Reports

To provide clean, stable water supply for local villagers, reduce women’s burden and protect water source with sustainable water—plant trees.

The Shambala Connection funded this project

Gadouzhuoma (Lillian) -is from Hezuo City, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and Gansu Province, China. Currently, studying in English Training Program, Qinghai Normal University for her associate degree, majoring in Tibetan and English.

What?

•1. Build 450m metal fence around the water source.

•2. Plant trees around the water source.

•3. Build 250m concrete water ditch along the flowing water for the villagers.

Who? Lurixi Village, Mari Township, Zhuoni County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province，China.

Photos of project implementation

This is a scene of Lurixi Village.

Those pictures have shown that the ditch built to hold water together and it is well built as villagers commented from the manager’s visit to Lurixi village.

The above pictures show the trees planted as part of this project, and now the water source is surrounded by trees and no longer damaged from destruction from human behaviors and animals. As well as building a metal fence around the water source. Villagers here in Lurixi Village also built religious flags to pray for good luck.

Zhaxicuo (b.1973) is the woman in the picture fetching clean water. She is one of the project beneficiaries, she is happy about the project.

Zhoumaoji (b.1994) is the girl on the picture, she is in grade six this year, and she has a lot of homework to do after finishing fetching water, but this project has saved a lot of time for doing her home work.

Dingcao (b. 1976) she is a mother to two children and there are four people in total in her family. Her husband is not at home all year round, and two children are still very young and attending primary school. She is the core labor worker at home, and tied with endless tasks. She said even not fetching water from long distance area is a reduction of labor to her. She is fetching water from the ditch in this picture.

This woman’s name is Renqintso (b. 1938),who benefited from this project is very happy, and she told the manager that since now, her daughter and granddaughter do not have to suffer from fetching water from far away places, and she said she is happy that the salamanders are saved now, and their sacred spring/ stream is saved now.

Project summary

Project title: Potable water & environment project for Lurixi Village

Project goals: To provide clean, stable water supply for local villagers, reduce women’s burden and protect water source with sustainable water-plant trees.

Location of project: This project is located in Lurixi Village, Zhuoni County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Gansu Province, PR China. Lurixi village is about 90km away from Hezuo, the capital of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture.

Total beneficiaries: In total about 309 people directly benefits from this project and around 1,400 people from 5 adjacent villages and at least 300 pilgrims a year also get benefit indirectly.

Implementation organization/individual: Gatubdrolma (Lillian), Lurixi Village water committee with 6 people and Shem Women’s group.

Contact Group: Shem Women’s Group

Funds received: Source, Amount, and Date Received

The project manager Gatubdrolma (Lillian) received 61,350rmb donation from The Shambala Connection on March 7^th, 2007.

Details of project activities

Originally planned project activities:

Project Activities:

Step 1. Got ideas from local people and gathered information on their conditions and needs through community meetings. Choose 6 people, including two local women, to form a local project committee responsible for sustainability.

Step 2. Collected information from experts and experienced workers about the workers salaries, project design and potential risks.

Step 3. Went to the local market to visit several businesses and asked about the prices of different items and materials.

Step 4. Took pictures of site and the places where the project is planned to take place, interviewed some of people who will benefit from the project.

Step 5. Wrote budget and project proposal.

The above 5 steps are completed already.

If the project is funded

Step 6. Implementation of the project.

1) Choose a reliable company from which to purchase construction materials and sign a contract which guarantees quality.

2) Buy materials with the local project committee, villagers and deliver them to the project site. Prepare villagers for upcoming work and responsibilities.

3) Make a detailed and organized working schedule for the whole project to make sure it is finished on time.

4) Begin Construction:

There are three main activities in this project:

• Put wire nettings around the newly bought steel pillars to encircle the water source. This needs 450m of wire and 150 steel pillars.
• Inside the newly built fence, plant small trees to form a second barrier to avoid destruction from both human and animals.
• Build a concrete water ditch at each side of the stream, as the original ditch is made out of soil but it was easily destroyed so we want to build a strong ditch along the sacred stream for about 250m.

Step 7. Take pictures and make a plaque acknowledging the donor’s contribution.

Step 8. Interview some of the beneficiaries and gather some information to measure the effectiveness of the project on people’s lives. How it changed people’s living conditions and their attitudes and understandings.

Step 9. Write a detailed project final report including thank you letters, photos, interviews, project activities and report of the benefits of the project.

