Sixty Solar Electricity Generating Panels for Poor Tibetan Families

Project Manager's Name: Bkrashis 搬豹《《靛邦, 徐扎西 (Wayne)

Project Location: Nimulong Village, Zhongxinrong Township, Batang County, Ganzi Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, PR China
殿《边稗《得爸《惭稗《拜坝半《扳蹈邦《半爸《罢灯爸《庇办《伴搬伴《败爸《稻爸《罢般爸《惭稗《帝爸《绊爸《册《淬《典爸《表爸《橙〉

四川省 甘孜州 巴塘县 中心绒乡 尼母龙村

Summary: The New Zealand Embassy provided 51,000RMB which, with a local contribution of
3,000RMB, allowed for the purchase of sixty Solar Electricity Generation panels for sixty Tibetan
households in Nimulong Village, Zhongxinrong Township, Batang County, Ganzi Tibetan
Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, PR China. This project benefits recipient households by
providing children bright light that allows them to study at night; residents are able to easily
transport the panels when they move to the grassland and live in black tents; villagers are healthier
because they inhale less smoke from flame-based lighting; and women are able to work less
intensively because they can now also do work at night with the light from the panels.

NZAID Head of Mission Fund (HOMF)

PROJECT REPORT FORM

Please return form to:

NZAID Officer Tel: +86 10 8532 7000

New Zealand Embassy Beijing Fax: +86 10 6532 3424
No.1 Ritan Dongerjie E-mail: [email protected]
Chaoyang District Beijing
PR China 100600

1. Name of Project Applicant: Bkrashis

Name of Project Implementing Agency (if different from applicant):

Friend of Rural Community Development

2. Contact Person: Bkrashi

 Responsible Person: Bkrashi

 Supervisor: Mr Lijia 李加 (Simon)
 E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; Tel: 15897149697

3. Address: Qinghai Teacher’s Normal University (2008 Tibetan English Class)

Postal Code: 810008

4. Telephone: 86-18990477725

Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

5. Project Title: Solar Electricity Generating Panels for a Rural Tibetan Community
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6. Project Locality: Nimulong Village is 125 km southwest of Batang County Town, 550 km from the
capital of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, and 1,040 km from Chengdu City, the capital
of Sichuan Province.

7. Name and Address of Organization Responsible for Implementing the Project: Friend of Rural
Community Development 乡村之友 发展促进会; Room 221, Building #4, Zaishui Yifang
Xiaoqu, Bayi Road, Xining City, Qinghai 青海省西宁市八一路在水一方小区4号楼221室

8. Date and amount of HOMF funding received: 28 October 2009; 51,000RMB

9. Start date of project: 5 November 2009; End date of project: 29 June 2010

10. Briefly state the objective of the project (from the application form):

 Provide a sustainable income-generating stream for the sixty poorest families in Nimulong Village
by reducing the amount of money families currently spend on candles, butter, and oil (approximately
800RMB/year/household) and by increasing the amount of butter families would have to sell (by
eliminating the need to burn butter in lamps) and to eat (thus improving the local diet);
 Enable children to study at night under bright electric light, rather than the current situation of
children studying under dim butter lamps and candles at night;
 Reduce health problems from using flame-based lighting, e.g., less smoke inhalation; and
 Provide residents a dependable, easily transportable lighting system for families when they move to
the grassland and live in black yak-hair tents in summer. Wind and breezes move through the tents
and easily extinguish candles and butter lamps.

11. List each expected outcome of the project (from application form) and comment on the extent
to which these were achieved

Expected Outcome Actual Outcome

Reduce expenses for candles, butter and We estimate that families will save
oil. 800RMB a year.
Enable children to study at night under Children use the light powered by the
bright electric light. panels to study at night.
Reduce health problems from using Flame-based lighting has nearly been
flame-based lighting, e.g., less smoke eliminated by the electricity generated by
inhalation. the panels, improving health by eliminating
smoke that was inhaled.
Provide residents a dependable, easily The panels are very portable and families
transportable lighting system when families will take them to the grassland when they
move to the grassland and live in tents go there to herd and live in tents for the
during the summer. duration of the herding season.
Women’s will have more time in which to Women are now able to work at night
do chores. under the light supplied by the battery
charged by the panels. They are now less
stressed about finishing work during the
daylight hours.

Which results did not meet expectations? None

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Which results surpassed expectations? Women are able to do such activities at night as make and
mend Tibetan robes and make barley beer, thanks to the light supplied by the panels.

12. Describe the activities and whether the activities were carried out timely and as planned. Were
the planned approaches appropriate?

