Project Manager: Huamaoji (Huamaoji)
This project is to buy 117 solar panels for the 117 households of Huanquhu Village,to improve Huanquhu villagers’ living conditions, create a better working condition for women and improve the indoor environment to prevent smoke-related health problems.
The Royal Neatherlands Embassy funded this project
Huamaoji is from Qunwu Village, Maba Township, Tongren County, Huangnan Tibetan Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China. She began to study English in 2000. She received her Associate’s degree in December 2005 and her Bachelor’s degree in December 2007 from Qinghai Normal University Nationalities Department’s English Training Program. She is currently working as an English teacher in Zhamao Boarding School.
What? To buy 117 solar panels for117 households from Huanquhu Village , Lancai Township, Tongren County, Huangnan Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China.
Who? Huanquhu village from Lancai Township, Tongren County, Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, China
Photos of Project Implementation
117 solar panels are transported to Tongren County.
Since it had rained for two days Nima Company was only able to transport the solar panels to the county town; village and township leaders voluntarily used their trucks to transport the solar panels from the county town to Huanquhu village.
The technician from Nima Company is teaching the villagers how to use their solar panels. 117 households from Huanqu village received solar panels. The project was funded by The Royal Netherlands Embassy.
The township leader and the villager leader are distributing the solar panels to the villagers. The villagers who received the solar panels are putting their fingerprints next to their names.
The villagers are happily carrying the solar panels to their homes.
Project summary
Project title: Solar Electricity Generating Panels Project for Huanquhu Village
Project location: Huanquhu village is located in Lancai Township; it is in the north of Tongren County, Huangnan Prefecture, Qinghai Province. It is 80 km away from Tongren County Town and its average altitude is 3,500 m. Tongren is the main town of Huangnan Tibetan Prefecture; it is 187 km away from Xining city, the capital city of Qinghai province.
Project goal: The overarching goal of this project is to improve Huanquhu villagers’ living conditions, create a better working condition for women and improve the indoor environment to prevent smoke-related health problems. The immediate goal of this project is to buy 117 solar panels for the 117 households of Huanquhu Village.
Total beneficiaries: This project benefited 117 households from Huanquhu village. Approximately 737 people have benefited from this village.
Implementation organization/individual
Huamao(Pearl), Laxiujia(township leader), Nantaijia(village leader)and Shem Women’s Group
Contact group: Shem Women’s Group
Funds received:
Shem Women’s Group gave 52,080 rmb to the project manager Huamaoji on August 22nd, 2008.
Details of project activities
1. The information related to the solar panel project was collected and the proposal was designed in the beginning of May 2007.
2. The proposal was completed in September 2007.
3. The project was funded by The Royal Netherlands Embassy in July 2008.
4. Huamaoji met with the township leader on July 3 and asked him to tell the households that would receive a solar panel to prepare 150 rmb as a local contribution to the project.
5. Huamaoji received 52,080 rmb from Shem women’s group on August 22, 2008 and called Nima Company to order 117 solar panels.
6. Huamaoji went to Huanquhu village to collect local contribution from August 23- 24, 2008.
7. Huamaoji purchased 117 solar panels from Nima Company on August 25, 2008.
8. 117 solar panels were transported from Nima Company to the county town, Tongren, on August 26, 2008.
9. Solar panels were transported from Tongren County town to Huanquhu village on August 27-28, 2008.
10. August 29-31,2008, solar panels arrived in Huanquhu village and the technician from Nima Company checked all 117 solar panels to make sure nothing was damaged.
11. Solar panels were distributed to households and household members were taught how to use and care for their solar panels on September 1, 2008.
