Final Reports

Bridge for Me Re Ma Township Project Manager : Chugpilhamo (Lily) build a concrete bridge over RaChu River that will provide a safe and convenient way for Me Re Ma Villagers to cross Ra Chu River. Funds needed: $ 10,321  ( 85,428 rmb) The Royal Netherlands Embassy funded this project

Chugpilhamo is from Aba autonomous Tibetan prefecture (Nawa), Sichuan Province, China. She graduated in 2005 with an Associated degree in English from the Qinghai Normal University Nationalities Department's English Training Program. She is now working as a program director and core staff member of Shem Women's Group.
View photos of project location
Read Chugpilhamo's life story

What? Bridge
Who? Villagers of Me Re Ma Township, Aba County, Aba Prefecture, Sichuan Province

Photos of project implementation

The nuns of Me Re Ma temple stand on the finished bridge

SamGrub~45 the engineer, and Wang Bo~33, one of skilled workers, transfer electricity to the construction site. SamGrub is married to a Tibetan woman who comes from the second village in Me Re Ma Township and most local people know him. He usually works in Aba County as a manager of house construction and road reparation. Wang Bo has worked with Sam Grub for almost three years. He is very good at fixing electricity and is also an experienced carpenter.

This is the yard that was used for keeping materials. A local man named Zhaxi loaned it to the project committee free of charge. This yard was very near the construction site and very convenient for keeping materials.

The cement was kept inside this yak hair tent in Zhaxi's yard. The yak hair tent was loaned for free by the project manager, Gong Lha. The hailstorm tore the tent, but GongLha spent his own money (200 ) to repair it himself.

Several local women and two skilled workers dig the 10-meter deep hole for making a bridge pillar.

Seven skilled workers and some local women mixed earth and sand together to make mortar. The skilled workers are from Aba County and they all have worked with the engineer before.

The local people from the fourth and third village work with their village leaders. Ajin~ 35, the fourth village leader, organizes local people to gather earth together to make a dam. Droma Jia~49, the third village leader, organizes the local people to build stone dam.

Dornang~55, the second village leader organizes the local people to build a dam on the right side of the river.

Mimi~38, the fifth village leader, organizes the local people to collect stones and gather sand.

The two stone dams are around 1.5 meters high and 30 meters long.

Gong Lha, a project manager, Sam Grub, and two skilled workers worry about the heavy rain, which has destroyed the dams. They also try to figure out whether the rains have effected the construction that has been completed thus far.

Heavy rain caused the river to swell and destroy the dam on the left side of the river.

Swollen river waters, heavy rain, and hail destroyed the dams on both sides of the river.

The villagers rebuild the dam.

Dong Mo and MiMi discuss how to rebuild the dam on the right side of the river. All of the village leaders rotated responsibility for sleeping with the construction materials at night to be sure that none would be stolen.

TseCheng Tso~38, the leader of the nunnery, and the nuns help the local people and skilled workers build the bridge. During the course of the project, the nuns prayed every day that the project would be completed successfully.

The engineer and some local people work on construction.

Seven skilled workers and some local women finish digging the last hole for the third bridge pillar.

After finishing the third pillar, the skilled workers and the engineer started to make the top of the bridge and connected all three pillars together.

SamGrub connects the steel cables together in order to build a very stable bridge.

After successfully completing the bridge, the local people invited a lama and some nuns to bless the bridge in order to prevent natural disasters

The first small vehicle crosses the bridge after its completion.

Project Summary

Project name: Bridge for Me Re Ma Township
Responsible person(s): ChugpiLhamo (Aba-Lily), Bdul'Dul, and Mgonlha
Supervisor: C. Michelle Kleisath
Netherlands Embassy's contribution : 85, 428 Renminbi
Project Period : 28, 8, 2005—25 th , 11,20005

General aims and target group of the project:

The general aim of the project was to build a concrete Bridge over Ra Chu River that will provide a safe and convenient way for Me Re Ma residents to cross Ra Chu River. The target group are the 5,530 Tibetan residents of five villages in Me Re Ma Township.