 29 October 2009: met villagers (men, women, children), and discussed each person’s labor
contribution (carry solar panels to the village, unloading them from the truck, set them up for each
family, being responsible for not damaging the solar panels).
 5 November: contacted the solar panel company and finalized when they would transport the solar
panels. Heavy snow fell for several days continuously, dictating a new delivery date.
 10-26 November: the solar panel company transported the panels to Batang County Town. More
days were required for this because of the heavy snow.
 27 November: the driver, Arshi; Bkrashi; and the village leader, Dorjie, hired another truck and
transported the panels to Nimulong Village.
 28 November: Bkrashi and Dorjie collected the local contribution, distributed the solar panels to
each family, and gave instructions on how to use the solar panels.
 29 November: Bkrashis interviewed the villagers and took photos.
 2 December: Bkrashi began work on the final report.
 Before 10 February 2010: Bkrashi completed the final report and sent it to the New Zealand
Embassy with photos and receipts.

13. What problems were encountered in carrying out the project and how were these addressed?
Transporting the solar panels to the recipient community took longer than expected because of the
snowy weather and bad road conditions. Furthermore, while distributing the panels to Nimulong
households, the leader of a neighbor village and some other men came and asked me to give them
half of the solar panels for their village. This presented a dilemma. I told him that the donor had
provided panels to Nimulong and I could not change this decision. Nevertheless, they insisted. I
finally said, "I will try to write a proposal for your village, but I’m not sure if it can be funded.”
Then they left.

14. How did the beneficiaries participate in the planning, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation of this project?

 All local households met before the project was funded, discussed what project was really needed,
and explained why. The sixty poorest households were selected during this meeting.
 After the panels arrived, the sixty recipient households met, panels were taken to each household, the
local contribution was collected, pictures were taken, and recipients were taught how to use the
panels and how to take care of them.
 Several days following the implementation of the solar panel project, I visited the village to monitor
its success, and to determine whether the project goals have been achieved. I conducted interviews
with the families to find out to what extent the panels generated money and time. I also asked about
the children’s welfare, and learn about the possibilities might be for children not in school to attend
school. I estimated from my interviews that the families would have about 800RMB more per year
thanks to the panels and that about forty school-age children did not attend school. In the course of
the interviews, Lhamo said:

My husband is seriously ill. We have no money. I and my three children need to do chores and many other
things like repair roads, field work, collect wood for lighting, and so on. I'm sure one or two of my children
can now attend school.

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Chostsho said:

There are four generations in my family with four elderly people. It's difficult for my husband and me to
support everyone. The panel really helps us. Thank you, New Zealand Embassy.

Dieji said:

Little income and a lack of labor is a big problem for us. I am twenty-seven years old. I have been sick
since I was twenty-five. I cannot help my husband very much. My daughter is only nine but she must work
like an adult. I’m really feeling disappointed in my life. I appreciate your help.

16. How did women participate in and benefit from the project? Provide sex- disaggregated
statistics where relevant (e.g., the numbers of women and men participating in a workshop/study
tour etc).

 The meeting was attended by 124 men and 135 women before I started to write this project proposal.
They discussed the local contribution, how to deliver the panels, and chose the poorest families in
the village.
 Benefit: Women's work has now become less intense because they are able to work at night under the
light of the panels.
 Benefit: Girls who were out school now have more chances to attend school. This is because lighting
gives adults more time to work for they can work at night under the panel's light as well as the
daytime. Furthermore, the money the panel generates as mentioned above, means that the family has
more income to pay schooling fees.

17. What has been the impact of the project to date and how have you measured this? And what
on-going benefits will this project have?
First, not enough time has passed to adequately assess the full impact of this project. However, from
another, very similar project, we expect to see the benefits mentioned above.

18. What experiences from this project has/will your agency use in planning further activities?

Communication: The project manager must clearly explain everything to local people.

Patience: The unexpected may happen and it is important to deal with this calmly. For example, when
transporting the solar panels to the village, more time was required because of bad weather.

19. We welcome other comments you have on this project, and you are welcome to attach other
materials, such as beneficiaries’ testimonies and project photos.

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Local recipient unload the solar electricity generating panels at the township site.
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 Lhamo (b ~1943) is a widow with three children and a grandmother. The youngest child attends middle school.
 Yishes Lhamo's (b ~1955) husband is sick. There are five in her family. None of her children attend school.
 Sgroma (b ~1936) is the oldest member of her family. Her daughter is ill and Sgroma must do much of the family labor.
 Chostsho (b ~1988) and her husband are one family.
 Dbyngsgtsong's (b ~1985) husband injured his leg three years ago and she must do heavy work in order to support her family.
 Nyima (b ~1933) is the oldest person in his family and still worries about his family's welfare.
 Tshomo (b ~1966) has five children. Only one attends school.