12. Huamaoji visited some households to take photos and interviewed them on the September 2,2008.
13. Huamaoji started to work on the final report on the September 3, 2008.
Detailed Finance
|
Original |
Actual |
|||||||||
| Rec eipt |
Item |
Donor in rmb |
Local Cont in rmb |
Shem Cont ribu tion in rmb |
Total cost in rmb |
Donor Cont ribu tion in rmb |
Local Cont ribu tion in rmb |
Shem Contr ibution in rmb |
Total cost in rmb |
Diffe rence (Betw een origin nal and actual cost) in rmb |
| Rec eipt #1 Note #1 |
Sol ar pan el(inclu dingTra nsp orta tion) |
65, 000 |
15, 000 |
0 |
80, |
65, |
17, |
0 |
82, |
-2, |
| Rec eipt #2 |
Proj ectMan a gem entExpe nses |
100 | 100 |
0 |
200 |
100 |
100 |
0 |
200 |
0 |
| Mana gem ent pay ment |
0 | 0 |
500 |
500
|
0 |
0 |
500 |
500 |
0 |
|
| Total | 65, 100 |
15, 100 |
500 |
80, |
65, |
17, |
500 |
83,
|
-2, |
|
Note #1
When I was planning to write the proposal I called Nima Company and asked the price of one 10 w, 17HA solar panel. They told me that one solar panel cost 800 rmb and I was planning to buy 100 solar panels. During the project implementation I found out that if I bought many solar panels, like one hundred, they could give me a discount. After bargaining with Zhuoma, the boss of Nima Company, he decided to sell one solar panel for 705.5 rmb. I wanted to buy more solar panels with the extra money so I called Shem office. I asked whether I could use the extra money to buy 17 extra solar panels so 17 more families could directly benefit. They told me I could do that. So I collected the local contribution from the other 17 families and gave the extra solar panels to them. 7 rmb was left from the total cost; I gave it the two village leaders, because they used their trucks to transport the solar panels from Tongren to Huanquhu village.
Difficulties
I encountered many difficulties during the implementation of this project. Firstly, th project location is very far away from where I am working, and the road conditions are really bad. The poor road conditions mean that the few people who have trucks in Huanquhu village rarely travel to the county town. In addition, there is no signal for cell phones, so communication between myself and the villagers was really difficult.
Also, I received the funds just as school started. Due to my work responsibilities, I could only go to the project location on the weekends to fulfill my Project Manager duties (e.g., collect local contributions, purchase solar panels from Nima Company, and interview families.)
In addition, the donor gave me 80% of the money upfront and promised to give the rest of the money after they receive the final report. I firstly asked the township and village leader to lend the rest of money for the project. They were unable to loan the money. Secondly, I asked their school leader to lend the money; again, the school leader was unable to loan the money. Finally, I told Zhuoma, the boss of Nima Company, about the situation and she agreed that I would be able to owe the money for four months. If I do not receive the rest of money after four months then I will have difficulties.
Delays
After Nima Company transported the solar panels to the county town, it rained for two days. Transportation was delayed and it took two days to get the solar panels to the project location.
Lessons learned
When I went to interview some families about the project benefits, many villagers told me the following words with tears in their eyes, “You give us eyes.” At those moments I thought, “I want to continue to write proposals to help more people. This is the happiest thing I could do.” Their words made me also want to cry and I told them that those solar panels are not from me but from people who will always care about them and who will always try to help those who cannot meet their basic needs.
Interviews
This man’s name is Xiawu; he is 80 years old, and there are five people in his family. He said, “As old men, we want to see what is in our bowls when we are having our dinner at nights. It is very inconvenient when we go to WC or chant scriptures at nights. In addition, our senses are getting worse and worse as we are getting older; we always knock down the kerosene lamps and bring troubles for the family. For those difficulties, our family really needs a solar panel, but we could not buy solar panels since we are very poor. Today, thanks to those kindhearted people, my dreams have come true. Also, it is like they have given us eyes.”
This man’s name is Rajia, there are five people in his family. He said, “I am already 57 years old, but since we are very poor we could not buy a solar panel until now. Our family usually uses candles. Right now one candle costs 2 rmb; we have to spend so much money on buying candles. Thanks to those people who give us the solar panels, and we can save so much money. Really, thanks!”
