Tibetan Village Project

I left with a group from Melbourne in early May for Chengdu, China, to meet up with other members of the team from the United States and Canada. The team consisted of volunteers who would give up their annual holidays to come and work in our projects. Our group consisted of 8 people in total. I do point out that travelling in Tibet is very rough and roads are very basic. After a few hours on these roads, one certainly knows how early explorers must have felt. This, along with working at an average altitude of  14,000 feet above sea level, really tests one's cardiovascular system!

I also took in a second group from June 12th to assist us in a different area of Tibet. Kate Strain, another member of our club, was part of the second team!

During our time in Tibet, we were able to continue our work with the following projects:-

1. We visited 5 Schools (approx, 550 children) and provided school supplies to the children, along with sporting equipment. A number of the children, we privately sponsor for clothing and school fees as their families are very poor and cannot provide basics for their children. We provided free Medical care for the children and their parents.

2. Commenced work on one of 5 Sanitation Stations at a large Nunnery based at Didrum. Rotary Club of Brighton North have provided the finance for the construction of one of these stations. (picture of me with the Abbot of the Nunnery at Didrum). We also treated any Nuns with Medical issues by our Medical team. The Nuns are very aware of a club in Melbourne called the Rotary Club of Brighton North and the kindness they have shown in supporting their needs. The Nuns have a permanent oil lamp burning for the members of our Rotary Club.

3. We opened a new Mill House, provided by Tibetan Village Project, at a village where they used to grind their Barley Flour, (staple food) by the flow of a stream. This stream was diverted by the authorities, so Tibetan Village Project built a new Mill and provided an electric generator and grinder for the local farmers.

4. Commenced a Tractor repair apprenticeship scheme, for local Tibetans. This dovetails in with previous apprenticeship schemes for Motor Cycle repair and our Woodworking schemes, where these projects now are self sufficient and employ some 30 people.

5. Visited our Medical Clinics, (2, we actually have 4, but local authorities banned any Westerners from visiting the other 2 sites for the moment. No reason was given, but, this is normal in a place like Tibet ) to provide Medical supplies and treat local villagers.

6. Built 2 new Greenhouses at Lagong, which will allow the growing time to spread from 4 months to 10 months, giving 2 or 3 crops a year. These 2 Greenhouses took 5 days from start to finish and we hired 34 local people to build them. The Greenhouses are solid rock for the walls with a plastic roof. The walls keep in the heat during cold weather. A, it provided jobs and put money in the local community and B, the produce is to be grown and used by 47 boys in our Orphanage. C, any surplus, will be sold at the local market and money will go to two widows who have no other form of income.

Kate Strain accompanied us on this particular part of the trip and can certainly provide details of our Orphanage and the Greenhouses. Kate was among the team who cooked for the boys and Kate kindly provided blankets for a number of the boys.  Kate has also supplemented the income of the Monk teachers for the next 12 months. There is also a picture of Kate and the team at the Orphanage with the Monks.

The reason this Orphanage is all boys is because they are part of a Monastery and are taught by Monks. This does not mean that they will become Monks, only about 12 of them will join the Monastery. Others will get a free education, all provided by Tibetan Village Project. We are looking for sponsors for each of the boys at Y130 each per month, (This is A$26.00), and would also pay for the cost to administer it. All donations are tax deductible through Rotary Australia World Community Services (RAWCS).


One of the many stories from the trip, is that of a Doctor that I had heard about and went in search of! I have transcribed direct from my journal which was written immediately after I met the Doctor :-

" I heard about a Doctor doing wonderful work at a place called Minyag, a small village in Kham, Eastern Tibet. I went to the village with our guide, Tempa, and we found a little cluster of houses, basically thrown together. We saw a group of people standing around and I asked, "Tashe Delak, Amgee", (Hello where is the Doctor)? They pointed to a ramshackle "lean to" with a packing case door. I knocked on the door and a young woman, (early 30's) opened it. I asked for the Doctor and this woman was the Doctor!

She was dressed in traditional Tibetan dress, some old stains on her dress, but clean.
She asked me in and sat me down on her bed? This angel of a Doctor, eats, sleeps, consults, works out of a tiny room, probably no bigger than anyone's laundry at home. She is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The Doctor has no salary, her income is generated by medicines she sells to patients, but at very little profit as they are all too poor and most of the time medicine is exchanged for food for her.

We were able to supplement her supply of Medicines, Bandages, Thermometers, Instruments, Dressing Packs, Surgical Gloves, etc. We then gave her 500 Yuan to purchase further supplies.

At this point, I sat her down, she was crying and could not believe that people were being so kind to her. It was then that I asked how long since she had had a break? The Doctor said it was some years, though could not tell me how long, so I then gave her money to purchase a new dress, plus, told her to go to the nearest big town, (Kangding) and stay in a Hotel for a few days and just treat herself to anything she wants. She could not believe it and protested hard that the village could not do without her.
I brought in the head man of the village and told him, in front of her, that nobody was allowed to get sick while the Doctor took a break! (It was worth a try....He agreed)!

To close off the conversation, I then told her that I would be back in August / September to look at her new dress and to see the receipts from the Hotel, just to be sure that this wonderful person did in fact, take the break. I will also take in more Medical Supplies for her, in order to help her and the villagers".

That is just one of the stories of the trip, I have since heard through my little "grapevine" that the Doctor is currently staying in a Hotel in Kangding and having a break at long last.
As earlier mentioned, I shall only be here in Melbourne for a few weeks, before returning to continue our work. Of course, I shall be overjoyed to see the Doctor in Minyag and no doubt, tears will flow from both sides.

It is things like this, (and there are plenty), that keep our motivation going. We get no funding from anywhere except by just talking to groups or individuals here in the West. I can honestly say that there are people in Tibet who know of the Rotary Club of Brighton North, yet, cannot understand why they want to help people on the other side of the globe? My answer is so simple to them, "We do this because we care and we can"!