Reports

buy 76 solar cookers for the people of Axi Village. this will improve villagers’ living conditions, reduce the heavy burden on women, and increase girls’ school attendance.

The Shambala Connection funded this project

Drolma tso is from Axi village, Ruorgai County, Aba Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Sichuan Province, PRC. She’s currently working towards an associated degree in English at the Qinghai Normal University Nationalities Department’s English Training Program.

What? Provide 76 solar cookers for 76 households in Axi village. This will improve villagers’ living condition, reduce the heavy burden on women, and increase girls’school attendance.
Who? Axi Village, Ruorgai County, Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Sichuan Province.

Photos of project implementation

Villagers are taking the solar cookers form the truck after it arrived.

The village leader, who is wearing a black leather jacket, is counting the solar cookers’ components in order to make sure there are enough components for 76 solar cookers.

The solar cookers are displaying on the ground before they are distributed to the villagers.

The local women are carrying the components of the solar cookers to put on the ground.

Project summary

Project title: Solar Cookers for Axi Village

Project goals: To provide the solar cookers which will improve the villagers’ living condition, reduce the heavy burden on women, and increase girls’ school attendance.

Location of project: This project is located in Ruorgai County, Aba Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Sichuan Province, PRC. It is 596 kilometers from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province.

Total beneficiaries: In total 76 households of about 450 people will benefit from this project.

Implementation organization/individual: Drolma Tso (Delores) Axi village leader and Shem Women’s group.

Contact Group: Shem Women’s Group

Funds received: Source, Amount, and Date Received

The Shambala Connection gave 9100RMB on Friday, 1st of the December 2006.

Details of project activities

Originally planned project activities

1. Drolma Tso held a meeting with Axi villagers and gathered related information.
2. Drolma Tso wrote project proposal.
3. Drolma Tso held a meeting with local people and chose the 60 poorest families in the village based on how many livestock they have and how many people were in their family. We also considered how much debt each family had and how many students they supported, how much money they borrow from the bank each year, and how many people are able to work in each family. Every single villager agreed that the chosen families were very poor and that they have a right to get the solar cookers.
4. Drolma Tso applied for funding.
5. Funds are received.
6. Local contributions were collected from the families who will get the solar cookers.
7. Drolma Tso held a meeting with the villagers to discuss project implementation
8. We bought the Solar Cookers from the Liuji Solar Cooker Factory, which is in Xining. Over the past four years, many students from Qinghai Normal University who did solar cooker projects bought their equipment from this factory. After completing these projects, the students found that the quality and price of Liuji Solar Cookers is good, so I asked these project managers whether the quality is still good, and they said that it is. The factory will send some skilled workers to Axi Village to show the villagers how to use the solar cookers correctly, and the project manager will help with this process.
9. Interviewed local people. (Men, women, children)
10. Take photos during the distribution.
11. Write final report and submit it.

Activities realized in the framework of the project

1. In August designed the proposal especially collect Axi village’s information which is related to the project.
2. In August held a meeting with Axi villager leaders and the villagers to choose the 60poorest families in the village based on how many livestock they have and how many people were in their family. We also considered how much debt each family had and how many students they supported, how much money they borrow from the bank each year, and how many people are able to work in each family. Every single villager agreed that the chosen families were very poor and that they have a right to get the solar cookers.
3. In November completed the proposal.
4. Then Shambala Connection founded the project.
5. On the 1^st of December 2006, Drolma Tso received 9100RMB from the The Shambala Connection. The project manager contacted the solar company and the villagers and decided to perchase76 solar cookers to Axi village.
6. On February 10^th, 2007 held a meeting with the villagers (men, women, and children) who were receiving the Solar Cookers, Drolma Tso told villagers that they have to download the Solar Cookers and have to take responsibilities for not to be damaged the solar cookers.
7. On the February 11^th 2007, Drolmatso collected local contribution.
8. On the February 12^th 2007, Solar Cookers were transported to Axi village. Drolma Tso and the village leaders distributed the Solar Cookers to Axi villagers and the skilled man from the factory showed the local people how to use the solar cookers in a correct way. Photos were taken during the distribution of the Solar Cookers
9. On February 15^th Drolma Tso interviewed the villagers.
10. On March 5th Drolma Tso started to work on the final report.
11. On April 8th submitted the final report to Shem

