The Compassionate Work of Ama Jetsun Pema 27th October 2023

Ama Jetsun Pema talks about her life and work with Dr Desmond Biddulph CBE, President The Buddhist Society on the day of a reception held in her honour.
Brief Biography of Ama Jetsun Pema
Ama Jetsun Pema was born in Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet on 7th July 1940. She is the younger sister of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. She came to India in 1950 and studied first at St. Joseph’s Convent in Kalimpong and later at Loreto Convent in Darjeeling from where she completed her Senior Cambridge in 1960. In 1961, she went to Switzerland and then to England to do further studies. She returned to India in April 1964.
Amala was asked by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to take in charge of the Tibetan Children’s Village School in Dharamsala, India and became the President of the Tibetan Children’s Villages in June 1964. Since then, she has been the moving force of the school and became Amala, mother for thousands of destitute and orphaned Tibetan children. The children call her “Ama La” (Respected Mother). With her dynamic leadership and untiring dedication, coupled with her sense of urgency and clarity of purpose, the Tibetan Children’s Village School became one of the most successful and flourished education institutions in exile. Amala has dedicated her whole life for the Tibetan Children in Exile until her retirement in August 2006.
In May 1990, she became the first Woman Minister in the Tibetan government in exile and took in-Charge of the Department of Education. In July 1993, she resigned from the Kashag (Cabinet).
She wrote an autobiography in 1996, called “Tibet: My Story”. Jetsun Pema travelled widely to speak about Tibet and her work at the Tibetan Children’s Villages. She won the UNESCO medal in 1999
On 20th April 2006, she was awarded the World’s Children’s Honorary Award in recognition of her life’s work by the Swedish organisation Children’s World.
On 28th March 2008, she was awarded Bharat Jyoti Award in Delhi by The India International Friendship Society.
On 27th May 2010, An Italian human rights organisation, Association for Human Rights and Tolerance conferred the prestigious Human Rights Award 2010 to Jetsun Pema in honour of her absolute dedication for the cause of peace, tolerance and love towards the Tibetan children.