Stories
Machik Founders Recognized by Canada's Governor General
On December 7, 2023, Canada's Governor General Mary Simon awarded Pencho (Phuntsok) Rabgey, Tsering Dolker Rabgey, Dr. Losang Rabgey and Dr. Tashi Rabgey the Meritorious Service Cross, one of the highest awards a Canadian civilian can receive. Learn more |
Meet Our Khelen Scholars
Tashi is attending Gansu Normal University for Nationalities and majoring in Applied Linguistics. INTERVIEW Tell us a little about yourself? I’m an outgoing person and I like making friends with all kinds of people.
Learn more |
Get Involved with Machik
You can help build this effort to strengthen communities on the Tibetan plateau by organizing an event in your local community. By raising local awareness about this work, you will become part of a greater effort to choose hope for the future of communities on the Tibetan plateau.
Learn more |
Machik Program Intern: Lekey Leidecker
By Lekey Leidecker Machik Intern After hearing Tashi la speak in DC during summer 2014, I knew that I wanted to find out more about Machik’s work. After attending Machik Weekend 8 during November 2014, I knew that I wanted to be part of the work in any way I could!
Learn more |
In Memoriam: Khawa Nyangchack
Khawa Nyangchak (1989-2015) was a gifted young writer and social commentator from Amdo, Tibet. Widely acclaimed as an ardent new voice for this uncertain Tibetan moment, Khawa Nyangchak passed away tragically while protecting the fish of Tsongonpo (Qinghai Lake).
Learn more |
In Memoriam: Al Maysles
Albert Maysles (1926-2015) was a pioneering filmmaker. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, he made iconic films such as “Grey Gardens” and “Gimme Shelter.”
Learn more |
Join the White Crane Circle with a monthly gift of $10 or more
Interviews Tenzin Tsering San Francisco, CA How would you describe yourself in a sentence? I seek happiness and peace offend, just like everyone else. Why did you join the White Crane Circle? It’s an opportunity to give back to the Tibetan community and to pay it forward.
Learn more |
Tibetan Women’s Writing Program
Machik is committed to supporting the voices of Tibetan women, particularly those writing in the Tibetan language. Through our support of Professor Palmo Tso – scholar, poet and women’s advocate — we have sponsored the development and distribution of several landmark print and online publications: the first ever anthology of Tibetan women’s writing, the first print newsmagazine – The Land of Snow Tibetan Women’s Journal – on Tibetan women’s affairs, and an online forum for Tibetan women.
Learn more |
Growing Love in Tibet: White Crane Circle
Fifteen years ago we began a journey that changed our lives. We responded to the call of parents – Tibetan subsistence farmers and herders who had never been to school themselves but who believed education could change the future of their mountain communities. What began as a project to build one school became a life-long commitment to Tibetan empowerment and the strengthening of Tibetan communities everywhere.
Learn more |
Machik Lindsay Benefit Dinner
Machik Fest is an annual community gathering in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. This year it is October 21-27th, 2015. The roots of Machikfest are the Lindsay Tibetan dinners which began in 2004 as a community effort to support the education of young students in the Chungba Valley of Tibet.
Learn more |
Friends of Chungba Organize Dye Day
Friends of Chungba work closely with Machik Canada to sell their crafts at the annual Machik Lindsay Dinner, this year on Saturday, 25 October in Lindsay, ON. Machik’s annual Lindsay Benefit Dinner was held on Saturday, October 25, 2015 in Lindsay, Ontario, Canada.
Learn more |
Beating the Odds
This year marks the fulfillment of a promise. Twelve years have passed since we first opened the Chungba Primary School. Against the many odds, the students of that first class of Chungba students are now college students, teachers, civil servants and budding entrepreneurs.
Learn more |
Volunteer Appreciation Day
Reunited with Machik’s amazing volunteers in Harlem on March 15th, celebrating their dedication and spirit at Maysles Cinema. Machik met with volunteers who have contributed over the past years towards the Machik community on March 15th at Maysles Documentary Center.
Learn more |
Professor Tsering Shakya’s Talk at Machik
Machik was pleased to host Professor Tsering Shakya on March 18th for a brownbag discussion on recent historical trends in the cultural politics of Tibet. The discussion focused particularly on the rise of conservatism in Tibetan global politics.
Learn more |
International Women’s Day
In honor of International Women’s Day, we’re happy to share the story of one remarkable young Tibetan woman from a remote part of Tibet. Chime Lhamo was born into a humble family in Chungba — a typical one which, like so many other households in rural Tibet, had no electricity or running water. In 2002, she became part of the historic first class of the Chungba Primary School.
Learn more |
Eastern Sierra Friends of Machik
In 2005 Bishop educator Barbara Kelley traveled to Chungba Primary School in Litang County, Ganzi Prefecture of China, a vast region of about one million Tibetans. On her return from a summer of teaching she brought together a group of supporters for the students, a group now known as The Eastern Sierra Friends of Machik.
