Reports

To buy 35 solar electricity generating panels for 30 households in Xianzun Village and 5 monks in Xianzun Monasty to improve their living and health conditions.

The Royal Netherlands Embassy Funded this project

Dongrub Chosskyi comes from Lasetoun Township, Chengduo County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. She is currently working towards an Associate’s degree in English at the Qinghai Normal Nationalities Department’s English Training Program.

What? Buy 35 solar electricity generating panels for Xianzun village.

Who? 30 households in Xianzun Village and 5 monks in Xianzun Monastery in Lasetoun Township, Chenduo County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province.

Photos of the project implementation

The project manager is giving instructions to the villagers about how to use the solar panels.  She is reminding them to not lose the little instruction book. 

After the project manager explained how to correctly use the solar panel, one of the villagers is trying to use the parts of the solar panel by himself.

This monk is one of monks comes from Xianzun Monastery. He is very happy to get a solar panel and he said from this day he will not need to use candles for light.

All of the villagers and the project manager are holding a meeting, and the solar panels are distributed to the villagers.

Project summary

Project title: Solar Electricity Generating Panel Project for Xianzun village

Project goals: The immediate goal of this project is to buy 35 solar electricity generating panels for 30 households in Xianzun Village and 5 monks in Xianzun Monastery. The overarching goal of this project is to improve both Xianzun villagers’ and resident monks’ living and health conditions.

Location of project: This project is located in Xianzun village, Lasetoun Township, Chendun County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. Xianzun village is about 820 km away from Xining city, the capital of Qinghai province and it is about 80 km away from Yushu Tibetan autonomous prefecture.

Project beneficiaries: This project directly benefits 302 people from both Xianzun Village and Xianzun Monastery.

Implementation organization/individual:
The village’s leader, Goudu, Shem Women’s Group and Dangrub Chosskyid (project manager)

Contact Group: Shem Women’s Group

Funds received: Amount and date received
On October 31^st, Dangrub Chosskyid received 32,840 RMB from Shem Women’s Group.

Details of project activities
1 On September 25^th, 2008, Dangrub Chosskyid heard from Shem Women’s Group that the Netherlands Embassy agreed to fund this project. .

2. On September 26^th, 2008, Dangrub Chosskyid went to the solar panel company and determined the total cost.

3. On October 31^st, 2008, Dangrub Chosskyid received 32,840 RMB from Shem Women’s Group.

4. On November 2^nd, 2008, the villager leader, Cairien, collected all of the local contribution and sent it to the project manager (Dangrub Chosskyid)

5. On November 4^th to 6^th, 2008, Dangrub Chosskyid transported 35 solar panels to Xianzun village.

6. On November 7^th, 2008, Dangrub Chosskyid completed taking pictures and interviewed some villagers who received solar panels.

7. On November 1^st, 2008, Dangrub Chosskyid started to work on the final report.

project Finances

Receipt #	Item	Donor Contribution in tmb	Local Contribution in rmb	Shem Contribution in rmb	Total Cost in rmb
#1	35 Solar Panels	37,450	6,300	0	43,750
#2 #3	Transportation fee	3,300	700	0	4,000
#4	Project management expenses(phone call, photos, bus fare from Xining to the village)	300	350	0	650
	Project management payment	0	0	500	500
Total		41,050	7,350	500	48,900

Actual Cost
Item	Donor Contribution in rmb	Local Contribution in rmb	Shem Contribution in rmb	Total Cost in rmb	Difference (between original and actual budgets) in rmb
35 Solar Panels	37,450	6,300	0	43,750	0
Transportation fee	3,200	700	0	3,900	+100
Project management expenses (phone call, photos, bus fare from Xining to the village)	400	350.9	0	750.9	-100.9
Project management payment	0	0	500	500	0
	41,050	7,350.9	500	48,900.9	-0.9

Notes: The project manager received 32,840 RMB from the donor and that is 80 % of the project money, and the project manager will receive 20% when the project is completed, so she borrowed the rest of the project money from some villagers and the project manager’s family.

The project manager hired a private truck instead of using the solar panel company’s truck, so the transportation fee cost 100 RMB less than originally projected.

List of recipients
  Difficulties and lessons learned from the project
Difficulties
When I first heard from Shem that my project was funded I was so happy. I planned to complete the project as quickly as I could because my project was funded at the beginning of winter time.The biggest difficulty I faced was securing the additional 20% of the funding to complete the project. As I only initially received 80% of the funding, I had to negotiate with the village leader and my family to loan me the money.  The village leader collected additional money from the villagers to loan me 10% of the total funds, and my father loaned me the remaining 10%. It was difficult to ask these villagers and my family to loan even more money than they had originally agreed to.

