Trace Foundation Activity Report, 2008 & 2009 by Trace Foundation

TRACE FOUNDATION

2008 & 2009 Annual Report

Board Andrea E. Soros FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT

Eric Colombel VICE-PRESIDENT

Paola Vanzo EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Peter Wiegand WRITER AND EDITOR

Jamie Dea WRITER

Gillian MacLeod LAYOUT AND DESIGN

Trace Foundation’s Activity Report is published annually by Trace Foundation, 132 Perry St., Suite 2B, New York, NY 10014 USA TEL.:

+1-212-367-7380 +1-212-367-7383 www.trace.org FAX:

Contents and Photos © Trace Foundation, 2008–2009. Neither may be reproduced in any way without permission from Trace Foundation. For more information contact pressroom@trace.org. Note on Transcription System Used: All Trace Foundation publications use The Himalayan Library (THL) Simplified Phonetic Transcription of Standard Tibetan for Tibetan terms that appear in our English-language articles. More information on this transcription system can be found at http://www.thlib.org/. In cases where Chinese and Tibetan names exist, the Tibetan is used with the Pinyin in parentheses— e.g., Lhoka (Shannan). For the sake of simplicity, where Tibetan names are only transliterations of Chinese names, the Tibetan has been dropped (e.g., Sichuan, not Sitrön). Where Chinese names are transliterations of Tibetan names, the Pinyin has been dropped (e.g., Nakchu, not Naqu). In some cases Pinyin is used for Tibetan names where Tibetan names were unavailable. COVER PHOTOGRAPH Losar in Barkhor Square, Lhasa. Photo © Kabir Mansingh Heimsath

TRACE FOUNDATION

supports the continuity of Tibetan language and culture, and strengthens the ability of Tibetan communities within China to meet their own needs. We work cooperatively with local partners to implement and fund projects that integrate culture and development goals and respect environmental principles. At our headquarters in New York City we host events to raise awareness of Tibetan culture and social and economic development throughout the world. TRACE FOUNDATION IS A NON-PROFIT, NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION BASED IN NEW YORK CITY.

CONTENTS

CONTENTS 2008 & 2009 IN BRIEF EDUCATION

Humchen’s Xining Kindergarten

RURAL DEVELOPMENT & HEALTHCARE

Reviving Tibetan Medicine

The Businesswomen of Kapasumdo

CULTURE

Traditional Culture Preservation Center

Behind the Lens

TBRC

Lankejia’s Radia Broadcasts

TRACE FOUNDATION’S RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

The Urban Space of Lhasa

LATSE LIBRARY

The Library’s Fourth Language

EVENTS

Postmarked Lhasa

Minority Language in Today’s Global Society

IN THE PRESS PUBLICATION DISTRIBUTION INTERNING AT TRACE FOUNDATION FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

CONTENTS

2008 & 2009 IN BRIEF

2008 & 2009 IN BRIEF In early March of 2008, a wave of civil unrest shook the Tibetan Plateau, claiming several lives. Only two months later, this was followed by one of the most devastating humanitarian disasters to affect the region in decades. The 2008 Sichuan Earthquake struck Ngawa Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on May 12, leaving nearly 70,000 dead and another 18,000 missing. In the aftermath of these events, the Foundation encountered challenges in responding to these humanitarian crises. An online journalist, W. Engdahl, published an article in which he accused Trace Foundation of assisting in the instigation of the 2008 riots in Lhasa. Although we successfully pursued and won a legal case in Germany for libel and he later retracted these false statements, severe damage to the Foundation’s reputation had already been done. Despite these unprecedented circumstances, we have pressed ahead in our mission, continuing to adapt to new situations and relying on the considerable experience of our team to assist our partners in the field in achieving their goals. The challenges we encountered and overcame strengthened our resilience and encouraged us to broaden our capacity, develop new tools, and continue to consider new approaches to development. Above all, these trying times highlighted the Foundation’s greatest attributes: our ability to come together in times of crisis and the depth of our commitment to the work we undertake.

In the past two years, the Foundation sought both to deepen our team members’ understanding of their specific areas and expand their skills, allowing for innovative approaches to the many challenges in the field. Project staff received training on subjects ranging from project cycle management to computer skills and videography. To further understand changes on the Tibetan Plateau, we established our Research Fellowship, a new program to expand research on issues critical to Tibetan culture and the social and economic development of the region. This project not only develops new knowledge about Tibetan areas, it provides critical support for individuals who might not otherwise find opportunities to pursue research in the field. Through our grants and projects, Trace Foundation reaffirmed its continuing commitment to education, health care, rural development, and local culture in Tibetan areas of China. In 2008 and 2009, we supported 1,136 students from the kindergarten to the postgraduate level, and trained an additional 25 teachers, as well as provided vocational training to 150 villagers in rural areas. Support also went to thirty-three primary, middle, and high schools, providing necessary school materials and texts in Tibetan and school and classroom supplies. Trace Foundation supported the publication and distribution of 35,660 Tibetan texts, including contemporary fiction and nonfiction, as well as the filming, production, and distribution of three Tibetan documentary films. In supporting local rural development, Trace Foundation supported the construction of 6 local health facilities and community projects that utilize local resources and cultural knowledge.

2008 & 2009 IN BRIEF

At our headquarters in New York, we have continued our effort to further the conversation on development and culture in contemporary Tibet. Through the Foundation’s Library, Latse, we provide a unique collection of materials focused on contemporary Tibetan culture. In 2008 and 2009, Latse Library significantly increased their holdings, including initiating collection of Bhutanese-language materials. The collection was further enriched through the donations of the personal papers and documents of the Taktser Rinpoche, Thupten Jigme Norbu, a former professor at Indiana University, and the elder brother of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Through open events the Foundation sought to engage academics, development professionals, and the general public in a discussion on the current state of Tibetan culture and development on the Plateau. In 2008 and 2009, we offered a variety of lectures, exhibitions, and workshops. These events covered a range of topics, from education and land use to momos and butter sculptures. In 2008, we launched our first lecture series, Minority Language in Today’s Global Society. The first three events of the series brought together noted academics and development professionals to discuss the preservation and development of minority languages around the globe, with a special focus on the Tibetan case.

2008 & 2009 IN BRIEF

In 2008, we launched a new website, designed to ultimately host a comprehensive history of the Foundation’s work. The website was designed to increase our engagement with the public, as well as to further spread awareness about the Foundation’s work and Tibetan culture. In addition, the website allows greater access to the resources available at Trace Foundation, and provides information on upcoming events and on-going projects. In 2008 and 2009, Trace Foundation made a total investment of over $6 million in the future of Tibetan communities. Through the development of resources at home, and our grants and projects on the Tibetan Plateau, Trace Foundation is supporting the growth and sustainability of a vibrant culture. It is our hope that our efforts in 2008 and 2009 in the areas of education, culture, health care, and rural development will continue to benefit the Tibetan people for many years into the future.

November 7th – December 13th

TOP, BOTTOM LEFT: “Postmarked

BOTTOM RIGHT: In our 2009 Lecture

Lhasa” was a unique exhibition featuring Tibetan postage stamps, covers, and letters from the first half of the twentieth century.

Series “Minority Language in Today’s Global Society,” Joseph Lo Bianco, Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the University of Melbourne, Australia, discussed the role of language planning and policy initiatives with the help of case studies from Ireland, Scotland, and Sri Lanka.

November 7th – De 2008 & 2009 IN BRIEF

EDUCATION

EDUCATION Education is the cornerstone of sustainable development. It not only raises individual earning potential and quality of life, it empowers communities to take the lead in their own futures. For many Tibetans, however, access to education is curtailed by both culture and language, and for many Tibetans, by the distance of county schools from the pastures and farms where they live. Children who overcome these initial challenges find overcrowded schools, undertrained teachers and administrators, crumbling infrastructure and a critical lack of teaching materials. For adults seeking greater opportunities, the challenges to receiving an education can be even greater. The challenges faced by young Tibetans are compounded by a lack of opportunity. Many Tibetan adults have never before had formal schooling. For these individuals, new material and the unfamiliar format of classroom learning can present significant challenges. When combined with the need to take time away from crucial agricultural work, they can discourage even the most dedicated would-be students. Recognizing the challenges faced by the education system, in 2008 and 2009 Trace Foundation expanded access to education at all levels and strengthened the resources available to Tibetans seeking an education. Support was provided primarily to develop the educational system in Tibetan areas and to support students.

