Scholarship program follow-up: a  Kham Aid kid makes good

by Pamela Logan, July 30, 2005

Contents:

• one of Kham Aid's very first sponsored children is admitted to university
• Southwest Nationality University, the premier school for Tibetans in Sichuan
• household income for a poor family
• a generous friend helps out
   

I came out of my hotel door, looked around through the rain, and spotted a slight Tibetan girl of 18 wearing jeans and holding an umbrella.  When she saw me, she ran over, and we embraced.  She was bubbling with good news.  "Yesterday I went on-line and checked my test scores," she told me, "and I found out I have been admitted to University!"
 
Dolma was so very happy, and it was great to see her.  I have known her since 1999 when we began our school scholarship program at the Litang Middle School.  That year, eleven children were given scholarships to enter grade 7.  The headmaster Gelek recommended children whom he knew to be from very poor families.  Dolma Lhamo was one of these.  Along with four other girls, she was sponsored by the Los Angeles chapter of the Pan Pacific Southeast Asian Womens Association. They saw her safely through three years at junior middle school, grades 7-9, in her home town of Litang.
 

Dolma Lhamo in 2001

Six years have gone by since we first met, nevertheless I have stayed in touch with Dolma Lhamo and a few other girls from her class.  I have visited her home and know something about her background.  Her father died some years ago so she lives with her mother, who not only brought up Dolma by herself but also supports Dolma's older brother, a monk at Litang Monastery.  The family income derives from a small shop at the monastery entrance where Dolma's mother sells candy to neighborhood children, bringing in perhaps 30 yuan (US$3.75) per month.  They also own three yaks; the sale of milk and butter earns an additional 200 yuan ($25) per month. They are fortunate to own a small house, but apart from that the family is quite cash-poor.  Without the generosity of Dolma's sponsors, she could never have hoped to go beyond primary school.
 
Following graduation from grade 9 and the end of her Kham Aid scholarship, Dolma was lucky to be admitted to Number 46 Middle School in Chengdu free of charge.  This second scholarship did not come through Kham Aid; it was arranged by the Litang school headmaster, a resourceful chap.  It was painful for Dolma's mother to send her only daughter so far away - Litang is two days - travel from Chengdu ? but she realized that this was Dolma's best chance to get ahead in life and so she gladly sent her. 
 

Dolma Lhamo and her mother in their home, 2004.

During Dolma's three years at No. 46 Middle School, I visited her a couple of times and saw her grow up very quickly and become much more worldly than she ever could have in Litang.  She learned to speak excellent Mandarin - although she regretted that the school did not teach Tibetan, her favorite subject.  She bonded closely with her schoolmates, a number of whom also came from Litang.  Besides the Tibetans enrolled at this school, there are children from other ethnic areas of Sichuan and some Han kids, too. 
 
Now she was admitted to the Southwest Nationality University, and Dolma was simply over the moon.  The school emphasizes ethnic studies, especially Tibetology.  "Even though I haven't studied Tibetan for three years," she told me, "I thought I'd give the Tibetan exam a try to see how I would do."  She scored scored 67%.- seven percentage points over the minimum for admission. Not bad!  She plans to major in Tibetan language and management.
 
Then I asked Dolma, what about the university fees? Tuition is 2800 yuan a year, she told me, and there are the additional costs of room and board, books, travel to and from Chengdu, and extra fees imposed by the school - and new ones are added every year. She said she thought that her mother might sell the family house in order to raise the cash. "Then where will your mother live?" I asked her.  Her response was just a shrug, for she and her mother had not yet worked out the answers to these questions.  Having seen their tiny home, I wonder that even if they sell it whether it will bring enough money to keep Dolma Lhamo in school for four whole years.
 
Kham Aid Foundation does not have a university scholarship program; nevertheless we put the word out to a few friends in case someone might like to help Dolma privately.  To our great pleasure, one friend who wishes to remain anonymous came through with a gift of 2500 yuan to help Dolma through her first year.  What happens after that?  We'll have to wait and see.  This is a dilemma that Kham Aid will face again and again in the coming years as more of our sponsored children work their way through grade 12.  At least is it a happy problem to have, for few in Dolma's mother's generation ever went beyond primary school.  I look forward to meeting this bright young woman as a fresh college graduate in four years time. 

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