Project Manager: Padmatso (Bethany)
To strengthen Tibetan culture and teach younger generations about religion; strengthen community ties, provide a place for lay people and practitioners to worship and conduct rituals and practices, encourage daily exercise, and raise morale.
Shem’s private donors funded this project.
Padmatso is from Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China. She graduated in 2005 with an associated degree in English from Qinghai Normal University Nationalities Department’s English Training Program. Since her graduation, she worked as an English teacher at several primary schools at her hometown. Now she is an English teacher at Zhuoni Tibetan Middle School.
What? To rebuild a temple for Xialadi Village(Strengthen Tibetan culture and teach younger generations about religion, Strengthen community ties, provide a place for lay people and practitioners to worship and conduct rituals and practices, encourage daily exercise, Raise morale.)
Who? Xiladi Villagers in Qiagai Township, Zhuoni County, Gannan Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province
Photos of project implementation
The finished building of the temple without manufacturing inside of the temple and paint
The villagers and workers are making the wall
The villagers are helping the workers to build the rooms
In front of the temple
Inside of the temple, we will put many structures, such as stupa , Buddha statues and scripture books there.
On these walls, we will paint religious paintings
The kitchen room that built as the part of the local contribution
The finished building of the temple from side scene
Project Summary
Project Title: Cultural Preservation for Xialadi Village.
The project location: This project took place in Xialadi Tibetan Village. Xialadi is located 30 kilometers from Qiagai Township Seat, in Zhuoni County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, and China.
Project goals: The project goal is to strengthen Tibetan culture and teach younger generations about religion; strengthen community ties, provide a place for lay people and practitioners to worship and conduct rituals and practices, encourage daily exercise, and raise morale.
Total beneficiaries
This project benefit a total of 336 people, including 200 Xialadi villagers and 136 Tibetan villagers from the next valley. It also benefit many young generations of Xialadi village.
Implementation organization/individual
Padmatso (Bethany), three village managers: Samdan, Dorjicairang, Hongjie, and Shem Women’s Group.
Contact Group: Shem Women’s Group
Funds received: Source, Amount, and Date Received
On March 26th 2007, Shem Women’s Group has distributed 71,992rmb to the project manager Padmatso (Bethany).
Details of the project activities
1. The project manager had a meeting with the villagers and chose three villagers as project committees.
2. March 21.2007; we received 71,992 Rmb from Shem Women’s Group.
3. March 23rd; the project manager went back to the village and held a meeting with the three village managers and discussed about the plans for the next.
4. The project manager and three other villagers designed the project
5. Some elder people from the village get together at the place where the temple would be built and share suggestions for rebuilding this temple.
6. Local people invited the lama from Qiagai monastery and to bless the place where the temple would be built.
7. April 17th, the local people started to work, gathering the stones and sand.
8. April 20th, local people hired a big earth-scraper to flat the.
9. June 14th, three village committees visited the person who is responsible for the forest at my hometown and asked for the permission to cut some trees for first time.
10. June 21rst; the project manager and the three village committees went to visit the man (who is responsible for the forest) again.
11. July 28th; we got the permission from the government to cut 267 wooden pillars for twenty days.
12. Aug 15th; local people went to the forest which is 25 kilometers away from the village and started to cut the trees.
13. Sept 28th; The leader (who is responsible for the forest) checked and counted the wood.
14. Oct 13th; we paid the management fee for the government and villagers started to transport the wooden pillars to village.
15. Dec 25th, we got all the pillars to the village.
16. March 23, 2008. Asked the experienced engineer and skilled workers from near township as we planned before.
17. April 9th: signed a contract between the engineer and the village committee which guarantees that the temple would be of superior quality,
18. April 27th: the engineers and workers started to build the temple.
19. July 12th: the workers finished the building of the temple.
20. We haven’t got enough pillars, also we need many boards to manufacture the inside, and so we bought from many places and got permission from the government for transport for five months.
21. Apr 8th, 2009: We asked skilled workers to manufacture the inside of the temple for two month.
22. June 12, finished the manufacture the inside of the temple.
23. Now, the villagers asked the painters to paint and it cost them 25,000rmb as local contribution, because we haven’t got anymore money left.