Activities planned in the framework of the project:

1. Hold a meeting with village leaders and villagers to discuss the project plans.
2. Choose five work committees, one from each village.
3.Hire an experienced engineer.
4. The villagers begin to collect stone and break stones into gravel.
5. Hold a meeting with village leaders, committees, and the engineer.
6.Hire seven skilled workers from Aba County.
7. Purchase construction materials for bridge from Aba County.
8.Start construction.
9.Assemble evaluation materials: Interview local people and leaders, take pictures, and organize receipts.
10.Write final report.
11. Receive final cash installment from the Netherlands Embassy

Changes made in the original project proposal and budget (if any):

A. Dam

In the original proposal, we did not plan to build a dam on both sides of river, but the rains in recent years have split the river into several different currents, which made it difficult to build a bridge. So we decided to ask for a local contribution of a dam on both sides of the bridge. Members of the village building committee gathered earth and sand on either side of the future bridge site in order to direct the river into one single stream. The locals then built stone dams on both sides of the river as a part of their local contribution.

B. Transportation of stones

Originally, we planned to have the local people transport the stones for the bridge using their own personal tractors, but during project implementation, we realized that transporting the stones in this manner would take too long. W e had planned to transport the big stones using around 260 small personal tractors, but the road was in a bad condition because it had rained a lot and was very muddy. We realized that if we continued as planned, we would not be able to complete the bridge before the onset of winter (when heavy snowfall makes construction impossible ). Therefore, local people hired three large tractors to transport the both big stones and gravel.

Activities realized in the framework of the project:

1. August 2nd, 2005: San Chuan Development Group received 68, 342.40 RMB from Donor.
2. August 25 th : paid bank transfer fees of 95 RMB, and implementing agency received 68,247 RMB.
3. August 26 th : held a meeting with village leaders and villagers in order to discuss when the local people would start work. At this meeting, we also and divided the labor between different villages.
4. August 27 th : local people invited a lama to bless the place where the bridge would be built.
5. August 28 th : local people started to work, gathering stones and making the stones into gravel.
6. August 29th: hired the experienced engineer from Aba County who we had planned to hire in the proposal.
7. August 30 th : hired seven skilled workers from Aba County whom we had also planned to hire in the original proposal.
8. August 31st: signed a contract between the engineer and village committee which guarantees that the bridge will be of superior quality, and will last at least ten years.
9. September 1st, 2nd,and 3 rd : the local committees went to Aba County to inspect the quality of available materials and bargained down the price.
10. September 5th: set up electricity for the project from Me Re Ma Township.
11. September 6th: the local people and the workers dug ditches in order to drive the river into one stream.
12. September 10 th : the local people and the skilled workers started to dig the first hole, which would be around 10 meters high
13. September15 th : the workers and local people finished digging the first hole.
14. September 16 th 2005: the skilled workers and the engineer started to build the first bridge pillar.
15. September 19 th : local people started to build two 30 meter dams on either side of Ra Chu River in order to prevent the river from splitting into several different streams.
16. September 21 st through September 26th: work was postponed due to heavy rains.
17. September 27 th : the skilled workers began to dig the second hole.
18. October 2 nd : the skilled workers finished the second hole.
19. October 3 rd : the skilled workers started to build the second bridge pillar.
20. October 8 th : the local people finished building the dams on either side of Ra Chu River.
21. October10 th : the skilled workers finished the second pillar.
22. October11 th : There was a heavy hailstorm in Me Re Ma Township
23. October 12 th -October 28 th : work was postponed a second time due to heavy rains.
24. October 29 th : the local people started to rebuild the dams because the heavy rain had destroyed them.
25. October 30 th: The skilled workers began to dig the third hole.
26. November 2 nd : the manager (Mgon Lha) paid the first half of wages to the engineer (2, 050RMB) and the skilled workers(7,175 RMB).
27. November7 th : the skilled workers finished digging the third hole.
28. November 8 th : the skilled workers started to build the third bridge pillar.
29. November 11 th —November 13 th : Heavy rains postponed work for the third time.
30. November 17 th : the workers finished the third hole.
31. November 22nd: the skilled workers finished building the bridge.
32. November 23 rd : the local people finished rebuilding the dams on both sides of the river and returned the tools that they had borrowed from local people, such as shovels and wood.
33. November 24 th : the lama and the nuns blessed the bridge.
34. November 25 th : the manager paid the second half of the wages to the skilled workers (7,175 RMB) and the engineer (2,050 RMB).
35. November 26 th : held a meeting with local people (men, women, children) to discuss the final report and the final installation of cash from the Netherlands embassy.
36. November 27 th and 28 th : interviewed some local people and leaders about the project.
37. November 29 th : the local committees wrote a thank you letter to the Netherlands embassy on behalf of the local people.
38. December 2 nd : began writing final report.