Learn more |
Day of the Girl Summit at American University
Losang Rabgey speaks at the 2nd Annual Day of the Girl Summit at American University on October 4, 2014, in the Current Events in Girl’s Education Panel. On Saturday October 4, 2014, American University’s She’s the First Chapter held the 2nd Annual Day of the Girl Summit, a day-long conversation on the issues and solutions facing women and girls worldwide.
Learn more |
Changchup Choedon’s Experience at Machik
My name is Changchup. I started interning at Machik last September. I had just graduated from Stony Brook University after spending some time in Tanzania and was interning for the International Rescue Committee, an INGO working with refugees from all around the world.
Learn more |
Youth Leadership: Machik Weekend 2014
A portal to peace through the next generation Through events like the annual Machik Weekend and Machik Retreat, young Tibetans and Chinese are provided a forum to reflect as global citizens on their differences while also developing a shared sense of stake in a transformative future for Tibet.
Learn more |
Mother’s Wish: Opening Doors
Equal access to opportunity can change the world. Machik works to help bridge the gender divide by giving girls and young women equal access to educational opportunities. From the very beginning of Machik’s work, we have been dedicated to women’s empowerment on many levels, most especially in education.
Learn more |
Tenzin Dolkar
Tenzin Dolkar is running her first half marathon to raise funds for Khenlen Fund. Tenzin Dolkar, Chemistry and Asian studies major at Lake Forest College, worked as Assistant Chemical Analyst at Community Science Institute and Director of Publicity and Social Media at New York Tibetan Art Studio. Currently looking into Graduate school programs and this year thinking of doing a one year project abroad or in states.
Learn more |
Remembering Sonam Topgyal
ABOUT SONAM TOPGYAL Born and raised in Drito (Yushu, Tibet), Sonam Topgyal dedicated his life to advocating for the wildlife and environment of Tibet. He formed the Wild Yak Brigade – a volunteer wildlife protection vigilante group – in response to the devastating loss of Tibetan antelopes killed illegally by poachers for their fine hair.
Learn more |
Wangdu Duntak
Wangdu Duntak is the founder and CEO of TAK Creative, a graphic and design company that works with international businesses and organizations.
Learn more |
Summer Enrichment Program Song
Water Droplet I am a tiny water droplet, a droplet from the snow land. Wherever I land, that’s my home. I guard the beautiful birds and fragrant flowers with my heart. I take care of the mountain streams with my soul.
Learn more |
Cupcake Culinarians at Machik Weekend 2013
Pema Dolker and Tsewang Sichoe are two life-long friends who share a great passion for baking, so much so that they now work and study at a culinary institution. They both hope to grow and further their baking skills. At the same time, both Pema and Tsewang also understand how truly important education is for the development of any individual. When they first learned from friends about Machik’s mission and work, they became very inspired and, in particular, were drawn to the results in growing Tibetan education in Tibet.
Learn more |
Profile Drolma Tsering
Drolma Tsering is a graduate of Kent State University’s Masters of Cultural Foundations program from Lhasa, Tibet. It is still uncommon for Tibetans like to study abroad, but through hard work and determination she was accepted to Kent State University’s masters program through their partnership with Shanghai International Studies University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in International Education.
Learn more |
Prayer Flag Project
Our team is in full swing preparing for the upcoming Machik Weekend 2013 (Nov. 9 & 10 in New York City!). This will be the 7th annual Machik Weekend and the first time in New York City.
Learn more |
Learning and the Lemonade Warriors
The Lemonade Warriors are a group of four girls – sisters Zoe (15), Ella (12), Nora (7), and their good friend Lily (12) who were inspired to help support Tibetan children’s education through their families’ involvement with Machik. Their efforts have helped raise over $800 for the Chungba High School (CHS) Campaign, managing to sponsor one student from the Chungba Middle School to continue their education.
Learn more |
Younghee and Susan’s Successful Kilimanjaro Climb!
Younghee Kim Wait and Susan Saunders took on the challenge of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro to support women in Tibet. Dear Friends and Families, Our team successfully summited the Uhuru Peak of Kilimanjaro on March 1 at around 2:50 pm and returned to Arusha safely on March 3rd! It was a challenging 7-day ascent to the peak, followed by a 2-day hike back to the base.
Learn more |
Olivia Apps
Olivia Apps is a young volunteer with Machik in Canada. She attended the 2012 Machik Weekend in Washington DC and had these thoughts to share. Sunday, 4 November 2012, Washington DC My involvement with Machik began at end of my eighth grade.
Learn more |
Machik at Wingate University
I had the good fortune to find out about an amazing opportunity unfolding at Wingate University in Wingate, North Carolina. An entire week was being dedicated to the Arts and Culture of Tibet as presented by a group of Tibetan Monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in India.
