Written by Laurence Brahm - Published by Hongkong Culture on 06/05/2007

KEE Club can easily claim to be one of Hong Kong’s most ritzy, chic venues. Yes, on any given night all the stars and starlets one might want to gossip about can be seen coming and going. On the other hand, one might overlook the hidden language of this venue. It is a place where Hong Kong’s elite can reach out to some of China’s poorest and most marginalized people to change lives and make a difference.

On one evening on 29 May 2007, in a fund raising dinner hosted by jointly Tharjay Charitable Foundation and Shambhala social enterprise (both Hong Kong registered charitable organizations), some HK$ 280,000 was raised in one go for marginalized Tibetan children. The funds will underwrite operations at a school which will give these children once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for free education otherwise not offered and unattainable.

This money will provide support “software” – educational materials, teacher’s salaries, construction of an adventure playground, art and music studio outfitting, library and classrooms, Montessori hands-on classroom sensorial materials and free education for the one hundred children over the next five-year period. To date, two teachers have already been trained at the Beijing Montessori International School which has offered volunteers to work on classroom set-up and administration. Roots & Shoots Shanghai has also provided teaching materials which have been kindly translated by Beijing business executive Michael Shannon.

Many of the children are orphaned or handicapped. Some have had to rely on begging. This single event has transformed their lives. Average annual per capita income for this region is only RMB 2,000 per year, making it a poor and subsistence based. Parents cannot afford education for their children. Families rely on barley harvesting and yak herding.

Rita Neagli, wife of Exxon-Mobil Legal Counsel Dong Neagli, both attending the evening, reflected: “We had a lovely evening raising funds for the Khyenkong Preschool at the KEE Club this past Tuesday. It was a delight to reconnect with our friends from Tibet.” The evening program included a pre-screening of documentary-fiction film Shambhala Sutra revealing many unfilled regions of western Tibet, following by presentations introducing the school and foundations behind it.

Ho Man Wong, chairman of the Hong Kong Society of Explorers, himself a famous Hong Kong explorer who became the first man to discover the source of Yangtze River having dedicated his entire lifetime to supporting exploration of biodiversity conservation efforts in Tibetan regions presented the opening speech before dinner. Moreover, the evening was graced by presence of His Eminence Beru Khyentse Rinpoche, one of the highest ranking lamas in Tibetan Buddhism. The school has been built in Nyetang, his old home and birthplace. Having lived in Nepal and India for decades, he is determined to give back to his birthplace and people. Throughout the evening he offered blessings to many supporting his charitable efforts and expressed, “I am greatly pleased with this evening. Many kind individuals have compassionately donated to supporting this school which change the lives of children for the better. I am pleased with such expression of kindness from so many this evening.”

The school will provide primary education to one hundred marginalized children from Nyetang Village outside Lhasa. Registered as a “pre-school” to accord with government requirements, children up to the age of fifteen will be attending. Many have never entered a school in their entire lifetime and this will be their first opportunity to have any schooling. For many it may be their only crack at education. The school will offer an accelerated art program to empower children with skills that last a lifetime. Historically Nyetang was a village which provided wood craftsmen and painters to Lhasa. Such traditional arts and crafts fell into disuse during China’s turbulent years of 1950s-1970s. One focus of the school’s educational program will be to revive such crafts and re-empower the children so that they may have means to earn a living if educational opportunities beyond this school cannot be afforded.

An art gallery will be established on the premised where children will be able to paint on wooden boards, creating work for sale to visitors. Funds from each sale will go directly to the children themselves, empowering them with their own micro-business from pre-school, teaching practical business skills, connectivity between artistic produce and income earning. They will also build self-esteem and strengthen cultural identity, two factors often under siege as the Chinese culture of materialist worship tends to dominate dispossessing local and regional ethnic cultures and spiritualities today.

Hong Kong media swarmed the event, with coverage from Culture Hong Kong Magazine, South China Morning Post and Hong Kong Tatler. Reporter Clara Mak of the South China Morning Post observed, “ I very much appreciate all the hard work that Shambhala has done for the city [Lhasa].”

The evening was topped by a donor’s auction with all proceeds going directly to the school. Tina Chan donated toward a 300-year-old Buddha image which was originally crafted in India but brought to Tibet and hidden during the Cultural Revolution. Tina Chan said, “It was really a meaningful night that people got together that night aiming to raise funds for the school in Tibet. Through the blessing of Rinpoche I was also very lucky to receive the Amitabha Buddha – quite unexpected anyway.”

On each table setting a bottle of “5100” water was placed bottled at glacial source 5,100 meters above sea level near the Namcuo Tibetan sacred lake, donated by the company. Thomas Wong who heads 5,100 marketing, observed, “This event was successful in promoting values of bio and ethnic diversity and supporting meaningful causes like education for poor children on the ground in Tibet.”

Douglas Gerber, founding director of Tharjay Charitable Foundation reflected on the entire evening. “People in Hong Kong truly showed they care about worthwhile causes where their funds go a long way. The lavish KEE Club atmosphere, with films, photos, music about Tibet, created an ambiance of magic. It was an amazing evening, in which like minded people came together to support the most progressive pre-school in Tibet.

Shambhala is a social enterprise committed to promoting and supporting initiatives for ethnic diversity and cultural sustainable development. For more information go to www.shambhala-action.org

Laurence Brahm is a global activist, international mediator, political columnist and author. He is the leading advocate of a fresh development paradigm - The Himalayan Consensus - an innovative approach to development.

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