On October 28, 2011, staff of The Pendeba Society came to Enba Village to deliver a workshop on public healthcare, environmental conservation in QNNP and on-going projects of the Society. Over 70 villagers participated in the workshop including the village chief Mr. Sonam Tsering. We were also glad to have Party Secretary of Gangga Township, Mr. Dawa Tsering at our workshop, who showed pertinent interest and support in our project in Enba Village.
We were first warmly welcomed by the attendees followed by the introduction of Mr. Sonam Tsering. And then, Norbu took the lead of the workshop, introducing to the villagers knowledge about public sanitation, mother-child healthcare, environmental conservation in QNNP as well as The Pendeba Society and its current projects in QNNP’s four counties. The workshop was formally closed by Mr. Dawa Tsering, who in his closure remarks emphasized what Norbu has mentioned about environmental protection and public healthcare. He said that “We can do little to generate a great deal of fortune for our future generations, but what we can do is to better conserve our natural environment and resources for them.” He also expressed his appreciation toward our project and its impact, and would help with the project communication within local governments.
Followed by the workshop is the ceremony delivering 98 sets of small solar power lighting systems to the village members. Our project in Enba Village does not only aim to better conserve wetland resources near the village by transforming conventional sheep corrals into ones that are more sustaining and environmentally friendly, we also intend to improve the village’s living conditions in terms of lighting at nights given the village still does not have access to regular electricity supply.
Mr. Sonam Tsering, on behalf of the village extended their gratitude to The Pendeba Society for the project. In the meantime, we are also very appreciative of the village’s keen participation and active involvement, without which the project cannot be finished in time. In particular, we are also grateful to the government of Tingri County and Gangga Town. With their generous support, we therefore are able to smoothly and successfully carry out the project. It has vividly demonstrated our work strategy that we live up to over the past decades – the “Three-way Partnership” that involves "bottom-up" initiative from communities, "top-down" support from government agencies, and "outside-in" training and support from organizations.