Learn more |
On the High Grassland
September 9, 2012 Losang Rabgey I milked a dri (female yak) last week on the high grassland of Dzorge, Tibet, adjacent to the great Machu River, truly a place of overwhelming majesty. We usually spend most of our time with farmers and semi-nomads. My friend kindly brought me home to meet and stay with his full-time drokpa (nomad) family.
Learn more |
Vidya’s Letter: 2012 Cultural Mapping Project
Machik’s Cultural Mapping Project (CMP) is a unique and innovative program in Tibet that gathers urban American and Chinese youth with their rural Tibetan peers for a cross-cultural service learning program that maps local Tibetan culture.
Learn more |
Snapshots from SEP
Join us for a look at the first days of the 2012 SEP! Volunteer Orientation July 22-24, 2012 12 Chinese, 8 Tibetan, and 5 Global volunteers Breakfast of Champions: Baozi (steamed buns), eggs and milk Volunteers getting to know each other on the campus of our host Southwest Forestry University
Learn more |
Amala and Pala’s Jewelry
When retired factory workers Pencho and Tsering Rabgey decided to donate Pencho’s retirement savings to build the Chungba Primary School, they had little idea of the journey that lay before them. Over a decade later, the Chungba school has become the model rural school in the entire prefecture, a region of nearly a million Tibetans. And Pencho and Tsering have been there each step of the way.
Learn more |
A Year in Chungba: Amala’s Story
From June 2007 to June 2008, Tsering Rabgey lived at the Chungba Primary School in the Kham region of Tibet. Dropping everything to spend a year in a foreign county is not a commonplace occurrence; spending that year in rural Tibet is even less so.
Learn more |
Cornell University’s operation deep at SEP 2010
Since the 2009 Summer Enrichment Program (SEP), students from Cornell University’s Operation Developing Elementary Education Possibilities in China (DEEP ) have participated in SEP as volunteers. Here’s what some of the 2010 Operation DEEP volunteers had to say about their experience.
Learn more |
Cecil Esquivel-Obregon, Filmmaker
Cecil Esquivel-Obregón has facilitated Participatory Film Workshops at the Summer Enrichment Program in Chungba and Chengdu. “I believe the extraordinary power of the SEP is that its manifold effects extend far beyond the enormous direct benefit for the students.
Learn more |
2010 SEP Participants
Read what participants have to say about their experience! “Even having worked with Machik as a volunteer for so many years, and having met students this summer at the Summer Enrichment Program, I was still amazed by the Chungba schools. The amount of work and planning that has gone into it….the dedication of the students, teachers, and the Machik family is so inspiring!
Learn more |
John Epple & Zamling Antiques
John Epple is a Washington, DC antiques dealer specializing in Tibetan Antiques, Tibetan Rugs, Chinese and Japanese Antiques “A number of years ago, I had the good fortune to stumble upon Tsering and Tashi Rabgey selling Tibetan rugs in Eastern Market in Washington DC.
Learn more |
Margaret Liu
Margaret Liu is a teacher in Beijing. She volunteered at the Chungba Primary School in August 2007. “…As a volunteer, I worked for only about three weeks, but a lot of things I will remember forever. I would like to go to there every year if I can.
Learn more |
Julie Zhang
Julie Zhang is AFS Program Director in Shanghai. She shares reflections on her experience in Chungba. “As a Chinese-American from suburban Maryland with virtually no prior exposure to anything Tibetan, people are often puzzled at how I became involved with the Chungba Primary School in the remote Tibetan Plateau.
Learn more |
Emily & Brad
Young DC professionals celebrate birthdays by supporting the Chungba Middle School Campaign… This July, Emily Cohen and Brad Weikel decided what they really wanted for their birthdays (July 7 and July 2 respectively) was to support the Chungba Middle School Capital Campaign.
Learn more |
In Memory: Mary Vocelka
Machik is blessed with an incredible network of Eastern Sierra supporters in Bishop, California. We deeply regret to learn of the loss of one of those incredible individuals, Mary Vocelka. Mary and her family were invaluable contributors to the Emergency 11 fund, which enabled 11 students to attend middle school who were otherwise without means.
Learn more |
In Memory: Bill Schainker
Machik would like to recognize the life of a dear friend and supporter who recently passed away. We will all miss Bill Schainker’s vitality and incomparable spirit. A neighbor as well as friend, Bill’s joyful and dynamic personality lit up every room. We had the privilege of spending time with Bill over many dinners and events, including this year’s Losar New Year’s celebration.
Learn more |
Elizabeth Tseng 5K Run
American University student and Machik intern, Elizabeth Tseng, became the latest volunteer to run to raise awareness and funds for Tibetan education.
Learn more |
Iron Carrie
After hearing about the Chungba school project, Carrie Regan decided to help raise funds and awareness by taking on the Ironman Triathlon. “Iron Carrie” inspired us all with her unstoppable spirit as she sailed through eight months of hard training to prepare for the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 25.2 mile run.
Learn more |