In the past two years, among other activities, Trace Foundation supported the establishment of eight primary schools and provided books and classroom materials to an additional seven schools. To ensure that these facilities are able to provide necessary education to their students, Trace Foundation supporting the training of twelve primary school teachers and fourteen additional educators and administrators, including two Tibetan Braille teachers. Trace also supported the establishment of a Tibetan-medium kindergarten in Qinghai province. These schools provide a curriculum grounded in Tibetan culture and relevant to the local situation, providing Tibetan children with both a solid foundation for the future and a deeper appreciation of their background. During this same period, the Foundation provided support to over 1500 Tibetan students, from the primary to graduate level. In 2008 and 2009 seven Trace Foundation fellows pursued graduate-level training at international institutions of higher learning. Trace Foundation also provided winter clothing for 290 underprivileged students, a factor critical to their health and academic success in the bitter cold of a winter on the Plateau. In 2008 and 2009, Trace Foundation provided over $4,500,000 in support of education projects and nearly $1,000,000 in domestic and international scholarships for higher education. This investment will continue to improve lives on the plateau for decades.

EDUCATION

HUMCHEN’S XINING KINDERGARTEN

A short, stocky man with long dark hair, Humchen appears, at first glance, to be quite ordinary. However, he’s a man with a mission. In Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai, Humchen has been hard at work ensuring that some of the city’s youngest residents maintain a foothold in their traditional culture amid rapid development and urbanization. Surrounded by mountains, the large bustling city of Xining, on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau has long been a meeting point for the diverse cultures of western China. The city is made up of an amalgamation of Han, Hui, and local minorities such as the Tu and Mongols. In addition, apart from the 40,000 Tibetan people officially working in the city, there are currently thousands of Tibetan businessman and itinerant workers in Xining, as well. Loss of culture is a common concern among migrant populations, particularly for children. In Xining there were no Tibetan-language classes or schools, so most Tibetan children who grow up in the city attend Chinese-language schools, and as a result, can neither speak nor write Tibetan properly. This problem hit home for Humchen when his young son began kindergarten in 2008. He discussed this issue with several friends, and quickly discovered that each of them had the same worry. After much discussion, Humchen and his friends determined that a Tibetanlanguage kindergarten would provide an ideal environment to educate the Tibetan children of Xining about their own culture. This group of concerned parents, however, lacked the funding to rent space, hire teachers, or purchase teaching aids, so,

HUMCHEN’S XINING KINDERGARTEN

in the spring of 2008, Humchen applied to Trace Foundation for support for a kindergarten for Tibetan students in Xining. Humchen had previously become acquainted with the Foundation through a series of publishing projects, focusing on local customs and folklore, which Trace had supported. Humchen’s application was approved that spring, and with the initial funds he was able to rent a classroom in a local kindergarten on a shortterm basis, and to begin advertising for teachers. Ultimately, of the 120 individuals who applied for positions at the new kindergarten, 4 recent graduates with degrees in early childhood education were selected. The class is held in a in a three-story cream-colored kindergarten with large windows in the vicinity of the International Village. The building has a small open courtyard, covered with colorful protective matting and containing new, brightly colored sturdy plastic playground equipment. The Tibetan children make up just one of several classes held in the large kindergarten. Their classroom is decorated with colorful plastic cards with the letters of the Tibetan alphabet and some simple words, photos of the children, and pictures related to Tibetan culture and customs. Along one wall, below the large-paned windows, is an orderly array of Montessori teaching materials, created by the nonprofit publishing collective Tibetan Arts and Literature Initiative (tali) with support from Trace Foundation. The kindergarten teachers all wear traditional Tibetan clothing each day, and classes explore Tibetan culture and the basic subjects in equal measure.

RIGHT: Standing anxiously be-

fore a gathering of family and friends, the students at this new Tibetan-language kindergarten in Xining perform folk songs in traditional dress.

HUMCHEN’S XINING KINDERGARTEN

The ten students in Xining’s first Tibetan kindergarten have much in common with kindergartners around the world. They’re energetic and eager to discuss their diverse dreams, including becoming painters, drivers, and government officials. The students have varying levels of Tibetan proficiency. One four-year-old girl whose father is a Tibetan businessman in Shanghai lives with her Han mother and her father’s family in Xining. One of the newest students in this class, she has made rapid progress in learning to speak Tibetan. Others have had similar experiences. According to one mother, before she sent her young daughter to the Tibetan kindergarten, her daughter spoke Chinese with her at home despite repeated attempts to encourage her to speak Tibetan. Now her daughter speaks Tibetan fluently, occasionally even correcting her parents. Running the kindergarten is not, however, without its challenges. One teacher, originally from Tsekhok County in southeast Qinghai, emphasized the differences between teaching higher levels and young children. With younger children, she asserted, it is important to build play and entertainment into education. Relying on the deep resources of Tibetan culture, however, she has been able to enrich lessons in writing, drawing, speaking and listening.

HUMCHEN’S XINING KINDERGARTEN

Humchen has been eagerly building upon his initial success, appearing on television, and holding trainings for kindergarten teachers from the Tibet Autonomous Region (tar), Gansu, Sichuan, and Qinghai. Recently, together with tali he was able to initiate a column in the Tibetan paper in Xining especially for children. What children learn between the ages of two and six, Humchen emphasizes, will affect their whole lives. Giving them an understanding of their own culture and background provides them with a firm basis not only for their future development as individuals but for the rest of their education, and it is only education, Humchen says, that can bring about the development of the Tibetan regions of western China.

TOP: Combining contemporary Mon-

BOTTOM LEFT: The move from the

tessori teaching techniques with a curriculum grounded in Tibetan experience and culture, this kindergarten is preparing Tibetan children for their future while ensuring a meaningful connection to their past.

countryside to urban centers has accelerated throughout China for several decades. In the underdeveloped west, however, urbanization has only recently gained pace. BOTTOM RIGHT: For ethnic minorities, the move from countryside to city is not merely a change in location but often a change in language and culture.

HUMCHENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S XINING KINDERGARTEN

RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH CARE

RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH CARE LEFT: Rongpo Town in Sok

County had never had a resident Tibetan medicine doctor before Trinlé, a student from Trace Foundation’s Traditional Tibetan Medicine Project, built a new clinic with a grant from Trace.

The Tibetan Plateau is among the highest, coldest, and— with fewer than two people per square kilometer—most sparsely populated places on Earth. While its inhospitable climate and rugged topography have ensured that it remains one of the last and largest wildernesses on the planet, they pose significant challenges to delivering basic health and human services. From potable water and basic healthcare to affordable credit and vocational training, these are the challenges Trace Foundation is addressing to ensure the viability of rural livelihoods on the Tibetan Plateau.

In 2008 and 2009, Trace Foundation supported the construction and expansion of seven medical facilities in rural Tibetan communities. These facilities include a school clinic to oversee the health of 286 impoverished students and classrooms where local villagers are educated in basic literacy and personal health care. To address the perennial shortage of medical personnel, Trace supported the education and training of over 250 students in traditional Tibetan medicine, pharmacology, and clinic management. The Foundation further provided for the construction of four new rural clinics. These clinics will reduce the travel time to the nearest health center by as much as two days for some patients. These clinics will further produce traditional pharmaceuticals from local materials, expanding access to medical care while providing for the longterm maintenance of the clinics themselves. Limited infrastructure on the Tibetan Plateau not only hinders treatment of disease; it can also be a cause. Contaminated drinking water kills more children around the world each year than AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. Recognizing the incredible human cost of contaminated water sources, Trace Foundation supported the construction of improved water-catchment systems, providing 650 rural residents with access to piped clean water for the first time. These piped-water systems not only dramatically reduce the incidence of disease, they save hours of labor, allowing rural children, and girls in particular, to stay in school and build brighter futures for their communities. In 2008 and 2009, Trace Foundation invested a combined total of $318,000 to ensure the future viability of rural livelihoods on the Tibetan Plateau.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH CARE

REVIVING TIBETAN MEDICINE

In 2009, a study by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and the World Bank revealed that less than 10 percent of the earth’s landmass is more than a two-day trip from a city with a population of 50,000 or more. With the dramatic growth not only of the earth’s population but also of infrastructure and technology in the last century and a half, even the wildest places left on earth are often in someone’s backyard. Of the remotest places remaining on the planet, none surpasses the Tibetan Plateau, the northern reaches of which, according to the study, could take as long as a month to traverse. Much of this area lies in Nakchu Prefecture, in the north of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and Sok County, in the far east of the prefecture, while far more accessible than the northernmost counties, remains one of the most isolated places on earth. Rongpo Town, in the northeast of the county is no exception. Lying at an elevation of more than 3,700 meters (or about 2.3 miles, roughly ten times the height of the Empire State Building), the town lies just off the main route from Lhasa to Chamdo, but from there the road quickly gets harder. The nearest of the town’s scattered villages is a two-day horse ride away. Even more remote is Trido Township, in the southeast of the county. No roads lead to Trido, which lies in a wide bend of the Salween River, known to Tibetan’s as Gyelmo Ngulchu, or The Queen’s Sweat, and aside from a few months in spring, the township is completely inaccessible. Due to the great distance from the county