This women’s name is Limaoji; there are seven people in her family. She said, “Since we are very poor, my children and I have to do many things under the dim light of candles. It hurts our eyes too much. My elder daughter is in high school now, her eye sight is very bad and she can not see the letters on the blackboard that are written by the teachers during the classes. I am really worried about her. Thanks to those people who give us solar panels! They’ve led us to a new world and I do not need to worry about my younger children’s eyesight any more. Thank you! ”
This woman’s name is Nimacuo; there are six people in her family. She said “Since I have to herd during the day time, many things have to be done during the night. For instance, I must sew my children’s clothes, mill tsamba, and make breads. Sometimes we cannot buy candles, so I cannot do those things nicely. And my husband has beaten me several times. Thanks to those people who gave us solar panels, I can do those things very well from now and I do not have to suffer the torment from my husband”.
This child’s name is Jiacuo; he is in grade four now and he said, “Since my mother is busy with our livestock, I have to do many things like look after my younger brothers and sisters, fetch water, and go to the mountains to look for yaks or sheep that did not come to the home. So my homework can only be done at night. I can not write letters nicely under the dim light of candles and sometimes, if we have no candles, I can not do my homework at all. So I always receive punishment from the teachers. Now, our family has a solar panel and I will be able to finish my homework at night.”
This child’s name is Lhamo; she is in grade five now and she said, “My studying is not as good as my friend Zhaoma’s, because my mother always asks me to do many things after school. Our family used kerosene lamps during the nights. I could not do my homework and review my lessons very well during the nights. Now, our family has a solar panel and I will improve my studies.”
Letter of appreciate
Translation of Thank You Letter
Dear members of the Royal Netherlands Embassy:
Our village is located in remote mountains; it is 80km away from county town. It has very bad transportation and climate. Basically, we rely on herding, but now since we only have few livestock, the benefit we get from it is not too much. In addition, there is no other income resource; every household’s income is really limited. And as the price of products is getting more and more expensive, candles and kerosene is more expensive than before. So buying those things costs too much. As stated before, our village is far away from the county town. We are not like the villages that are near the county town and do not have the chance to enjoy electricity. We spent all the nights under the dim light of candles and kerosene. And many things could not be done at night. But you, kindhearted donor, saw our difficulties and gave solar panels to one hundred and seventeen poor families and led us to a new world. Thank you so much, dear donor.
Finally, we hope every thing with all of you is wonderful in the future.
From: Huanquhu villagers
September 1, 2008
Name list of the villagers who received solar panels
Receipt 1
65,000 rmb is the donor’s contribution among the 82,543.5 rmb. The project manager has received 52,080 rmb from the donor, which is 80% of the donor’s contribution. She still owes for the company 13,020 rmb, which is 20% of the donor’s contribution.
Receipt 2
35rmb for taxi fee in Xining city, 32.8rmb for bus fee from Xinng to tongren and 32rmb for bus fee from Tongren to xining, in total it is 99.8rmb.
Original Proposal
Project location
Huanquhu village is located in Lancai Township in northern Tongren County, Huangnan Prefecture, Qinghai province. The village is 80 km away from Tongren county town and lies at an average altitude of 3,500 meters altitude. Tongren is the main town of Huangnan Tibetan Prefecture; it is 187 km away from Xining city, the capital city of Qinghai province.
Population
There are 225 households and 1,123 people in Huanquhu village. The population is comprised of 503 women, 410 men, and 210 school-aged children. All people from Huanquhu village are Amdo-speaking Tibetan.
Education
People from Huanquhu village are poorly educated and almost all people are illiterate. Only two people from Huanquhu village became teachers, and they were educated to the middle school level. Generally speaking, there are 210 school-aged children, with about 120 children attending the primary school in winter, and only 40 students attending school in the summer. Many children struggle to attend school because their grasslands are located far from the school, creating an accessibility problem. There are no dormitories at the school, so children who live long distances away cannot attend. Summer school attendance is greatly lowered because the villagers move three times each year and subsequently their summer and autumn locations are far from the school. There are six middle school students and no high school or university students in Huanquhu village. As this village has no reliable income resources, people are aware that their only chance to improve their lives is to provide education for their children.
