Rutog school - Tibet  

All of the 140 pupils attending the school are boarding pupils because their families are nomads.

When first visited in 1998 the dormitories and playground  were all waterlogged. There was no kitchen or dining room  - the children had to sit in their dormitories or outside and eat tsampa.Tea was made in the storeroom.Due to an altitude of 4,800m it is very cold here in winters. The school has grades 1-6. The local authorities have since granted money to rebuild new dormitories on higher ground. Still nothing had been done about the childrens`poor food situation.

Later in 1998 the Society together with Trace Foundation gave funds to build a dining room with connecting kitchen.A shop is also being built at the school near the main road which leads to Kongpo. The income will go towards better food for the children.

 No one can give an explanation as to why more girls than boys get born in this area. They have built more girls` schools than ordinary schools here. These girls will have problems in the future to earn a living if they do not get a proper education.  The Tibetans call this area "three too many and three too little” =  too many children, dogs and donkeys - too little education, firewood and food.

 The area is very poor, hailstorms often ruin entire crops. The houses are made of clay instead of stone. In the landscape ruins rise up like monuments over the cultural revolution`s terror. This is a closed area, you can not go there without special permission, and a military-station controls all travellers in the area.

 116 of the 126 girls are boarding pupils, their parents are nomads . Since last year they have more dormitories and beds. Namgyel had reported that the children slept two in each bed. The school's biggest need is food and clothes for the children because it gets very cold at wintertime.

 The School Society gave a contribution (from the 10-years anniversary fund and private donations) for an extra building, food and clothing.

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Ridrong school – Lhuntse Dzong - Tibet

 The first school that was built here in the valley was built on marshland. The school had to be abandoned, and the second school was built a bit higher up in 1998 . This time it was built with a very good quality. 12 teachers teach 214 pupils in 1 to 6th grade. 203 pupils are boarders and 50 of them are orphans. Only 10% of the children are boys. Ridrong school need economic aid for clothes, books and to buy vegetables for the children who otherwise eat nothing but tsampa. They are planning to build a small shop to get some extra income for the school in order to improve the childrens` food. The area is very isolated and there are no other shops nearby. The 100 kilos of clothes that been given by a large shopping-chain in Stockholm, Sweden was transported by a member of the Society, and distributed in this school and in another girls`school nearby. The children have never had enough clothing, and the school had asked for help towards winter and summer school uniforms. The Society gave a donation for these basic needs.

 The delegation could not visit this very distant school situated in a "closed area", the military denied us entry. The school is situated very close to the border of Butan, in a very poor area. According to Namgyel Jamyangling who visited the place earlier on , this school is one of the most in need of help. The school has 164 girls, 25 of whom are orphans. 

Some private sponsors donated money through the Society to buy 9 dri (female yak). The school got the assignment to buy the yaks, which are a ´ help to self-help` since they give milk, butter, curd and wool. This kind of project is being tried out in Chudromo to see if it can be a good way of helping the other girls` schools.

 The Society also gave money to buy blankets, clothes and food.

Gyatsa Girls`School,Thakpa Dzong - Tibet

 The delegation could not visit this very distant school situated in a "closed area", the military denied us entry.( In the future the Society is somewhat doubtful towards projects that can only be visited through representatives.)

 The school, built in 1995, has two classrooms, with 50 pupils in each. 7 teachers teach 1-6th grade. All the children are boarding pupils.

 The local authorities have applied to us for money to start a handicraft school ,and a special teacher to train one pupil. The girls that do not manage to pass their exam of higher education could learn weaving and other crafts.

Amdo Jampa`s Thangka School, Lhasa - Tibet

 The Tibetan traditional art is often an expression of the peoples` deep religious faith - the country's unique culture. In art, religion is expressed most strongly in the form of thanka-paintings. During the Dalai Lama`s rule there were120 thanka painter masters - today there are only two masters and a handful of painters who master the old traditions. The traditional arts were oppressed during the cultural revolution and nowadays most of the old painters are living in exile.

 The Master Amdo Jampa, born 1915 was put in prison before he could start the painting school he was asked to found. After his release he was given a small appartment at the Potala. He rented a place next door to teach trainees. In 1998  he contacted the Society's delegation and asked for help. The aim is to teach the old painting techniques, restore existing wall paintings, and to build up a thanka-library. The school will be self-supporting within two years through commission work and restoration jobs. SIDA's cultural department has granted funding for a two year budget.

 In 1999 the school got the official ´school recognition-certificate` from the authorities. The Tibetan TV-channel showed a feature about the school and there were 60 pupils who applied to be enrolled for the education. For the first term 12 students were enrolled and are now being trained in two seperate grades every second night between 19.00-21.00 . The students pay a small fee every month. The youngest pupil is ten years old.

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Tibetan Medical College, Lhasa - Tibet

 After 1959 no one cared much about the traditional Tibetan Medical Institute. In 1989 the new Tibetan Medical Collage was inaugurated as the first in modern times. Now, ten years later there are three more institutes, but the Medical College remains the foremost seat of education for Tibetan physicians. The institute has 300 students and every year an average of 40 physicians pass the final examination.