Problems encountered in the course of the project implementation:

A. Heavy rains during construction

During construction it rained a lot in Me Re Ma Township and made it difficult to construct the bridge. When the local people and skilled workers dug a deep hole and began to build the bridge pillar, it rained and the hole filled with water, which they needed remove before beginning construction of the pillar. The local people and skilled workers spent a lot of time removing water from the holes after heavy rains

B. Hail storm

The local people also built stone dams that were about 30meters long and 1 meter high both sides of Ra Chu River. Unfortunately, during project implementation, there was also a hailstorm that damaged the unfinished dams. During this hailstorm, the water level of the river rose and some stone and wood that was part of the bridge-in-progress was washed away. The rain lasted for two weeks. So, the local people rebuilt the dams and we replaced the materials that had washed away with the local contribution. You can see in the pictures that the heavy rain damaged the two dams.

B. Fluctuating cost of materials

One problem was that the price of materials went up and down. Before the price of cement (#52) was 395RMB/ton, but during construction the price went up and each ton of cement was 490RMB. Also, before we planned to pay 15 RMB per tractor of stone or sand, but during the construction it rained a lot and the road was muddy, thus the price of tractors also went up to 20RMB per tractor.

Project aims realized, compared with original aims of the project:

Overall, the project was a success and we were able to realize all of the goals outlined in the original proposal. The new bridge over Ra Chu River:

1. Provides a safe way to cross Ra Chu River. With the new bridge, the local people no longer need to face the difficulty of crossing a wooden plank to get across the river. Parents no longer need to worry about their children crossing Ra Chu River.
2. Has increased enrollment in Abu Village Primary School. After building the bridge, parents do not need spend their time to safely walk their children across the river to school and they also do not need to worry about their children crossing Ra Chu River. Before the bridge was built, there were 15 students out of 390 School aged children in Abu Village, immediately after the project's completion, the school's enrollment jumped to 30. There is no doubt that this number will increase in the future. The school is also very happy about the bridge and the teachers thanked all the members of Dutch Embassy.
3. Provides safe and easy accesses to worshippers who want to circumambulate the local temple and Nunnery.
4. Has increased communication and contacted between with villagers from different villages. Before the local people could not go to other villages to attend different ceremonies, but now that there is a bridge, the local people can attend other village's activities. For example, Abu village invited a lama and held a religious ritual after few days of the completion of the bridge, and local people from all five different villages attended the ritual. The local people are very happy because they can now visit their relatives who live in different villages, no matter whether it is raining or snowing.
5. Has improved local people's living conditions by making it easier for them to buy supplies from stores on the other side of the river.
6. Provides a safe and easy way for women and girls to collect fuel.
7. Provides a safe and easy way for small cars, tractors and motorcycles to cross Ra Chu River.

Effects of project on target group:

In addition to the effects described above, this project brought local people together to help each other and implement the project. We did not originally plan to build dams, but the local people were willing to build dams on both sides of the river in order to make the project as successful and sustainable as possible. The nuns also spent their time helping local people and chanted every day for the workers' success and continued happiness.