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Nyima (b ~1953), Dorjie (b ~1948) , Songgnag (b ~1947), Chossgrgas (b ~1954), Chos’phel (b ~1950), Chosmdzong (b ~1952), Artsho
(b ~1945; ill and family funds must be spent on paying for her medicines), Lhamdzong (b ~1947), Thogsten (b ~1948; his wife died
five years ago and he alone supports his family).

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Back row (left) Chos sGron (b ~1954), Aatsho (b ~1939; there are ten people in her family and only one man) c. Sgronka (b ~1953)
Front row (left) Nyimalhamo (b ~1933) Chossgron (b ~1930); Lhatso (b ~1948), Zlab Lhamo (b ~1961)

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Aastang (left; b ~1982) supports a family of six, including his ill wife. None of his children attend school.

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Lhaskyid (left; b ~1935), Sgroma (center; b ~1941)and Tshemo (right; b ~1945).

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Chosmo (left; b ~ 1942) and Tshesgron (right; b ~1945).

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There are four people in Sbanchos (left; b ~ 1942) home. The family depends on her daughter (a daughter), who has two children. One of the
children attended school until her father died.

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THANKS LETTER
 TRANSLATION (ABRIDGED)

Dear New Zealand Embassy,

The sixty solar panels that you donated to us made sixty
households' life condition better and it also helped solve
such problems such as tree-cutting, which means local
people cut fewer trees for their light-fuel, women’s heavy
burden, lessened women's work burden, improved health,
lessened fire dangers, an addressed the problem of low
school attendance. Therefore, we really want to say thank
you very much to the New Zealand Embay in Beijing.
Though just saying this cannot express how we much we
appreciate your help, we want to say it for that’s what we
can do to express our feelings. Our life condition is better
than before. Consequently, your help and compassion will
be in our mind forever and we will always pray for you.
Finally, we wish everything that you are doing and expect
to be successful and also that you will help many poor
people just like us.

All the best,

Nimulong Villagers
20. Attach a detailed expenditure report and/or invoice with supporting
documentation for the project. Explain any variation from approved budget.

Receipt # Item Quantity Cost RMB Total RMB

Solar panels 60 850 51,000
1 Light-bulbs 60 8 480
Safety wire 120 1 120
2 Transport: Xining-Batang
County Town 1,800 1,800
3 Transport: Batang County
Town-Nimulong Village 660 660
Total 54,060

The local contribution was 3,060RMB, which was sixty RMB given by the village
leader from the village fund and, in addition, fifty RMB from each of the sixty
recipients (60 x 50 = 3,000RMB). Consequently, the total project fund was 54,060
RMB.
 RECEIPTS

Signed: Bkrashis 搬豹《《靛邦, 徐扎西 (Wayne)

On behalf of: Nimulong villagers
Date: 29 January 2010
 Financial Acquittal Report
Project: Solar Electricity Generating Panels for Rural Tibetan Community
Name of Recipient: Friend of Rural Community Development 乡村之友 展促进会.
Acquittal for the period from: 29 October - 20 December 2009
This acquittal report provides and account and reckoning of the funding provided by
NZAID for the above Project, and how the funding has been spent.
Variance
explanation
Budget Item Budget RMB Actual RMB Variance Receipt
(where variance
is  10%)
Solar panels 850/per 850 0

Light-bulbs 10/per 8 -2 #1

Safety wire 2/per 1 -1

a. Transport 1,800 1,800 0 0 #1

b. Transport 600 660 60 #1

Declaration
As a senior authorised officer of the recipient organisation I make the following declaration:

 I am a senior officer bearer and authorised to make this declaration on behalf of the
recipient organization.
 I confirm that the funding provided by NZAID has been used for the purpose(s) for
which it was provided.
 I confirm that the actual costs incurred have been reasonable.
 I confirm that the amounts claimed are for expenses that have been incurred and
that all receipts providing evidence of the actual costs incurred are attached.
 This financial acquittal report is a complete, true, and accurate record of funding
received and expenses incurred.
 The expenditure detailed in the acquittal report has been extracted from the
organisation’s audited financial accounting records.
 There is no surplus NZAID funding remaining unspent.

Signature: Bkrashis 搬豹《《靛邦, 徐扎西 (Wayne) Title: Project Manager

Full Name: Bkrashis 搬豹《《靛邦, 徐扎西 (Wayne) Date: 29 January 2010_