REVIVING TIBETAN MEDICINE

school, only a few residents have achieved more than a sixth-grade education. In both Rongpo and Trido, the relative isolation has contributed to economic stagnation, and most residents’ incomes fall short of the World Bank’s $1.25-a-day poverty line. It is here, however, in this remotest corner of the world, that the seeds are being sown for the revival of one of the world’s great traditions, Tibetan medicine. The history of medicine on the Tibetan Plateau stretches back millennia, but the origins of what is today practiced as Tibetan medicine were first synthesized during the Imperial period (seventh through ninth centuries, C.E.). Early in the seventh century, Songtsen Gampo led the Yarlung kingdom in southern Tibet to victory over its neighbors, consolidating power over much of the Tibetan Plateau. He then turned to the conquest of neighboring peoples, a pursuit that would occupy his successors until the collapse of the Yarlung dynasty in the ninth century. As the empire expanded, Tibetan expeditionary forces encountered sophisticated and previously unknown cultural influences in neighboring territories, including areas of what are now India, China, and Pakistan. As reports of these encounters reached Lhasa, Songtsen Gampo took an interest in ideas and technologies that could help him in the administration of his empire. During this period, medical scholars from India, China, and Persia were first invited to the court of Songtsen Gampo. Over the course of the following decades, Tibetan students trained under foreign medical scholars, and medical treatises were translated into Tibetan. During the reign of Trisong Detsen, his grandson’s greatgrandson, the first medical conference in Tibetan history was held at Samye, the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet.

TOP: A clinic in Sok, built during the

course of Trace Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Traditional Tibetan Medicine Project. BOTTOM LEFT: Field practice helped Tibetan medicine students recognize medicinal herbs in the wild. BOTTOM RIGHT: Instruments used in the practice of Tibetan medicine.

REVIVING TIBETAN MEDICINE

Gradually, the intermingling of ideas led to a synthesis of foreign and Tibetan influences, and a unique medical system emerged. Although early Tibetan medicine drew from a wide range of civilizations, by the eleventh century, the dominant influences were Indian Buddhism and Ayurvedic and Chinese medicines. The philosophical foundations of Tibetan medicine, as well as instructions on diagnosis and treatment, are contained within a four part treatise known as The Four Tantras, or GyĂźzhi in Tibetan. Viewed by some within the Buddhist tradition as a direct revelation by the Medicine Buddha, authorship of The Four Tantras is debated among scholars, though most agree that the current version was composed in the twelfth century by Yuthok YĂśnten GĂśnpo the Younger. The Four Tantras lay out the philosophical foundations of Tibetan medicine. Stemming from Buddhist ideology, which views the body along with the rest of the physical as a manifestation of the sentient mind, Tibetan medicine relates illness to the actions of the mind and, in particular, to the three poisons of greed, hatred and delusion. Practitioners of Tibetan medicine diagnose patients on the basis of an interview, urinalysis, and an analysis of the twelve pulses. Focusing on the interrelation between mind and body, treatments vary widely from proscriptions on behavior to moxibustion and herbal medicines. Tibetan herbal medicines can be composed of as few as four to as many as one hundred fifty herbs, and are usually given in the form of a small, round clay-covered pill.

REVIVING TIBETAN MEDICINE

For centuries knowledge of Tibetan medicine was passed primarily from student to teacher through lineages in a system parallel to the transmission of Buddhism in Tibet. In the sixteenth century, however, the regent of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Desi Sangye Gyatso, established a Tibetan medicine college at Chakpori, which, for the next four-hundred years, educated the doctors not only of the elite of Tibet, but also of the royal courts of other Himalayan kingdoms, including Bhutan. The medical college at Chakpori was finally succeeded in 1916 by the new Mentsikhang, founded by the personal doctor to the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, Khyenrab Norbu. Where the graduates of the medical college at Chakpori were primarily monks who, for the most part, remained within their monasteries, offering medical treatment to other monks, the Mentsikhang had a distinctly secular focus that would later allow it to become an institutional center for Tibetan medicine. During the early years of the 1960s, the leaders of the Mentsikhang focused on modernizing and secularizing the practice of Tibetan medicine, creating specializations within the art, training doctors in a classroom setting with a standard curriculum, stockpiling medicines, and requiring doctors to wear the white lab coats worn by Western doctors. Beginning in the mid-1960s however, Tibetan medicine increasingly fell out of official favor. During this time both the teaching and the practice of Tibetan medicine were forbidden across the majority of Tibetan areas, bringing to an end many of the lineages of Tibetan-medicine training. By the early 1970s Tibetan medicine was on the verge of completely disappearing.

In 1980, the social and economic reforms meant to correct the excesses of the Cultural Revolution finally reached Tibet. Almost immediately Tibetan medicine was singled out for the significant contribution it could make to the state of healthcare in Tibet while preserving an important aspect of Tibetan culture. Reforms, however, brought both benefits and new challenges to healthcare in Tibet. Collectivization reorganized the lives of rural Tibetans around the commune. Communes provided health-care services, funded by the central government. With the transition to an increasingly market-oriented economy in the 1980s and 1990s, the costs of health care fell increasingly to the provinces and prefectures, and the patients themselves. Western medicine, however, is largely beyond the relatively meager means of rural Tibetans and, with the Tibetan medicine system still just beginning its recovery, many Tibetans forego medical treatment, seeking medical attention only after their condition has become critical. Despite increasing government support for Tibetan medicine, by 2000 the Tibet Autonomous Region had a mere 500 beds in Tibetan-medicine hospitals and 1,100 formally trained Tibetan-medicine doctors, serving a population well over two million. In rural Nakchu Prefecture, there were only 113 Tibetan-medicine doctors who had achieved the minimum certification (a zhongzhuan degree, equivalent to a U.S. associate’s degree) required to practice medicine. More than half of the medical personnel in the prefecture had received only short-term training, ranging from two weeks to six months.

Recognizing the dire state of health care on the Tibetan plateau, Trace Foundation began working to support the tradition of Tibetan medicine in 1999. The Foundation’s efforts focused on strengthening Tibetan medicine and providing highquality training for health workers who can in turn provide affordable, accessible health care to rural communities. Focusing on clinic management, identification, and sustainable collection of medicinal herbs, documentation of practices, and basic healthcare worker training, the project ultimately helped seventy-two students graduate with zhongzhuan degrees and another fifty-two to earn their dazhuan (equivalent to a U.S. bachelor’s degree). Nearly eighty additional students received more than two years of training in Tibetan medicine. Among the trainees, two students stood out in particular. Hailing from Rongpo Town and Trido Township respectively, Trinlé and Künzang sought to bring medical care to areas where it no longer existed. Rongpo Town had never had a permanent doctor before; of Trido’s two Tibetan medicine doctors, one had passed away and the other, too old to continue practicing, had moved to Lhasa. With no local clinic to rely on, residents were forced to make the ninety-mile journey to the county seat, a journey of several hours over winding roads by car, or of several days on horseback. Sick patients often found the journey impossible to make, and often the most critically ill died along the way.

REVIVING TIBETAN MEDICINE

Trinlé and Künzang joined the first of Trace Foundation’s county-level health worker trainings in 1999. After completing the program, the two received additional support from Trace to pursue the four-year dazhuan degree at Lhasa Medical College. Although Trace was able to secure positions for fully half of the students we supported at Lhasa Medical College, in 2004, after their graduation, Trinlé and Künzang elected to return home to the countryside with only their education and a starting set of Tibetan medical supplies provided by Trace Foundation: a selection of the most commonly used Tibetan herbal medicines, a bag, and a set of instruments to begin producing new medicines. Trinlé returned to Rongpo where he began practicing medicine out of a small room. Taking advantage of the training he had received in medicinal herb recognition, Trinlé was able to broker a deal to exchange herbs for pills with the Sok County Tibetan Medicine Hospital, a strong supporter of the Foundation’s efforts to improve health care. Despite initial success, Trinlé still had bigger dreams.

