Project Manager: Sonam Doomtso (Vicky)
This project is to provide 192 books for Gazezhongrui School in Gaze Village is to increase the students’ attendances and improve their study level, make students more interested in studying. In addition, this project can also improve family condition and encourage parents to send their children to school.
The Shambala Connection funded this project
SonamDootso is from Mozhugongka County, Lhasa City, China. She is currently working towards a “Dazhuan” Associated Degree in English at Qinghai Normal University’s Nationalities Department in the English Training Program.
What: 192 books for Gazezhongrui school in Gaze school.
Who: Students and teachers in Gazezhongrui School, Gazi Village, Gongka Town, Mozhugongka County, Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region.
Photos of project implementation
SonamDootso is talking with one of the worker in the bookstore in order to figure out what books they got and what books they don’t have.
The students are taking the books out of the car.
Sonam Dootso and school master are giving the books to the students in order.
The teachers from the school and students are clapping their hands to thanks for donating books.
Project summary
Project Title: Book Project for Gazezhongrui School in Gaze Village
Project Goals: Buying 192 books for Gazezhongrui School in Gaze Village is to increase the students’ attendances and improve their study level, make students more interested in studying. In addition, this project can also improve family condition and encourage parents to send their children to school.
Project Location: This project is located in Gazezhongrui School in Gaze Village, Gongka Town, Mozhugongka County, Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region. Gazi Village is 7km from Mozhugongka County and Mozhugongka is 80km from Lhasa City.
Project beneficiaries: This project benefits approximately 2,000 people, including all the students and teachers in Gazezhongrui School, all people from this village (where the school located) and people from other villages who are sending their children to Gazezhong School.
Implementation organization/individual: Shem Women’s Group, the county leader, Langjizhuoma, the school leader and SonamDootso(Project manager)
Contact group: Shem Women’s Group
Funds received: On August 15th, the project manager received 13,000 RMB.
Project steps
1. On May 20, 2007, SonamDootso began to write proposal
2. On December15th, 2007, SonamDootso completed the proposal
3. On April 14th, 2008, Shambala Connection approved this project
4. On Auguest15th, 2008, received 13,000RMB from Shem Women’s Group
5. On August 23 and 24th, 2008, purchased the books from Xinhua Book Shop in Lhasa City.
6. On August 25th, 2008, distributed the books to Gazezghongrui School.
7. Worked on final report.
Project Finance
|
Original Budget |
|||||
| Receipt # |
Item |
Donor Contribution in rmb |
Local Contribution in rmb |
Shem Contribution in rmb |
Total Cost in rmb |
| #1,#2,#3 |
Books(Chinese |
12048.39
|
0 |
0 |
12048.39
|
|
Teachers-10hours per week to keep |
0 |
18,000 |
0 |
18,000 |
|
| Chairs |
0 |
600 |
0 |
600 |
|
| Table |
0 |
1,125 |
|
1,125 |
|
| #5,#6,#8, #11,#12, #13 #14,#15 |
Transportation fee |
752 |
300 |
0 |
852 |
| #4,#7,#9, #10, |
Project Management Expense |
200 |
200 |
0 |
400 |
| Project Management Payment |
0 |
0 |
500 |
500 |
|
| Total |
13,000 |
20,225 |
500 |
33,525 |
|
|
Actual Cost |
|||||
| Item | Donor Contribution in rmb |
Local Contribution in rmb |
Shem Contribution in rmb |
Total Cost in rmb |
Difference (Between original budget and actualCost) |
|
Books(Chinese, |
12,048.02 |
0 |
0 |
12,048. |
-0.37 |
|
Teachers 10 |
0 |
18,000 |
0 |
18,000 |
0 |
| Chairs |
0 |
600 |
0 |
600 |
0 |
| Table |
|
1,125 |
0 |
1,125 |
0 |
| Transportation fee |
777 |
300 |
0 |
1077 |
-225 |
| Project Management Expense |
180.7 |
200 |
0 |
380.7 |
+19.3 |
| Project Management Payment |
0 |
0 |
500 |
500 |
0 |
| Total |
13,005.72 |
20,225 |
500 |
33,730. |
-205(#) |
Note:When I went to buy the books, some of the book covers are changed to a new one and there were also slight changes in the name of the books. Some times they only got one name for a suit of books, like one name represent more than 10 books.#: In the original budget the total cost of this project is 33,525, but in the actual cost is 33,730.72, thus the project manager paid 205 rmb
Difficulties and lessons learned
Difficulties
On May 1st, 2008, we had 3 days of vacation, so I told Gazezhongrui School that I would come to Lhasa and give them the books. They are very happy about it. Then I asked Shem that I wanted to go to Lhasa to do the project and they agreed, so I went to get permission from school to allow me to take a few more days off from school besides 3 days of vacation, but the school rejected my request. I couldn’t do the project at that time, and teachers in Gazezhongrui School they started to loose trust in me.