Lessons learned
By implementing this small solar panel project, I found out that the trust between the villagers and the project manager is the key point; one can not finish something without support and help from others. If the villagers do not have trust in the project manager then the project tends to encounter some unexpected problems, for example when the collecting local contribution or distributing items.

Furthermore, doing a development project, the project manager needs to be very organized and responsible before starting the project because we can not predict unavoidable issues during project implementing.

Interviews of the project beneficiaries

1) Dangrub lhamo
She is a 52 year old woman. She has only one daughter, who is disabled. After she gave birth to her disabled daughter, her husband passed away. Since then she is the only person taking care of her daughter . As I know she has a very difficult life compared to other families in Xianzun Village. She does not have any farming land or livestock and her livelihood depends on help from some generous villagers and her relatives. Sometimes her nephew gives her some tsampa and butter, cheese; also some kind and rich people from Xianzun village give her some second hand clothes and spare food . After she received the solar panel she was very happy and she said, “From today I will have bright nights and I will not need to use my butter lamps. I have no butter to eat but I need to use butter to be my lamps. Otherwise I can’t see anything in my house at night.” Also she said, “I will pray for the people who donated the solar panel to me and the village.”

2) Badma Chosskyid
She is a 23 year old woman. She has five younger brothers and sisters, and she is the eldest child in her family. She had attended school when she was nine years old, but because she is the eldest child in her family, she could not continue going to school. Since her parents are too old to raise this family, she is the only worker; she supports the entire family. Moreover, she needs to support her sisters and brothers to go to school. One boy and one girl are in the high school and others are in the primary school. She is very happy to have a solar panel in her house and she said the solar panel is very helpful for her to save time and complete her housework; she needs to work both in daytime and at night due to lot of work. She needs to wash all the dirty clothes in her family. Everyday she must get up early to go to work so the candles and gas lamps are very inconvenient for her to do work. After she has the solar panel, she can do her work very conveniently and at the same time she can save time and some money.

3) Bsodnams
He is 61 years old. In his family there are 6 people and he is the only resource of income for the whole family. He has four children, two girls and two sons, and all of them are going to school. One of his sons is in Qinghai University and other children are in the local elementary school. He needs to earn tuition for those four children and food for the whole family, so his family’s condition is very difficult among the families in Xianzun Village. He earns money by being a butcher. (In this whole area people like to eat meat but they don’t like to kill the yaks and sheep by themselves because of religious beliefs. Most rich families ask other people to kill for them and pay 200 RMB for each yak). This is the only way that he can earn some money in order to support the family. He said that he doesn’t like to kill but there is no place to earn money for his family so he does this kind of job. He is very glad to have this solar panel.   

He is a 25 year old boy and there are four people in his family. He is a monk in Xianzun Monastery and he has his own room in the monastery. His family supports him but they also can’t do much for him because both of his parents earn little money and they must also pay for his sister’s high school tuition. Most of time he needs to support himself. As we know monks can only earn money by chanting for the families, so they also have a very difficult life. He said now he has the solar panel and he doesn’t need to spend his little income for candles and butter. He is really happy and grateful for the donor’s help. He said he will always pray and chant Mani for the donor so that the donor can have a great future.

Letter of appreciation

Translation of thank you letter

Dear the Royal Netherlands Embassy

My name is Goudu and I am the village leader of Xianzun Village. First of all, I would like to represent all the villagers in Xianzun Village to say thank you very much for your generosity. Your donation is just like giving bright eyes to us because you donated the solar panels to the poor people like us. From now on the people in this village will have electricity like bright sunshine in the dark night.
All the villagers in Xianzun Village will pray for you to have very happy families and for you to have good luck in everything that you do in the future. Your kindness is always in our hearts and again thank you very much your kindness.

Best wishes!

Sincerely,
The village leader: Goudu.

Receipts
#1

The total cost for the solar panels was 43,750 RMB.

#2

The total transportation fee from Xining City to Yushu prefecture was 2,390 RMB.

This is the contract for purchasing the solar panels from the company.

#3

The total transportation fee for the solar panels from Yushu prefecture to Xianzun village was 1,510 RMB.

#4

The total cost of the manager travelling twice to the project site was 457.9 RMB and 57.9 RMB was paid by the local people.

 Origianl Proposal

 Project Location
This project is located in Xianzun Village, Lasetoun Township, Chenduo County, Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China and Xianzun Monastery. This monastery has 65 monks in total and is located south of Xianzun village. Xianzun Village and Xianzun Monastery are about 820 km away from Xining City, the capital of Qinghai Province, and is about 80 km away from Yushu Tibetan autonomous Prefecture. It usually takes about one entire day to travel from Xining to Yushu, and then about three hours from Yushu Prefecture Town to Xainzun village.