Transportation
Since this village is located in a very remote area surrounded by mountains and valleys, transportation is very difficult. The roads in this area are known for their curves and it takes almost four hours from the county town to Huanquhu village by motorbike. Villagers do all that they can to avoid travel on the road, out of fear of being injured or dying in an accident, as several people have.
Cash income
In Huanquhu village each family can earn an average of 1,300 rmb per year. The greatest source of income is caterpillar fungus, a medicinal herb that costs 6 to 10 rmb per piece and which is dug from April to May. On average, each family can earn around 800 rmb by selling caterpillar fungus each year. Several families sell their sheep’s wool and sheep to increase their income. Since this village is very far away from any city (the nearest city is 80 km away) and it has very poor transportation, people cannot find supplemental work to increase their income. Generally, a village family is unable to pay their annual expenses, such as tea, flour, vegetable, children’s tuition, candles, and medicine, forcing them to borrow money from the bank or their relatives. On average each family has to borrow around 500 rmb annually for their expenses.
Agriculture
There is no agriculture in Huanquhu village because of the harsh climate and high altitude of 3,500 meters.
Herding
People from Huanquhu village are nomadic, moving three times per year. In winter, villagers live in their winter house at an altitude of 3,500 meters, and in summer they live on the mountaintops, at an altitude of 4,500 meters. The main livestock are yaks and sheep, with an average of 15 sheep and 3-4 yaks per family.
The project goals
The overarching goal of this project is to improve Huanquhu villagers’ living conditions, create a better working condition for women, and improve the indoor environment to prevent diseases.
The immediate goal of this project is to buy 100 solar panels for the 100 households of Huanquhu village, benefiting 630 people directly.
Problems
Women’s difficulties
Women in Huanquhu village do most of the work. Spending their daytime herding animals, women must spend their nights sewing clothes, making bread, milling tsamba, making butter and cheese, and spinning yak hair and wool under the dim of candle and kerosene. This dim light and smoky environment is very harmful to the women’s eyes and lungs. Some families are too poor to buy candles or oil, so the women must do their tasks by the dim firelight.
Isolation
People from Huanquhu village are isolated from the outside world, as the nearest town to Huanquhu village is Tongren county town, 80 kilometers away. Without power, the villagers cannot listen to the radio or watch TV, but must rely on hearing the news from travelers or guests.
Health problems
Using candles or kerosene-lamps has a very negative effect on people’s throats, lungs and eyes. As time has passed, people have realized that smoke from burning candles or kerosene affects people’s health badly. Women are the most negatively affected by this smoke, as they have to work longer in the smoke than the men. For example, a woman in the village, Cairanglamo, had to have an operation for her eyes because she was unable to see clearly. After the operation she was able to see things very well, but after working for many nights and being exposed to smoke, her eyesight got worse and now she cannot see things clearly again.
Low exam scores
Children, especially girls from Huanquhu village spend a lot of their time helping their mothers, doing chores such as taking care of younger children, doing housework, herding livestock, and fetching water. This leaves girls with little time to review their lessons or do their homework. Homework must be done at nights under candle light or kerosene lamps, and sometimes these resources are unavailable.
Spend extra money
Households buy candles and kerosene to produce dim light at night. With solar panels there will be no need to buy candles or kerosene, saving each family between 40 and 50 rmb each month.
Benefits
Provide better work conditions for women
This project will create better working conditions for women, allowing them to finish their work earlier and providing them with more rest time. Finishing their work earlier, women can get more sleep or do other things like listen to the radio, chat with family, and wash their hair or feet.
Bridge regional gaps
If local people have solar panels, they can listen to the radio, reducing their isolation from people and events outside the village. This increased access will also allow villagers to listen to radio programs and learn techniques and methods from the rest of the world to improve their life condition.
Improved health
This solar paneling project will help prevent lung diseases, which are caused by smoke from burning candles or kerosene-lamps. The solar panels will reduce indoor pollution that is primarily harmful to women’s health because women spend more time working in the smoke.
Improve exam scores
With light provided by solar panels, children can do their homework and review their lessons very carefully. This will lead to higher scores on exams.
Financial support
If local people have solar panels, every family can save about 40 to 50 rmb per month, which may be spent buying other things, such as buying study materials for their children, buying vegetables to improve nutrition, and buying warm clothes for the winter.