In Trido Künzang had also met with success. Through the support of the local government and community, Künzang was able to open a nine-room clinic and recruit four doctors to work with him. By collecting herbs from the surrounding grasslands and buying additional plants from local residents, in 2008 the clinic was able to produce sixty Tibetan medicines for the treatment of various illnesses. Seeing the potential for much-needed self-sufficiency, Künzang applied for a grant in 2008 for machinery to produce Tibetan medicine. The medicines produced by the machinery not only provide a source of income for the clinic, which is now supporting two more students at Lhasa Medical College, they ensure that even when the township is cut off from the outside world, basic health care is still available. Through the continuing efforts of Trinlé and Künzang, and others like them, the millennia-old traditions of Tibetan medicine are offering new hope for the future of rural residents across the Tibetan Plateau.

In 2005, while overseeing the construction of a new primary school, Trace staff met up with Trinlé once again. It was then that he described his plans for a new clinic. This clinic would serve not only the residents of his village but also the residents of the surrounding villages. Relying on the collection and manufacture of Tibetan medicines, the clinic would provide free services to the poor while investing in its own future development. Eager to see his vision realized, Trinlé turned once more to Trace Foundation. In 2009 construction on the new clinic began with support from Trace.

REVIVING TIBETAN MEDICINE

THE BUSINESSWOMEN OF KAPASUMDO

On March 30, 2009, on a beautiful spring day in Kapasumdo (Tongde), forty-five women gathered in a small government building to begin their first class in tailoring. Organized by the Association for International Solidarity with Asia (ASIA) in collaboration with the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Federation of Kapasumdo and funded by Trace Foundation, this first class was the beginning of an ambitious project that would provide women with the vocational and entrepreneurial management skills that would enable them not only to make a living today but also to one day pass on to future generations. Kapasumdo is a small town that is surrounded by breathtaking scenery. With majestic and bare rocks eroded by time, the area resembles the Grand Canyon. Kapasumdo is a town known for its big market and trade, and many families from remote villages travel for hours to restock on goods and to conduct exchanges. The forty-five women who participated in the first tailoring session came from those remote villages, where small pastoral groups are spread throughout the extensive territory. Their lives revolve around agriculture, nomadic pastoralism, and sheepherding. The participants in the tailoring course were selected after a series of several interviews. This method allowed us to better understand their reality: every day the resources that have allowed them to live, continue traditional activities, and ensure their subsistence for decades are disappearing. Many men and women are obligated to work seasonally on construction sites or leave their village to move to the county seat. In certain periods of the year, there is a heavy migration of workers from the villages to construction sites, where there 23

THE BUSINESSWOMEN OF KAPASUMDO

is demand for labor. The situation is even more difficult for women because, aside from working, they have to care for children and the household. We met indigent families and heard many difficult stories. The selected women arrived at the center full of enthusiasm about starting the forty-five-day training period. Teachers and three expert tailors of Kapasumdo and Trika (Guide) trained the students in the use of professional tailoring equipment (sewing machine, iron, etc.) and in traditional Tibetan tailoring techniques. The classes were held in a building offered to ASIA by the local government. The work behind the scenes was very challenging, from preparing the classrooms, the dormitory, and the kitchen, to purchasing and transporting the materials to the students. A lot of the women who participated had never attended school, so working among and with others was a new experience for them. The challenges, however, paid off. Upon completing this training, the women had gained the necessary technical skills and craftsmanship to build and maintain their own businesses. Recognizing local interest, on July 19, another forty-five-day course was organized for another group of fortyfive women from the same area. At the end of the training, all ninety participants received sewing kits and stocks of fabric to begin their own small family tailoring businesses. After the training, the women went back to their homes and received continued assistance to ensure their progress. As a result, we were able to identify and help new women with similar concerns. So we started smaller groups composed of three women, thus bringing the total up to 270 women involved in the project. In terms of participation and production,

BY ASIA ONLUS

this phase of the project had excellent results. Over 600 traditional and modern articles of clothing were produced, and half of them have already sold. Twenty percent of the women started to collaborate with tailorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shops in Kapasumdo and thirty percent have already received orders for more production. From the initial group, we then identified the most productive thirty women. These thirty then pooled their resources to establish a cooperative handmade-textile venture, which guarantees economic improvement for all. On November 12, a special training course was offered in Kapasumdo by consultants from Xining, focusing on how to manage a cooperative. In this course, the

thirty women lived together for a week, and taking into consideration their basic level of education, they addressed issues of administration, marketing, accounting, etc. Aside from the technical content, this time served to establish awareness and a solid group that would allow the slow yet steady growth of relations and cooperative efforts to further benefit the women involved in this project. As with all cooperative endeavors, there must be a strong relationship and trust. Time is our greatest ally and, during the passing months, we will continue to follow these women to ensure that this endeavour and those involved and affected by it are successful, thus providing more opportunities for the future. THE BUSINESSWOMEN OF KAPASUMDO

CULTURE Culture is the heart of a community. As a shared system of beliefs, values, practices, and goals, culture embodies a community’s understanding of itself and the world around it. Supporting Tibetan culture has been Trace Foundation’s mission since our founding in 1993. Through each of our projects, we seek to ensure the viability of Tibetan culture and Tibetan ways of life, both for their innate value and for the critical lessons they hold for our shared future. In 2008 and 2009, we at Trace Foundation continued our efforts to strengthen Tibetan culture. Focusing our efforts on publications, the Foundation supported the printing and distribution of over 43,500 books. From classic texts to contemporary novels to children’s coloring books, each of these materials offers an opportunity for individuals to engage with the indigenous culture of the Plateau. Books, however, are just one way to share knowledge. In the past decade, access to technology on the Tibetan Plateau has increased dramatically. With support from Trace Foundation, centers in Tibet and in the West are taking advantage of these tremendous advances in technology to make some of Tibet’s rarest and most ancient texts available to the world. At the same time, Trace Foundation is supporting emerging filmmakers whose efforts document living culture and everyday life on the Plateau. In 2008 and 2009, Trace Foundation distributed over $4.5 million in support of projects and initiatives to ensure the viability of traditional Tibetan culture in the modern world. 25

CULTURE

TRADITIONAL CULTURE PRESERVATION CENTER

Illiteracy can have far graver costs than economic development; it can cost lives. Basic literacy empowers individuals and communities to take greater control over their health care. Without basic literacy, individuals cannot access basic health and hygiene information or read medicine labels that contain important instructions and warnings. Women with a basic grasp of health care are less likely to suffer from the various gynecological diseases that are common in herdswomen, and are more likely to take the proper precautions in preand postnatal care.

Most Tibetan women in the Malho (Huangnan) Prefecture of Qinghai Province cannot read Tibetan or communicate in Chinese, meaning they are cut off from many basic health services and frequently ill-informed about health concerns. Unable to access vital health information, they cannot make informed health care decisions for themselves or their families. The Traditional Cultural Preservation Center was established to counter these developments through basic literacy and health education. The center emphasizes the importance of literacy in improving womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s health, as well as reviving traditional Tibetan medicine. In 2009, the Traditional Cultural Preservation Center appealed to Trace Foundation for support in the founding of a center for education to improve local health. Trace provided the necessary funds to construct the building in which these classes would be held, and the necessary equipment and supplies. Throughout the year, the center offers health, literacy, and basic education classes for local women, to provide them with the necessary knowledge to improve their health and increase their social status within the community. Women who attend these courses in literacy and health care are less likely to suffer from complications due to childbirth and diseases, and more likely to seek out professional help when they or their family members fall ill. This access to basic information improves the livelihoods of local women and saves lives. Through Trace Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support, the Tibetan Cultural Preservation Center is making strides towards a healthier, informed Tibetan community.

TRADITIONAL CULTURE PRESERVATION CENTER

BEHIND THE LENS

As the winter cold started to set in, teachers at Sichuan Province Tibetan School in Dartsemdo town, Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture called a special meeting to speak with third- (and final-) year students of this middle-level vocational (zhongzhuan) Tibetan school, the only of its kind on the Tibetan Plateau. The meeting was to inform the students of a unique training opportunity conducted by Rabsal, a local Tibetan nongovernmental organization founded in 2007 by a graduate of the school, Tsering Perlo. Rabsal was looking to establish a pilot training program, aimed at teaching technical and practical skills in multimedia technology to fifteen select students. Specifically, the students would learn the basics of still photography, videocamera use, and digital editing, in order to widen their aspirations and opportunities, while reflecting on what was important for them about their own culture. In the meeting, the teachers issued a general call for interested students to come forward for selection, and there was an enthusiastic response to this opportunity.

