THE PROBLEM

The nomadic Tibetans of Sershul County constitute over 70 percent of the population of the Province and are among the poorest people in the People’s republic of China (PRC). This area of Sichuan is also one of the poorest in China.

Currently there are many families who are without employment or a means to earn money due to the current PRC policy on re-housing nomad families. While nomadic, family cash incomes were/are less than US$1 per day, the average income being around $300. 80% of the nomad population is illiterate and consequently finding a job is very difficult in a fast modernising country.

Many families whom have been re-housed no longer have their yaks or sheep and consequently have no means of support. Large tracts of land grazed by nomad families over the centuries are being fenced by the State and are now unavailable for grazing. Local traditional land owners such as monasteries are being forced to buy back their land from the State as there is no paper work to prove prior ownership. What land is available for the nomads yet to be re-housed is shrinking in area making life very difficult.

Traditionally in Tibet, monasteries were devoted to purely religious activities. However, in response to community demand for assistance to overcome severe poverty and cultural alienation among young adult ethnic Tibetans in Sershul County, Ju Mohor Monastery in Junyong is pioneering innovative ways to support its community. Continued cultural alienation and the recent Chinese policy in re-housing nomads has created an even larger group of Tibetans who are unable to support themselves in a traditional manner.

In 2006, with support from overseas donors, including Stichting Rigdzin in the Netherlands, Ju Mohor Monastery purchased a three storey building and established the VISTA Project (Vajra Institute for Sustainable Training Assistance) to provide the skills training to enable young Tibetans to improve their income earning potential through employment or small scale entrepreneurial activity.

In response to further demand, VISTA extended its programs in 2007 and 2009 to include a pre-vocational literacy and numeracy program for young children: Literacy for Livelihood Project. The current Greenhouse Project is part of this project.

THE PROPOSED SOLUTION

VISTA is building 9 greenhouses over the next three years to improve the long term economic well-being of Tibetan women and the health of their children and families in Sershul County. It will be an important tool to improve living standards and reduce the cost of providing food for students in the Literacy for Livelihood Project. Many families enrolling their children in the literacy program are not able to pay any school fees, vegetable production will be able to go some way to meeting each child’s food costs through the Greenhouse Project. It will also create opportunities for women to generate income after they have completed their training in the greenhouse.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SUPPPORTING THIS VENTURE OR THE
LITERACY FOR LIVELIHOOD PROGRAM GO TO:

www.vistaproject.org

If you would like to contribute your skills or experience please contact ELISA KRIEK: elisa@rigdzinfoundation.org
We take volunteers, political situation dependent.