Interviews:

On December 27 th , ChugpiLhamo interviewed Tse Cheng Tso, the leader of the local Nunnery. She said that because they now have a safe and stable bridge to cross Ra Chu River, the nuns will not have difficulty getting food and fuel from their families or local stores even when it is raining or snowing. She also said that taking care of the bridge is all the nuns' responsibility, and that they promise they will take care of the bridge. She was overjoyed during the interview and repeatedly said “thank you” from the bottom of her heart to all the members of Dutch Embassy.

On December 27 th , ChugpiLhamo interviewed Yang Tso, a student from Abu Village. She said now that she has safe access to the school, her parents don't need to spend their time sending her to school every day. In addition, during rainy or snowy days, her parents do not need to worry about her to getting school or returning home safely. She also said that because of the new bridge, she can get school on time because she does not need to wait for her parents to send her. She is very happy about bridge and she said thank you so much to Dutch Embassy

On December 28 th , ChugpiLhamo interviewed Dong Bo, a seventy-year-old man. He said that with safe access to the Nunnery and local temple, he has a chance every day to circumambulate, even if it is raining or snowing. He said that he never imagined that during his lifetime he would have such safe way to cross Ra Chu River and visit the Nunnery and local temple. He also said that he does not have ability to return the Dutch Embassy's kindness, but he won't forget you forever and he will pray for all of the members of Dutch Embassy every day.

On December 28 th , ChugpiLhamo interviewed Droma Sgyb, one of the village leaders. He said that with a bridge, local people do not need cross Ra Chu River with fear and they can cross anytime. He said that this project provides a safe way for all the local people to go to the local temple, the Nunnery , the school , the local stores and the other villages. During the interview, he said thanks to all the members of The Dutch Embassy over and over again.

On December 28 th , ChugpiLhamo also interviewed LhaMoTso, a 26 year-old woman. She said that with the bridge, she does not need to take off her shoes to cross the river whenever she needs to collect fuel from other villagse. She also said that she will never forget the Dutch Embassy's kindness and she said thanks many times during the interview.

General conclusion on realization of project aims:

During this project, some problems occurred, such as natural disasters (hail and heavy rainfall), but the project was completed very successfully because all the local people, the village committees, the managers and the engineer worked together to finish the Bridge. This project not only provides a safe and easy way to cross Ra Chu River, but also increases the communication and cooperation between villages. In conclusion, this project was completed successfully and the bridge will last for at least ten years. We trust the quality of the engineer's work not only because he is experienced, but also because he signed a contract guaranteeing the bridge's quality, and becuase most local people know him and his family. Therefore if there are any problems with the bridge over the next ten years, the engineer will fix them.

Other remarks and suggestions:

Before starting the project, it is very important to sign a contract between the engineer and the local committee. If we do not sign a contract, then the engineer may not care about the bridge's quality.

Detailed Budget

Thank You Letter

Translation

Tashi Delek! Thank you very much to all of the members of the Dutch Embassy. You provided us with a safe and easy way to cross the local Ra Chu River and because of that, we Me Re Ma local people no longer need to face the difficulties of crossing Ra Chu River. All of the local people are very grateful for the bridge and we do not know how to return your kindness. We will remember your help for generations to come and we will pray for you every day. We hope that we can work together again in the future. Once again, we want to say thank you very much to all of the members of Dutch Embassy. We won't ever forget your kindness.