I have to purchase some of the English books here from Xining to Lhasa. Before there was an English bookstore near Center Square in Xining, but when I go there the book shop was already closed, so I went all around Xining City to look for another similar English book store to find the books I want.
Once I bought all the books in the book store and I wanted to take them to school, but when I called the school master and teachers, they said all of their students and teachers went to have fieldwork, so I have to wait for them to come back, which took one week. I could only take the books to school on 25th of Auguest, 2008. Therefore I was late for the school.
Lessons learned
By implementing this project I learned many important and valuable lessons to help me in my future projects, such as how to communicate with local people and get information, how to contact bookstores, as well as practically using camera. At the same time, I noticed that i lack of social experiences and knowledge that I need to enrich and be careful with in the future.
Letter of Appreciation
Translation of theThanks Letter
Dear The Shambala Connection,
We Kartse Village primary school received the books sponsored by the Shambala connection. The books greatly helped both the students and the teachers. During spare time, the students now have picture books and other reading materials to read; teachers now have more teaching materials than before. In addition, the students’ families now can use the money to buy other family necessities other than buy books for their kids. Finally, we sincerely thank for your help and we hope that you will help us in the future as well.
Sincerely yours
Schoolmaster
November 9, 2008
Receipt #1
Receipt #2
Receipt#3
Receipt#4
Receipt#5
Receipt#6
Receipt#7
Receipt#8
Receipt#9
Receipt#10
Receipt#11
Receipt#12
Receipt#13
Receipt#14
Receipt#15
Original Proposal
Project location-Gazezhongrui School, Gazi Village
Gazezhongrui School is located in Gazi village, Gongka town, Mozhugongka County, Lhasa city, Tibet autonomous Region. Gazi village is 7 kilometers from Mozhugongka County and Mozhugongka is 80 kilometers from Lhasa city. All the people in this village are Tibetan.
Population
There are 172 families in this village; totaling 1095 people, 480 men, 505 women and 110 children make up the village population.
Education
In this village, 80% of the people are illiterate. Because they have little contact with Chinese people, few villagers other than students can speak any Chinese. While 20% of the villagers are literate and 15% of this 20% are monks who have studied Tibetan in the monasteries but cannot read or write Chinese, the language of commerce and advancement in the region.
In this village no one, not even the students, speaks English. The reasons for this are complex. The teachers are Chinese and do not have a good mastery of English. Schools have few quality teaching materials, and all the teachers teach non-communicatively, following out-of-date grammar-translation teaching methods.
Gazi village is home to 90 primary school students, 45 middle school students, 12 high school students, 1 junior college Dazhuan (Associate’s Degree) student, and 2 regular university students. On average, one child in each family attends school. However, there are also some families who do not want to send their children to school because they need their help in the farm. Some families think school is a waste of money and time.
