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“Rinpoche has the power to see the future,“ said the owner of one of our ancient houses in Wayao Village. “He foretold that some foreigners would come here and repair our houses.  He said that I should take care of my old house now because in the future the house will feed my family.”

We had been at Wayao for two weeks already, but this was something we had never heard before: our visit had been prophesied! We came to Wayao village with some ideas on how their houses can be conserved and developed as historic examples of ancient Tibetan architecture.  The project ­ which I thought had been my own idea - had evidently been anticipated for the last two decades by a powerful incarnate lama, Minyak Choekyi Gyaltsen. Talk about pressure! What if our work didn’t live up to villagers’ and Rinpoche’s high expectations?

It turned out that we weren’t the first foreigners to arrive in Wayao to look at the village’s four ancient stone houses. Others have come - at least three other groups - with cameras, flashlights, and measuring tools in hand to prowl through the acrid basements, medieval kitchens, and butter-redolent chapels of these dilapidated monuments.  The Wayao people didn’t know who these foreign visitors were, for they left no business cards.  But like the Rinpoche, who for the last twenty years has been urging the villagers of  Wayao to preserve their houses, these mysterious foreigners, too, told the Wayao people that they must not destroy their centuries-old fortresses of stone.

It’s not easy.  The houses are difficult to live in and expensive to maintain.  For those homes that have kept their original wood paneling, the interiors are blackened from the centuries of accumulated soot.  Two of the houses have been partitioned in half and are owned by more than one family, which had led to friction over yard space for animals and other issues.  The roofs are so thick with clay added over the centuries that timbers beneath groan from the weight, and some beams are on the verge of breaking.  In two houses. stone walls slump and bulge, a sign of dangerous loss of internal integrity. One wall is close to failure.

During our 2 1/2 week stay in the township, consultant architect John Sanday examined each of the four Wayao houses from top to bottom. He interviewed at length the house owners and local construction tradesmen on whom we will depend to implement repairs.  John’s assistants Sirish Bhatt and Michael Sanday measured each room and drew up detailed drawings. Together they highlighted the areas of greatest danger where emergency work is needed.  The repairs themselves pose no great technical challenges.  Only two houses require immediate attention. The local people need little guidance for they are well versed in the language of stone and timber. Only money is needed to make the necessary repairs.

What is challenging is unraveling the Gordian knot of property ownership. Long-term, the buildings are treasures that belong to all humanity, but at present they are, legally speaking, private properties. Is it correct for Kham Aid to spend thousands of dollars helping a few families have nicer places to live? One might argue that such work would be done for the sake of future generations, but it sets an uncomfortable precedent for an NGO. 

Far better ­ from the point of view of community development - would be a  scenario in which the house is turned over to Wayao Village to manage. Yet it’s not easy or comfortable trying to talk people out of their houses.  And can the village handle the responsibility?  How do we avoid ‘the tragedy of the commons’?

In the end, after extensive discussions with the six families who between them own the four ancient houses, it became apparent that one owner, an old man named Dendrup, is willing to make such a transfer provided he can receive fair compensation for the loss of his property.  Since his house is in the worst condition of all of them, needing a new roof as well as other extensive repairs, its value lies mainly in the stones ­ stones that he would ordinarily use to build a new house. Fortunately for history but unluckily for the hapless Dendrup, he has been urged by the Rinpoche NOT to take the old stones, nor can he afford the 400 loads of new stones that his new house requires. If we can find a source of funds to compensate Dendrup for the loss of his old house and its valuable stones, then there is a happy alignment of interests that will allow our conservation program to go forward ­ with the village as our partner, not one individual family.

Our visit took place in July during monsoon season, so we could not immediately begin repairs, although we could ­ and did ­ replace hazardous electrical wiring, provide fire extinguishers to the families, and train them how to use them. The families appreciated this gesture, for they had seen too many foreign visitors who came, saw, and left nothing. (another report describes the odd electrical arrangements we found at Wayao).

Once the rain stops, our major task will be to perform emergency repairs that will save the two most precarious old houses ­ including Dendrup’s ­ from imminent collapse. We will shore up the sagging roof and re-make the badly bulging wall. The other house, which has been abandoned by its owner, needs urgent repairs to a plug a leak in its roof.   

Meanwhile, we’d like to bring art conservators who will address damage to the wall paintings that adorn the walls of chapels in two of the old houses, plus a larger set of murals in the monastery. The paintings suffered much abuse over the centuries and especially during the Cultural Revolution when some were smeared with clay to hide them from rampaging Red Guards.

Now we are busy working out the details of house transfer and compensation (we are seeking a grant for this purpose), working closely with Minyak Choekyi Gyaltsen ­ the incarnate lama who prophesied our involvement ­ and also with our partner Winrock International. Our most important task is to help Wayao people develop their own vision for the future of the house and the village. Ultimately we need for them to take over the maintenance of Dendrup’s old house - and we hope they’ll make use of it for a village tourism enterprise ­ perhaps a guest house or a museum that will introduce Minyak customs and culture to visitors. Overall, it’s an ambitious program, and a long road to walk ­ for the villagers and for Kham Aid.

 

If anyone is interested seeing Wayao’s ancient houses and being among the village’s first homestay visitors, contact Deqing Dolma, deqingzhuoma(at)khamaid.org. 

This work receives major support from USAID and is being conducted in partnership with Winrock International. For more information, see www.winrock-stc.org.