Project Manager: Drogar jyid (Judith)
This project is to buy 34 bunk beds for the students who stay at A Yan Gou School in Tian Zhu Autonomous County Gansu Province to improve the boarding students’ accommodation conditions, so that the parents will not need to worry about the students’ poor condition at school.
The Australian Embassy funded this project
Drolgar Jyid is from Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Gansu Province, China. She graduated from Qinghai Normal University with advanced proficiency in oral and written English and Tibetan, and currently she is working for One Earth Designs in Xining City, Qinghai Province.
What? Purchase 34 bunk beds for 88 students in A Yan Gou School.
Who? Students in A Yan Gou School which located in Tanshan Ling Township, Tianzhu Autonomous County, Wuwei Region, Gansu Province.
Photos of the project implementation
The workers are loading Bunk Beds on the truck in Lanzhou.
The truck stops on the way because of a car accident. After 10 hours waiting in the long queue the truck with bunk beds starts to move to the project location.
The students and the teachers are unloading bunk beds from the truck.
The beds are settled in both boys’ and girls’ dormitories.
Project summary
Project title: Bunk beds project for A Yan Gou School
Project goals: The immediate goal of this project is to buy 34 bunk beds for the students who stay at A Yan Gou School. The overarching goal of this project is to improve the boarding students’ accommodations.
Location of project: A Yan Gou School is located in Tan Shan Ling Township, in the western part of Tian Zhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Gansu Province. Tan Shan Ling Township is 60 kilometers from Tianzhu County Town and 145 kilometers from Lanzhou City, the provincial capital. Tan Shan Ling is 230 kilometers from Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province.
Project beneficiaries: This project directly benefits 88 students. There are 19 teachers and around 200 villagers who can indirectly benefit from this project. The students have their own beds and they can sleep comfortably during the nights without any worries like falling down. During day timethey will not fall asleep in the classes and they can listen carefully to what the teachers teach. Moreover, it helps those students to study well in the school.
Implementation organization/individual: The village leader (Xu deying) and the leader of the Educational Bureau of Tanshan Ling Township (Niu yung feng), Drolgar Jyid (project manager) and Shem Women’s Group.
Contact Group: Shem Women’s Group
Funds received: Amount and date received
On March 15th 2010, the project manager Drolgar Jyid received 80% of the funds, which was 13,976 RMB from Shem Women’s Group as the first installment of the funds. Shem Women’s Group will distribute the final 20% of the funds (3,494 RMB) as the second installment when the project manager finishes the final report.
Details of project activities
- Called the school leader and informed them of the project approval.
- Phoned the school leaders to update them about the situation at the project site to check if the project could be implemented, especially considering the road conditions.
- Phoned Shem office to update them about project implementation.
- Called the school leaders and decided on the date to start implementation.
- Traveled to Lanzhou City to purchase the bunk beds.
- Signed the contract and purchased the beds.
- Called A Yan Gou School to clean the beds which they contributed.
- Transported the 34 beds from Lanzhou City to Tianzhu County Town.
- Transported the beds to the project site.
- Held the meeting with the teachers and students in the school to distribute 34 beds and explained how to combine the parts together to make a complete bed, etc.
- Visited the receivers and conducted interviews.
- Came back to Xining City to scan photos and receipts
- Translated the school’s letter of thanks
- Worked on the final report
Project Finance
| Original Budget | |||||
| Receipt | Item | Shem payment | Donor Contribution in RMB | Local Contribution in RMB |
Total cost in RMB |
| #1 | bunk bed | 0 | 16,320 | 0 | 16,320 |
| #2 # 3 | Transportation fee from Lanzhou-A Yan Gou School | 0 | 800 | 0 | 800 |
| Manage payment | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | |
| #4-#6 | Management expense | 0 | 350 | 0 | 350 |
| bedrooms | 0 | 0 | 1,800 | 1,800 | |
| Total | 500 | 17,470 | 1，800 | 19,770 | |
| Actual Cost | |||||
| Receipt | Donor Contribution in RMB |
Local Contribution in RMB |
Shem Payment | Total cost in RMB | Differences
in RMB |
| #1 | 16,320 | 0 | 0 | 16,320 | 0 |
| #2 # 3 | 710 | 0 | 0 | 710 | +90 |
| 0 | 0 | 500 | 500 | 0 | |
| #4-#6 | 414 | 0 | 0 | 414 | -64 |
| 0 | 1,800 | 0 | 1,800 | 0 | |
| 17,444 | 1，800 | 500 | 19,744 | *+26 | |
Note*+26 RMB: This was left from the donor contribution to the project because the transportation fee for the bunk beds was less than the original estimate, so 26 RMB is left over.
Difficulties and lessons learned from the project
Difficulties
Based on the project managers former experiences in managing projects, she was able to implement the project very successfully and did not meet with many problems. The few difficulties that she met are listed below:
First, in the project area there are many coal mines, and the main road from Tanshan Ling Township to Huazang Si County Town is the same road that people use to transport coal from the mines to other cities. It is a dangerous road and many accidents happen there. . So when the project managers and co-managers transported beds to A Yan Gou School, there was an accident that created a long line of cars, buses and tractors on the road. They waited for 4 hours in the snow without having any food to eat.
Due to the cold and windy weather at the project area, the project manager got sick after they transported beds to school, which kept her in bed with an IV for three days.
Lessons learned
During implementation of this project, the project manager has learned a few things that will help her in implementing other projects in the future.
· Keep in touch with the local leaders on a regular time base, even after of project approval, in order to make sure the information on the project proposal is valid.
· Make sure not only to base the information on one person’s statement. To get a full picture, one has to collect the information from multiple sources.
Interviews
Drolgar Jyid (Project manager): As a teacher, how do you feel about those beds? Are they really very helpful?
Ma Tsedan（One of teachers): Firstly, I am representing all of our teachers and students to say thanks for the help. Of course they are very helpful, as a teacher, we have a lot of responsibility for all of our students, we need to take care of them, make sure they are safe in their beds without their parents.
Drolgar Jyid(Project manager): Do you think those beds can be used for a long time?
Duo Drojyid（One of teachers）: Yeah, the quality of those beds is very high compared with the beds we had before, and also those beds are wider than before.
Drolgar Jyid (Project manager): Are you happy with those beds?
Around 8 students (both boys and girls): Yes.
Drolgar Jyid (Project manager): Can you tell me why?
Qing Drolma dkr (grade six): We don’t need to share beds with other students and also we can put our own stuff on the beds, so we don’t lose them very easily.
Drolgar Jyid (Project manager): Do you have some other things to say?
Yang Dbadan (grade five): We can sleep well during the night.
Letter of appreciation
Translation of thank you letter
Most dear donors,
I would like to represent A Yan Gou School to express our deepest appreciation for your great concern and enormous support for us. Thanks for your generosity in supplying us with 34 bunk beds. These 34 bunk beds were received by students who are staying at the school. We will not forget your compassion and generosity. All of us want to express our most sincere thanks to you again and again.
Best wishes!
Sincerely
Rashu Village Committee
Receipts
#1
The total amount of money paid for 34 bunk beds (16,320 RMB)
#2
This is total transportation fee from Lanzhou City to the Tianzhu County Town. (400 RMB)
#3
This is the transportation fee (310 RMB) from Huazang si to A Yan Gou Primary School. (I couldn’t get the receipts from this trip; people don’t use receipts in such a small town.)
#4 The project management expenses:
This is the taxi fee for the project manager during implementing the project and it is 10 RMB.
#5
These receipts above are the trips fee for the project manager Drolgarjyid and the other 4 project managers from the school (the teachers) from Lanzhou to Huazang si during implentation of the project and it is 371 RMB.
#6
This is the trip fee for the project manager from Huazang to Xining and it is 33 RMB.
The Original Proposal
Project Location
A Yan Gou School is located in Tan Shan Ling Township, in the western part of Tian Zhu Autonomous County, Gansu Province; Tan Shan Ling Township is 60 kilometers from Tianzhu County Town and 145 kilometers from Lanzhou city, the provincial capital. Tan Shan Ling is 230 kilometers from Xining, the capital of Qinghai province.
Population
In Tan Shan Ling Township, there are about 3,000 households and 13,458 people (4,658 men, 4,800 women, and 4,000 children). The students in A Yan Gou School are mostly from the following six villages: Wang Zhi Liang Gou, Si Tao Gou, Da Kuo Tan, Zhu Cha, Tian Tang and Gu Cheng.
School background
A Yan Gou School was established in 1951 and is the only Tibetan school in Tan Shan Ling Township. In April, 2008 the government in Tan Shan Ling decided to combine all the primary schools with A Yan Gou School. Now, all the students in Tan Shan Ling Township who want to study Tibetan come to A Yan Gou School.
There are 19 teachers, and 120 students (59 girls and 61 boys), among these students 88 are boarding students, living at the school. In total, there are 7 grades, and there are 3 major subjects like Tibetan, Math, and Chinese, but they also teach some other subjects such as society, Nature, and English.
The government gave the school 10 bunk beds and some stoves, but 10 bunk beds are not enough for 88 students. The students still need 34 bunk beds.
Education
In these six villages, (Wang Zhi Liang Gou, Si Tao Gou, Da Kuo Tan, Zhu Cha, Tian Tang and Gu Cheng) 10% of the people are literate (not including students). Elderly men make up most of this small percentage. There are also a few monks who can write and read Tibetan. On average, one child in each family currently attends school. But some people still think it’s just a waste of money and time, as they fear their children won’t be able to find a job. Some parents think education is useless, so they ask their children to do house work and earn money at the home. About 50% of the students are primary students, 35% of the students are studying in middle school, 10% of them are in high school, and 5% of them are in universities.
Herding
The weather and the altitude are similar in all six of these villages, so the herding situation is the same. Three years ago, 85% of the people in these six villages made their living by herding; they owned yaks, sheep, cows, and goats. With the exception of pigs, these animals are used for milking and working, not for eating. Pigs are owned for eating. Villagers can sell butter and cheese and each family can earn about 700-800 RMB per year. They use this money to buy daily needs, send their children to school, and purchase medicine for their livestock.
Agriculture
About 5 years ago, 8% of the families in these villages owned their own farming land, each of the families owned around 8-9 mu land. They grew wheat, potatoes, radishes, peas, and barley once a year. They were able to produce 170-180 jin of barley from one mu land. At that time they could earn about 700-800 RMB per year.
Since 2002, the government planted trees on the farming land leaving the families just 1-2 mu. This small amount of land is not enough to support the families. The government does provide some compensation for farm land used to plant trees, around 200 jin barley per mu, but this is still not enough to support a family
The other villages are same as A Yan Gou village.
Cash income
In these six villages, about 85% people live on animal husbandry, earning around 700-800 RMB per year per household from selling sheep, yaks, butter, and wool. 8% of the people live on agriculture, and 7% of people earning money from doing labor work outside their villages.
Family members, including adults, who are able to do construction work go to the Township or the County Town and earn money doing manual labor. Workers can earn 1000 RMB (not including the food fee and living fee in where they work).
Project Goals
The immediate goal of this project is to buy 34 bunk beds for the students who stay at A Yan Gou School.
The overarching goal of this project is to improve the boarding students’ accommodation conditions.
Beneficiaries
There are 88 students who can directly benefit from this project. There are 19 teachers and around 200 villagers who can indirectly benefit from this project, because they will not need to worry about the students’ poor living conditions.
Problems
1. No money to buy beds
Before the government combined the primary schools with A Yan Gou School, the school had no bunk beds for the students. After the government combined all the primary schools together, it gave the school 10 bunk beds. However, 10 beds are not enough for the 88 boarding students who stay at the school. The school spent money buying stoves so the students will be warm in the winter time. As a result, the school does not have money to buy extra beds for the students.
2. Many injured students
So far around 73% of the students are boarders, and the school does not have enough money to buy beds for students. Usually, four students need to share one bunk bed; with two students crowding onto the top and two students on the bottom bunk. This crowding can lead to injuries, especially if students are having bad dreams or trying to roll over to make space.
3. Influence students’ study
If four students share one bed, they cannot sleep very well at night because of the narrow bed. It affects the students’ studying in school. For example, they don’t sleep very well at night, then they fall sleep during class or they are very sleepy during the class which makes it hard to pay attention to what the teachers teach. These problems adversely affect students’ studying.
4. Parents not willing to send the young children to school
Because of limited beds for each student, some parents think it is not safe to send their children to school. So the parents are very worried to send their kids to school and some even keep their children at home because they are so afraid of the conditions.
5. Health problem
Due to overcrowding of bunk beds it is very easy for students to pass illnesses to each other, such as colds and pneumonia. For example, if one of the students gets a cold, then other one who shares one bed with he or him, will also get a cold; sometimes both of them can’t attend the classes. Also, because of the culture, people are very shy to change their clothes even with their friends, so for those primary school students, they can’t change their clothes on their beds, because they are sharing the beds with others.
Benefits
If the every student can have their own bed, then many problems will be solved:
1. This project can help the school to get the students their individual beds. The school master and the teachers don’t need to worry about buying enough beds to the students.
2. If the students have their own beds, then they don’t need to share with other students, so they will not fall down from the bed and get injured.
3. The students can sleep very comfortably during the night, so they will not fall asleep during the classes and they can listen carefully to what the teachers teach.
4. This project can help to relieve parents’ worries about sending their children to school and it will change some of the parents’ thoughts about sending their children to school.
5. If they have their own bed, they don’t need to sleep with others. The chances of spreading infectious disease will be lessened. Also, students can have some private time; they can change their clothes very easily.
The steps of the project
1) Asked the teachers and some students what do they need and decided to do a bunk bed project for this school.
2) Talked with other project managers who have experience working on this type of project.
3) Hold a meeting with the teachers and some students, and ask them what kind of beds do they need, and decide who will take care of those beds.
4) Find out the transportation fee and the price of bed and write proposal.
5) Receive funds
6) Purchase bunk beds from Yan Tan Jia Ju Market in Lanzhou City.
7) Hire a truck to transport those beds to the school.
8) Distribute those beds to the school. Take pictures.
9) Write a final report.
10) Send the report and the pictures to the donor.
Timeframe
It will take about 12 days to complete this project.
1 day: contact the school teachers for purchasing beds
3 days: Arrive Lan Zhou City with two school teachers
2 days: Purchase beds and hire a truck for transporting beds
1 day: Transport the beds to school
2 day: Display beds in the dormitories
3 days: take photos, interview teachers and students for final report
Governmental approval
On 2008, June 1st, the project manager discussed this project with the school leader (Ma Yu Xi he is a Mongol) and several teachers, 3 women (Ma Zhong Feng，Duo Shang Ji，Qing Cuo Mao), and 3 men (Ma Yu Xi，Ma Cai Dan，Ta Gui Xi). They said they were very happy that the project manager is planning to do this bunk bed project and encouraged the project manager to try her best to complete this project.
Gender equality
The project will be implemented and managed by the students and the teachers in A Yan Gou School. We chose 6 teachers (3 women and 3 men) and 8 students, (4 boys and 4 girls) for to be on the bunk bed committee. In this case both men and women equally have a chance to make decisions together.
In addition, the project manager can be a very positive role model for the villagers and students especially for females so that the girls can also achieve big things like implementing projects in their home areas.
Detailed Budget
| Item | Price for per item in rmb |
Quantity | Donor Contribution in rmb |
Local Contribution in rmb | Shem Contributionin rmb |
Total Cost in rmb |
| Bunk bed | 480 | 34 | 16,320 | 0 | 0 | 16,320 |
| Transpor tation fee |
0 | 800 | 0 | 800 | ||
| Project manage ment expense |
350 | 0 | 0 | 350 | ||
| Project manage ment payment |
0 | 0 | 500 | 500 | ||
| bedrooms | 600 | 3 | 0 | 1,800 | 0 | 1,800 |
| Total | 17,470 | 1,800 | 500 | 19,770 |
Note: The school will use the teachers’ room for the students; because there is no enough dormitories for the students, so two teachers will share one dormitory together, and let the students use the teachers’ rooms as dormitories. So there are 3 dormitories contributed as local contribution to this project.
Sustainability
This project is sustainable because the beds are made of metal which means the beds can last more than ten years. A teacher called Ma Cai Dan, who knows how to fix and repair things, promised that he would be very responsible for repairing the beds if the beds become broken in the future.
Past experience
Drogar Ji completed a second-hand clothing project which was donated by Ms. Sue Bishop at the British consulate in Shanghai. More than 100 local villagers from A Yan Gou village and She Qiao village benefited from this project in 2006. Als in 2009, she completed a solar flashlights project which was donated by Naljor Prison Dharma Service
The map of the project location