Project Finances

Original budget

Item	Number/Per item cost RMB	Donor Contribution RMB	Local contribution RMB	Total Project RMB
Solar cookers	0*200	9000	3000	12,000
Management expenses		100	0	100
Management payment		0	0	0

Actual budget

Item	Number/Per item cost RMB	Total Cost RMB	Donor Contribution RMB	Local contribution RMB	Total Project RMB
Solar Cookers	76*160	[1]12160	9000	3800	12800
Management expenses		[2]100	100	0	100
Management payment		500	0	500	[3]500
The leftover money from the project +740

[1] On the original proposal each solar cooker costs 200RMB, but by bargaining with the Solar Cooker company each cost 160 RMB. Therefore after discussing with villagers, we decided to buy 76 solar cookers instead of 60 solar cookers. Since there is 76 households’ local contribution the project left 640 RMB in unspent founds. The reason id that totally I have 12,900RMB includes local contribution and donor contribution, but I only spent 12,160RMB on buying 76 solar cookers.

[2] There are no any management expenses so the money (100rmb) is also left.

[3]Shem women’s group paid this money

List of recipients

A translation of the names in English

Zhaxi jiacuo	Luorang jia	Cerang cuo	Zhako
Ceba jia	Luorang dorlmato	Qiu jiong cuo	Garang drolmatso
Zhake jia	Cerang drolmatso	Solang Daji	Qiuke
Zhaxi cuo	Sangzhou jia	Garang cuo	Zhaxi cuo
Luorangjia	Suolang cuo	Cerang ji	Wojian jia
Sangke	Drolma laji	Qimei renzheng	Zhaxiwang mo
Nema cuo	Garang daji	Dama ji	Basang drolmatso
Jia ke	Jiamo ta	Rencheng lamo	Rengchen ji
Danzhou duoji	Zangla zhaxi	Da wa cuo	Cuo mo
Garanng ji	Langmei	Zhaluo	Luorei
Jia bei	Bancheng ji	Sang ji	Jiang cuo
Jiayangcuo	Weiji	Zhuoga ji	Panmo cuo
Zhaxi daji	Dacuo	Luorang drolmatos	Cerang
Drolmatso	Drolma lamo	Sang ji jia	Chang mei
Danke	Qike	Jia luo	Garang cuo mo
Xieke	Ceiji	Zhaba ji	Dawa danzhou
Gengzha cuo	Dajicuo	Sangcuo ji	Shengli
Zhadeng jia	Gako ma	Cerang drolmatso	Qingcuo
Gake	Luorang	Ceba jia	Chengli

Delays, Difficulties, and lessons learned

Delays

We delayed it for about three days, because my bank card got some problems and we didn’t get the money on time as we decided the time with the solar cooker company. It took me two days to go the county and fix it.

Difficulties

During the implementation the most serious problem which I encountered was that when I got to the school and began to write the final report， I couldn’t find the receipt of the solar cooker project .So I had to contact the solar cooker company again and asked them to gave me another receipt. It took long time to get the receipt because we are in different provinces .

The second problem that I met was after I got home, my bank card got problem and I couldn’t take money as I planned with the Solar Cooker company . So a few days after I went to the county town, repaired the bank card and called the Solar cooker company to transport the solar cookers.

The third problem was that during the time of collecting the local contribution as I didn’t pay much attention on who gave the money ,later we found one family didn’t give the money .Then Axi village leader helped me to ask the villagers who have not gave money as local contribution. Later we found out that one of the recipients has not come for giving the local contribution yet. So one of this recipient’s relatives gave local contribution lent the money to the family to pay the local contribution.

Because I had to implement the project during vacation, so there is no access to the internet or computer in my hometown until I came back to school. Therefore, I could not work on the final report right after the implementation.

Lessons learned

During implementing the Solar cookers project, the one thing which I learned was that the importance of paying close attention on specific things. For example as my experience during this implementation I didn’t keep well the receipts of the solar cooker project, and that caused me not to finish the final report on time .Another thing is the importance of having a good preparation before the things you have done, for instance before the implementation I broken my bank card and it made me to delay the time to do the project.