24. July11th wrote the final report.
Problems encountered in the course of the project implementation.
1. Cold weather
When we got the money, it was in March and the earth was still a little frozen and it was very difficult to dig.
2. Heavy rains during the construction
during the construction it rained a lot and caused problems when the local people transporting the materials and gathering the stones and sand. Also made it difficult when the villagers cut the trees.
3. Problems for getting the permission from government for cutting the trees
As the recent rule of the government, we can’t cut the trees at all. Therefore, we couldn’t find the wood to buy with reasonable price and it was very expensive to buy them. Also it was very difficult to transport if we bought the wood from far away, because the government would check and it was not allowed to transport. So we used long time to ask for the permission. (It has been the most difficult problem that we met; also the price went up very high.)
4. Fluctuating cost of the materials
During this construction, we got the problems for buying the materials, because the prices went up and down. Especially, the wood and pay for the workers. Before, we could buy a longer wooden pillar for 145rmb, but now it cost 203rmb. We can pay 40rmb for a skilled worker for one day, but now it paid 70rmb for one day.
Solutions
During this project, all the villagers tried their best to work and help each other to implement the project. They gave many excellent suggestions, for example, we built two more rooms and outside wall as the part of the local contribution. Also when we met the problems for the number of the materials, the local people used the transportation fee to buy more and transported them by themselves even some families don’t have the tractors, they hired other’s and transport the materials as the leaders planned.
For cutting the trees, local people visited the leader who was responsible for the forest of my hometown many times and used many ways to convince the leader to give permission. All the men from the village stayed at the forest for twenty days to cut the trees without any payment. Also they transported all the wooden pillars to the village by themselves. Therefore, we only paid 2000rmb instead of paying almost 30,000. Because we cut 267wooden pillars and in that time we would pay one at least 150rmb.Furthermore, we bought many boards and villagers transported them to the village.
From all these activities, we could see the local people’s purest hearts and how they are eager to have a temple in this village. Also we could see that villagers are very unite and hard working.
Interviews
During the Lonar New Year, Padmasto went back home and by the way she interviewed some elder people from the village. They were very happy to see the temple nearly finished and dying to have time to circumambulate the temple. Also they could practice in this temple and they can have enjoyable life in the future. Below are the people that Padmatso interviewed.
Samdan
A 65 year old male practitioner and one of the project committees, he said “It is very pleasant to see the temple nearly rebuilt. First, I would represent all the villagers to say thanks lots for the Shem Women’s Group. Because without their help we still couldn’t rebuild the temple even the villagers hope to. This temple would not only offer a place to do daily rituals, also serves as daily exercise for everyone, especially, for the elder people.”
Sonamkyi
A 78year-old female practitioner (the oldest practitioner at the village) she said: “Since the last temple was destroyed, every villager has eager to rebuild the temple, but we couldn’t do it until now. Now with Shem Women’s Group’s help we started to build the temple. I am very lucky that I can see the repaired temple and could circumambulate it. It will restore the village’s “heart” and raise the villagers’ spirits.”
Gazang tshz
A 67-year-old woman she said: “I am a blind woman and I stayed at home everyday to practice the Buddhism. Now my wish became true that we have a temple in our village and I could go out to the temple to practice the Buddhism or circumambulate it with other companions. I would no more stay at home and feel lonely.”
General conclusion on the realization of the project aims so far;
During this construction, we got many problems, such as heavy rains, long time for getting the permission for cutting the trees and so on, but the project has been finishing very successfully by the local people’s support and village committees’ hard work.
This project brings the heart and spirits to the village again, also it provides essential place to all the practitioners to practice the Dharma in this temple. The villagers could have religious rituals any time without worry that place is too small when they have at someone’s family.
Changes made in the original project proposal and budget:
A: Two rooms
In the original proposal, we didn’t plan to build these two rooms, but as the villagers’ suggestion we planed to build these two rooms; one is for the kitchen that we could cook the food when we hold big religious activities. So far, we took turns to hold the activities in each family, but some families are very small and got difficulties when all the villagers get together in one family, The other is for the temple keeper, we would take turns to responsible for the temple each year. So it is very convenient for the people to look after the temple very well. Therefore, we decided to build these two rooms as a part of the local contribution.
