By Doka (Program Director) and Karin Tang (editor)

In the winter of 2006, 20 volunteers from Singapore arrived in Zhongdian (Shangri-La) on a holiday with a difference. X-trekkers, an outfit which usually organizes high-end trekking adventures across Asia, arrived with a group of travelers braced not for an energetic few days of hiking, but for the rigors of hard manual labor.

The volunteers had signed up for Operation Shangri-La, a four to five-day mission to Nixi Township in Yunnan province to repair the neglected teachers' dormitories of Tangman Village School for Tibetan children. The school is one of 33 primary schools in Nixi Township, of which about half have in the past received financial donations from NGOs, companies or private individuals. Most of these donations have been spent on the construction of new classrooms; in many places, meanwhile, the teachers living quarters have been neglected in many places and have fallen into an appalling state of disrepair.

KhamAid has been working since 2002 to improve the living quarters and classrooms of schools in Tibetan areas of Yunnan and Sichuan. The purpose of the Better Schools project is to create a better learning environment for Tibetan children and better living conditions for the teachers on whom their education depends. When the Singaporean volunteers arrived at Tangman Village School, the teachers' dormitories were badly neglected, with dark, smoke-blackened walls, and poor roofing, with many missing or broken tiles. The dormitories were in such a state of disrepair that it took 23 days, and the efforts of 20 skilled workers as well as the 20 volunteers, to return the nine rooms to an acceptable condition.

On arrival, the volunteers were given accommodation with local village families, in groups of three or four. With no running water or electricity, they had to scrub off the days dust and paint every evening with just a basin of hot water; and at night time they had to wrap themselves up in enough quilts and blankets to ward of temperatures that could well drop below freezing. Their food simple meals of rice, noodles, vegetables, pork and fruit were cooked by members of the team assisted by the school teachers.

Equipped with overalls, gloves and masks, the volunteers rolled up their sleeves to help with hands-on repair work: painting, caulking, installing electrical wire, pouring cement, cleaning and painting walls, doors and windows. Local workers repaired the leaky roof, replacing timbers and adding 3,000 new tiles. The volunteers cleaned and repaired the interior walls before painting the walls in a fresh white coat of paint. And they repaired and painted all the ceilings, floors, doors and windows. Finally, they cleaned the house and site, leaving a row of neat, bright dorms ready for the teachers to move back into.

In return, the headmaster and teachers, delighted that someone was paying attention to their living conditions, organized recreational activities for the volunteers giving them a chance to meet students from the school as well as other villagers. For the volunteers, the opportunity to mingle with the students and learn about their lives was the highlight of the trip. And, despite the hard work, there was plenty of opportunity to do so. As well as getting to know the students in the school environment, the volunteers escaped their redecorating duties for half a day by helping the students to collect firewood, and there was more time out for teachers, volunteers, students and villagers to relax and have fun together at a party organized in honor of the volunteers.

By the end of the mission, Tangman Village School was left with nine good-as-new dormitories clean, light, secure and weather-proofed rooms in a good state of repair and decoration. The volunteers arguably took away with them an experience of far greater value. This is a very meaningful activity, they said. It was a priceless experience, we would definitely come back.

KhamAid Foundation would like to thank the following volunteers for taking part in Operation Shangri-La 2006:

* Esther New Shishi    * Ang Tze Wei    * Wu Hock Soon    * Seah Mui Khee    * Wong Jian Pin Jason    * Goh Yen Tien Eileen    * Tan Chin Yee    * Giam Hwee Fong    * Leong Henry    * Norman New Chin Guan

* Sam Poh Fong    * Ong Shir Ling    * Ong Poh Lay    * Xu Ting Ting Kathy    * Sek Hwee Leng    * Hoo Tze Wee John    * Kang Shian Chin    * Seow Lay Hoon    * Lee Woan Huey    * Siew Bee Hong

See also: Project PHOTO GALLERY

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