BEHIND THE LENS

The first semester of classes were delivered to fifteen students, ages seventeen through twenty-one, female and male, from both agricultural and nomadic communities in Kardze and Ngawa Tibetan Autonomous Prefectures. Because it was finally decided that the students from the computer-science major would be the most technically able, classes were held in the late afternoons in the school’s main computer laboratory after the students had completed their normal classes. The students were first introduced to the equipment—digital and video cameras. Rabsal staff provided an overview of basic features, and allowed plenty of time for the students to handle the equipment. Practical learning-through-doing was the main approach to classes. The students were continuously asked to reflect on why some photographs or film clips were more effective than others, in which ways they were more effective, and in which ways they could be improved. Students were taught camera and film perspectives and angles, and the importance of lighting and sound. In the second semester, the students were able to fully practice the classroom skills they had acquired by taking weekend trips to local communities across Zhelha Pass to photograph and film aspects of daily Tibetan life and culture. In this practical component, students were reminded to look for shots and scenes that they felt were essential and representative of their culture and people. In the advanced and final stages of this semester, students were also instructed—again through the learning-by-doing process—to interview local people. The students were taught the affective and technical skills of conducting interviews, namely how to put people at ease, from which position and perspective to frame shots, etc. Rabsal trainers pushed students to think creatively and critically about their own work, an in-

BY GILLIAN G. TAN, INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, RABSAL RIGHT: Students received

training in the methodology of taking stylized photographs, such as in this photo, in which the composition of the shot is balanced and the warm colors of the woman’s face and clothing draw the viewer’s attention to the turquoise earring.

BEHIND THE LENS

tellectual exercise that the students had small business there. previously little opportunity to experiWhile opening a publishing shop is not my ence. In the process, a close relationship was formed between trainers and students, final goal, it will help me become financially more independent while I provide services to emulating a mentorship model that was people. Once the shop is more sustainable, I new for many students. The result was can hire other people to work there. This will exciting and inspiring, not only in terms give me free time to learn more about filmof the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s short films but also in ing, which has become my favorite hobby and terms of their personal growth and development. To fully appreciate this, here is an passion. I hope and believe that my dreams will come true, though I know there will be excerpt from a conversation with a male student, twenty-one, from the Mewa area, many challenges ahead. I also hope that I can inspire more young Tibetans to follow their now Kakhok (Hongyuan) County, Ngawa dreams, lead lives that they value with their Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture: hearts, and to be proud of ourselves and our â&#x20AC;&#x153;I attended a film-making training project in culture.â&#x20AC;? our school conducted by a local organization named Rabsal. I found it very interesting and As far as we know, he is following also felt the importance of preserving Tibetan his dream. culture by using modern technology. My goal Rabsal is a local Tibetan NGO, registered in life is to open a publishing shop in Serta and based in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous County in the next few years. Serta is a very Prefecture. It aims to serve as an open and important place in Tibet where many Tibetan two-way window on contemporary Tibetan life and culture by producing documentary scholars and Buddhist monks live, yet when films and training young Tibetans in multithey need to publish books, they have to media skills. Rabsal hopes to use this pilot travel days to come to Chengdu and pay for project to form similar, and modified, traintheir transportation costs. Even when they ing activities aimed at inspiring young arrive in Chengdu, they often face language Tibetans to re-engage with their traditions, barriers. I need to save money to start a language, and culture as they negotiate their way in a changing and modernizing China. In 2008 Trace Foundation provided a grant to partially support the pilot project. A short project film can be viewed here: www.rabsal.org/projects.html

BEHIND THE LENS

ABOVE: IRabsal staff devel-

oped close mentoring relationships with the students, who were tutored in the effects of perspective, angle, and focus. RIGHT: Instructions in photog-

raphy also covered perspective, angle, and the effect of variations in the focusing of the lens. The focus on the budding mushroom cap and single blade of grass against an otherwise blurry background hints at the biodiversity on the Tibetan Plateau.

BEHIND THE LENS

TBRC Books are among the greatest inventions of humankind. Durable, portable, and reproducible, they have been an unrivaled store of human knowledge for centuries. Books, however, have a way of disappearing. At risk from excesses of heat, light, and humidity, books are gradually lost to neglect. During times of ideological conflict, they are frequent targets for destruction. In the last half century, hundreds of thousands of Tibetan manuscripts have been lost. With support from Trace Foundation, however, the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC) is working to restore Tibetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s incredible literary heritage, and share it with the world. Founded in 1999 by E. Gene Smith (pictured right), TBRC is currently building the largest digital repository of Tibetan texts in the world. Building from the impressive collection Smith amassed while working for the Library of Congress in India, the repository began as a searchable archive of simple outlines of major texts. As the archive grew in size, it also grew in depth, with the center adding scans of complete works, dramatically increasing access to these rare materials.

TRBC

Seeking to ensure that these materials would be available not only to researchers and academics but also to the Tibetan communities from which they derived, the center began providing rural monasteries and Buddhist centers with hard-drive installations containing the entire collection of digitalized texts. Recently TBRC condensed this collection of Tibetan texts to fit on a tablet, restoring the portability of these works, and allowing even the remotest centers access to this incredible resource. Trace Foundation has provided support to the center since 2006, primarily to create web-accessible outlines of classic Buddhist texts. In 2008, TBRC applied for support from the Foundation to increase the number of digitized texts available in their archive. The focus of this grant was to digitize and archive texts that provided additional information on the people, places, and philosophical topics already included in the collection. These texts provide critical links between already archived texts, increasing the searchability and the comprehensiveness of the collection as a whole. The grant supported the digitization of 500 texts on historical people, 250 significant locations, and 50 other topics. Trace Foundation is proud to have supported TBRCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s critical efforts not only to preserve Tibetan texts but also to ensure that the knowledge they contain remains accessible to the communities from which they derived. Through the continued support of Trace Foundation, the resources available at the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center provide a direct connection between Tibetan Buddhist culture and the centuries-old knowledge that underpins it.

TRBC

LANKEJIA’S RADIO BROADCASTS

In an area as vast and remote as the Tibetan Plateau, effective public health education is all but impossible. Over such a large and sparsely populated area, traditional modes of communication such as newspapers and health pamphlets are often ineffective. With less than 5 percent of the Tibetan population owning a phone or having access to the Internet, efforts to conduct public-health education via more modern modes of communication are equally futile. In Xining, however, Dr. Lhamkhar Gyel, a director at Qinghai Tibetan Medical Hospital, is making important strides in health-care education on the Plateau through an increasingly overlooked communication device: the radio. Dr. Lhamkhar Gyel first came to the attention of Trace Foundation while he was still a student at the Qinghai Provincial Medicine University. In 2000 he applied to Trace Foundation for a scholarship to complete his undergraduate degree in medicine, and then again in 2002 to return to school to earn his master’s. Since then, Dr. Lhamkhar Gyel became a director at the Qinghai Tibetan Medicine Hospital. During his time there, he became aware of the need for better health and hygiene education in Tibetan areas.

LANKEJIA’S RADIO BROADCASTS

Due to the distance from basic health services and poor health education in remote Tibetan regions, many Tibetans often wait until diseases have reached advanced stages before seeking treatment. Aware of the limited reach of most forms of mass communication in Tibetan regions, Dr. Lhamkhar Gyel turned to the radio. In 2006 and again in 2008, he applied for support from Trace Foundation to create and air a series of Tibetan-language public health radio broadcasts. The broadcasts focused on symptoms of twenty-six widespread diseases among Tibetans, including hepatitis B, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, syphilis, meningitis, rabies, tetanus, infant diarrhea, STDs, and AIDS. Though all of these diseases are treatable and preventable, they are often deadly in the remoter areas of the Tibetan Plateau. Each disease was discussed during a tenminute broadcast, aired nine times a week. Dr. Lhamkhar Gyel’s radio broadcasts lasted a total of twenty-six weeks. Surveys conducted after the broadcasts illustrated an 86.73 percent increase in overall understanding of causes and prevention of common diseases among the target Tibetan population. It was Dr. Lhamkhar Gyel’s estimation that the broadcasts directly benefited 37 percent of the population, and indirectly influenced health care decisions in 950,000 households in Tibetan regions. Building on his success, Dr. Lhamkhar Gyel intends to further develop these initial broadcasts. With increasing access to other forms of communication among rural Tibetans, including television, his efforts will continue to have a profound effect on the health education of Tibetans across the Plateau.

