Tibet 2006

Thanks to the donations received, activities allowing the realization of humanitarian aid projects and developments in the village have followed through.
Both the kitchen and refectory of Nye Village School have been completely rebuilt and enlarged. These facilities now have the capacity to cater for the growing number of students – who attend up to the sixth class in this school – a total of almost 500 children thanks to the support they receive from a distance.
These children live and sleep within the school grounds, in very basic conditions: their homes in the villages are too far away for daily travel as there are no means of public transport.
The school’s old kitchen was in a terrible condition and not equipped to deal with the large number of students, while the new kitchen is large and built according to the best criteria based on the local reality.
Each child, attending this school, received exercise books, books, pens, pencils, ink, shoes and new school uniforms; a complete set of aluminium cups, saucers and dishes was also given to each child in order to try and improve the hygienic conditions in this small community.

Nepu School, built last year by the Association, asked and obtained help for maintenance work, indispensable due to the extreme climate of Tibet. The school has also been supplied with exercise books, pens, pencils and books for the next year.
The teacher of this school proudly informed us that, in the month of June, the school – which consists of the first to third classes – obtained from the governmental authorities the prize as best elementary school of the region. This prize was awarded for the quality of the school building and high level of education. The children study Tibetan, Chinese, mathematics, art, social studies, physical education and are given ample space for playtime and socialization.

The new dispensary of Nye, recently built in order to offer medical care to the numerous villages of the area, asked and obtained help in order to buy essential medical equipment and supplies.

During the summer trip of 2006, aid from Lama Gangchen Help in Action reached 25 villages in the area surrounding the city of Shigatse. In these villages, where the children adopted at a distance live, goods and supplies bought in the cities of Lhasa and Shigatse were distributed.
Each of the approximately 2000 children of the area received a winter jacket, woollen pullover, shirt, trousers, long underwear, leather and canvas shoes, socks, hat, soap and towel, toothbrush and toothpaste and, according to their age, school uniforms, notebooks, pens, ink and pencils. Money and sacks of rice and flour were distributed to each family to help them through the winter, which, it is feared will be very harsh this year due to the summer drought.

The help of the Association also reached various small monasteries, where monks and children study, work and keep alive the precious spiritual and cultural traditions of Tibet. The help of the Association is essential for the survival of these structures and for the provision of basic necessities. Thanks to the donations they receive the monasteries can buy stocks of food, clothes, shoes, medicine, books, covers, fuel and so on. They are also able to carry out repairs and maintenance work on their fragile buildings, which have to withstand the extreme Tibeten climate.

Within the three year “Nepu Village” project, realised thanks to the help of the Chiesi Pharmaceutical Company of Parma, Italy, the construction of greenhouses for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables in the village will soon begin.
In the area of Nepu the earth is extremely hard and rocky – caused by the combination of scarce rainfall and strong winds. Due to these extremely adverse conditions, there is practically no cultivation of vegetables in the area resulting in a diet that is lacking in vitamins and minerals; this has serious repercussions on the general health, eyesight and so on of the local inhabitants.
The use of greenhouses (a recent innovation seen in the area surrounding the capital of Lhasa) seem to give optimal results as the sun is strong for many months of the year and the greenhouses allow the earth to maintain humidity as well as protect the produce from the strong winds.
The construction will be realised with the labour of local people from the village, who will in this way also have a job.