B: Outside wall of the temple
In the original proposal, we didn’t plan to make an outside wall for the temple. During this construction, we got that we need an outside wall, because each family has livestock in the family and they would go near the temple anytime, especially, the pigs. They would excrete everywhere and it would make the temple dirty, also the pigs would destroy the yard. So that, we planned to make a wall in order to keep the temple more clean and safe. We made it as another part of the local contribution.
C. Transportation
originally, we planned to have the local people to only transport the stones, but during the project we had problems with the numbers of the materials, such as bricks, tiles, cement and so on. We needed more than the original number, because the bad road to the village caused many of them had broken, also when the workers use them, they had broken some of them. So the local people needed to buy more than planed and transported all the materials by themselves as the part of the local contribution.
D. Paintings
We planned to paint the temple and that would pay by donor, but as the things passing we got no money to pay for it. So the committees hold a meeting with villagers and decided that they will pay for it as a local contribution.
Project finance
|
Original Budget |
|||
| Item | Donor Contribution in rmb |
Local Contribution in rmb |
Total Cost in rmb |
| Cement |
3,080 |
0 |
3,080 |
| Sand |
5,300 |
0 |
5,300 |
| Workers’ payment |
26,480 |
0 |
26,480 |
| brick |
6,221.6 |
0 |
6,221.6 |
| tile |
4,500 |
0 |
4,500 |
|
manufacture of the wood ,wooden pillars, boards and |
21,460 |
0 |
21,460 |
| other materials |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| food |
0 |
45,000 |
45,000 |
| unskilled laborers |
0 |
67,500 |
67,500 |
|
transportation fee for the stones |
0 |
4,000 |
4,000 |
| paint |
3,600 |
0 |
3,600 |
| painters |
1,350 |
0 |
1,350 |
| prayer wheels |
0 |
14,000 |
14,000 |
|
large Buddha statue |
0 |
5,200 |
5,200 |
| scripture books |
0 |
2,196 |
2,196 |
|
71,991.6 |
137,896 |
209,887.6 |
|
|
|
|||||
| Receipt # | Donor Contribution in rmb |
Local Contributionin rmb | Shem Contribution in rmb |
Total Cost in rmb |
Difference between (original budget and actual cost) |
| Receip#1, #2 Note#1 |
4,458 |
600 |
0 |
5,058 |
-1,978 |
| Receipt #4Note#2 |
2,500 |
1,760 |
0 |
4,260 |
+1,040 |
| Receipt #5 Note#3 |
21,468 |
15,000 |
0 |
36,468 |
-9,988 |
| Receipt #7-9 Note#4 |
6,060 |
3,300 |
0 |
9,360 |
-3,138.4 |
| Receipt #10 Note#5 |
4,000 |
350 |
0 |
4,350 |
+150 |
| Receipt #11-21 Note#6 |
31,734.2 |
5,000 |
0 |
36,734.2 |
-15,274.2 |
| Receipt #22-36 Note#7 |
1,972.43 |
0 |
0 |
1,972.43 |
-1,972.43 |
|
0 |
45,000 |
0 |
45,000 |
0 |
|
|
0 |
67,500 |
0 |
67,500 |
0 |
|
|
0 |
4,000 |
0 |
4,000 |
0 |
|
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
+3,600 |
|
|
0 |
25,000 |
0 |
25,000 |
- 23,650 |
|
|
0 |
14,000 |
0 |
14,000 |
0 |
|
|
0 |
5,200 |
0 |
5,200 |
0 |
|
|
0 |
2,196 |
0 |
2,196 |
0 |
|
| Total |
72,192.63 |
188,906 |
0 |
261,098.63 |
-51,211.03 |
Note#1
Formerly we planed to buy 140bags of cement, but during the project implementation we designed the place a little bigger than before, as so we needed more cement and the cost became higher than before, so we asked the locals to pay the transportation fee.
Note#2
We planed to buy 100 ton sand( tiny sand 细沙and rough sand粗沙), but we spent more money on cement and the villagers decided to collect the rough sand by themselves and pay the transportation as local contribution.