Step 10. Submit the final report with photos and receipts.

Activities realized in the framework of the project:

•1. The project manager had a meeting with local villager representatives and discussed about problems and solutions.

•2. In May 2006, the project manager designed the project.

•3. The project manager did research on the project and materials needed for the project in local market.

•4. In May 2006, the project manager took pictures and interviewed local villagers.

•5. From May to December of 2006, the project manager was writing project proposal and did the budget with help from Shem Tibetan Women’s Group

•6. On March 7, 2007, the project manager received 61,350RMB from the Shambala Connection.

•7. Because of the weather, the project actually started implementing from March 23 until June 2, 2007.

a) Ditch, the preparation of transporting sands, cement and stones took place from March 23-30. The ditch construction took place from April 22 to May 23, 2007.

b) Planted trees from April 11-21, 2007.

c) Built metal fence took place from May 20 to June 2, 2007.

•8. The project manager took pictures and did interviews from June 16-19 in Lurixi Village and started working on the final report.

•9. The project manager finished the final report on June 22.

Project Finance

Original Budget
Receipt #	Item	Donor Contribution RMB	Local ContributionRMB	Total cost RMB
1	Trees	5,400	4,050	9450
	Plant trees	0	0
2	Cement	40,000	0	40,000
3	Sands		0
3	Stones		0
4	Payment for workers		0
	Help workers	0	3,750	3,750
5	Metal fence	9990	0	9990
	Put metal wire	0	450	450
5	Pillars	4,500	0	4,500
	Dig holes for pillar	0	1,500	1,500
	Cement/sands for pillars	1,460	0	1,460
	Administrative cost	0	800	800
	Management expenses	0	450	450
	Management payment	0	500	500
Total		61,350	11,500	72,850

Actual Budget
Receipt #	Donor Contribution RMB	Local Contribution RMB	Total cost RMB	Difference(Between original and actual budgets)
1	20,250	0	20,250	-10800
	0	1,300	1,300	-1,300
2	4,180	0	4,180	+14445
3	6,875	0	6,875
3	7,200	0	7,200
4	7,300	0	7,300
	0	4,500	4,500	-750
5	13,500	0	13,500	-3510
	0	1,050	1,050	-600
5	2,100	0	2,100	+2400
	0	2,700	2,700	-1,200
	0	0	0	+1460
	0	800	800	0
	0	620	620	-170
	0	500	500	0
Total	61,405	11,470	72,875	-25

In total, the local people paid 25RMB more than the original budget. The explanation see following.

Here are the explanations of any major changes in the budgets

•1. The ditch did not cost as much as money as it is in the budget since the local labor is cheap, as a comparison of expense on receipt number 2, 3 and 4 in the table. The budgeted expense is 40,000RMB in total, but later in receipts and expense, they are all separate.

•2. The metal fence which is 450m long, the price has been increased, and we got to pay for its transportation as well which is not included in the original budget.

•3. The pillars saved some money, since we found out one of the villager is connected to one of the businessman, and this project in Tibetan culture is considered as a merit, so they charged us very cheaply.

•4. The government has a large area of small trees; they sell them to others to make some money. However, water should be part of government work, and environment protection is also one of the government works. They agreed to sell the plants cheaply to us, but they did not do it at the end. In the original budget, there are 4,050RMB as local contributions from government, but they were unable to cover this, and they charged us higher than they promised due to the change of leadership and we were not able to get an official letter from them saying they would contribute something to the project.

•5. Administrative cost, this is item of expense is for Village Water Committees’ transportation and accommodation cost for purchasing the materials and communication expense, such as phone bill.

List of recipients:

A scanned photo of recipient list

A translation of the names in English

Lurixi Village Household Namelist:

Zhoujiekar	Sangguo	A lou	Sambo	Daogao
Yem Tashi	Peba Xiu	Dangtso	Zhoujia Xiu	Mina
Daitso	Tuotso	Daojee Dongzhib	Loushi	Tserang
Nimaotso	Lamao Xiu	Tashi Tsedan	Lamao Tashi

1.Zhoujiekar 2. Sangguo 3. A lou 4. Sambo 5. Daogao 6. Yem Tashi 7. Peba Xiu 8. Dangtso 9. Zhoujia Xiu 10. Mina 11. Daitso 12. Tuotso 13. Daojee Dongzhib 14. Loushi 15. Tserang 16. Nimaotso 17. Lamao Xiu 18. Tashi Tsedan 19. Lamao Tashi

