na Xi for fun.I'm a hard-working person,I'm very open and easy to get along with.
Now,I graduated from Eastern Tibetan Training school.At school I studied Chinese, English, computer, accounting, hotel serving skill, document writing.
Now, there are six companies who offered me a job.Thank you for your help so I can return to school. With my teacher's help, I made great progress.The teachers praised me and my parents encouraged me. I'm very happy.
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to study.
Before this training started our future was uncertain. A thousand words cannot convey my feelings. Although I don't know how to thank you.but I hope you will be able to help us in the future. Because there are people like you, who helped us, and have a kind heart so many kids in Shangri-la like us will have bright future.
For the rest of my life,I will work harder to achieve my dream.I have made up my mind to study harder in order to make greater progress.Thank you very much.
Best wishes!
sincerely
发菊
Fa Ju
 Before this training my future was uncertain. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to let me learn more. I don't know how to thank you. From my heart I want to tell you how much this means to me. In the future I will work even harder to make my dream realized. Now, I have started a new chapter in my life. I will be a waitress in a famous hotel. And I will try my best to do a good job. I believe I will learn more and be successful.
Sincerely yours,
和丽菊
He Li Ju
  I will never forget your kindness to me . Before my future was uncertain,but now with your help, I learned a lot and got many job offerings. I don't know how to thank you. From now on I will learn hard and fast. I hope you can help many people.
Thank you!
卓玛央初
zhuomayangchu
  I am from Weixi. I'm Li Su people. My parents are old. I have one older brother and one older sister. They are farmers. I graduated from Pantiange middle school. I didn't go to high school, although I like reading. Because my family is poor, I haven't enough money to pay the study cost. But I'm very lucky; the Eastern Tibet Training Institute gave me an opportunity to further my studies. The school is very helpful to me. Here I studied an international language English, English is widely used. I believe in myself; I'm will not disappoint you and our school. I will always remember you and the school that trained me, and the hard work you and our school put in for us. I'll never forget what you've done for me. Now I have job offers from 7 companies. I chose Songzanlika hotel, because Songzanlika hotel can help me learn more English. I can learn a lot, I will work hard. Before this training, my future was uncertain. Thank your again.
Yu huanzhen
余环珍

  Youth for Shangri-la was a great experience for me this year in Summer 2010. Not only did it expand my horizons in life, it also affected my point of view on things and most importantly the value of life. I got to experience life from another perspective, the perspectives of students who reside in a very remote province in China. On top of that, I fortunately had the opportunity to spend quality time with each one of them every day for a week and lived life their way. It taught me that life itself had so much more out there to experience and that it's more than just hoping for all the best for our own selves or being materialistic. The lifestyle of the people in Shangri-La was simple and pure, everyone had a innocent way of living. There were no drama or much conflicts amongst their community. They lived as one big family and cared for one another unconditionally. The unconditional love and care they obtained for each other reminded me of how life used to be when I was little. That definitely touched me and purified all my thoughts and ways of living. Going to Shangri-La this summer was undoubtedly worth it, it helped me reflect upon myself and affected me in many ways. I would absolutely recommend this program to others.   I have spent the last eight days teaching in Shangri-la as part of Alexander Lam’s volunteer program Youth For Shangri-la. I have been asked to share with you my account of both teaching as a volunteer and experiencing what Shangri-la had to offer and I have accepted this task with great enthusiasm. Before I begin however, I feel that I must first tell you a bit about myself so that you may truly understand the experience I had there. I have lived in the town of Danville, California for all 18 years of my life and up until two weeks ago, I had never left the continent of North America. I am going on my second year at the University of California, Santa Barbara where I study mechanical engineering. In high school, I took two years of Chinese though since then, my vocabulary has become very limited. I am an Eagle Scout from the same troop that Alexander achieved his Eagle rank and it was in this way that I became friends with the Lam family. I had decided that I wanted to go to China this summer and so I went to the Lams for advice on planning my trip. When they suggested that I volunteer for Alexander’s program I signed up immediately; I wasn’t about to pass up an opportunity to travel with the Lams. In time, and with lots of help from the Lam family, I booked a trip with the following itinerary: two nights in Beijing to sight-see, eight nights in Shangri-la as a volunteer, and five nights touring the world expo in Shanghai. Needless to say, I was very excited.