Best Wishes,

The Me Re Ma Township Village Committee and local people,

Signed by executor:

Singed by Supervisor:

Date: 12/16/2005

Receipts

Receipt #1

Receipt #2

Receipt #3

Receipt #4

Receipt #5

Receipt #6

Receipt #7

Receipt #8

Receipt #9

Receipt #10

Receipt #11

Receipt #12

Receipt #13

Receipt #14

Receipt #15

Receipt #16

Signed by executer:

Signed by supervisor:

Original Project Proposal

Project Location:

This project will be located in Me Re Ma Township, Aba County, Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, PR China. Me Re Ma Township is located in the south east of Aba County in Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Aba County is on the border of Qinghai Province and Sichuan Province and it is 75 kilometers far away from Jiu Zhe County in Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. Me Re Ma Township is 33 kilometers far away from Aba County and it is on the way to Aba County from Hong yuan County, Ro Er Gai County, Ma Er Kang County and Cheng Du city. Me Re Ma Township consists of five small Villages: Ru sde dang bo, Ru sde gnyis ba, Re sde gsum ba , Ru sde bzu ba (Nan tso ma), and Ru sde lnga ba (Abu).

Population: There are 928 households and 7,355 Tibetan residents in Me Re Ma Township. There are 2985 women, 2789 men and 1581school aged children.

Education: The education level of Me Re Ma Township is very low. There are 4 University students, 7 High school students, 5 middle school students and 152 primary school students in the entire area. This means that out of 1581 school aged children, only 168 are currently attending school.

Agriculture:

The average altitude of Me Re Ma is 3,879. The high altitude makes it impossible to plant anything other than cabbage; hence there is no agricultural income.

Income: The average cash income per person per year is 200 rmb. This income is earned by herding yaks. The villagers make money by selling yak hair, butter, cheese, and caterpillar fungus (a medical herb dug from May to early July, sold for between 1--2.5rmb for per fungus). Most of the residents of Me Re Ma are nomadic. Herding and daily work is often done by hand and much of the hard daily work falls on the shoulders of women. The main transportation for nomads are yaks and horses.

Taxes: The people of Me Re Ma Township do not have to pay taxes.

The following is a description of Ra chu River, where the bridge will be built:
Ra Chu River is 5 kilometers away from Me Re Ma Township and it divides the whole Township into two districts. On the left side of the river there is a small Nunnery and a small Temple where usually people go to pray and circumambulate. There are 23 nuns in the Nunnery and a Lama in the small Temple. Abu village, the biggest village in Me Re Ma Township, is also on the left side. There are 2023 Tibetan residents in Abu Village. On the right of the river there are four other villages and the local government offices. There are 5530 Tibetan residents in these villages.

The width of the Ra Chu River is approximately 3.5 meters in autumn and winter and 5.3 meters in Summer and Spring. The average depth of the river is 0.7 meters, but after a rain it reaches 1 meter in depth.

In 1998,there was a small wooden bridge made by local villager called BoJi, but because the quality was not good and the river is very strong in the summer, it washed away within 2 years. In 2000, the local people put a single plank of wood across it, but it was very dangerous and 30 people were severely injured while attempting to cross the river both in Winter and Summer. In the summer the wooden plank is completely submerged in water and it is dangerous to use because it is very slippery . Every day, at least 30 people cross the river and on the 15th of every month, more than 500 people cross the river (because that day is a religious holiday and people need to circumambulate the temple and to attend the ceremony).

Project Goals:

The main goal of this project is to build a concrete bridge over RaChu River that will provide a safe and convenient way for Me Re Ma Villagers to cross Ra Chu River

Problems:

•  It is dangerous to cross Ra Chu River, especially after it has rained or snowed. After it has rained, the flimsy wooden bridge that the villager's currently use becomes submerged in water, which causes it to rot and fall apart. In the past, the makeshift wooden bridges that the villagers have constructed have washed away completely, making it extremely difficult to cross the river. During the cold season, from November to March, the narrow wooden bridge often freezes over, making for a slippery and dangerous crossing. Many people have slipped on the icy bridge and fallen into the river's freezing water.

•  Because Ra Chu River does not have a reliable bridge, the school enrollment in Abu village primary school is very low. The students who come from Abu Village must cross Ra chu river twice everyday in order to get to Ma er ma primary school. Students have difficulty getting to school after heavy rain or snow, and many parents worry about their children's safety on their way to school. Because it is not safe to cross the river for 5 months of the year, many parents do not let their children to go to school. Therefore, out of 390 school aged children in Abu Village, there are only 15 students.