LANKEJIA’S RADIO BROADCASTS

TRACE FOUNDATION’S RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

TRACE FOUNDATION’S RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP Across the Tibetan Plateau, monumental changes are underway. Economic development and urbanization are accelerating rapidly, bringing powerful new influences to bear on Tibetan communities and reshaping traditional society. The glaciers that cap mountains across the Plateau and give the Snowland its name are rapidly melting as the average temperature on rises at a higher rate than in most of the world. The glacial melt is causing widespread degradation of grasslands and raising concerns over the future of Asia’s water supplies.

Despite these enormous challenges, much remains unknown about the Tibetan Plateau, hampering efforts to craft effective interventions. In 2009, recognizing this critical juncture, Trace Foundation initiated our Research Fellowship. This new program builds knowledge about the Tibetan Plateau and its communities in order to spark further scholarship and guide development efforts. In 2009, our first four fellows undertook research on patterns of urbanization across the Plateau, reforms in Tibetan higher education and curricula, and a traditional latse festival in southern Gansu Province. At the end of their research, fellows submitted a full report of their findings. These papers were published by Trace Foundation and are available through the Foundation’s website. The contributions of these researchers will provide invaluable insight into the current state of the Tibetan Plateau and its people, and critical guidance in shaping future development interventions.

TRACE FOUNDATION’S RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

THE URBAN SPACE OF LHASA

I am interested in the role of city space in the modernization of Tibetan areas of China. My research concentrates on the built environment as it relates to the lifestyles and cultural affinities of city residents. Although my project concentrates on Lhasa, it was essential for me to view and make comparisons with other urban centers in Tibetan areas of China to get a better sense of the way in which urban development affects cultural space. The Trace research fellowship allowed me to travel to Xining, Kyigudo (Yushu), Kunming and Gyeltang (Shangri-la), as well as return to Lhasa to check on a variety of planned (and unplanned) development zones.

Differences in scale are clearly important in these towns, but each in its own way serves as a node of modernity within a predominately rural area. The urban form exerts similar pressures towards professionalization, commodification and standandardization, regardless of location. However, local habits, lifestyles, and priorities seem to assert themselves despite attempts at regularization, development, or control. Appearances are always deceptive, but small things betray larger patterns. The concrete high-rises that look so cold and gray from the Xining railway station hold bustling noodle restaurants in which Tibetans from all over Amdo converge to discuss the new Hollywood blockbuster and the price of mastiff puppies while slurping their Muslim noodles. The fancy street lights in Kyigudo don’t actually work in the evening, but this doesn’t not stop nomads from stumbling around the main square under protection of the massive new Gesar statue. Somehow it seems as if those from Nangchen walk differently than those from Zatok, but it is hard to explain how. In Gyeltang, a.k.a Zhongdian, now called “Shangri-la,” young women from Shenzhen dress up in Naxi dress and say that they are “Tibetan” while selling jewelery made in Nepal. The old buildings were built last year and the new buildings are already falling apart. Lhasa, of course, is lha’i-sa – the place of gods – and we come from all over the world searching for this celestial sphere only to find Tibetans sending their prayers with plastic balloons off to some other realm. The tempo of change in these towns is disorienting. It is not only “Chinese” and “Tibetan” differences, but a range of habits, lifestyles, and customs from different Tibetan areas and different social classes that combine with a variety of national and global influences to make these supposedly isolated areas centers of cultural hybridity and change.

THE URBAN SPACE OF LHASA

BY KABIR MANSINGH HEIMSATH

Losar in Barkhor Square, Lhasa. Photo by Kabir Mansingh Heimsath

THE URBAN SPACE OF LHASA

Photograph by Peter Aaron/ Esto

LATSE LIBRARY

LATSE LIBRARY Trace Foundation’s Latse Library is the premiere research library for Himalayan cultures. Focusing on contemporary Tibetan culture, Latse holds the largest collection of Tibetan audio-visual materials in the world. In 2008 and 2009, the Library continued to build on its already impressive holdings to offer an ever more complete picture of contemporary life in the Himalayas. In 2008 the Library acquired complete runs of the Qinghai Daily and the Tibet Daily newspapers on microfiche. The two papers provide a significant record of news and events in Tibetan areas of China dating back more than fifty years. The Library also initiated a subscription to JSTOR, an online repository of full-text articles from several hundred academic journals.

In 2009, Latse acquired over 1,500 books and 350 audio and visual recordings originating in Beijing, Lhasa, India, and Bhutan. These last materials form the core of the Library’s new Bhutanese collection. The collection offers a broader perspective on the interconnected languages and cultures of the peoples on both sides of the Himalayas. Featured prominently among these Bhutanese texts are children’s literature from the region, biographies, magazines and films. The library’s collections were further enriched in 2009 through donations of personal materials. Collections were donated by Geshe Nornang, a former monastic administrator and, later, professor at the University of Washington, and the widow of the Taktser Rinpoche. This collection includes dozens of family photographs, handwritten notes, and unique treasures, including a letter written by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama shortly before his death. These incredible collections provide unique insights into the Tibetan experience in the twentieth century. Trace Foundation’s Latse Library was established in 2003 as a project of Trace Foundation to further its mission through resource collections, public programs, and other activities. Latse is a forum of free enquiry for Tibetans, scholars, and visitors from all over the world to deepen their knowledge, exchange ideas, and share and explore the many facets of contemporary Tibetan culture.

LATSE LIBRARY

THE LIBRARY’S FOURTH LANGUAGE: THE DZONGKHA COLLECTION

Until recently, Trace Foundation’s Latse Library had collections in three major languages: Tibetan, Chinese, and English. Starting in 2009, the Library introduced holdings in a fourth language: Dzongkha, the language of the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. In 1970, under the order of the king Jigmé Dorjé Wangchuk, the dialect of the Dzongkha area became the official language of the country. Dzongkha is written in Tibetan script, while the Tibetan language is referred to by the Bhutanese as chöké, or “liturgical language.” Most of the materials in the library’s Dzongkha language collection are children’s books, including a large series titled Children’s Storybooks (A lo’i srung deb), published by the KMT Publishing House since 2007; the library has acquired all 116 titles published so far. The stories featured in these books are based on Tibetan and western children’s literature and tales, as well as both traditional and new Bhutanese children’s stories. Regardless of the origin, all the stories are rendered into Dzongkha, and the illustrations are also “Bhutanized” with characters in Bhutanese dress and scenery distinctive of the

THE LIBRARY’S FOURTH LANGUAGE

kingdom. Each book closes with the lesson of the story. The main compilers and editors of the series include Tenzin Wangchuk, Kunzang Thinley, and Tsering Dorji, with illustrations by the artists Thubten, Kunsang, and Wangchuk. The publisher of this series states that the books are intended for the Bhutanese people and especially the younger generations, to make them interested in learning the Dzongkha language. In addition, Latse has acquired a twentyeight volume series called Sung deb (Sgrung deb), some twenty books for learning Dzongkha, and another twenty-eight to develop written and spoken language skills. Along with some individually published storybooks, the total number of children’s books comes to 180. After children’s books, the largest number of books in our Dzongkha holdings are on language, including a number of reprinted Tibetan grammar books, with the original Tibetan texts and commentary in Dzongkha language. One good example is A New Dzongkha Grammar (Rdzong kha’i brda bzhung gsar pa), where the Tibetan and Bhutanese are presented side by side on the page, a useful convention for comparative research between the two languages. There are also several books on how to compose letters and poetry in Dzongkha. The library has also acquired a considerable number (about forty) of texts on history and on the history of religion in Bhutan. Some of these are written in Tibetan, others are translated into Dzongkha from the original Tibetan. Some notable among these include A Clear Mirror of Bhutan’s Yogi Lineage (’Brug gi smyos rabs yang gsal me long) in Dzongkha language except for the dedicatory, which is in Tibetan; Seeds of Faith (Dad pa’i sa bon), which lists

RIGHT: Some of the newly

acquired books from Bhutan.

around three hundred Bhutanese monasteries with historic photos; Book of Proverbs (Dpye gtam; Tib. Gtam paâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;i yi dpe deb); and other useful references, such as a text on how traditional religious statues are made and another on the crafting of dailyuse objects. The new collection also includes more than thirty audio-visual items, with Bhutanese movies, songs, dance, the making of traditional handicrafts, and much more. Moreover, we have initiated subscriptions of four journals published in Bhutan,

which will soon be arriving in the library. In the two years since we started collecting from Bhutan, the library has already acquired close to five hundred items. And as the Bhutanese government is working hard to promote Bhutanese culture and language, this means we can anticipate our collection growing larger and richer in resources as more publications become available.

