Project Manager: Rendzen Jyi (Caitlyn)
To buy 160 Tibetan language instructional books and other materials, hire two Tibetan teachers and rent classrooms for the Basba Tsongkha Tibetan Primary Class to allow the students have a chance to study Tibetan and preserve Tibetan language from dying out.
The Mr. John Li and Pecha fund Funded this project
What? Buy 160 Tibetan language instructional books and other materials, hire two Tibetan teachers and rent classrooms for the Basba Tsongkha Tibetan Primary Class to allow the students have a chance to study Tibetan and preserve Tibetan language from dying out.
Who? Tibetan children in Xining City Qinghai Province, China
Photos of project implementation
Above Pictures are in teacher Danko’s class, he is letting the students to sing Tibetan song together.
Above pictures are about the students listening to the teaching.
The new teacher Tashi is teaching Tibetan to the students.
Shem’s Volunteer Emma is teaching English to the students.
Project summary
Project title: Tibetan Language Training Program in Xining City.
Project goals: The immediate goal of the project is to buy 160 Tibetan language instructional books and other study materials, hire two teachers and to rent two classrooms for the Basba Sun Tibetan School.
The overarching goal of this project is to establish a school where the Tibetan children can learn their own language, and to save Tibetan language from dying out.
Location of project
The project is located in Xining City, the capital city of Qinghai Province, China.
Implementation organization/individual: Shem Women’s Group and Rendzenjyi
Contact Group: Shem Women’s Group
Contact Person: Rendzenjyi
Funds received: Source, Amount, and Date Received
Mr. John Li gave 23,250rmb to Shem Women’s Group on January 8th, 2007. Shem gave 9,350 rmb to project manager Rendzenjyi on January 8th, 2007, with the rest of Mr. Li’s donation money going to other Shem projects. Pecha Fund gave 1,000 US dollars to Shem on January 12nd, 2007. This money was transferred into 7,604rmb and given to the project manager on March 6th 2007.
Details of project activities
Originally planned project activities
- Interviewed the Tibetan parents in Xining city about taxes, expenses, income, and about their opinion of this project generally. (Completed)
- Interviewed the Tibetan Pen Mao Cai Dan about his experience and what he needed in order to do this project. (Completed)
- Researched some information online, such as the population and climate of Xining city. (Completed)
- Find two classrooms. (Completed)
- Talked to the Founder of Basba School and decided to cooperate with him. (Completed)
- Write proposal. (Completed)
- Receive funds.
- Choose three teachers. (One male teacher and two female teachers.)
- Decide the starting date and tell the Tibetan parents that we are beginning.
- Start teaching.
- Take photos, and collect suggestions from parents about the project.
- Write final report.
Timeframe
| Day 1 | Receive the funding |
| Day 2 | Tell the parents that we will begin the teaching and ask them to sign up |
| Day 3 and 4 | Begin registration |
| Day 5 | Buy books |
| Day 6 | Find two classrooms for the students. |
| Day 7 | Find the teachers. Tell them what we are doing and the rules that they should obey. |
| Day 8 | Begin teaching. |
Activities realized in the framework of the project
•1．The project manager and Pen Mao Cai Dan chose three teachers for the program.
•2．The project manager and Pen Mao Cai Dan bought books, materials, and game materials for the students.
•3．Project manager Rendzenjyi and Pen Mao Cai Dan held meeting with the teachers and students’ parents on March 10th, 2007
•4．Class began.
Project Finances
Detailed budget for first Semester of 2007
| Receipt # | Item | Donor ContributionRMB | Local ContributionRMB | Total cost RMB | The money left over |
| 1 | Books | 630 | 630 | ||
| Salary | 6,060 | 6,060 | |||
| 2 | Classroom | 1,580 | 1,580 | ||
| 3 | Materials | 133 | 133 | ||
| *Encouragement Prize for best students | 0 | 0 | |||
| 4 | Chalk and White board pens | 36 | 36 | ||
| Total | 8,439 | *595 | 8,439 | 9,053 |
*Encouragement Prize: this did not happen because the project manager was out of the country and the teachers decided to give the exam at the beginning of the next semester. So that the students can study and review the lesson’s that learned from last semester during the vacation, but at the beginning of the second semester there are some new students and found it is not very convenient to give the exam, so we decided to give the exam in the middle of the semester, and we also decided, from now on give the exams at the end of the every semester.
*595: this money is local contribution from the 13 students; the name list is show in the List of Recipients section.
Detailed budget for second semester of 2007
| Receipt # | Item B | Donor ContributionRMB | Local ContributionRMB | Total cost RMB | The money left over |
| 1# | Books | 65 | 65 | ||
| 2# | Salary | 5,060 | 5,060 | ||
| 3# | Classroom | 3,030 | 3,030 | ||
| 4# | Materials | 49 | 49 | ||
| *Encouragement Prize for best students | 0 | ||||
| Total | 8,204 | 850 | 8,204 | 1,680 |
List of recipients
Local contribution List for the First Semester of 2007
A translation of the names in English
| Lhamochudron | Dondrob Dorjie | Tsering Yhedron |
| Dorjie Nhamgel | Genzang Wangmo | Sangjie Tashi |
| Dondrob | Jigmy | Kelzang Digmo |
| Sonam Dorjie | Tsering Drolma | Kergen |
| Tselogel |
Local contribution List for the Second Semester of 2007
Translation of the names in English
| Dondrob Dorjie | Tashirabten | Jigmy | Gelsangdigmo |
| Yutso | Tashidondrob | Tsering Yhedron | Tselogel |
| Genzang Wangmo | Dorjie Nhamgel | Sangjie Tashi | Kergen |
| Dondrob 王睿源 | Ganglhaperdron | Suonamlhamo | Suonamlhenbo |
| Rigzinwangmo | Karma |
Delays, Difficulties, and lessons learned
Delays
The students were on vacation when the project manager received funding for the project. Part of the funding was received January 8th, 2007 and the remainder was received March 6th, 2007. Class began March 10th, 2007.