Note#3
The workers’ payment included the skilled stone workers and skilled workers total for 26,480rmb before, now we paid 19,500rmb for just building up the temple and we have to pay 16,968rmb for the manufacture of inside the temple. Because of the money that running out of, so we only paid 1,968rmb and local people paid 15,000 as a contribution.
Note#4
During the implementation we needed more bricks (4,124) than we planed (17,776) and the price became higher, especially the transportation, because of the lot rain and bad road. So we paid the bricks from donor and paid the transportation as the local contribution.
Note#5
Before we planed to buy 3,000tiles, but as the villagers and workers’ advice we planed to buy another kind of tile (琉璃瓦) instead.
Note#6
We have 21,460rmb for the148 wooden pillars, but in actual we needed more and the price was became very high, because of the government rules that we can’t cut the trees nowadays. The wood became very hard to get and our money is not enough, so that we used many ways to request the government (the leader of the forest keeper) to give permission. At the end we paid 2,000rmb for the management fee and we cut the 267wooden pillars by the villagers. We still need to buy more wooden boards to manufacture the inside of the temple and we bought many boards that cost 28,124.2rmb.
Note#7
We have not included these stuffs in the original budget but during the implementation we needed all these things. For example, receipts from22-33 the workers used during the implementation. Receipt 34-36, we used for celebrating the finishing building of the temple, it is maybe a culture that we have to give some money to the workers.
Thanks Letter
Translation
Dear Shem Women’s Group,
I would like to represent all the villagers to say thank you to all the members of the Shem Women’s Group very much. With your kind help, we have rebuilt the temple very successfully as we wished to have it for long time. We all bless you to have more successful future without any illness and use your kindness to help more people.
Tashi Delek
The villagers of Xialadi
June 15th, 2009
Receipts
Receipt1
Cement 4.5ton+transportation for the cement and it was 2,090rmb
Receipt 2
Cement 100bags+transportation fee=2,200rmb
Reciept3
Cement6bags+transportation fee=168 rmb.
Receipt4
30stucks of sand it is 2,500rmb
Receipt 5
The payment 19,500rmb for the workers.
Receipt6
We have to pay 16,968rmb formfitting up inside of the temple, but we haven’t got more money and we only paid 1,968rmb and local people paid rest 15,000rmb.
Receipt7
Receipt 8
Receipt 9
Above receipts are the costs for brick, in total it costs 6,060rm
Receipt10
The cost for tile is 4,000rmb in total.
Receipt 11
Receipt 12
Reciept13
Reciept14
Reciept15
Reciept16
Reciept17
Reciept18
Reciept19
Reciept20
Reciept21
(Receipts 11-21 receipts are the costs for the wooden pillars, boards and the manufacture of the pillars and boards, we paid 31,734.2rmb in total from donor contribution)
Reciept22
Receipt 23
Reciept24
Reciept25
Reciept26
Reciept27
Reciept28
Reciept29
Reciept30
Reciept31
Reciept32
Reciept33
Reciept34
Reciept35
Reciept36
Receipts from 22-36 are costs for other materials, and we spent 1,972.43rmb from donor contribution)
Original proposal
Where is the project located?
This project will take place in Xialadi Tibetan Village. Xialadi is located 30 kilometers from Qiagai Township Seat, in Zhuoni County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, China.
Population
Xialadi Village has 20 households and 180 villagers. The population of Xialadi Village is 176. There are 76 men, 64 women, and 36 children. All residents are Tibetan.
Income
In the winter of 2000, Zhuoni County designated Xialadi Village as the poorest village in Qiagai Township, a group of 26 distinct villages. The average disposable cash income of a Xialadi villager is around 150rmb per year. The villagers are nomadic herders; they earn money by selling butter and cheese. A typical family can make 150 rmb per year selling cheese and 480 rmb per year selling butter. They sell these to the businessman in Qiagai Township seat.
In addition, villagers make money by selling livestock such as yaks and sheep. In the space of two years, each family sells one or two yaks for about 1200rmb each.
Finally, some of the Xialadi villagers also take jobs as low-skilled road workers. Due to the demands of herding, they can only work for two months per year: April and May. They usually work building roads for around 10 hours a day for a salary of 15 rmb per day.
