Women's Initiatives
Investing in women and the education of girls
Strong communities begin with equal access to resources and opportunities for all
In line with our core mission to incubate social innovation in Tibet, one of our main priorities is to innovate ways to level the structural inequalities facing women in Tibetan society.
We have pursued these goals not only through specific programs that address the special needs of women - projects such as midwifery training - but also through longer term efforts to plant seeds to strengthen girls' and women's capacity to become equal partners in community leadership. In addition to insisting on 50% girls enrollment of the Chungba Primary School and the Summer Enrichment Program, our Mother's Wish Program provides support almost exclusively for girls and young women from low-income rural and nomadic families to continue their education through middle, high school and college. |
Machik strengthens women's voices and invests in the education and empowerment of girls
Machik’s Women’s Initiatives offers not only financial support, but also mentorship, ongoing communication and the long term committment that creates the confidence for these women and girls to reach for new expectations. In this way, we stand with these bright and determined women for their stronger futures. We believe that empowered Tibetan women will create a better future for all Tibetans. As a matter of course, Machik seeks to work with and promote women in our programs, staff and boards.
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Women's Writing Program
Machik helped usher in two landmark moments in the history of Tibetan women’s writing. In 2005, we sponsored the publication of the first ever anthology of contemporary Tibetan women’s writing to appear in any language. We also sponsored the development of the first Tibetan women’s quarterly magazine. Edited and produced by Tibetan women, in the Tibetan language, the Snowland Tibetan Women’s Journal created a new space for women’s voices.
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Mother's Wish Program
Machik is dedicated to gender equity, especially through women's education. In 2002 we founded Mother's Wish foundation in Rebgong, Amdo (Qinghai), to support education for rural Tibetan girls and women. Over the years, we worked closely with local educators to register MWF as a local non-profit, and together have supported education for over 2,000 girls and women in Amdo.
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Pende Clinic Project
The Pende Clinic was founded in 2001 in Rongpa Tsha in Kham, in eastern Tibet, to provide heath care to a rural Tibetan community. The clinic is a great benefit to the surrounding villages who otherwise would have to travel about 30 kilometers or more for medical care. Pende Clinic serves around 31 villages with approximately 2,000 households which is a population of about 16,000 in Rongpa Tsha. Machik supported training and equipment for this clinic run by four dedicated Tibetan nuns.
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Midwifery Training
For decades, Chungba, like many other rural areas, had a "barefoot doctor" serving the community's health needs. Over one summer, Machik worked with Yangzom and Gabi Khalsa, an experienced U.S. midwife, to provide first every midwifery training in the area. After many intense training sessions covering pre-natal care, birthing approaches, and post-natal support strategies, Yangzom stated she could have saved more mothers had she had this training at the start of her career serving rural Tibetans.
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