Changguo Village Household Namelist:

Renqin	Zhouxiu	Niangyang	Angjel	A bu
Keshun	Fengyin	Qinshun	Ma Tserang	Zengyin
Tserang	Fuseng	Luosang	Baoshen	Baoxiang
Wenzong	Yim Tserang	Senglin	Renqin	Wenchen
Bedma	Guodi	Heyin	Wendi	Zixiang
Liujiadi	Gayin	Paba	Linxiang

1. Renqin 2. Zhouxiu 3. Niangyang 4. Angjel 5. A bu 6. Keshun 7. Fengyin 8. Qinshun 9. Ma Tserang 10. Zengyin 11. Tserang 12. Fuseng 13. Luosang 14. Baoshen 15. Baoxiang 16. Wenzong 17. Yim Tserang 18. Senglin 19. Renqin 20. Wenchen 21. Bedma 22. Guodi 23. Heyin 24. Lamao 25. Wendi 26. Zixiang 27. Liujiadi 28. Gayin 29. Paba 30. Linxiang

Delays, Difficulties, and lessons learned
Delays
We delayed the date of final report for about a month. The reason is because the project took longer than we expected. We expect it will be done in two months the most, but it took three months instead. There are three reasons for that: a) local villagers are busy with farming. b) Men are not at home, only women, and women are tied with work load at home, are unable to help with the implementation much. c) The workers we hired to construct the ditch did not do good job, and we required them to do the work again.
Difficulties
•1. Lack of labor to help with the construction

March, April are the seasons for farming, and people are busy working on the field, and we can’t get enough labors to help with the implementation.

Later when the farming work is mostly finished, men are out to earn money and women have to take care of children, elders and house work. So still we don’t have many people to help with the implementation

•2. Conflict between modern needs and our project

After the farming period is finished, men all out doing paid work. This income is actually very important for them; this is about 60% percent of cash income the family could make in a year. However, the project is also very important to them for a long term development.

•3. Manager can’t be on the field and monitor the project all the time.

The project manager Gatubdrolma (Lillian) is working in Xining, which is about 450km away from the project site, and she can’t go back and be on the field all the time. So, the bigger responsibilities of supervising the project quality and process are shouldered by the Village Water Committee.

•4. Transportation condition is bad.

The road to Lurixi village is very bad at the time the project is implementing, the government was paving road, and cause destruction, and the only bridge to the village is damaged badly, the tractors which transport sands and stones can’t go through.

•5. Government policy and project implementation.

One part of the project is to build metal fence around the water source to protect the source from getting pollution from human behaviors. However, it is a new policy that government decided to make this village and the valley located as a tourist spot, so the government tried to build road, which had damaged the fence a bit because the fence is just on the way they planned to build road. Although some work was wasted there, we managed to repair the fence again.

•6. Change from local government level.

The government has a large area of small trees; they sell them to others to make some money. However, water should be part of government work, and environment protection is also one of the government works. They agreed to sell the plants cheaply to us, but they did not do it at the end.

•7. The hired experts not doing good work when the project manager or the village committees were not there. The hired experts did not do a good job with the ditch, and the ditch is not deep enough, which means it would have problems and have cracks during winter time, so asked them do it again.
Lessons learned
•1. If the project is taking longer than you expected because lack of labor, you’d better use any human resource as you can do, even with people who are elders and children, they can also make small contribution to the implementation of the project.

•2. When people are convinced to take chance of making money outside, we can only try our best to finish the project and let them see the impact themselves, so it will make some changes later.

•3. This time, the project manager was unable to be in the project site all the time. To solve this problem, the project manager formed a committee with 6 people to help with implementation process. Two people are in charge of finance and looking for experts, and all expenses. Two in charge of implementation and monitor the project the hired and local people do. Two in charge of coordinating with local people, and update the project manager about the problems and solutions, as well as decision making.

•4. Resourcefulness is very important. When the road does not allow tractor and vans to go through and transportation problem became a major difficulty for the project, then we depended on local resource such as mules, donkeys and yaks to transport the cement, etc. And we asked local villagers to help us load and unload sacks of sands, etc.

