machik

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Kham (Tibetan: ཁམས; Wylie transliteration: Khams; Simplified Chinese: 康巴; Pinyin: KÄngbÄ), is a region presently divided between the Chinese provinces of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, and Sichuan where Khampas, a subgroup within the Tibetan ethnicity, live. It is also one of the three traditional provinces claimed by the Tibetan government-in-exile. Read More: > HERE <

Education and capacity-building form the core of the Machik mission. Learn how a ground-breaking school is helping revitalize a community in a rural Tibetan township.

Located deep in the heartland of Kham, Chungba was, until a few short years ago, a typical rural Tibetan community. With no electricity, running water, telephone, internal roads and virtually no literacy, this mountain community was unequipped to manage the rapid changes arriving at its door. Today, an investment in a primary school has stimulated a broad-based effort to revitalize the community while setting a new standard for rural Tibetan education across the prefecture.

We are deeply saddened by the recent earthquakes in Tibet. In the first four days after the earthquake we raised and sent $38,000 for relief aid. We hope you will let your family, friends and colleagues know that the Tibetan people of Jyekundo need our continued help.

Thank you and we look forward to staying in touch.

The Chungba School Story – Since it first opened its doors in 2002, the Ruth Walter Chungba Primary School has challenged regional stereotypes about the potential of rural Tibetan children. In its first year of operation, the students of Chungba achieved the highest results on county-wide standardized exams, despite being the first generation in Chungba ever to have access to formal education. Surprised by the results, county officials ran a second round of standardized exams for the Chungba school. And the tests results were even higher.

Today, with a residential community of 340 students and staff, the Chungba Primary School has become a model for rural education throughout the eighteen counties of the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture – a region of nearly a million Tibetans. New resources and creative programming have played a role in the success of the CPS projects that include an annual Chungba Summer Learning Program, a traditional Tibetan dance program, a library, an organic greenhouse and other green technologies to promote conservation and environmental consciousness. Watch an introductory video clip of the CPS. The Chungba Summer Learning Program in particular has offered the Chungba kids an array of resources to expand their knowledge of their world and to learn about new forms of knowledge production. These include learning about both traditional knowledge, such as Tibetan storytelling, as well as the use of new digital media.

 

These images of the Chungba Primary School from 2004-5 were edited by Tsering Perlo , documentarian and founder of Rabsal, an association of young Tibetans dedicated to the revitalization of Tibetan culture. // Pilgrimage Through Kham: A Medical Mission in Tibet

Born in a Tibetan refugee camp in India, raised in Canada, holding a Ph.D. from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Losang Rabgey has found her life’s work in remote Tibetan villages of farmers, seminomads, and nomads.

An anthropologist specializing in contemporary Tibetan culture and gender relations, Rabgey explains, „I believe that whatever kind of theoretical, research-based work you do, it must be grounded in local knowledge. It’s critical to have a hands-on understanding of what life looks like and feels like to the people you work with.“