Ever since its establishment in 1970, the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe (TYAE) is mediating between the generations and different environments in the European but mostly in the Swiss Tibetan Community. Therefore the TYAE aims to unify and channelise the various interests of the European Tibetan youth as well as in particular to provide a spiritual home for younger generations of Tibetans in exile. This book released on the occasion of the anniversary, on the basis of portraits of current members of the Youth Association, reminiscences of former presidents and evaluations of outsiders, shows what makes it a spiritual home for the Tibetan youth.

The anniversary book contains texts in German, Tibetan and English. The multi-lingualism demonstrates the image of the social reality in which young exile-Tibetans live. In the first part of the book, six Tibetan residents in Switzerland are portrayed. They belong to diverse age-groups with different background stories, careers, perspectives and ambitions. The corresponding photos introduce each person in their living environment together with objects which point out the areas of conflict in a symbolic manner. These private portraits are forming the essence of the anniversary book and should give the readers an opportunity to visualise the nature of the TYAE. The second part recalls the past four decades from the perspective of former presidents of the TYAE. Finally, the book culminates with the third part, in which people who have been very close to the Youth Association for many years, accompany and support it, but even so, observe it in a critical way, share their outsider views.