Gender equality
With the successful completion of this project, women in Huanquhu village will have more opportunities to join village activities, express their ideas, and discuss village issues like how to strengthen their community unit and how to make their water clean. From my experiences I see the widespread view in both village men and women that women are incapable of accomplishing productive and helpful projects. With this project, local people will realize women’s potential abilities, ridding them of the idea that girls can do nothing except take care of children and do housework. This will lead to an increase in willingness to send village girls to school and an increase in the self-confidence of women.
Governmental support
In May 2007, I visited Huanquhu village had a discussion with two village leaders to figure out their urgent problem. They said what they need is to have light during the night and two village leaders, Suionanjia and Duojie gave me full permission to do this project. They are also taking responsibilities to this project.
Project activities
1. Huamoji visited Huanquhu village and met with villagers to discuss their needs (completed).
2. Huamoji visited and interviewed some local families in order to identify the village problems (completed).
3. Wrote project proposal (completed)
4. Apply for funding
5. Funds are received
8. Collect local contribution
9. Purchase solar panels from Nima Company in Xining, Qinghai Province
10. Transport the solar panels from Nima Company to Huanquhu Village.
11. Hold meeting with villagers and village leaders and give instructions about how to use solar panels
12. Distribute solar panels to the poorest 100 households.
13. Supervise the distribution process and installment.
14. Interview local people (children, women and men).
15. Take pictures
16. Write final report
17. Send final report to donor with all pictures and receipts
Timeframe
This project will take thirteen days from the time the proposal is approved:
4 days: Receive funds and collect local contribution
2 days: Purchase the solar panels from Nima Company
4 days: Transport the solar panels to Huanquhu Village
1 day: Hold meeting with villagers and village leaders and give instructions about how to use the solar panels.
2 days: Distribute solar panels to the recipients.
Budget
|
Item |
Price for item in RMB |
Number of item |
Donor contribution in RMB |
Local contribution in RMB |
Other resource in RMB(Shem women’s group ) |
Total cost in RMB |
| Solar panel(including transportation) |
800 |
100 |
65,000 |
15,000 |
0 |
80,000 |
| Management payment |
|
|
0 |
0 |
500 |
500 |
| Management expenses |
|
|
100 |
100 |
0 |
200 |
| Total cost |
|
|
65,100 |
15,100 |
500 |
80,700 |
Total cost of this project: 80,700 rmb
Donor contribution: 65,100 rmb ($9,185 US)
Local contribution: 15,100 rmb
Shem women’s group: 500 rmb
Sustainability
The solar panels will be purchased from Nima Brand Company, which guarantees the battery for one to two years and also guarantees the generating panel for ten years. The company will exchange the solar panels in an efficient manner if there is a problem. If the solar panels have problems, the villagers will contact the township leader (Geng Zang Jia) and he can contact Huamoji (Pearl) or the Nima Company for repairs or replacement. Otherwise, the township leader will find someone to repair a damaged solar panel and the cost will paid by the villagers.
Interviews
1)This man’s name is Jiba and he is 35 years old. There are 8 people in his family. Jiba’s family uses 2 candles each night for light, which are usually bought from Tongren County. Jiba said of the situation: “the smoke may be causing serious disease, but we do not know. Solar panels can create a new world for us by providing improved working conditions, allowing my children to do their homework, my wife to make bread, mill tsamba, and sew things, and our family to listen to the radio.”
5) This man’s name is Dazhenjia and he is 25 years old. There are five people in his family, which uses kerosene for light at night. Dazhenjia’s family uses one-half kilogram of kerosene for six or seven nights. He said “if we have a solar panel, my wife can do many things at night, such as sew things, mill tsamba, and spin yak hair or wool. Also, my children can do their homework and review their lessons, and I can listen to the radio”.
Past experiencing
On October, huamaoji did a second hand cloth project for Qunwu village and on the July, 15 she also did a second hand cloth project for Zhamao village, which were funded by the British Consulate in Shanghai.
Map of project site