Cash income
All the villagers in Gazi village are farmers who grow barley and potatoes on their land. Mostly they get their income from agricultural products, so their income varies greatly, depending on the seasonal changes. Some years, if there is aridity, hail, big snows, floods or other kinds of environmental harm, then the villagers’ incomes are much worse. Most of the village families have only 3 mu or less (1 mu = 0.6666 hectares) of land. In a good year they can earn 500-600 rmb per year selling excess agricultural products beyond what they themselves consume. This amount is just enough to support their own lives without other sources of income. Comparatively “rich” families of the village own up to 8 mu and can sell their excess barley and potatoes and earn up to about 1500 rmb per year beyond their own subsistence. Villagers can also sometimes sell butter and cheese. When they are able to do this, one family might earn between 400 rmb and 800rmb per year, families with more livestock earn more, most families earning less.
The second way that villagers earn money is from hiring out to do manual labor in construction yards. This means that if the Chinese are building houses or the government is making roads or streets, then villagers can sometimes be hired to do some low-skilled manual labor, such as making mud, carrying sand, digging ditches and so forth. Doing this kind of work, a villager can get 25 to 30 rmb for a day’s labor of 13 hours or more. This kind of labor usually offers only short stretches of temporary employment, perhaps lasting 10-15 days or so. Any villager lucky enough to find employment might earn about 364 rmb in 10-15 days. This kind of work is sporadic and is often difficult to come by. Some years, villagers cannot find any work of this kind and other years they do find work but only for a day or two, adding little to their annual income.
Therefore, in total, families with more fields can average up to 2600 rmb per year in a good year while most village families’ average only about 1300 rmb villagers’ income beyond subsistence is spent on their children who attend school and on regular family costs. In one year, regular family costs include about 900 rmb on rice and other food purchases and about 300 rmb on clothes. In one month, each household spends about 50 rmb on electricity and other utilities. Families spend about 100 rmb per year for school tuition. Sometimes the school asks more money for other things like books, brooms and other supplies. In the summer, villagers need to buy fertilizer, which costs about 500-600 rmb each year. Thus, in total, the average family might earn as little as 1300 rmb yet they have to spend about 2500 per year. Therefore, villagers have to borrow money at interest.
Agriculture
Gazi village is a big village, where people’s survival depends on farms. Most of the villagers do not have a lot of tillable land, mostly between just 2 or 3 mu for each family. One mu of agricultural land produces around 700-800 jin (350-400 kg) of barley each year if there are no environmental and natural deficiencies or disasters. All together they can earn about 500 rmb per year by selling their excess barley and potatoes. Most families, however, are able to grow just enough barley to support them.
Herding
All villagers in Gazi village are farmers and most families have only, on average, two cows, used for farming and milking, not for eating. As stated previously, villagers can sell butter and cheese, earning, on average, about 400-800 rmb per year depending on how much butter and cheese a family can save (richer families earn 800 while other families only earn 400rmb).
Gazidzorei school background
Gazidzorei School is located in the center of Gazi village. The school teaches up to grade six levels. The school property covers 100,000 square meters. There are 270 students in this school, 145 femle students and 125 male students. 148 students are from other villages nearby. There are also 31 orphans and 2 disabled students in this school, who are helped from local people and occasionally from the village government. There are 26 teachers in this school: 2 teachers, ethnic Chinese, teach English language.14 teachers teach Chinese and 10 teach Tibetan and other subjects. Each year 2 two students are selected to be sent to cities in China for further study.
Graduates from Gazidzorei who have gone on to other schools include: 275 middle school students, 50 high school students, 5 junior college Dazhuan students, and 10 university students All of these students require tuition payments from their parents.
Project goals
The overall goal of the project is to increase students’ attendances and improve their study level, make student more interested in study, in other way this project can also improve family condition and encourage parents to send their children to school. The immediate goal of the project is to buy 192 books (English, Chinese and Tibetan) for the school library.
Problems
(1) Students have limited knowledge
This village is 88 kilometers far from Lhasa city, and it takes 2 hours and half to get to the city. All of the students are from farm families and their living conditions are not good. So these students usually have had little exposure to technology or new ideas. Most have rarely gone to town. Most of the families have no TV, so it is very difficult for them to get information from the outside world. Most of the students do not have any sense of how big the world is or what goes on outside their home area. There is little sense among these villagers, including the students, that the world outside has much to offer or that there is much they might learn if they studied to a higher level.