THE LIBRARYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FOURTH LANGUAGE

EVENTS AT TRACE FOUNDATION

EVENTS AT TRACE FOUNDATION LEFT: In March 2009 Trace

Foundation hosted a Momo Workshop, where participants learned how to make both meat and vegetable Tibetan dumplings. The workshop was led by Tibetan culinary expert Yangchen Lakar, who is working on a book on the history and development of Tibetan cuisine—with recipes.

Events at Trace Foundation foster an active, ongoing conversation on the state of contemporary Tibet. Through lectures, exhibitions, screenings, and concerts, we explore Tibet’s rich cultural heritage and provide a multifaceted look into current developments in Tibetan areas. In 2008 and 2009 Trace Foundation hosted a wide variety of events. Our regular programs included not only our bimonthly children’s program, but also a special class devoted to reading in Tibetan. Special events highlighted Tibetan medicine, astrology, and land use in China’s western regions. In 2008, building on our experiences working in Tibetan areas, we launched Trace Foundation’s Lecture Series. This new initiative has brought together experts in the fields of linguistics, economics, and sustainable development with local actors from the Tibetan Plateau and around the world. Each lecture series consists of six parts exploring different aspects of a central topic. Trace Foundation’s first Lecture Series, Minority Language in Today’s Global Society will conclude in 2010. All events at Trace Foundation are hosted in the Reading Room at Trace Foundation’s Latse Library, housed within the Foundation’s headquarters in New York City. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.trace.org/events

EVENTS AT TRACE FOUNDATION

POSTMARKED LHASA

It doesn’t look like much—a scrap of paper less than a square inch, stamped with the face of a young woman—but upon its release on May 1, 1840, the world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black, revolutionized long-distance communication. Issued by Great Britain as part of a comprehensive set of postal reforms, the Penny Black— down to its very measurements—rapidly became a global model. Within forty years, more than 150 countries were issuing postage stamps based on the Penny Black, and in 1912, they were joined by the Tibetan Kashak government. In November of 2009, Trace Foundation’s Latse Library organized Postmarked Lhasa, an exhibition exploring the complex history of the multiple postal systems in early modern Tibet. The exhibit consisted of materials from five different collections and covered not only the Tibetan Kashak government stamps but also the British and Chinese imperial postal systems, handcarried letters, and wired and wireless telegraphs. The exhibit included examples of both personal and official correspondence, including one of the last letters written by the Thirteenth Dalai Lama. Also on display were two issues of the Tibet Mirror, the Tibetan-language newspaper established by Tharchin Babu in Kalimpong, India, in 1925. The exhibit opened on November 12 with a day of lectures on Tibet’s postal history. Geoffrey Flack, (pictured top right), vice president of the Nepal and Tibet Philatelic Circle and the main contributor to the exhibition, discussed the development of the Tibetan postal system 45

POSTMARKED LHASA

and the link between letter-writing and culture. Highlights of his collection included stamps and envelopes from Tibet from the late 1800s through the 1950s. His comprehensive collection and lecture followed the development of modern postal systems in Tibet and the evolution of written correspondence between Tibetans and international correspondents. Though Tibet, especially in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was commonly viewed as isolated and withdrawn, the correspondence from this period begins to paint a picture of a world far more intouch than commonly imagined. As in much of the world, in Tibet strict rules applied to the style and formatting of correspondence. Nowhere, however, were these rules so developed as in the correspondence of monastic officials. Guest speaker Shewo Lobsang Dhargyel illustrated the complexity of these rules, which covered appropriate margin sizes, styles of calligraphy, line-heights, and more—all subject to the author’s and recipients’ ranks. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, these rules were often codified in early style manuals. One such reference is Kadrung Nornang’s Rules for Formal Tibetan Correspondence, written in 1888 by Nornang Wangdü Tsering, a chairsecretary in the Tibetan government. The grandson of Kadrung Nornang, Geshe Nornang spoke about the history of the book and his exquisite hand-written copy, which was on display for the exhibit. Side-by-side with these rare items of official correspondence were the envelopes that once held the personal and business correspondence of a family of Ladakhi Muslims living in Lhasa. Presented by guest speaker Jampa Yangchen Lakar, (pictured bottom right), this set of “covers,” as used envelopes are called by philatelists, belonged to Sirajuddin Thakur, a textile trader who owned two successful shops in Lhasa, and corresponded regularly with friends and relatives in and

outside of Tibet. This collection of envelopes provided insights not only into the workings of the postal systems in Tibet in the first half of the twentieth century, but also, with their idiosyncratic addresses, a rare glimpse into urban Tibetan life of the period, and the important role played by Tibetan Muslims in it.

of the Penny Black, stamps have become ubiquitous, carried on the front of millions of pieces of mail each year. In their commonness, they have gradually become invisible. As Postmarked Lhasa showed, however, from these ephemeral scraps one can read the complex histories of industries, empires, and individuals.

In the 170 years since the first printing

POSTMARKED LHASA

MINORITY LANGUAGE IN TODAY’S GLOBAL SOCIETY

To the large captivated crowd gathered at Trace Foundation in November 2008 for the inaugural event of our lecture series, Peter K. Austin, of the Endangered Languages Academic Programme at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, explained, “The basic concept is simple. A language footprint is the influence of those speaking a dominant language on the behavior of speakers of other languages. In any communication, if your choice of language makes another person shift from their language to yours, you have made a language footprint.” Every two weeks, the last fluent speaker of a language dies. At this rate, more than half the world’s linguistic diversity will disappear in the next century. The vast majority of languages lost will be those of minority communities. When these languages die, we lose not only a key element of the rich diversity of human societies but also an invaluable store of human knowledge. In Austin’s words, “every last word means another lost world.” What does this mean for the Tibetan case? By some estimates, speakers of Tibetan languages number as many as eight million. According to Nicolas Tournadre, a professor at the University of Provence specializing in morphosyntax and typology, though, there are “220 ‘Tibetan dialects’ derived from Old Tibetan . . . [which] may be classed within twenty-five dialect groups, i.e. groups which do not allow

mutual intelligibility.”1 The three main dialect groups in Tibetan—Kham, Amdo, and Lhasa—alone are distinct enough that people from different areas of the Plateau often have difficulty communicating with one another. Mandarin, therefore, is not only the language of important public sectors like education, government, and commerce; it is also the means by which Tibetans increasingly communicate with one another. Recognizing this critical situation, in 2008 we initiated our first lecture series, Minority Language in Today’s Global Society. The lectures in this series, hosted at Trace Foundation, explore the unique challenges and opportunities for minority languages in the twenty-first century. Taking a global perspective, the series explores models for language preservation and development from minority language communities throughout the world, with a special comparative emphasis on the Tibetan case. The first event was an INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES that explored various challenges, supports, and developments for minority languages throughout the world, with a focus on Tibetan language in China. Guest lecturers provided an overview of the problems facing minority languages today, explaining the progression and causes of language endangerment. In addition to Austin, other speakers included Fernand de Varennes, of Murdoch University in Australia, who spoke about the complexities of language rights in international law; Pema Bhum, director of Latse Library, on the developments in Tibetan language before, during, and after the Cultural Revolution; Jia Luo, a visiting scholar at the University of Toronto’s Department of Sociology and Equity Studies in Education, who gave a historical overview of

1. Nicolas Tournadre, “Arguments Against the Concept of ‘Conjunct’/’Disjunct’ in Tibetan,” in vol. 1. of Chomolangma, Demawend und Kasbek. Festschrift für Roland Bielmeier zu seinem 65. Geburtstag, ed. B. Huber, M. Volkart, P. Widmer, P. Schwieger (Berlin: VGH Wissenschaftsverlag, 2008), 281–308.

MINORITY LANGUAGE IN TODAY’S GLOBAL SOCIETY

TOP RIGHT: The Minority

Language in Today’s Global Society lecture series brought together Trace Foundation staff and leading scholars from around the globe. From left to right: Jia Luo, a doctoral candidate at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto; Paola Vanzo, Trace Foundation director of communications; Fernand de Varennes, of Murdoch University; Manlha Kyi, a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong; Peter K. Austin, of the Endangered Languages Academic Programme at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London; Pema Bhum, director of Latse Library; Andrea E. Soros, Trace Foundation founder and president; Mike Weber, Trace Foundation intern; Eveline Yang, Trace Foundation research associate; and Kunsang Gya, Trace Foundation research officer. BOTTOM RIGHT: Library Direc-

tor Pema Bhum discussed Tibetan Language Development inside and outside Tibet before and after the Cultural Revolution.