My short tour of Beijing couldn’t have gone more smoothly; during my only full day in the city, my tour guide, Regina, led me through the Forbidden City, up the Great Wall, and even went out of her way to bring me to the Bird Nest and Water Cube at night. I really did have a good time in Beijing but I was also excited to begin the next stage of my adventure. The next day, I caught a 12 o’clock flight to Kunming where I met up with the Lams and three of the other volunteers (Clinton, Janice, and Ruth). Together, we flew to Shangri-la where I met the remaining two volunteers (the twins: Nicole and Cheryl). Just outside the baggage claim, we were greeted enthusiastically by the students and faculty of the Eastern Tibetan Training Institute and each of us was gifted a white ribbon scarf as a gesture of welcome. From the airport, we were taken to the school building where introductions were given and pictures were taken and shortly after, everyone headed home to sleep. Though the other volunteers and I had all planned to stay in the student dorms, the school had kindly arranged for us to stay in a hotel which was much closer. Our rooms were all on the fourth floor and by the time we climbed the stairs, all of us were winded due to the thin air. We spent some time playing poker and getting to know each other before going to sleep.

As much as I would like to continue the review as a narrative, I have far too many stories and far too little time, so I will proceed by addressing the following parts of my experience in Shangri-la: the YFSL program, recreation and nightlife in Shangri-la, and of course, the food.

I’ve been told that the primary purpose for me writing this review is to get other people interested in YFSL so I might as well talk about that first. This year’s program’s theme was entrepreneurship so we had the students act as though they were opening their own businesses in Old Town. Throughout the course, we helped the students plan and prepare their business cases to be presented at the end of the course to us, the board of investors. Along the way, we taught them about the things to consider when starting a business as well as computer and public speaking skills. Alexander had set it up so that the program was built almost entirely around our input and everything from the class schedule to the curriculum was planned as a group. I am very proud of how successful our program went. Part of my contribution to the curriculum was a public speaking skill set that I had learned in Boy Scouts. I couldn’t speak Chinese very well so Stone, good friend and tour guide extraordinaire, translated for me. The lecture went well and I had such a feeling of accomplishment when the students used what I taught them in their final presentations.

Not all of the material we presented came from ourselves however; Mr. Lam, a successful business man himself, gave us a crash course on business the day before we started teaching so that we would know all the material we needed to present to the students. We learned all about market environments and exit strategies etc., and by the end of his lecture, I felt very comfortable with the content of the course.

Though I was anxious at first, I ended up having a lot of fun teaching. Because the curriculum was our own, we got the chance to be creative with our lectures. As a part of Nicole and Cheryl’s lecture on creating a business plan, Alexander, Clinton, and I performed a short skit on the do’s and don’ts of starting a business. I had fun and we got plenty of laughs from the students.

It was very rewarding to see the students’ final presentations. The power point presentations of each group were solid and their pronunciation of English words had improved dramatically. Both the students and the volunteers had all worked very hard and it was nice to see the quality in the end result.

On Saturday, after all the teaching was done with, we all went to the countryside to have a barbeque and have a good time. We socialized, played in the river, competed in tug-o-war and even had a game of ultimate Frisbee going. The outing was a fitting end to a fantastic program and if I can figure out a way to volunteer again next summer, I will sign up again in a heartbeat.

Of course, we weren’t teaching all the time. After class ended at 5:30, we got a chance to see the city and experience Shangri-la’s rich culture. For instance, every night the locals go to the town square and dance to Tibetan music. Everyone is welcome and even though we didn’t know the steps, we gave it our best effort and still managed to have a great time. After dancing, we went to karaoke bars and drank and sang and played dice or card games with the locals. I should mention that they have delicious beer in China and there isn’t a drinking age! And by the river that we walked along to get to our hotel, they didn’t have any streetlights; they had Christmas tree style lights draped from all of the trees to illuminate the river and the nearby roads. Everywhere there was music and singing and laughter drifting out of bars and the weather always seemed to be perfect and everyone was smiling and having a good time. It was as if the whole city was just one really big, really chill party where everyone was friends with everyone and nobody fought or argued over anything but who got to cover the bill. I really think that those nights in Shangri-la were some of the best times of my life.

The food in Shangri-la was amazing. There really isn’t much more to say. If you are thinking about going and are worried about the food quality at the “cafeteria”, worry no more. In fact, the food in Shangri-la should be one of your strongest reasons for going. And do not judge a restaurant in Shangri-la by its looks. Peace, one of the teachers at ETTI, brought us to the sketchiest looking restaurant ever on the second day and they served me some of the best food of my life. It was so good that we even had to get a picture taken with the owner and cook.
Pictured: The best food in the world.
And to top it all off, a full meal in Shangri-la costs around six yuan per person. That’s just shy of one US dollar for enough food to leave you stuffed and happy.

I had an unforgettable experience in Shangri-la. Had I not already planned a third part of my trip (and applied for a 16 day travel visa), I would have stayed for a few extra weeks. I made so many new friends and so many lasting memories and I now have so many new cravings for Tibetan foods. Though it will probably be many years before I can travel again, I know exactly where I want to return to. Thank you to all the students, teachers, and other volunteers who are reading this, and thank you Alexander for founding the Youth For Shangri-la Program.