The school should be there to remedy this ignorance but the schools cannot provide enough books or teaching materials. Except for the stilted school textbooks, they do not have anything else to read, so they know only what the textbooks teach, and what teacher tells them. From the textbooks the students can only get a small amount of knowledge. These limitations act as barriers to students’ pursuits of further education. Limited knowledge and ideas makes students closed-minded, which has a big effect on their lives. The government doesn’t know that there is this problem, because no one from the village is telling anything about this problem to the government. So while the pace of economy and changes in the world increase, the limitations on the villagers’ knowledge only get more and more serious.
(2) Few Job Opportunities
It is terrible for students to get few opportunities in the economy and in society. If students go to school and still have no ability to get jobs, then there is a negative effect on the family’s views of school. They think that if a school cannot provide knowledge or understanding of the world and the economy and how to find a job, then there is little point to spending money to send their children to school. As a result, more and more families take their children out of school to help on the farms. Companies do not want to hire someone who has no idea about modern life except what they have learned from textbooks. They want to hire people who are broadly knowledgeable. For this reason alone it is very important for students to have a broad knowledge and to be exposed to ideas about everything.
(3) Can’t get high scores to gain entrance to good schools
A lack of study materials affects the students’ results on important advancement exams. Every year, each sixth grade student must take a middle school entrance exam. High scores on this test are essential to gain entrance to decent schools. Most of the good schools accept only students who have high scores on this exam. The exams are directly related to how much you learned from the school textbooks but they also assume a great deal of world knowledge that students must learn about from extracurricular reading. The exam assumes worldviews, ideas and general knowledge, which must be had from sources other than textbooks. So if you haven’t read any books except school textbooks, it is very difficult to do well on the exam and go to a good school. Each year there are normally 100 students who cannot get in to any school. They usually return home and work the fields or herd livestock.
(4) Wasted money
In this school, most of the students are from farming families whose living conditions are very poor. When rain is scarce, fewer agricultural products are produced and families cannot get much income. Even in good years, these families have no money to spare and cannot contemplate spending money on non-essential expenses such as the purchase of books for children.
（5）Less interest in studying and diminishing school attendance
The teachers have said that since the students don’t have interesting materials that they would like to study; they lose their interesting their old materials and eventually stop studying. So teaching material is very important part of this learns and school attendance. As the teachers said, the students receive “stilted, boring, and useless books, so they easily lose interest in their studies.” Sometimes students do not really like the books they use in school and feel bored with learning. Teachers have heard students say how they feel about the books they use, and know that they are not really interested in them they want to have something interesting. But the schools provide nothing they are interested in and they feel their classes are tedious and pointless. They no longer want to spend their time on studying and class attendance rates are getting worse and worse. Students’ interest in studying is diminishing.
Benefits
(1) If the school’s resources improve, this will lead to better teaching and learning experiences for all involved. Students’ knowledge will become broader and they will have the opportunity to learn many things that they cannot learn from their present textbooks. They will gain more insights into the world around them. Their sense of urgency and interest in learning and education will increase. Their lives will be more colorful and their goals will become bigger.
(2) The students’ scores on the middle school entrance exams would improve due to gaining a more developed understanding of general knowledge. This improvement in scores would improve access to higher levels of education that would otherwise be unattainable.
(1) Presently, village students cannot get jobs easily after graduation. If the students do get in to better schools, more outside jobs will become accessible. Access to jobs outside their village will improve family incomes, and their living conditions will become better and better. This in turn will improve the general standard of living in the entire community.
(2) Families will not have to pay money for the books that their children need. If the families do not have to pay much for the school materials, then they might be more willing to send more children to the school.
(3) If schools provide interesting books for students, their willingness to read will increase. They will save playtime to read those books, and that will make their studies improve. They will not feel bored, their interest in studying will increase, and class attendance rates will improve.