Interviews

Drolma Jia

He is sixty-one year old Tibetan man, there are six members in his family .He described both in winter and summer his wife had to get up around 3-4 clock to make and collect the yak dung in every morning. He said he had two sons, but as their custom it is really shameful for men to collect yak dung at any time and in any situation. As a result she had to do a lot of work, yak- dung was the really needed without it we could say we could cook. He mentioned that his wife got many illness for a long time because of the over hard work .Therefore sometimes he really felt worry about her health, but he could do nothing only feel in the deep heart. This time since he received the Solar Cooker he said the situation is getting better and better for only few days, because it could boil the water in a very short time though it was winter. Then he believed afterward they used it for a long time it would solve many problems, especially women’s burden. So he really felt thankful for great contribution from dear donor and sent many thanks to the donors.

Lhlamo

She is forty -five year old Tibetan woman .She said according to her village’s custom to collect dung is only woman’s task and for all the seasons she has to collect yak dung .She said everyday she has to get up very early and collect the fuel. Especially in winter she has to take the full of basket with full of dung to the top of the hill for drying. Then she has to go far away to collect the dung even the weather is so cold and has to carry on her back to home .In summer she has to finish the making dung before the day breaks. Then she has to milk continually. So for whole day she almost has no time to rest at all .Now she is really pleased with these Solar Cookers and from bottom of her heart felt grateful to The Shambala Connection. Because it reduces her burden compare to before .She said many thanks to the donor.

Cuomo

She is twelve years old now. Originally it is time for her to go school and she went to school only in winter, because her mother needs her help to make dung in other seasons. Therefore whenever she went to school her grade is lower than other and it is really hard for her to improve study only in summer time .She said her parents agreed send her to school from this spring, since the solar cooker helps her mother to cook food and boil water instead of her. Therefore she really feels thanks to The Shambala Connection .She said,” thank you very much, you sent me the great chance to go to school.

Letter of appreciation

Translation in English

Dear Shambala Connection

Under your great kindness those seventy -six solar cookers already arrived in Axi village, Axi township, Roergai county, Aba prefecture.Sichuan Province .Generally this is a place where people only live nomadic life .Therefore, people couldn’t live without fuel for all the seasons .As our custom women are the only ones who go and collect the dung from very far places both in hot summer and in cold winter .But now the thing which really makes us happy is that we got Solar Cookers from you and it helps 45%families in this village. Also those students who had no chance to go to school before now that seems parents are going to send them to the school. Moreover the illness that caused by smoke will gradually decrease. So now we are really happy about your solar cookers and from deep inside our hearts we felt thankful to Your great kindness.

With best wishes!

From Axi Village.

Receipt #1

Original Proposal

Project Location
Axi village is located in Ruorgai County, Aba Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Sichuan Province, PR, China. It is 596 kilometers from Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan Province.

Population
There are approximately 1,030 people in Axi village. The oldest woman is 85 years old. The oldest man is 79 years old. There are 370 women, 350 men and 310 children in Axi village.

Education
Most of the villagers are poorly educated. About 90% of them are illiterate. There are 200 school-aged students. There are 15 students in primary school. There are 6 students in middle school, and there are no students in high school. I am the only female college student, and I’m the solar cooker project manager for Axi village.

Cash income
The average cash income of this village is 1500-1800 RMB a year. Yearly each family needs to spend 950 RMB to buy grain, rice, wheat and oil. On average, each family needs to spend about 500-600 RMB a year to buy clothes and medicine for the members of the family. On average, there are 8-9 members in each family. Each family has 50-60yaks, 15 sheep and 3-4 horses. They need to pay 150 RMB in taxes to the government each year for those animals. For primary school they need to pay about 150 RMB per student each semester. As the students get older they need to pay high school tuition as well. Therefore, each Axi village family spends more than 1800 RMB a year. Often villagers do not have enough money to cover all of their expenses by the end of the year.

Agriculture
Because of the cold weather, there is no agriculture in the village. All the villagers are nomads. The average elevation in Axi village is above 3,500meters.

Herding
In this village the average family has 50-60 yaks, 3-4 horses, and 15 sheep. People earn money from selling livestock and the dairy products that yaks produce. Per family they can earn between 1500-1800 RMB per year.

Weather
The weather in Ruorgai County is usually cold. Winter is very cold and long. Many of the livestock die because of lack of fodder, which is covered by heavy snows. In July and August the weather is hot, so it is hard for both people and animals to get enough water.

Project Goals

The overall goal of the project is to improve villagers’ living conditions, reduce the heavy burden on women, and increase girls’ school attendance. The immediate goal of this project is to buy 60 solar cookers.

Problems

• Women’s Burden
It is mainly women and girls who make fuel in Axi village. It is a time-consuming and physically demanding process. They spend about three hours a day making fuel. Women need to get up around 5 in the morning and make fuel. Especially in the winter they need to haul yak-dung for about 1 kilometer to the top of a mountain where sunshine is strongest, in order to dry the dung out. Women also travel long distances to collect fuel. In the summer, aside from making fuel, women also need to milk yaks, herd livestock, cook, fetch water, and take care of children. In the winter women mainly need to spin yak hair and wool for making black tents and ropes.
• Low scores on exams
Students are the main helpers for collecting fuel and cooking food in each family. Often students help to collect fuel after school, so they do not have time to do homework and prepare for the next class. This makes it very difficult to hand their homework in on time and creates problems with class. In the spring, summer and autumn some of the students are taken away to gather dung in the pasture with their parents. These students only attend school in the wintertime. As a result their scores get lower and lower.

• Health problems
Using yak and sheep dung to cook has very bad effects on people’s throats and lungs. As time passes people realize that burning dung has bad effects on their bodies. This especially affects women, who spend a lot of time cooking over the stove. Solutions
1) Reduce women’s burden.
If we have solar cookers, it will save about 49 hours each week. Firstly, women will not need to get up early. They usually spend more than 5 hours to carry fuel to the top of the mountain every morning. Secondly, if we have solar cookers, women will no longer have to spend 2 hours each day spreading fuel in the sun and carrying fuel into the house. 2) Increase school attendance and improve exam scores
Another important impact is that children will have a chance to go school; the girls will especially have an increased chance to attend school. Often in this village parents take their children out of school in the summer and autumn in order to make fuel. The families who have solar cookers will only have to collect half as much fuel during winter and almost none in summer. This will reduce the need to remove children from school. Students’ can use the time they save with the solar cookers to do homework and review for the class, and scores may improve.3) Improved health
This project will help to reduce the prevalence of lung related diseases, which are caused by burning dung for fuel. It will reduce the indoor pollution that is harmful primarily to women’s health, because if we have solar cookers then it may help reduce the time women spend cooking inside the house. Instead, they can spend some time cooking outside with clean solar energy.Gender Equality:
In my hometown collecting fuel is the duty of women and girls only, regardless of the physical difficulties or time required. Therefore, women and girls have much less free time than men and boys. This reduces their opportunity to attend school. This project will also benefit women the most because cooking is mostly assigned to them, and so solar cookers will directly improve their lives.

The manager of this solar cooker project is a woman and the women of the village will be implementing it. By doing all these things, the project manager also sends an important message to the local women and girls that they can also do something very useful and important.

Project Activities

1. Held a meeting to discuss the needs of Axi village and gathered related information (completed).
2. wrote project proposal (completed).
3. Held a meeting with local people and chose the 60 poorest families in the village based on how many livestock they have and how many people were in their family. We also considered how much debt each family had and how many students they supported, h ow much money they borrow from the bank each year, and how many people are able to work in each family. Every single villager agreed that the chosen families were very poor and that they have a right to get the solar cookers (completed).
4. Apply for funding.
5. Funds are received.
6. Collect local contribution from the families who will get the solar cookers.
7. Hold a meeting with the villagers to discuss project implementation
8. We will buy the Solar Cookers from the Liuji Solar Cooker Factory, which is in Xining. Over the past four years, many students from Qinghai Normal University who did solar cooker projects bought their equipment from this factory. After completing these projects, the students found that the quality and price of Liuji Solar Cookers is good, so I asked these project managers whether the quality is still good, and they said that it is. The factory will send some skilled workers to Axi Village to show the villagers how to use the solar cookers correctly, and the project manager will help with this process.
9. Interview local people.
10. Take photos.
11. Write final report and submit it.

Detailed Budget

Item	Price per item rmb			Number of items	Donor Contribution rmb	Local Contribution rmb	Total cost rmb
Solar cookers (Includes transportation fee)	200			60	9,000	3000	12,000
Management fee						500
Management expenses: phone calls, photos and copies					100 RMB
Total cost					9,100	3,500	12,600

Total donor contribution in RMB= 9,100 in dollars=$ 1 , 156

Sustainability
This project is sustainable because families will pay for any repairs or maintenance costs. Previous experience indicates that the lifetime of a solar cooker is 10 years at minimum. Moreover, villagers will be shown how to use and care for their solar cookers.

The map of the project location