Shechen Tibet Projects To rebuild, to preserve, to share Humanitarian Projects in Tibet Since 2001, the Dilgo Khyentse Fellowship has been initiating and supervising a number of diverse humanitarian projects in various areas of Tibet (Kham, Amdo and Central Tibet) We have built sixteen small medical clinics and seven schools, including one for 800 children. We also have a program that supports a few hundred displaced nuns who are scattered throughout various areas of eastern Tibet. We have constructed seven bridges that are vital for people’s safety and for their economic development. Our projects support several hundred elderly people, displaced persons, orphans and university students throughout the country. Every year our coordinators travel for several months, primarily in eastern and northern Tibet, to oversee our projects and identify new ones. They are often joined by volunteer doctors, nurses and qualified assistants. These projects have come to fruition efficiently and have proven to be tremendously beneficial to the local people. Thus many have gained the approval of the local government authorities. Our formula for success is based on a number of factors: During the last 20 years, our team has traveled extensively throughout Tibet and created close relationships with the local populations. This has enabled us to establish a network of dedicated and reliable people who are qualified to locally take charge of the projects. Our work is accomplished discreetly and quickly, with reduced visibility and this has helped us to establish the trust of the local authorities. We are a mobile unit of dedicated and experienced volunteers and do not have the expenses of maintaining vehicles, a fixed staff and offices. Our work is supported by the admirable generosity of private donors and foundations. Since 2001, over one and a half million US dollars has been used in Tibet for practical and long-lasting projects. Throughout their implementation, we have kept our overhead expenses to just over 1% of the budget. Thus 99% of our funds go directly to the projects themselves. In 2006 we are continuing to maintain and develop our health and education projects, our support of the elderly, the sick and orphaned, and our development programs such as the building of bridges. Six of our medical clinics are getting improvements made this year. We will also be building a new school in addition to upgrading and supporting the numerous schools we have built over the last five years. Our scholarship programs for university training for Tibetan women and men is successfully continuing. We have volunteer physicians coming this summer to spend time with local doctors, investigating the possibilities of further training for these local physicians, and treating patients throughout the area. On the cultural front, we will continue to support text preservation as well as the building of monastic colleges and the reconstruction of temples. It is indeed a great joy for us to be able to serve as instruments to locate and develop these projects, and then to follow them from their inception to accomplishment and, finally, to work to sustain them for the future. Please contact us if you would like to contribute to this effort. Cultural Projects The Dilgo Khyentse Fellowship is also engaged in projects for the preservation of Tibet's cultural and spiritual heritage. In addition to our work in Nepal, we have: contributed to the rebuilding of a number of philosophical colleges, retreat centers, and monasteries in Tibet. photographed, scanned, archived and made available over 12,000 images of Tibetan paintings and objects. reproduced and printed more than 300 volumes of rare Tibetan texts,which have been made available to monasteries, foreign libraries and individuals. continued to support three monastic philosophical colleges and three retreat centers throughout Tibet as well as the regular activities of Shechen Monastery in Kham. We have also completed the publication of a fourteen-volume collection of the Writings of Shabkar. These rare texts were found and collected in Amdo and entered into the computer by the monks at Shechen Monastery in Nepal