Difficulties
•1. With the project manager and Pen Mao Cai Dan having no networks or connections with school leaders, our initial classroom site (Nationality Department in Qinghai Normal University) decided suddenly not to rent us a classroom. Since we did not have any net works and connections with the school leaders, we could not legally find one, we found some class rooms before and had class in them before and after the project begin. Later the project manager found good, inexpensive classrooms in an appropriate school, and the school staff asked us to go to school leaders and higher managers to confirm permission to rent a classroom. The leader of the school asked for certification of the permission to run a program in Xining City, which is complicated, unnecessary, and impossible to get without a teaching certificate.
•2. When Pen Mao Cai Dan and the project manager went to purchase the books, there was only one store with Tibetan Language Instructional Books for the beginners, and in that book store the set was incomplete. This forced me to look for the books in the prefecture and in counties, where luckily there were some books in a Tibetan book store in Huang Nan Prefecture, Qinghai Province.
3．The project manager and co-operator Pen Mao Cai Dan had different ideas and plans for the project, both wanting to do the project separately. So the project manager started to look for another classroom and informed the teachers and students that project would be done separately. After finding a classroom and teachers, classes began.
•4. It was very difficult to settle the time for the class, as the students had other courses on Saturdays and Sundays at varying times.
Lessons learned
•1. It is really good to do a project separately, following one’s own ideas when the project manager and the co-operator have different ideas and plans. This allows the project manager to do her project according to her ideas and plans without worrying whether the co-operator is going to agree or not.
•2. The project manager has learned that it is better to buy the books before the regular class or semester begins. Similarly, it is good to buy the books well in advance of the start of class because there are new rules that state that books used in the primary schools do not sell in the stores.
•3. It is good to be flexible when looking for classrooms, such as looking for the classrooms through friends, adults, and people who have prestige. Sometimes the project may be rejected from renting classrooms because of the project manager’s age, gender and race.
Changes
•1. The female teacher Penmaocuo has applied to quit teaching due to her graduation, so at the very moment we found Tashi who is very skilled in teaching and control the class, because the students are very naughty.
•2. Divided the class in to two due to their Tibetan level, so we had to rent another classroom.
•3. The project manager and other Shem staff teach English class due to students’ parents’ request, but this is not included in the project. The students pay for the classroom rent fee and other materials.
Interviews
Dawadrolma (1972) is a Tibetan woman who was born in Yushu Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China, and is working in Xining City. She has one son who attended the Nyi Ma School with Pen Mao Cai Dan before the project. She said that it is very difficult for her son to study Tibetan in this big city with all Chinese primary schools. All the primary schools are Chinese and there are no Tibetan courses for Tibetan children, so the children forget Tibetan. “Therefore, through this project,” she said, “I want my son to study more Tibetan and learn the language. Thank you very much for creating such an environment for the kids to study Tibetan.”
Additional Comment: Add in the English course, and let the kids study both languages. Also helpful would be finding a better classroom for the kids.
Tenguo (1959) is the teacher who has two children, a son and a daughter. He taught his son Tibetan very well before he and the son’s mother divorced, but after that his son moved with his mother so he did not have chance to teach Tibetan to his son. Now he is remarried and has a daughter who is in the highest level in the Tibetan class. He said that he must let her study Tibetan. He is very happy with this project; Tenguo thanked the Pecha Fund and John Li for their support.
Comment: “The class is a little small and difficult to teach, because in my experience,” he said, “if there are many students then the students can read the words loudly and get interested in the class”.
Nordzin Wangmu ( 1976) is from Aba prefecture, Sichuan province, China. She is working in Xining right now, and she has one son. She said: “if you are a Tibetan you should speak and know Tibetan. I think Tibetan is very important for my son to learn; maybe in the future he is able to help Tibetans.
Comment: This project should continue even though this class has a small number of students because the class is really helpful for the students. “Finally, thank you very much to the Shem Women’s Group for finding the donor, and thank you very much to the Pecha Fund and John Li for supporting us.”
Letter of appreciation
Scanned letter in Tibetan
Translation the thank you letter
Thank You Letter
Dear Pecha Fund and Jhon Li,
Thank you very much for helping and creating an environment for the Tibetan children in Xining City to study their own language. It is my and many Tibetan parents’ hope to continue and make this Tibetan Language Training Class better and better, allowing the kids to have a better environment to study Tibetan and make a great path for their future.
Tashidelek!
Student Dondrob Dorjie’s mother Nordzin Wang is representing all the other students’ parents in writing this thank you letter.
September 12th, 2007
Receipts for the first semester of 2007
Receipt #1.
Receipt #1.
Receipt #2.
Receipt #3
Receipt #3
Receipt #4.
Receipts for the second semester of 2007
Receipt #1.
Receipt2#
Classroom receipt 3#
On this receipt, only 750 rmb was spent on the
project classroom rent fee, other 750 rmb was used for
English classroom rent fee.
Receipt 4#:
