Cultural Survival Weaving

Project Newsletters

December 21, 2001

This is a time of major transition for the Ersari Turkmen Weaving Project. Currently, we are running three schools which are totally supported by the Project; there are approximately 950 students in the three schools. The Afghan refugee population which attends these schools (primarily Turkmen and Hazara as well as some Tadjik) have been living in Pakistan - some for as long as 18 years. They see the present situation as their best hope in all these years for ending their long exile and returning to their homes in Afghanistan. A few families have already departed. Many more will leave soon, after the Eid holidays, or in the spring assuming the minimum conditions of peace and stability exist. We are hoping for the same, and are also hoping that we will be able to move the focus of the Ersari Project, both in terms of carpet production and education, to Northern Afghanistan in the near future. This move will fulfill a vision first conceived 14 years ago.

March, 2001

The Cultural Survival Tibetan Project is funding a $20,000 program to improve food and health conditions in Tibetan schools in India. The first installment, $8,500, was allocated to three different schools-Darjeeling, Pokribeong, and Varanasi Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies in July, 2000. The remainder will be sent in March of 2001. The funds are primarily used to provide eggs, meat, fresh vegetables, fruits, and butter to supplement meals given children in the selected schools. A percentage is also devoted to purchasing sports equipment, providing magazines and newspapers for libraries, and buying medicine for school clinics. And, because Pokribeong faces an acute teacher shortage as a result of its remote location, a portion of the monies have been allocated for faculty bonuses at this school.

Last year, funds from the Tibetan Project provided Pokribeong with a new multipurpose hall (see photo), a library, a medical dispensary, and additional classrooms. There are now 150 students attending classes; of these, 120 are resident boarders and the rest are day students. The majority of the boarding students are from remote parts of Bhutan, Nepal, and the Indo-Nepal border region. There are twenty children from the Solu Khumbu area of Nepal, some as young as seven, who have to walk six days to reach their homes at the end of the school year.

The Tibetan Project has also provided $4,700 as partial funding for publication of a seventy page book on human rights, written in the Tibetan language and intended for distribution in Tibet, India, and Nepal. The book will provide substantive explanations of human rights in terms comprehensible to ordinary Tibetans. Written by Lobsang Sangay, a Tibetan scholar at Harvard Law School, the book will be published and distributed later this year.

Work on the Taksham Project Tree Plantation in Powo Tramo, Tibet, has been continuing successfully. Young trees have matured and are now ready to be transplanted to the mountain slopes. This April and May, nearly fifty local residents will plant these trees prior to the start of the rainy season. Also, the number of young fruit trees in the nursery will be increased this year. Eventually, these trees will be distributed to local farmers. Consumption of the fruit should lead to improved health in the area and generate income for farmers, so that they may send their children to school. Finally, the seven students supported by Cultural Survival who are studying Tibetan medicine are completing their second year of studies and are doing very well. In four more years, upon graduation, they will be sent to remote villages as local physicians.

There are now almost 1000 students in the three schools supported by the Cultural Survival Weaving Project in Pakistan.

The Ersari Academy in Attock has grown over time. When the school started in 1995 it ranged from kindergarten to third grade and had 198 students. Now classes extend from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, and beginning in March, 2001, a secondary school will be established. Secondary school graduates will be eligible for admission to college. There are now 361 students in the school (301 boys and 60 girls). Last year, 97% of the students taking exams successfully passed. A testimony to the school's success is the size of the current pre kindergarten class - a total of 148 students. In addition to the principal, the school's faculty now numbers 14, including a specialist in Computer Sciences. The new academic session will start in March, 2001 and will conclude in February, 2002.

The Ersari School in Haripur, which spans grades one through seven, also is exhibiting strong growth. According to Chris Coquard, a Canadian English teacher at the school, his Pakistani colleagues are both qualified and extremely dedicated. The school has 250 students - 208 boys and 42 girls; more children would like to attend if space were available. Girls are concentrated in the early grades. The reason for this is that many of the students come from rug weaving families, who rely upon the income provided by the work of their daughters as they grow older. Teachers of both English and Persian speak these languages as their native tongues. Three computers are currently available to students.

January, 2000

Funds generated by the Cultural Survival Ersari Weaving Project have been used to establish a third Ersari Academy for approximately 200 students in Kemalpur, Pakistan. In total, between 850-900 Ersari students are currently in the three schools supported by the Project.

As a result of funds generated by the Tibetan Weaving Project an older school building for K-5 Tibetan students in Pokhribong, India (near Darjeeling) is now being renovated. Construction of a multipurpose prayer/dining hall and of new classrooms, as well as expansion of existing classrooms, should be completed within the next three months. Approximately 300 students will attend the school upon completion of its renovation. At Songsten School in Nepal, between 50 to 60 students have become members of a Green Club sponsored by the Tibetan Weaving Project. The Club, which meets twice a month, is educating local residents about water and air pollution; its members have also assumed responsibility for keeping the district near the school free of refuse.

July, 1999

In the past six months there have been a number of successful developments in the Ersari and Tibetan Weaving Projects.

In Pakistan, the Ersari Project is now supporting 390 students at the Kemalpur facility and 220 students in Haripur . Both schools are filled to capacity. Thus, we are hoping to open a new school soon in Kemalpur. It will be located in an outlying district of town; this will allow some of the children who live in that area to attend school without having to travel so far. Travel has been a quite a problem for them due to inadequate transportation. Also, our principal in Kemalpur is asking for computers. As a consequence, we are hoping to offer at least some computer education to the upper grades in Kemalpur in the near future.

Our Tibetan project is also rapidly expanding. We have increased the number of children we sponsor at Srongsten Bhirkuti School to 45. Most are boarding students. We are starting a major new project this summer: reconstructing a primary school in the Tibetan refugee settlement of Puruwala in the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh, India. The previously existing school in this settlement is very rundown and needs total reconstruction. It serves approximately 100 students. The cost of rebuilding the facility is $34,355, which we have already provided to the Tibetan Exile Government's Ministry of Education in Dharmsala. We hope to complete the reconstruction this year.

January, 1999

In the past six months, there has been much progress in the Tibetan Project.To begin with, construction work at CST Puruwala, a Tibetan primary school in the Himalayan foothills of India, has been completed. The school building, which serves approximately 150 students, consists of five classrooms, a library, a staff room, and an office.

In addition, funds from the Tibetan Weaving Project are now being used to sponsor a large reforestation effort in Powo county, in the southeastern part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Because the altitude of Powo is lower than other parts of Tibet, there is only mild snowfall in winter; also, there is moderate rainfall throughout the year. As a consequence, Powo has always been known for its forests, rivers, rare animal species, and medicinal plants. Unfortunately, during the Cultural Revolution (1965-1979) Powo suffered a severe destruction of its forests. Labor camps were established and thousands of prisoners cut trees which were transported to the Chinese interior. The thickly covered forests of Powo were turned into bare mountains.

The Cultural Survival Powo Taksham Afforestation Project (total cost $31,600 of which the local contribution is $5,600) is seeking to re-establish the forests of Powo and preserve rare medicinal plants and animal species by giving professional training to eight selected local residents who will become teachers in the community. In addition, six young students have been sent to Ruthong, Chamdo for training in traditional Tibetan medicine. Two large nurseries have been created for the propagation of of young trees, including fruit trees, as Powo has always been famous for its orchards. The economic impact of these orchards will take 4 to 5 years to realize, but once established they will provide employment to young Tibetans living in the area. The Powo Taksham Afforestation Project is administered by the Taksham Monastery. Because of the staffing and infrastructure now in place, it is hoped that the project's success will serve as a model for neighboring counties.

September, 1997

Funds from the Project have been used to purchase fourteen computers for the computer lab in the Srongsten School - the lab is one of the best in an academic setting in all Nepal. Students from the fifth grade and above have one session in the lab daily. Also, there are now ten Nepali students in the school located in Nogdup's weaving factory; classes are being taught daily in both the morning and afternoon.

The Ersari Weaving Project has established a second school - this time in Haripur. The new facility, for grades 1-5, already has between 200 to 250 students - 70 are female. Additional enrollment is expected this month. All teachers are Pakistani women, as is the case in the two-year old Ersari Academy in Attock City, Pakistan.

March, 1997

As of March, 1997, the Cultural Survival Tibetan Weaving Project has increased the number of Tibetan children it sponsors at the Srongsten School in Kathmandu to forty. Money from the Project has also helped fund the creation of a new science lab at the school. In addition, funds generated from the vegetable dye rugs being woven for the German market have now yielded $10,000 worth of computers for the school's new Computer Lab. Another $4,000 from this source is expected shortly; this money will continue to be used for the purchase of technology resources.

The Cultural Survival Ersari Weaving Project is also continuing to grow. A Suzuki minibus is being purchased to transport children from outlying districts to the Ersari Academy in Attock City; also, the number of girls enrolling in classes is increasing substantially.

November, 1996

On June 15, 1996, United States Ambassador Thomas Winston Simons visited the Ersari Academy in Attock City, Pakistan, established with funds generated from the Cultural Survival Ersari Weaving Project. After sharing lunch with students, faculty, and members of the Turkmen community he gave a short speech in which he noted his pleasure in being able to help celebrate the first anniversary of the school. He expressed joy in seeing the quality of the education offered to "refugees of a cruel war, some of whom left their homeland many years ago."

In addition, there is important news to report from Nepal. Tibetan Weaving Project resources have now been allocated toward a second educational enterprise - a school has been established in the Cultural Survival Weaving Factory in the Jorpati district of Kathmandu for the sons and daughters of Nepali weavers. A photo taken during class appears above.