•5. The project manager had negotiated with those government people, and only a small damage did to the fence and government people helped and hired people to help us to repair the fence. So, it is better to know the policy and government plan for the place in advance, so we do not lose money and our effort. If the government is planning to do a running water project in the project site, then it is a waste of money and time to apply for fund for water project from another organization.

•6. The project manager learnt that when the government people agreed to do something for you, it is better to get a paper or certification from them with stamp, so you can show them later when they did not carry out promises.

•7. The water committee discovered the hired experts are not doing well, and reported to the project manager, and project manager insisted on doing all the work again. We did not pay all the money at first, so they had to give in and do all the work again. It is better to hold some money back for a year, and make sure there is no quality problem; then pay all the money to them.

Interviews

Zhoumaoji (b.1994) is the girl on the picture, she is in grade six this year, and she is graduating in a week, still she is doing house work. She said she fetched water when she was about eight years old because in her family, her brothers and father, all men don’t do this. Mother is very busy, and she got to help her mother, so her mother will have easier life. She said when she was small, she followed her mother to fetch water from very far away places, and she was very cold during winter when the river in the village dried. She said now life is much easier, she doesn’t have to wait for a long time to fetch a whole bucket of water and come back very late everyday and had no time to do homework.

Zhaxicuo (b.1973) is the woman in the picture fetching water. She said she has never attended school but all her brothers did. She said in her village, men don’t fetch water, don’t collect fuels, do not do farming work, and those are all women’s tasks. She said after a day’s work in the field or up on the mountains, she really wants to take some break, but at home waiting for her is cooking and fetching water. She had to go to 5 km away water source area to fetch water before during winter. It was so cold and she took her daughter to help her to go fetch water. If this method of planting trees can keep water stable and flow year round, it will be great, and she is very happy about this project. She said before she even did not know she can also participate in such project, and help with the implementation and basic work. When her family has money, men got the right and power to make decision to what to buy, where the money should be spent, and never something that can benefit women. This time this project is very good and can help women in many ways.

Dingcao (b. 1976) she is a mother to two children and there are four people in total in her family. Her husband is not at home all year round, and two children are still very young and attending primary school. She is the core labor worker at home, and tied with endless tasks. She said even not fetching water from long distance area is a reduction of labor to her. Her daughter is only 10 and Dingcao was thinking to let her quit school to help her with house work. I was thinking to send my son alone to school, and I always think girls are useless. But I can see from this project, and heard from the project manager many girls are doing great things, and I am convinced to let my daughter continue her education in school. I hope my daughter will be a capable person and like the manager to help the local people. Thanks very much for the Shambala Connection.

Zhijieka (b. 1954) he is in the Water Committee and he told me, although there were some problems and obstacles in this process of doing the project. Some men thought it is not that important comparing to making money for a family income. It only means they are near-sighted, and this village has been suffered from no water to fetch during the winter. Of course, men also have the responsibility and commitment to make things better in our village. Everyone needs water, and this project has been great. We also got some men working for us during the implementation. After the project has been done, every body is happy. This also shows that women can do good job as men do.

Letter of appreciation

Scanned letter in Tibetan

Translation

Dear The Shambala Connection:

Thanks very much for your help with this water project. It has helped us a lot and made our life more convenient, especially to women and girls, girls and women are the one who fetch water in our village. This project is truly helpful. For this village, we never get any attention or benefits from neither government nor charitable organization. As well as projects that benefit women, who always have to undertake heavy workload. This project is very meaningful and sustainable, and we want to say thank you to you all and wish you all the best luck. We wish your work move forward smoothly and successfully.

Tashi Delek

 

From all villagers

May 29^th, 2007.

Receipts

We were unable to get official receipts, because if we demand for official receipts, those businessmen will charge higher price for us, which is beyond our budget. Also those skilled workers are not from government or any company, they are from local area and they can’t provide an official receipts as well.

Receipt 1:

Receipt 2:

Receipt 3:

Receipt 4:

Receipt 5:

Original Proposal

Project Location
Lurixi Tibetan Community, Mari Township, Zhuoni County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, PR. China. This village is about 90km away from the Hezuo City, the major city of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province.