 Gen Tsenam who was born in 1919, is the greatest living authority on Tibetan medicine. He  teaches some parts of the year at the Medical Collage. He started to study medicine at the early age of eight, and though he spent 18 years in prison during the cultural revolution, he is the first person since the 18th century with such a deep knowledge of Tibetan medicine. For three years now eight persons have been working with saving and documenting his knowledge. 262 secret formulas for medecines have been locked away, having been sealed so as not to be put to an improper use. They have videotaped Gen Tsenam’s lectures and with 200 completed videotapes they have only half of his enormous knowledge recorded. Traditionaly it has been said that there are a total of 10, 000 medicinal compounds, but that only 400 have been made for use so far.

 The Society has contributed to the printing of three volumes of books by Gen Tsenam,  10 000 copies of which will be printed during 2000. As a cultural-society we feel that it is of the utmost importance that this knowledge be well documented. In 2000 an international conference on Tibetan medicine will be held in Lhasa (15-17 of July). The books will be ready for that conference.

Lhasa`s Muslim School - Tibet

 The summer of 1999 was the first time the Society go in contact with the Muslim people in Lhasa. During the cultural revolution the Muslims, like all other minority people,were exposed to difficult persecutions. The red guards dug up their burial-grounds and spread rumours that the Muslims buried sacred Buddhist texts in the mosque’s yard. No Buddhists wanted to visit the Muslim area and complicated misunderstandings arose between the Buddhists and Muslims in Lhasa (which we are sorry to say still exists today !). The Muslims runs a small school behind the mosque and those who want to do higher studies have to go to Kashmir. Their ancestors came to Tibet by way of the Silk Road.Today they regard themselves as Tibetans and look after the Tibetan language and culture.

 The Society gave a contribution to the school which was badly in need of restoration.

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English School in Jokhang, Lhasa - Tibet

 The Jokhang is the most important temple in Lhasa and is the heart of the city.There is a big interest among the monks to learn English. The Lama who teaches Tibetan and English is very famous in Tibet.The classroom is situated in the back of the temple on the second floor.As it had neither desks nor chairs at the time of visit, the Society donated money for furniture.

Earlier attempts to support the education in the Jokhang with foreign funding have always met with failure. Thanks to the Society’s good reputation in Tibet and good contacts with the government we could help the Jokhang-school.

Jamyangling Academy for Art & Handicraft , Katsel- Tibet

 When Professor Hans Guggenheim visited Katsel he got the idea to renovate the old 18th century castle there and make it into a handicraft school. The castle has formally been own by the Jamyangling family since it was built, but during the cultural revolution they were forced to leave it to the red guards who destroyed large parts of the construction.

 After having received permission from the Jamyanglings , Mr. Guggenheim (in co-operation with the Society) started to search for financers. During autumn 1999 the restoration work was started and in 2000 classes in thanka painting, woodcarving, weaving and appliqué were started. Children with skills, but who cannot continue to study, will be able to learn a traditional handicraft.In that way the old traditions will remain and not be forgotten. The school is looking for sponsors but hopefully the school will become self-supporting  in the near future by selling its products. The school will be run in close co-operation with the Society and the Jamyangling family.

Thakpa School - Tibet

 Thakpa, not far from Katsel, is well known in central Tibet for its ceramics.Here there is red clay that has been used for pots for several hundreds of years. The school beside the road was built in 1996 for the children of the village. 103 pupils are given teaching from 4 teachers in grades 1- 6.

 The school was in very bad condition and the Society decided to give money for restoration.

Gyama Trikhang Rechög School - Tibet

The school has its view towards three chortens (monuments) which mark the spot where the Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo was born in 617. He became a very devout Buddhist through his marriage with two religious princesses, one from Nepal and the other from China.

 The school was founded in 1996 and has  grades 1-6. 9 teachers are working here. The school has received money from the local authorities to build three more classrooms, but the money is not enough. There are 318 pupils and 112 of them are boarders. They bring tsampa from home and the local government pays for firewood to make butter-tea. The kitchen is used as storeroom for wood and  food is made outdoors. The Society donated money to build a kitchen.

 The children wash themselves in a nearby stream in summertime, but there is no place to wash in wintertime. The schoolyard was very littered and we suggested an ´environment-day` when the children should clean up the yard.

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Namtso “Navel” School - Tibet

 Lake Namtso is situated 190 km from Lhasa and at an altitude of 4600 metres.The village is the administrative centre for the area and is near the shores of the beautiful, legendary lake.The nomad children in the area come here for education. The existing school was built in 1997, but its condition is so bad that it most likely cannot be renovated. Rain has been leaking into the buildings from the very first day.  To build a school in this location ,where the conditions from wind, snow and cold are extremely harsh, demands a very special building-technique.

 The Society, in co-operation with a Swedish organisation, will build a new school for 400 pupils, with some of the old school buildings being renovated if and where possible.

Samsar School, Yangpachen - Tibet

 There was a 1-classroom school in Samsar already when the Society was asked to build an extension in 1996. They also needed teachers living quarters so that they could employ another teacher.

 In 1998 the Society again gave money, this time to fix the schoolyard. The money was however not  used because it was not decided whether the school should be used as it had been, or if it should be used as a kindergarten. A new school had been built recently, but it may be too far away for the smallest children.

 We decided that the money should be used to for restoration purposes.

Gyaten School, Kham - Tibet

 After the big snow-catastrophe of 1995/6 , the parents in this area didn`t have any money for their childrens` school fees.The only school in this area is situated in Kanze, the lowlands where the nomads have their settlements. It is run privately by Tibetans. The parents asked the Society for help with food and clothing for the 204 students.