Population
There are approximately 363 people (41 families) in Xianzun Village and Xianzun Monastery. There are 113 men, including 5 monks, 207 women, and 43 children.

Education
In Xianzun Village, there are 20 people (13 are men and 7 are women) who received education when they were young and learned to read and write Tibetan. These 13 educated men received education in the monastery, and 7 women were educated in the nunnery. Many years ago, there was no other alternative for people to get education; so at that time many Tibetans thought that becoming a monk was only way to get education. In the monastery they could learn reading and writing. Currently, there are only 5 monks living in the monastery. In the village there are 4 university students (3 females and 1 male), 2 high school students (both of them are girls), 9 middle school students (7 boys and 2 girls) and 19 primary school students (11 girls and 8 boys). However, there are about 13 children still in the village who are not attending school. Instead, they have to spend all their time herding the yaks and sheep. They also help neighboring families work if they need help and there is no payment for those labors. One of the main problems in the village regarding education is students’ absenteeism and school withdrawal, this is due to the fact that once a child gets older or is able to work then their families decide to take them out of school to herd the livestock.

In addition, 5 monks in Xianzun Monastery are recieving the monastic education. They can write and read Tibetan very well. They speak a little Chinese.

Cash income
In Xianzun Village, there are three ways to earn cash income.1) They can earn income from selling livestock and dairy products such as butter and cheese. The families who have more livestock are able to sell yaks or yak products like cheese, butter and milk to generate income. These families can earn around 300 RMB for a year from herding. 2) Digging caterpillar fungus; on average each family can earn 300-400 RMB from digging caterpillar fungus (a kind of special herb that grows during the season of two months from May to June). 3)They can go to other villages to find work. After they have harvested their crops most adults go looking for work such as building houses and fixing roads. Also some girls work for rich families as a house keeper. They might work for other families or a factory. Some men go to another place and work in the factory or build the houses for other villages, that average they can earn around 200-300 RMB in each year.

In total each household makes an average of 800-900 RMB each year. Each family has to spend around 1,000 RMB in a year for daily necessities like clothes, food, festivals and medicine, especially the families who have university students they have to spend more than 12,000 RMB in each year.

Herding
There are 41 families, but only 32 families herd livestock. In those families 9 households have more livestock than others and on the average they have around 31 livestock (14 sheep, 5 yaks and 12 goats) and other 23 households on average have around 19 livestock (2 yaks, 6 sheep, and 11 goats,)

Agriculture
This village is located in a high altitude area; the weather is not stable, some times very cold and sometimes very hot. The farmers only can grow barley and potatoes. In Xianzun Village each household approximately has 7 mu (1 mu=0.0666 hectares). The land can only produce enough food for themselves and they do not have surplus crops to sell in market. So there is no cash income from agriculture.

Project goals
The immediate goal of this project is to buy 35 solar electricity generating panels for 30 households in Xianzun Village and 5 monks in Xianzun Monasty.

The overarching goal of this project is to improve both Xianzun Villagers’ and resident monks’ living and health conditions.

Project beneficiaries
This project will directly benefit 302 people in total from both Xianzun Village and Xianzun Monastery.

Problems
There is no electricity for the farmers of Xinzun village. The lack of electricity causes several problems for the village:

1. Lack of access to information
   If people have no electricity then the villagers do not have TV and radios. Therefore, they do not have access to news or information and they were not informing about anything that is happening. Instead, they just follow what others say. If they have electricity, some of the families can buy TV or a radio then they could get some news about the outside world, they also could understand what happens around the world.
2. Difficult conditions for children to study
   Currently, it is very difficult for students to study at home at night because they have no light. Without light, they cannot do their homework or acquire new knowledge. If students have light they could concentrate better on their studies since at the daytime they do not have enough time to do their homework and they have class the whole day.
3. Increase health problems
   In this village people use gas lamps and candles. The smoke produced by the gas lamps and candles damage eyes and lungs, so it is very easy to get sick.
4. Increased women’s work labor
   As mentioned before, benzene lamps and candles are used frequently in the village. The work under the benzene lamps and candles is very difficult and inconvenient for women. Both men and women go to work in the field but women have also other work and responsibilities at home. They can’t finish everything during daytime, so they also work at night (washing, cooking dinner, taking care of children) under the dim light.
5. Low income
   Some families are so poor that they cannot even afford candles or gas lamps, so they can only work during daytime. Each family needs to spend around 250 rmb to buy the candles and butter for light every year.