Steps of project
1. Contacted the school leaders on the phone and discussed urgent needs with them. (DONE)
2. Hold a meeting with the schoolteachers to plan the project (Identifying what kinds of books are needed, who will be responsible for the sustainability of the projects) (DONE)
3. Contacted bookstores and found out the prices of the books (See Budget below).(DONE)
4. Find out the transportation fee.(DONE)
5. Write project proposal (DONE)
6. Secure donor funding
7. Purchase books from Lhasa city
8. Transport books
9. Distribute books to the school.
10. Visit the school to interview teachers and students and to visit some families and interview the parents to check the progress this project has brought.
11. Take pictures
12. Write the final report describing each expenditure and the evidence of results
13. Send the final report with all pictures and receipts.
Beneficiaries
This book project will benefit approximately 2000 people, including all the students and teachers in Gazezhongrui School, all people from this village (where the school located) and people from other villages who are sending their children to Gazezhong School.
Gender equality
If this project is accomplished, girls and boys in this school will equally get benefit. Also, this project will positively affect village attitudes about sending girls to school. The villagers will be able to see first hand how I, as a girl, was able to go to school and develop this project to directly help the villagers. It will certainly change their ideas about girls; this project will make them believe that their daughters can also do something helpful. This project will also save money that families should spend on books. Hence, they will have fewer problems with money and will be able to send more students to school.
Government support
In May 2007,the project manager, Soman Doomtso discussed this project with the county leader, Zhuoma. She gave me full permission to go forward with this project and encouraged it, because it could help students in many important ways.
Project Budget
| Items | Quantity | Number of items |
Donor Contri bution in rmb |
Local Contri bution in rmb |
Shem Contri bution in rmb |
Total cost in rmb |
| History of Tibetan Buddhism |
14 |
2
|
28 |
0 |
0 |
28 |
| Tibetan burial |
20 |
2 |
40 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
| Tibetan Buddhism |
18 |
2 |
36 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
| Buddhist monk’s life |
15 |
2 |
30 |
0 |
0 |
30 |
| Tibet and Tibetan |
28 |
2 |
56 |
0 |
0 |
56 |
| Tibetan math |
36 |
1 |
36 |
0 |
0 |
36 |
| History of Tibetan clothes |
36.2 |
1 |
36.2 |
0 |
0 |
36.2 |
| History of Tibet |
98 |
2 |
196 |
0 |
0 |
196 |
| Study of Tibetan history issues |
16 |
4 |
64 |
0 |
0 |
64 |
| Study of Tibetan Buddhism issues |
30 |
5 |
150 |
0 |
0 |
150 |
| Collection of Gele’s Tibetology and anthropology thesis |
46.8 |
2 |
93.6 |
0 |
0 |
93.6 |
| Tibetan noble families |
36 |
2 |
72 |
0 |
0 |
72 |
| Sky bury |
30 |
2 |
60 |
0 |
0 |
60 |
| Reincarnations in Tibetan Buddhism |
22 |
2 |
44 |
|
0 |
44 |
| The burning fire |
58 |
2 |
116 |
0 |
0 |
116 |
| The three kingdom |
200 |
10 |
2,000 |
0 |
0 |
2,000 |
| Story of celebrity |
100 |
10 |
1,000 |
0 |
0 |
1,000 |
| Liangshan heroes |
200 |
10 |
2,000 |
0 |
0 |
2,000 |
| Story of celebrity |
100 |
10 |
1,000 |
0 |
0 |
1,000 |
| Simple composition |
100 |
10 |
1,000 |
0 |
0 |
1,000 |
| I have lots of friends |
39 |
1 |
39 |
0 |
0 |
39 |
| Auto man |
3.6 |
5 |
18 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
| Easy children’s calligraphy |
23.6 |
1 |
23.6 |
0 |
0 |
23.6 |