Taxes
Each family must remit 200 jin of milk per year in taxes. This fee is charged regardless of herd size, and some families must buy milk in order to pay the milk tax. In addition, villagers must pay 5 rmb per yak per year. A typical family with a herd of 30 yaks must pay 150 rmb per year plus milk tax. If the villagers are unable to pay their taxes the local government will take some of their livestock as payment.
Agriculture
In all of Qiagai Township, it is very difficult to grow most crops . Because of the high elevation and bad weather, the villagers are limited to growing small amounts of barley and beans for self-consumption. The largest family has 7 mu of land. With this land, they can produce 100 jin of barley or beans per year. The land is allotted according to the number of family members. Families with fewer members have less land. Land is also allotted according to age: those born before 1981 are allotted 1 mu of land each, while those born after are allotted no land.
Xialadi’s fie lds are not irrigated. To water their fields, the village women must hand- carry buckets of water from a stream that is 2 km away from the village. Since 1999, the barley crops in Xialadi village have been affected by disease. The villagers have attempted to remedy this situation with pesticides and preventative chemicals, but these often kill the crops and make the fields barren.
As a result of the above problems, most Xialadi villagers cannot produce enough barley for self-consumption, and thus must buy barley flour and beans from the stores in the nearby township.
Health Care
There is no health clinic in Xialadi Village. When people get sick they must go to Qiagai Township, which is 30 kilometers away. It takes four hours to get to the township by horse or yak. Most people go there on foot, which takes five hours. There is no car in Xialadi Village and it is unsafe for the seriously ill patients to travel by motorcycle to the clinic. The road from Xialadi to Qiagai is a very rough, dirt road and thus very dangerous to travel on by motorcycle. The yak is a slow but more suitable transportation because it walks smoothly .
In the past 10 years, 5 people have died on the way to the hospital. There is no mid-wife in Xialadi Village, so when women give birth they must go to the clinic. Miscarriage is very common, because of the long distance. If the villagers have more serious illnesses, they have to go to Zhuoni County Town. Before the patients enter the hospital they have to pay a two or three thousand rmb deposit to the hospital, o therwise the doctors won’t treat them. Upon arrival at the Zhoni County hospital, some villagers have been turned away because of their poverty-stricken appearance.
Education
There is one Tibetan primary school in Xialadi Village. The school has three grades and only 11 stud e nts: 4 girls and 7 boys. There are 20 school-aged children in the village, but many do no attend the school b ecause their parents want them to herd livestock. The primary school is in very poor condition: it consists of two small rooms, a classroom and a teacher’s apartment. The school’s roof is in disrepair. During the rainy season, the roof leaks and makes it difficult to hold class.
There is only one teacher in the school for three classes. It is very hard for the students pay attention to their classes, because classes are held while all of the students are together in the classroom. The school only has 8 desks, which the students must share between them. The re are five people from Xialadi Village who have graduated from high or normal (teacher training) school.
Herding
Xialadi Villagers face a number of problems with regard to herding:
1. The village has a very limited amount of grassland . Xialadi’s villagers have had conflicts with the neighboring village over grazing rights. In 1995, this conflict escalated into violent fighting, that lasted for two months. Fortunately, no one was killed during this quarrel, but the villagers still have problems with grazing rights. Before the villagers could herd their livestock freely, but now the neighboring village doesn’t let Xialadi Village’s livestock grass onto their grassland. If Xialadi’s livestock cross the neighboring village’s boundary, then they kill the yaks. So the fighting has curtailed the Xialadi villagers’ ability to herd.
2. During winter when t he temperature drops to 15 below zero with a 7-inch snowfall, some livestock starve to death. This is especially the case for calves and lambs .
3. For the past ten years, two diseases have decreased the number of the livestock. Every winter, each herd loses two to three animals to a small white parasite that attack the animals’ backsides. In the spring, a disease called Kutiyi infects the animal’s mouths and kills 2-3 yaks and around 10 sheep per year.
Project Goals and benefits
The overarching goal of this project is to preserve and promote traditional Tibetan culture and religion.
The immediate goal of this project is to re-build Xialadi Village’s Tibetan Buddhist temple.