•  Transportation between and within villages is very difficult. People from Abu village have difficulty getting to Nan Cou ma village, on the other side of the river. Similarly, those from the Third village have difficulty getting to Abu village, and those from the Second village have difficulty getting to the first village. The villagers of the Third and First Village, which are both located on opposing sides of Ra Chu River, are most desperate for a reliable, durable, and safe bridge.

•  Villagers, especially those who are older, have difficulties visiting the local temple and Nunnery.

•  Because they sometimes cannot cross Ra Chu River, villagers often do not have access to local stores in which they can buy vegetables and other supplies.

•  Women and girls usually need to cross the river to collect fuel. During the winter, when the water is freezing and the bridge cannot be used, they cross the water with their shoes on, which is bad for their health.

Benefits--This project will:

•  Provide safe a way to cross Ra chu river.

•  Increase enrollment Abu village primary school.

•  Increase communication and contact between and within villages.

•  Provide safe and easy access to worshippers who wish to circumambulate the local temple and visit the Nunnery.

•  Improve local people's living condition by making it easier for them to buy supplies.

•  Provide safe and easy way for women and girls to collect fuel.

The steps of the project:

•  Hold a meeting with village leaders and a villager to discuss the project plans (This step was completed in January, 2005).

•  Choose five work committees; one from each village (This step was completed in January, 2005).

•  Hire an experienced engineer. We have already interviewed and met with an experienced engineer from Aba county, and will hire him one once funding is received.

•  The villagers begin to collect stone and break stone it into gravel,

•  Hold a meeting with village leaders committees, and engineer.

•  Hire 7 skilled construction workers from Aba County.

•  Purchase construction materials for bridge from Aba County.

•  Start construction.

•  Assemble evaluation materials: Interview local people and leaders, take pictures, organize receipts.

•  Write final report.

Detailed Budget:

Local Contribution:

Local villager's contribution of materials and labor valued in rmb

Timeframe:

The expected time for this project is 3 months, from May to August. This is the best time to complete the project because during these months the temperature is over 6 degrees and it is not cold. Hence, construction workers can begin to work and their salary will be inexpensive compared to what they charge during colder months. If we build the bridge in other months the price is at least 40rmb/day/person, but if we do it in May, June, July and August the price is 25rmb/day/person.

Sustainability:

Bdu dul , Gong la and Chugpilhamo (Aba-Lily). Bdu du is a 56year old lama and he is respected by all of the villagers. He is also the monastery-appointed leader of Township and he is very responsible. Bdu dul will responsible for local people's contribution if local people will not give labor then they need to contribute money if they have no money then they need to contribute food.

Gong la is a 51year-old herdsman and he is very experienced. He was chosen by the local people to be a project manager because he is very honest and reliable. He has already managed the construction of a new public building for local people. Gong la will be responsible for construction workers' accountability.The construction workers must give a deposit before they build the bridge, hence if they do not build it well, then they will not get the deposit back. The deposit is 1000 per person.

Chugpilhamo (Aba-Lily) is a 21-year-old University student. She has completed two small scale development projects in her home town: a Solar cooker project supported by the Canada fund and a Second hand clothing project organized by Sue Bishop at the British Consulate in Shanghai. In July of 2005, she will complete a second Solar Cooker project supported by the Canada Fund. Mchod bay lha mo (Aba-Lily) will be accountable for managing the entire project's budget.

Additional information:

Does the (local) government agree with the project?

Yes, Chugpilhamo met with one of the township leaders, Sonan, on August 13 th , 2004. He said that the project would be very helpful and that if it is funded, he will help find very experienced construction workers from the county town. Chugpilhamo also met with Dendul, a Lama who is one of the Aba county leaders, and he said that this project could really help local people and that if it is funded, he will direct the collection of the local contribution, and supervise and direct project implementation and construction.