MINORITY LANGUAGE IN TODAY’S GLOBAL SOCIETY

minority language policy in China; and Manlha Kyi, a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong, who analyzed the shift away from Tibetan-medium to Putonghua-medium education in China in the mid-1990s. In February 2009 for International Mother Tongue Day, our second event, PERSPECTIVES ON MOTHER TONGUE EDUCATION , focused on the possibilities and challenges involved in implementing mother tongue education. Guests with varying backgrounds in education, linguistics, and economics discussed the benefits of bilingual education for both individuals and their communities. Speakers included Shawo Dondrup, a project manager for the Hainan Prefecture Junior Middle School Pilot Project for Trace Foundation; François Grin, professor of economics at the School of Translation and Interpretation in Switzerland; Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, professor emerita at the University of Roskilde, Department of Languages and Culture, Denmark and Åbo Akademi University, Department of Education, Finland; and Minglang Zhou, chair and associate professor of East Asian Studies at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania. At our third event, VITALITY AND VIABILITY OF MINORITY LANGUAGES , guest lecturers discussed the need to prevent and reverse the weakening and loss of mother tongue languages. Here Joshua Fishman, a celebrated authority on sociolinguistics, spoke with Elliot Sperling, of the Department of Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University, about a key way to reverse language shift: starting small. “Most of the languages of the world, whether threatened or not, function at the level of home and family. And that is their greatest strength,” he said. Comparing English to a twenty-ton gorilla, he explained how cultures and languages exert pressure on one another, much like combative species,

MINORITY LANGUAGE IN TODAY’S GLOBAL SOCIETY

and he offered solutions for balancing these pressures. Other guest speakers included Arienne Dwyer, a respected scholar on language contact in Inner and Central Asia; Jaye Trabu, an eminent scholar of Tibetan literature, history, and culture; Joseph Lo Bianco, a widely experienced international advisor on language policy and the author of Australia’s first National Policy on Languages; and Trowo Gyaltsen, a highly respected educator from Ngawa Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province. The call to action for minority languages is urgent, but whatever the event, guests came away with the challenge to reflect on and reduce their language footprints. Like a carbon footprint, you can “offset” your language footprint in a number of ways: by learning other languages (especially less commonly spoken ones), employing a local translator, buying books in other languages, and avoiding products or activities that give people no choice but to use a dominant language. This conversation will continue in 2010, when Minority Language in Today’s Global Society will address the relationship between language and biodiversity and the impact of technology on language development. Through the lectures ahead, we will continue to build an understanding of the state of minority languages and the efforts that can be made to ensure that they not only survive, but thrive, in the future. Video recordings of these talks, with Tibetan and Chinese subtitles, are available on YouTube. Select papers from the conference will be published in Dendzom, volumes 1 and 2 of Minority Language in Today’s Global Society, and available for purchase on Lulu.com in 2012 and 2013.

RIGHT: A leading scholar in

the sociology of language, Dr. Joshua Fishman of Yeshiva University in conversation with Professor Elliot Sperling of Indiana University.

Top Ten Languages of the World by Number of Speakers

Top Ten Endangered Languages2

MANDARIN CHINESE

JERU (of the Andaman Islands in the Indian Ocean)

ENGLISH

NJU (aka Komani, of South Africa)

SPANISH

AINU (of Hokkaido, Japan)

RUSSIAN

THAO (of the Sun Moon Lake of Central Taiwan)

FRENCH

YUCHI (of Oklahoma)

HINDI/URDU

ORO WIN (of Rondonia State, Brazil)

ARABIC

KUSUNDA (of western Nepal)

PORTUGUESE

TER SAMI (of the Kola Peninsula, Russia)

BENGALI

GUUGU YIMIDHIRR (of Aboriginal Australia)

JAPANESE

KET (of eastern Siberia)

2. Pater K. Austin, “Peter K Austin’s Top 10 Endangered Languages,” Guardian (August 2008): http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/aug/27/endangered. languages/

MINORITY LANGUAGE IN TODAY’S GLOBAL SOCIETY

IN THE PRESS

Trace Foundation President Andrea E. Soros has given her first interview with the Chinese media. The interview, which appeared in the March 13, 2008 issue of Southern People’s Daily (南方人物周刊), took place during the Foundation head’s visit to Beijing to participate in the 2008 China Charity Gala Dinner, organized by the Ministry of Civil Affairs at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. During the interview, Ms. Soros stressed the importance of the work of the Foundation and its approach, focusing on flexible solutions and local conditions. She further stated her view that the Foundation is not a charity, but rather a development organization, devoted to bringing people together to work toward a better future. “In today’s world, where we are all so closely connected,” she said, “whether we choose to work together or not will affect not only our own future but can directly affect the lives of others.” Soros continued, “It is important for society that we cultivate the side of us that wants to reach out and bridge divides.” Following her stay in Beijing, she met with field staff and local partners to discuss completed and ongoing projects, and to consider new opportunities to further the Foundation’s mission.

PUBLICATION DISTRIBUTION Support for Tibetan-language publications has been central to Trace Foundation’s work since our inception. We support the publication of both new and classic texts. To date, we have distributed more than a million copies of these texts in the People’s Republic of China. Now, we’re offering many of them free of charge to institutions throughout the rest of the world. All publications are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. To request copies please visit our website at the URL below. Check back often; new publications will be posted as they become available. www.trace.org/resources/resources_ reference_publications_requestform.html

IN THE PRESS

INTERNING AT TRACE FOUNDATION

In 2007, Trace Foundation established our internship program to provide individuals interested in Tibetan issues with opportunities to expand their knowledge and gain experience. Since the establishment of the program, Trace Foundation has had the pleasure of working with over twenty talented individuals, both in the field and here in our headquarters in New York City.

Trace Foundation has grown significantly over the years, but we retain a relatively small staff. Interns provide much needed assistance on the various projects undertaken by Trace Foundation. Along with their academic and professional skill sets, interns also bring their individual interests and talents to the collaborative efforts of Trace Foundation staff. Their efforts in the background ensure events run smoothly and projects are completed on time. In return, Trace Foundation and its staff provide interns with valuable experience in the work place, on-the-job training, and an enhanced skill set. The environment at Trace Foundation introduces interns to the professional dynamics and standards of an international development organization while also encouraging them to find

INTERNING AT TRACE FOUNDATION

creative solutions and develop new interests related to development and Tibetan issues. Interns develop skills in project design, event management, and more. While Trace Foundation remains a small organization, it provides interns with a global culture in which to develop their skills and explore new interests. Interns currently work in four departments at Trace Foundation. Research interns assist in the management of the Lecture Series hosted by Trace Foundation, researching topics and issues, contacting and coordinating guest lecturers, and conducting interviews. Research interns also assist with translation in English, Tibetan, and Chinese. Communication interns assist with the publication of our annual report, external and internal newsletters, the design of promotional materials, and our outreach efforts. In the Information Technology department, interns assist in the development of new Web-based tools and resources for academics and development professionals. Interns working with Latse Library are responsible for the digitizing of Tibetan books, recording of oral histories, and the editing and production of films. Our interns are among the most valuable members of our staff, bringing individual creative ideas and new energy to projects while gaining skills and experience in the most encouraging of work environments. Trace Foundation is pleased to have this opportunity to introduce young professionals to the unique cultures of the Tibetan Plateau, while providing them with opportunities to explore their own interests and broaden their skills.

INTERNING AT TRACE FOUNDATION

“I think the secret to the Foundation’s attraction to the best and brightest young minds is the diversity, the culture of bonding and the ability to expand one’s knowledge and interests—they value your opinions and take you seriously. Ultimately, I will never look at Tibet the same again; this experience changed my life.” LERONE BLEASDILLE, OCTOBER 2010

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS PROGRAM EXPENSES

2009

2008

Latse Library

406,204

408,279

Research & Lecture Series

298,951

180,312

Program Services & Support

680,412

1,202,117

Total

1,385,567

1,790,708

GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS

2009

2008

Grants

2,695,287

2,458,217

Scholarship Program

851,454

417,800

Total

3,546,741

2,876,017

SUPPORTING SERVICES

2009

2008

Management and General

1,561,507

1,938,980

Total Expenses

6,493,814

6,605,704

Please note that all grants have been recorded on a cash basis. In addition, the financial information above has not been audited but is a fair representation of the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financial picture.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS