Life in Kham
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Tashi Chuntso, 6 years old - Her father was killed in a fight when she was 2 years old. The next year her mother was struck and killed by lightning. She and her older brother, who cannot walk because of early childhood disease, have lived with their uncle since then. He has never married for fear that his wife would not take good care of the children. They depend on a small piece of land and few cows for their livelihood, live in poverty and malnutrition. |
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Lodro Drime (14 y) and Rigzin Drolma (13 y) - Their mother was killed five years ago in a domestic dispute. The father has only one leg and spends most of the money children earn collecting grass-worms on alcohol and gambling. Lodro Drime and Rigzin Drolma have no permanent home but move from one relative’s house to another’s. People help them by donating clothes and other life necessities. |
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Pema Lhamo, 8 years old - She never saw her father. When she was one year old her mother re-married and deserted her. Her grandparents, farmers with a small field, have looked after her since then. She is a very bright child; her grandfather has taught her some Tibetan script and she is now able to write her name, yet she has no chance to get further education. |
These children live in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous (TAR) Prefecture in West Shichuan in China, the home to more than 800,000 Khampa Tibetan people. They are not alone; it is estimated than more than 1,000 orphans and even more semi-orphans - children who have lost one of their parents - in the area still live in conditions of extreme poverty.
Orphans share the living conditions of general population. Most people in the area live outside the cities as nomads, raising herds of yaks, sheep and goats. Some have small land holdings where they grow barley, cut wood or collect grass-worms in the areas where these resources are available. The levels of literacy and basic education among this population are extremely low. Most people have access to only very basic medical care, if any. Alcoholism and crime are widespread.
Most primary schools teach only basic subjects: Tibetan, Chinese and math. Parents, who in most cases have no education themselves, do not consider educating their children as important or valuable for their lives. The low standard of education in rural primary schools contributes to these feelings. Those few children who are able to continue to secondary school in the larger cities and universities in other parts of China often have no interest or opportunities to return and live in their homeland.
Families are the only social security people have. As a result of difficult living conditions at the altitude of 4,000 meters and the lack of health care, hygiene and nutrition many people die young. Many are killed in fighting. In addition, many children are born from casual relationships; care for them falls entirely on the mother. Some parents abandon their children because of economic and social pressures.
Children listed here will be amongst the first group of orphans who will find a home and opportunities to develop their talents in Shechen Charity Orphan School. 32 of such children were identified during the preliminary field research conducted in the summer 2005 in the Dzogchen, Axu and Guzi villages in Dege County. Their stories are a good illustration of the living conditions of the general population and orphans of the area.
The list of 32 orphans who will be among the first to attend Shechen Charity Orphan School.