Population
1. This project will benefit two villages, Lurixi and Changguo.The population in Lurixi Village is 129 people. 47 men, 56 women and 26 children (under 17)The population in Changguo Village is 180 people. 64 men, 78 women and 38 children (under 17)The total population that would benefit from this project is 309 people . Among them, 30% of the people are over 50, 26% are under 17 and the remaining 34% are between 17 to 50 years old. 55% of the total population is women.2. This project may also benefit 5 adjacent villages with more than 1,400 people and at least 300 pilgrims a year.Education
Throughout the history of the village only one person has ever received an official job. 90% of the adults can’t read or write. There are about 34 school-aged children in this village, but only 80% of them attend school from primary to high school. The remaining 20% of the children stay at home. Although the government announced a policy of free tuition, schools in rural areas still collect money from the children, which make it difficult for some families to send them to school. Also, some families need children to help with herding or to do some housework. Finally, the primary school is far away from the village, about 15km, while the middle school is in the county town, about 45km away.Cash income
The average person in this village makes 150 RMB per year by selling extra farming products (beans) and a limited number of livestock (sheep, yaks, butter and wool) .

Taxes
There have been no taxes since last year. In the past, people used grain and some money to pay for their livestock and farmland. An average family needed to pay 200-300 jin of grain and around 100 RMB.

Agriculture
The total number of farmland one family owns depends on the number of family members recorded when the village divided the land many decades ago. In the two villages, the biggest family might have 12 mu of farmland while the smallest might have about 4 mu. They grow wheat, rapeseeds and beans, with the highest yield of wheat being about 500 jin.

Herding
Not all the families in this village own livestock. Those that do own livestock have anywhere between 5 and 45 sheep. Only 9 families own more than 12 sheep and there is one family that owns 21 yaks. The average family has about 7 sheep and 1 yak.

Weather
There is no clear change between spring and winter. Cold weather lingers for about 5 months, requiring people to wear heavy clothing. Since the farmland is all in the mountains, they depend heavily on rain. In 2006 the land suffered from a severe drought, which greatly affected farming output. One year the rapeseed crop dried out and in 2006 some of the land only generated 200 jin of grain per mu. This forces people to spend money on food that would otherwise be provided by farming.

Project Goals
The overarching goal of the project is to establish a well protected potable water resource for villagers and a religious center.

The immediate goal of the project is to create a protective barrier of trees and fencing around the water source, and reinforce the existing irrigation ditches on each side of the river with 250m of concrete.

Problems
An unstable water source used by 309 people, in two villages, and 500 livestock. The stream that is traditionally used for drinking is seasonally unstable. During the winters of 2002, 2003, 2004 this sacred stream dried up and women and children had to fetch drinking water from sources at least 5km away. During the freezing winters this trip takes 2 hours each way. There are five major causes for this problem:

Deforestation makes the water supply unstable. It has been prohibited to cut down trees in this area since 1998, though before that people used to cut trees for sale in order to generate cash. However, after the prohibition people have continued to cut down trees in secret, in order to make money. There are no other natural resources villagers can depend on to generate income, so they resort to cutting trees. To improve their living conditions villagers have ignored the daily deterioration of the environment, even though they know they are on a path that leads to destruction. It will no longer be possible for the younger generations to continue a life their parents had. The surrounding 6 villages have also followed these changes.

The irrigation ditches that are dug in soil lose water quickly and are often stagnant. Since there are no stable ditches along the stream people use dirt and stones to build ditches. However, livestock often destroy these ditches and water flows everywhere. The decreased power of the stream has caused the water-powered prayer wheels to stop turning and the water supply is no longer stable, even in the summer time when there is plenty of rainfall. The stream regularly dries up in the winter.

The worn-out fence used to protect the water source is in a bad condition and unable to prevent pollution and destruction. There used to be a fence that protected the water source, built a long time ago by villagers. It was constructed with wood pillars and thin wire, but outside visitors and livestock oft en ran into the fence – not only damaging the original ecosystem but also seriously polluting the water source. Since the villagers have a very constrained income, people have no money to repair and improve the damaged fence.

Lack of awareness of the importance of the environment. Three years of the water source drying up in the winter has made people in the area afraid and has caused big problems for women and children who need to fetch water. However, the awareness doesn’t last long since poor living conditions make them reluctant to face reality. They have no ability, at present, to guarantee access to a water resource free from pollution and destruction.

Lack of money makes the drinking water supply unsustainable. Most of villagers’ annual income depends entirely on selling extra grain, some livestock and unskilled labor which at most earns them about 150 rmb per person per year. The main method of making a living relies on non-irrigated farmland, which depends heavily on the weather. Most families work hard in the field only to get enough food to eat; and some don’t even grow enough to eat and end up spending money on food. The main crops are wheat, barley, potato, rape, and beans – using about 2 mu of field per person. There is no extra money for them to put towards changes in their current living condition, although they think it is important. People realize that one day they’ll be in danger losing their drinking water, but they can do nothing without the income required to make a change.

For the period of time when the water is dried out during winter, women and children, especially female children, are heavily loaded with the task of fetching water from distant areas, 2 hours for a single trip. This greatly affects female children in their studies since they spend a lot of time fetching water in the freezing winter. Female students do poorly in school not because they lack the ability, but because they have no time to study.

Among the 309 people, in Changguo Village there are about 142 that drink from the same stream. When the stream dries out, they fetch water from Luqu River. People in upper areas along the Luqu River have a practice where they throw dead bodies and dead animals into the river and also wash their clothes there. This has caused many people in Changguo Village to become ill. Some people get swollen necks and some get stomachaches. Also, locals believe that this water is causing brain problems in some local children, affecting approximately 8 children so far.

The Sacred Stream is a habitat for small giant salamanders. In this area, people collect them when they are in the minnow stage and believe swallowing them will solve people and livestock’s physical problems, such as broken bones and stomach illnesses. The pharmaceutical aspect of the stream benefits both people and livestock. It is believed strongly that this Sacred Stream can cure illnesses related to eyes, stomach and skin diseases. Both now and in the past, numerous people from surrounding areas and faraway places like Qinghai and Sichuan have come to wash their bodies and drink the water in order to solve their physical problems. If the water dries out, then the special species of salamander that live sin this river will be endangered.

Solutions
To protect and reinforce the villages water resources

• Water origin: create a protective barrier around the water source. We plan to build a 450m long wire netting fence that will circle the water source and plant 1350 small trees as a secondary barrier to avoid destruction from both humans and animals. This will keep the water source in a healthy condition. (The water origin is a place covered with some trees and there are many small springs, they all flow together and flow down to make this local stream, and this is not the place where people fetch water, but this place is important if it is protected to avoid pollution for the main local stream, where people fetch water).

• Reinforce the existing dirt irrigation ditches. Build two 250m wide irrigation ditches lined with concrete on the each side of the stream. This will protect the salamander habitat and at the same time increase the strength of the river by preventing water from escaping. This way, more water the water-powered prayer wheels will turn and the stream won’t dry up in the cold season. More water will also protect rare animals like the giant salamanders and give them a space to survive. This will preserve local cultural traditions and help those villagers using the salamanders as medicine for livestock when they get sick.

Through the two activities above, villagers can expect to recover the environmental health of this area and have the stream flow year-round. Also, people will continue to benefit from the existence of the stream.

Benefits
Provide potable and sustainable drinking water for 309 people and livestock, the water will be reliable and clean so that people won’t get diseases from drinking.

1. Release women and children from their unnecessary burden of fetching water from faraway places if the river is dried up.
2. Provide children, especially female students, more time for their study since they are released from work. We can imagine that if they had to fetch water during the winter and walk for long distances it could be a heavy burden.
3. Pollution and destruction will no longer threaten the water source and make it unreliable or unstable.
4. People from everywhere can come to cure illnesses by washing in the sacred stream.
5. People will think protect ing the environment is for their own benefit. It will also raise the local people’s awareness of protecting their own land, as well as nearby villages.
6. With this sacred stream sustainable, salamanders could inhabit and the respect and beliefs for the stream continues, so it will bring continuously pilgrimages constantly and solve local people and livestock’s health-related problems.

Interviews of the beneficiaries

Interview 1
Lhamotso (b.1954) is a 52 year-old woman from Lurixi Village, who married into this village when she was 17 years old. She said, “This village used to be the central place of this area and people would gather together to chant scriptures and discuss some big events taking place in the area, helping each village to provide suggestions. There was no problem with the drinking water and we had lived on this water for many generations, but since we started to cut trees to sell it has declined. Although we made some money to buy TVs and tractors, the stream we were drinking from became smaller and smaller. Some century-old trees fell down without any reason and died out. The Lhama said it is because we hurt the stream and put pollution into it. Three years ago, we had to go to faraway places with our children to fetch water during the freezing winter. You could never imagine how cold those winters were and the children were so miserable and some got chilblains on their hands. Tibetan women always have more disadvantages than the men in many ways.”

Interview 2
Kaka (b.1946) an old man from Changguo Village said that he used to drink from Luqu River when he was young. “Many people got sick and got big tumors on their necks. Later they tried to fetch water from a sacred stream from a nearby village, and the number of people with diseases decreased. However, it was not very reliable in the summer or winter. It was often the case that there was no water in the stream during winter; so we had to go to very faraway places or just continue to fetch water from Luqu River. If we had time we would go faraway, but when we are busy we would have to drink water from Luqu River. In the winter, fetching water is very difficult and the road is slippery. My wife and daughter always had to go and it took them more than 2 hour each trip. We men seldom go, if you have no female members in your family, then you may go. Otherwise, we would rather stay at home.”

Gender equality
It’s a common knowledge around Tibetan communities that women and children are the people with no power and many disadvantages. This is the case here in these two target villages. Women have to do most of the farm work, family chores, and raise children as well as fetch water and collect fuel. According to the villagers, during the winters of 2002, 2003 and 2004, this sacred stream dried up and the women and children had to fetch drinking water from places at least 5km away. It took 2 hours for a single journey during the freezing winter. Whenever this stream dries up the women had to take on extra work. Families with good conditions would use livestock to carry water but the families without livestock would have to carry two buckets full of water on their shoulders. This project can release women from unexpected and unnecessary burdens. Of course women will be the main beneficiaries of this project and it will be very welcome. Women will participate in all level of project implementation, collecting local contributions, and providing unskilled labor alongside local men during construction. This project will give the project manager practical and real training on doing research in local area, observing living conditions and organizing local villagers such that project implementation is successful. It is such a large project that its implementation will hopefully cause local people to think about females in a different way, maybe reducing some of their old prejudices against females.

Governmental support
The project manager met with the township leader, Libum, and he agreed that the project would be wonderful for the community and offered his support

The steps of the project

Step 1. Got ideas from local people and gathered information on their conditions and needs through community meetings. Chose 6 people, including two local women, to form a local project committee responsible for sustainability.
Step 2. Collected information from experts and experienced workers about the workers salaries, project design and potential risks .
Step 3. Went to the local market to visit several businesses and ask about the prices of different items and materials.
Step 4. Took pictures of site and the places where the project is planned to take place, interviewed some of people who will benefit from the project.
Step 5. Wrote budget and project proposal.
The above 5 steps are completed already.

If the project is funded
Step 6. Implementation of the project.
1) Choose a reliable company from which to purchase construction materials and sign a contract which guarantees quality.
2) Buy materials with the local project committee and villagers and deliver them to the project site. Prepare villagers for upcoming work and responsibilities.
3) Make a detailed and organized working schedule for the whole project to make sure it is finished on time.
4) Begin Construction:

There are three main activities in this project:
a) Put wire nettings around the newly bought steel pillars to encircle the water source. This needs 450m of wire and 150 steel pillars.

b) Inside the newly built fence, plant small trees to form a second barrier to avoid destruction from both human and animals.
c) Reinforce the irrigation ditches at each side of the stream with concrete. As the original ditch is made out of soil but it was easily destroyed so we want to build a strong ditch along the sacred stream for about 250m.
Step 7. Take pictures and make a plaque acknowledging the donor’s contribution.
Step 8. Interview some of the beneficiaries and gather some information to measure the effectiveness of the project on people’s lives. How it changed people’s living conditions and their attitudes and understandings.

Step 9. Write a detailed project final report including thank you letters, photos, interviews, project activities and report of the benefits of the project.
Step 10. Submit the final report with photos and receipts.

Timeframe
This project will be completed within two months as the most.

Amount of Time	Activities	Implement	Potential Challenges or Risks
5 days	Dig 150 holes for 150 pillars and bury them in the ground	About 20 local people	No
5 days	Put barbed wire around the pillars about 450m.	About 20 local people	No
10 days	Find/buy 1,350 small trees and plant them around the water origin.	About 50 local people	No
10 days	Build a 250m irrigation ditch on each side of the stream starting at the water’s origin.	About 3 experienced workers and 15 local villagers	No