| Journey to the east |
200 |
1 |
200 |
0 |
0 |
200 |
| Red dream building |
68 |
1 |
68 |
0 |
0 |
68 |
| Sciences genuine |
43.2 |
1 |
43.2 |
0 |
0 |
43.2 |
| Chinese Grammar |
28 |
5 |
140 |
0 |
0 |
140 |
| English-Chinese dictionary |
14.8 |
5 |
74 |
0 |
0 |
74 |
| Longman dictionary for primary students |
12.5 |
5 |
62.5 |
0 |
0 |
62.5 |
| Dictionary for sentence |
12.5 |
5 |
62.5 |
0 |
0 |
62.5 |
| Antonym dictionary |
25 |
5 |
125 |
0 |
0 |
125 |
| Contemporary Chinese Vocabulary dictionary |
49.8 |
2 |
99.6 |
0 |
0 |
99.6 |
| Synonym dictionary |
10 |
5 |
50 |
0 |
0 |
50 |
| Idiom dictionary |
10 |
5 |
50 |
0 |
0 |
50 |
| Phrase lexicon |
21.5 |
5 |
107.5 |
0 |
0 |
107.5 |
| Chinese dictionary |
12.8 |
10 |
128 |
0 |
0 |
128 |
| 300 Song poems |
19 |
1 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
19 |
| 300 Tang poems |
16 |
1 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
16 |
| Chinese primary teaching plan |
72 |
1 |
72 |
0 |
0 |
72 |
| Math primary teaching plan |
72 |
1 |
72 |
0 |
0 |
72 |
| Primary third year English book |
5.69 |
8 |
45.52 |
0 |
0 |
45.52 |
| Math review book |
19.8 |
1 |
19.8 |
0 |
0 |
19.8 |
| Reading and primary composition |
13.6 |
1 |
13.6 |
0 |
0 |
13.6 |
| Society and moral characters |
7.79 |
1 |
7.79 |
0 |
0 |
7.79 |
| Art |
3.51 |
1 |
3.51 |
0 |
0 |
3.51 |
| Society |
5.27 |
1 |
5.27 |
0 |
0 |
5.27 |
| Math exercise |
6 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| Primary composition |
|
1 |
150.4 |
0 |
0 |
150.4 |
| Basic topic composition |
100 |
1 |
100 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
| One million why |
10 |
1 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
10 |
| Childhood |
100 |
1 |
100 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
| Geling fancy story |
60 |
1 |
60 |
0 |
0 |
60 |
| Primary innovation composition |
100 |
1 |
100 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
| Chinese fable story |
100 |
1 |
100 |
0 |
0 |
100 |
| Pictured English books |
|
|
1599 |
|
|
1599 |
| One thousands and one night |
60 |
1 |
60 |
0 |
0 |
60 |
| Chinese idiom story |
59.8 |
1 |
59.8 |
0 |
0 |
59.8 |
| English graded reader |
4 |
20 |
80 |
0 |
0 |
80 |
| Desk |
45/desk |
25 |
0 |
1,125 |
0 |
1,125 |
| Chair |
30/chair |
20 |
0 |
600 |
0 |
600 |
| Teachers-10hours per week to keep the library |
900/month |
2 teachers |
0 |
18,000 |
0 |
18000 |
| Management Expenses |
|
200 |
200 |
0 |
400 |
|
| Transportation pay |
|
752 |
300 |
|
500 |
|
| Management Payment |
|
0 |
0 |
500 |
500 |
|
| Total |
|
13,000 |
20,225 |
500 |
33,725 |
Total cost of this project: 33,725 rmb(US 4,822.33dollars)
Donor contribution: 13,000 rmb(US 1,858.87 dollars)
Local contribution: 20,225 rmb
Shem women’s group: 500 rmb
Sustainability
One female teacher, Laji, one male teacher, Bianba, and two students (one male and one female) have been chose as the main librarians. They will keep the library clean and tidy and will responsible for making sure the books are not damaged or stolen. Teaching staff will devise a management policy for the use of the library to ensure that students and teachers are getting the most out of the facility; both teachers and students will open and close the library on time. These measures will ensure that the book projects will continue to help Gazezhongrui School for at least 20 years.
Additional information
Sonam Doomtso has successfully complete two different second- hand cloth projects for Gang village and beggers in Lhasa City. These two projects were supported by British Consulate in Shanghai and Michelle Kleisath’s family in 2004 and 2007.
Map of the project location