Background
Xailadi’s original Buddhist temple was built in 1901. Each day, the temple hosted about 50 worshippers. The temple served as a crucial place of worship for the village’s many Tibetan Buddhist practitioners, the majority of whom are women. Xialadi village is home to many women practitioners who have chosen to dedicate their lives to the study and practice of Tibetan Buddhism. The nearest nunnery to Xialadi Village is located in Labrang, which is more than 200 kilometers away. Because Labrang’s nunnery is so far away from Xialadi, becoming a nun is not a viable option for the village’s devout women. Thus, these women’s main means of practicing their faith was to worship at the Xialadi Tibetan Buddhist temple.
In addition to serving as a place of worship, the original temple was the main community-gathering place. Villagers went to the temple to meet with others, circumambulate, pray, and talk. The temple was the village’s central building and the most popular meeting place.
In 1958, the village temple was completely destroyed.
In the1980’s the people of Xialadi village were given permission to rebuild their temple and resume religious worship. Unfortunately, however, the villagers have not had the financial means to rebuild it. Today, the only evidence that remains of this once fundamental community center is a single, small deity figure that was saved from the destruction by one of the village’s female practitioners (see photo). Having no temple has caused several problems for the villagers:
Drolmatso holding the only remnant of the original temple
Loss of culture
Because Tibetan Buddhism is an integral part of Tibetan culture, the original Buddhist temple of Xialadi village was a fundamentally important cultural monument. “Culture” consists of the language, beliefs, values, norms, and behaviors of a group of people. It also includes the material objects that are passed from one generation to next. Xialadi’s temple was a monument whose existence necessitated the practice of various parts of Tibetan culture–especially the exercise of beliefs, and the following of religious norms. The temple itself was also a part of Tibetan culture, an object that was enjoyed and used by generations of Xialadi villagers. Thus the loss of the village temple has meant a basic loss of culture for the Xialadi villagers.
In rapidly modernizing China, cultural leveling is a real threat to the traditional Tibetan way of life. When an ethnic group experiences cultural leveling, they cease to be distinct from the dominant ethnic group. Cultural leveling poses a particularly urgent threat to Xialadi village, because it is the only Tibetan village in a valley shared by four Han Chinese Villages and a Han Chinese-run gold mine.
One example of the threat to traditional Tibetan culture is evident in the disappearance of the village’s bi-annual horse racing festivals. Previously, these races were held in the summer and during the New Year. Due to the switch from horses to motorcycles as the main mode of transportation, many villagers no longer raise horses, and thus horse racing has become obsolete. Whereas New Year celebrations in the past involved families gathering to watch the races, sing, and dance, New Year celebrations today involve motorcycle racing and are only attended by young men.
Also, the language that the villagers use is changing. Previously, all of the villagers used Tibetan to communicate, and very few Chinese words could be heard in their speech. Since the arrival of the Chinese gold mine ten years ago, and the subsequent arrival of televisions in the village’s homes–the younger generation of villagers uses more and more Chinese words in their daily speech. In addition, the village’s children pick up Chinese words from the TV and use them in daily life.
Loss of culture in younger generation
Today, Xialadi’s young people don’t know much about Tibetan Buddhism because there is no place to practice. This means that the youth of Xialadi village are largely ignorant about a fundamental part of Tibetan culture. Culture is learned as children grow up in a society and discover how their parents and other people around them view the world. Because there is no temple in Xialadi, the village children have not learned some basic religious norms. For example, some of the village children don’t know how to circumambulate the temple when they visit other monasteries. They sometimes circumambulate counterclockwise because they have never learned how Gelugpa Buddhists circumambulate.
Loosening of community ties
Nowadays, because the village has no community center, people stay at home to watch TV when they have free time. Because the villagers do not meet with each other on a regular basis, they do not know each other very well, and many families keep to themselves.
No access to a monastery
Many Tibetan villages do not have their own temples, but they usually have a nearby temple or monastery where they go to worship. Xialadi village does not have a nearby temple. Qia Gai monastery, the nearest temple, which is located in Qiagai Township, is 30 kilometers away from the village. In order to get to this temple, Xailadi villagers must walk 4-5 hours on foot. Because of the journey to the temple is such a long one, the villagers cannot make it very often. The distance to Qia Gai monastery also makes it especially difficult for the poor villagers to hold any rituals, because when the villagers invite the monks to their home to do rituals, they must hire a car or truck (the monks won’t travel by motorcycle because they thinks its too dangerous).