Detailed Budget
Donor Contribution

Item/Type of Activity	Details	Donor Contribution
Wire netting (five layered wire)	450m *22.2rmb/m	9,990
Pillars	150pillars*30rmb	4,500
Plant small trees	1350trees*7rmb	5,400
Cement and sands	1 ton cement=360rmb20cubes sand*55rmb	1,460
Ditch, the ditch is 250m long	250m*160rmb/m1m=55+45+36+24=160rmb(1m of ditch needs 1cube of sand, 1cube of stone, 1tone of cement and about 24rmb for skilled labor)(Raw material price,Sand55rmb/cubeStone 45rmb/cubeCement 36rmb/1ton)	40,000
Total Donor Contribution		61,350 rmb

Local Contribution

Item/Type of Activity	Details	Local Contribution
Dig holes and bury the pillars	150pillars*10rmb	1,500
Put on the wires	450m*1rmb*1m	450
Plant small trees	1350trees*7rmb	4,050
Dig, help experienced the workers	250m*15rmb	3,750
	Including transportation, hotel cost for people who are buying the materials.	800
	Phone call fee, photos and transportation fee, etc.	450
		500
Total Local Contribution		11,500rmb

Sustainability
The earlier ideas of this project came from local people about two years ago, when village elders mentioned that they really need such a project to be supported. From February of 2006, I started gathering information and photographs that might help inform the donors. In May of 2006, I visited local markets to find out reliable prices for the materials that must be purchased. I asked different skilled workers about the money that would have to be paid, asked the villagers what has to be done to complete this project, what are the local contributions and local involvement that could be promised. I asked what are the potential risks and the predictable project influences and effects and how important this project will be to the people who will benefit from it. Combining all the suggestions and information, this proposal was developed based upon actual local people’s needs and requests. I speak on behalf of my local villagers.

This is project is sustainable, since it is related to water and the local beneficiary villagers have formed a committee that will manage the project and be responsible for the further maintenance.

The donors are expected to reserve the right to visit and inspect projects at any time. The village project committee, as well as the local villagers and I will be responsible for maintaining the project after it has been implemented. If there are any unexpected costs or expenses for repairs, the villagers and villager leader agreed to pay for it.

Additional Information
This project must be implemented in summer when it is easy to do construction and the weather is good but also before the busy harvesting period. It is impossible to do this project in the winter since the weather is cold. The project must be completed at one time, not in several installments, so we need a block of two months time when the weather is good and the villagers are available to donate their labor.

Additional information for the manager, Gadouzhuoma (Lillian) 2003-applied 25 solar cookers from Canada Fund 2003 Solar Energy Project managed by Fred.
2004-applied 120 solar cookers from Canada Fund 2004-2005 Solar Energy Project
Worked as a co-manger on Canada Fund 2004-2005 Solar Energy Project with two other students, the project is valued at 420,000RMB
2005- applied 156 solar cookers from the Canada Fund 2005-2006 Solar Energy Project.
Worked as the manager of Canada Fund 2005-2006 Solar Energy Project. The project is valued at 420,000RMB.
2002-2006- I have completed six second-hand clothes projects to six different rural Tibetan communities in Gannan Prefecture of Gansu Province.
Photos

This is an ineffectual fence that was built long ago by villagers, but it now does not prevent the incursion of animals and people from entering. This contributes to the pollution of the water source. Moreover, since 1998 it has been impossible for people to find enough wood to construct it again, because the policy to protect the forests prevents people from getting wood from the forest.

This temple is located beside the Sacred Stream, and it is about 600 hundred years old. This temple was rebuilt during 1996 before the forest prohibition, and the villagers provided most of wood needed for this construction and now it is impossible for them to do the same thing. This village is well known for both the temple and sacred stream.

The dried up source of the sacred stream during a summer when the rainfall is plentiful but it still remained dry. There are several water sources for this sacred stream and, although people built fences around them, this still has not stopped livestock and people entering to pollute the river

The original ditch is mainly constructed with stones and soil, that it cannot gather all water together to turn the water-powered prayer wheels.

Diagrams

General Picture of Lurixi Village and Two Parts of the Project:
1. Rebuild the fence and plant small trees around the river’s source to avoid pollution and destruction by livestock and people.
2. Build ditches along the sacred stream to make the water supply sustainable.

Ditch Construction:

Lurixi Village Map and Location

Map of Zhuoni County, Gannan Tibetan Prefecture, Gansu Province.

This map shows the general location of where this project will take place. The yellow is Gansu province, and on the west side of the portion shown here is Luqu.