Benefits

1. If people have electricity, they could have TV and radio so they could access the news and information. From this, they can get more knowledge about things happening around the world. They can get many different ideas and be exposed to different ways of thinking.
2. With the light generated from the solar panels students will be able to study and do their homework when it gets dark. This can help children improve their scores at school and expand their knowledge in different subjects.
3. If people did not have to use gas lamps and candles, their health would not be affected by getting exposed to the chemicals released by the lamps.
4. The solar panels could provide light that is needed for women to finish their work at night without having to worry about buying candles and gas. Every thing would be more convenient for them, so the light would really solve their problems.
5. If the villagers have solar panels, each family can save around 250 RMB per year.

Gender equality
In Xianzun Village, women have a lot of work to do both in the fields and at home. During the daytime they go to the field with their husbands where they work as much as men do, and at night while men can rest women have to prepare the dinner, wash clothes, and do some other house works; thus, the light is very important for women to do all these work. In the morning, women get up very early and they milk the yaks and sheep. Women have higher propensity to suffer from lung or throat problems because they spend a lot of time in the kitchen, burning fuel or lighting candles and lamps. Women work under difficult conditions and the workload is heavier on them as they have to take care of the housework. This project will help women on their work, improving their current conditions, allowing them to finish their work at night and improving their health.

At the same time, as I am a woman project manager, I will be the person managing the implementation and dealing with the village leaders. This will show that women are also able to take on leadership roles and change some people’s ideas about the benefits of sending women to school.

Governmental support
In May 2007, the project manager visited Xianzun Village and talked with the village leader, Guodu, and he said solar panels would be very helpful for the villagers. The next day project manager had a meeting with the whole village and invited local government leader Dorjie, he was very happy and supportive about this project. Also the whole village promised that they will be very responsible for this project.

The project steps

1. Visited Xianzun Village and held the meeting with the villagers and the village leader. (Done)
2. Discussed details with the leader about the project. (Done)
3. Interviewed some local people and took the pictures. (Done)
4. Called the Nima Company and asked about the price of the solar cookers. (Done)
5. Wrote proposal. (Done)
6. Receive funding.
7. Collect local contribution.
8. Purchase solar panels from Nima Company in Xining, Qinghai Province.
9. Transport the solar panels from Nima Company to Xianzun Village.
10. Hold meeting with villagers and those 5 monks from Xianzun monastery, instruction about how to use it.
11. Distribute solar panels to the poorest 30 households and 5 monks.
12. Take pictures and interview people who got the solar panel.
13. Write final report and send it to Donor with pictures and all receipts.

Timeframe

This project will take 12 days to complete.

2 days: Purchase the solar panels from Nima Company

4 days: Transport the solar panels to Xianzun Village

1 day: Hold meeting with villagers and give instructions about how to use the solar panels.

1 days: Distribute solar panels to the recipients

4 days: Interview local villagers and 5 monks, take pictures and teach them how to use the solar panels.

The detailed budget

Item	Number of Item	Price for per item inrmb	Donor contri bution in rmb	Local Contri bution in rmb	Shem Contri bution in rmb	Total Cost in rmb
Solar Panels	35	1,250	37,450	6300	0	43,750
*Trans portation fee			3,300	700	0	4,000
Manage ment Payment			0	0	500	500
*Manage ment expenses	phonecall, photos, transpo rtation for the manager from Xining to the village		300	350	0	650
Total			41,050	7,350	500	48,900

*Each family will contribute 180 RMB for each solar panel, 20 RMB for the transportation fee and 10 RMB for project management expenses. Firstly, the transportation fee from Xining to Yushu Prefecture costs 3,100 RMB and from Yushu prefecture to Xianzun Village costs 900 RMB.

Sustainability
This solar panel will be purchased from Nima Company. If anything is broken or any technical problems occur within one year after the purchase, the company will exchange for a new one. If the problem happens within ten years the company will fix it and be responsible for those solar panels. Project manager Dongrub Chosskyid will explain to the villagers every detail about the situation of the company and how to use the solar panels very carefully before they are purchased. The villagers promised that they will take good care of the solar panels, if the solar panels will have any problems the villagers will contact with the village leader or the project manager, and then the village leader and the project manager will contact to the solar company in Xining for repairs.

After ten years if the solar panel will have any problems then the village leader will be responsible for it and find someone to fix it. If that person can’t pay the payment then village will pay the payment.

Additional information
Dongrub Chosskyid (Avery) started learning English in 2005. In winter of 2005 and in the summer of 2006 she completed two- second hand-clothing projects for Daida Village which was supported by Sue Bishop at the British Consulate in Shanghai

Photos from the project site

This family‘s condition is not bad they can buy candles which has fewer negative effects on people’s bodies. Therefore, they can buy candles and do not need to use butter lamps.

Almost all women from this village do like this woman, and she is ready to make fire in the early morning and she has hard time to see her way with only a flashlight.

In the interview this woman said that she always wakes up early to worship, so she is uses candles to see the way of her work. She is 61 years old and it is very difficult to work in the dark.

Map of the project location