Difficulty in practicing religion
The village is home to around 55 Buddhist practitioners, for whom the temple is a very essential building. Some of these particularly devout practitioners live together, and their lives are focused around chanting and conducting Buddhist prayer rituals. Without a village temple, these practitioners cannot properly perform these Buddhist rituals and practices. In addition, the vast majority of Xialadi villagers believes in Buddhism and follows certain norms related to its practice. The loss of Xialadi village’s temple has made it difficult for both the laypeople and the practitioners to practice their religion. Because there is no temple in which to worship, practitioners must conduct their religious rituals and practices in their homes, which are inadequate (see photo). Many of the devout women and men of Xialadi have built small prayer shrines in their homes in which to prostrate and chant, but these rooms are usually too small to make full body prostrations and thus the practitioners must prostrate on wooden boards outside of their homes (see photo).
Drolmatso in her small prayer room
LhamoTso readies her prostration board, which is too large to fit inside of her prayer room
Decline in health
For the past 40 years, the villagers have had no place to do daily rituals, which, while being primarily religious/cultural in nature, also serve as daily exercise. When there was a temple, the old people went there to listen to Buddhist teachings, circumambulate, and prostrate. Now they all stay at home, and although some attempt to prostrate, many do not get any physical exercise. Lack of exercise contributes to the onset of acute pain on back and arthritis. Some elder villagers people are not yet 65, but they are already bedded.
Low morale
Perhaps the most noticeable problem caused by the destruction of the original village temple is a feeling of depression and hopelessness among the villagers. When the temple was destroyed, so was the heart of the village. The eldest villagers are saddened by the thought that the village may never be returned to its rightful state, and also by the indifferent attitude that most of the younger generation has towards Tibetan religion and culture.
Benefits
Rebuilding the Xialadi temple will have several substantial benefits:
• Strengthen Tibetan culture and teach younger generations about religion
• Strengthen community ties
• Provide a place for lay people and practitioners to worship and conduct rituals and practices.
• Encourage daily exercise
• Raise morale
Rebuilding Xialadi temple will benefit the village in myriad ways. In addition to strengthening the village’s ties to traditional Tibetan culture by providing a place of worship and religious practice, the temple will serve as a community center where villagers can meet and socialize. It will provide grandparents with an opportunity to pass their knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism on to the younger generation, and it will afford devout practitioners a place to comfortably conduct their practice. It will also give the elder villages an excuse to leave their homes and exercise. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it will restore the village’s “heart” and raise the villagers’ spirits.
Beneficiaries
This project will benefit a total of 336 people, including 200 Xialadi villagers and 136 Tibetan villagers from the next valley. It will also benefit many generations of Xialadi villagers still to come.
The steps of the project (describe each step of the project)
- Hold a meeting with the villagers (both males and females) and the local leaders.
- Assign villagers to the project committees which will be in charge of building
- Go to Zhoune county town (the nearest market) to purchase the needed pillars for the temple.
- Local villagers transport stones for the foundation of the temple.
- Hire skilled workers from the county town.
- Build the temple with the combined labors of the villagers and the skilled workers.
- Collect and assemble information for final report, including interviews, photos, and receipts
- Write final report
Timeframe
The expected timeframe for this project is five months:
