After a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck China’s Qinghai province and parts of eastern Tibet on April 14, the work of Nancy Floy and Asang, founders of the Tibet Girls School in Yushu County, Tibet, crumbled in a split second, along with the city.
Floy and Asang run the school from Evanston with funds they collect at the Heartwood Center for Body Mind Spirit, 1599 Maple Ave., which they own.
Asang and Floy founded the school to educate 14- to 20-year-old girls from nomad families and in doing so, make available more diverse job opportunities.
Despite the destruction, they remain optimistic, Floy said. She said she is surprised the Chinese government is rebuilding the areas affected by the earthquake by working with the Tibetan monks.
“We grieve, and we pray for the dead in our way,” Floy said. “And then we say, ‘OK now, what are we going to do?'”
Asang, founder and executive director of the school, said he plans to rebuild the school to continue educating the girls, who he hopes are still alive after the earthquake.
Asang, who was born in a village in the mountains of Tibet, became determined to establish a school for girls and make life easier for Tibetan women after seeing his sister die in childbirth. He left the village, traveled to India through the Himalayas and attended school for five years. After marrying Floy in 2006, they established the school in April 2008 with funds from donations and a fundraising event before returning to the U.S.
In addition to donations, he will host a fundraising event at The Stained Glass Bistro, 1735 Benson Ave., on May 16. Victoria Fonseca, who owns the bar and employs many Tibetan immigrants, said she is excited to host the event.
“A very unfortunate thing happened with the earthquake,” she said. “It was really horrible, so this event is even more important to help them rebuild the school and keep everything going.”
Floy said she is thankful for the Northwestern community for supporting their work, naming Samantha Michaels, a Medill junior, and Anoop Jain (McCormick ’09) who visited them after the earthquake struck.
Michaels and a friend applied for a Lund Grant to travel to India and report on how Tibetan immigrants rebuild their community and culture through education.
“There hasn’t been that much attention paid to the new generation of Tibetan refugees, the Tibetans our age, who are in their teens and kind of counted on to believe in the revival of their culture in exile,” Michaels said.
Jain is supporting Tibetan refugees by raising funds for a community soup kitchen. He developed ties with the community after teaching English to Tibetan refugees during the summer of 2006.
“This is not a science project or a hobby for me,” Jain said. “If all goes well, I’m hoping to turn this into my life.”