1. In the first month of funding we will buy the equipment for the temple.
• In the second and third month, we will build the temple
• In the forth month, we will paint the temple
• In the fifth month, we will put scriptures in the temple and complete the final report
• Detailed Budget
| Donor Contribution | |||
| Items | Quantity | Unit Price | Total Price in Rmb |
| Brick | 17,776 bricks + transportation | 0.35rmb per brick | 6,221.6 |
| Cement | 140bags + transportation | 22rmb per bag | 3,080 |
| Tile | 3,000 tiles + transportation | 1.50 rmb per tile | 4,500 |
| Woodenpillars | 148 pillars + transportation | 145rmb per pillar | 21,460 |
| Skilled stone workers | 124 cubic meters of stone | 20 rmb per cubic meter: including labor, transportation, and materials | 2,480 |
| Sand | 100 ton + transportation | 53rmb per ton | 5,300 |
| Skilledworkers | 10 peopl e | 40 rmb per person day for 60days | 24,000 |
| Paint | 30 differentkinds of paint | 120 rmb per bucket | 3,600 |
| Painters | 2 people | 45 rmb per person per day for 15 days | 1,350 |
| Total amount requested from Donor organization | 71,991.6 | ||
|
71,992 Rmb = 8 , 909 US dollars |
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Local contribution
| Items | Quantity | Unit Price | Total Price in Rmb |
| Food | 30 people | 10 rmb per day for 150 days | 45,000 |
| Unskilled laborers | 30 people | 15 rmb per day for 150 days | 67,500 |
| Prayer wheels | 40 wheels | 350rmb per wheel | 14,000 |
| Scripture books | 120 books | 18.3rmb per book | 2,196 |
| Large Buddhastatues | 4 statues | 1300rmb per statue | 5,200 |
| Transportation of stones | 2 trucks x 20 full trips | 100 per full trip | 4,000 |
| Total Local contribution | 137,896 |
• Sustainability
This project will be very sustainable once the temple is built. Every family in the village will take turns being responsible for care of the temple. Each year, two families will have this responsibility, and at the end of the year, two different families will take on caring for the temple for one year, and so on. Examples of temple care committee tasks are: going to the temple to offer clean water to the Buddha images, cleaning the whole assembly hall, and examining the temple for damage and repairing it if any is found.
The villagers will pay for temple repairs. Each household will pay 5 rmb per year for repairing the temple. There are twenty households so the committee will have100 rmb to use for repairing the temple every year. This temple will last for many years, especially because the villagers have pledged to take good care of it.
Interviews
During the summer vacation, Padmatso (Bethany) went to home and interviewed some elder villagers. They said that they are desperate to have a temple in Xialadi Village, because they are always sad and they don’t have many reasons to go outside and exercise or meet with other villagers. They recounted that if they had Buddhist temple, they could practice in that temple and they can have enjoyable life with their elder companions . Below are three interviews of elder women from Xialadi Village:
“Why it is important to have a Buddhist temple in your village?”
Sonamkyi is a 74-year-old female practitioner
“If there were a temple for practicing Buddhism, it would be very good for our elder people, because they really can’t pay attention to the dharma when they stay at home and instead they want to waste time on gossiping. Sometimes I get sharp pains in my back and with my legs because of not doing exercise. Also I feel very lonely when the youngsters go out for work the whole day. If we can rebuild the temple, I will not feel lonely because I can circumambulate the temple every morning and evening.”
Lhamo Tsho is a 48-year-old female practitioner.
“The temple is very important to the villagers. The old temple was destroyed, and people wanted to rebuild it when they were once again allowed to practice their own religions. But it is very difficult to earn money from doing low skilled-jobs. The villagers didn’t have money to rebuild it, but we saved for a long time and we accumulated a little money for rebuilding the temple after many years. Finally, we had enough money to rebuild the temple. Unfortunately, the government ordered us to send our children to school, and pay the high school fees–otherwise they would punish the children. If we sent the children to Qiagai Township site’s school, it would take 5 hours for them to get there on foot. So, we used the money that we had saved for rebuilding temple to build a three-roomed school instead. After that we couldn’t get enough money to rebuild the temple. Some families have small rooms for practicing Buddhism, but the people’s belief is going to become strong if there is a Buddhist temple in Xialadi Village. Thanks for considering about our temple and I hope you can support us.
Gazang tsho is a 67-year-old woman.
“I am a blind woman and I have to stay at home everyday. I feel very lonely and sad even when I have enough time to chant Buddhist scriptures. So if we can rebuild a temple, I can ask other people to take care of me and to circumambulate the temple with me. I also can get partners to talk with and practice Buddhism with. I am 67 years old I am still hoping for a temple in Xialadi Village. Otherwise our culture is in danger.
The site of the original village temple, which is now covered over in barley fields (villagers have time and time again expressed their willingness to convert the current barley feilds into a space for the proposed temple.)