Ms. Polly Yau and other individuals the Tibet Fund also provided funding for a complet set of Tibetan clothing, custom made, for each child at the school.

The Mainpat Settlement in Central India is one of the poorest of Tibetan refugee settlements. The settlement is made up of seven camps and has a total population of 1, 824 people. In a visit to the settlement in 1999, the Tibet Fund President found that among its most urgent needs was safe drinking water. The existing sources of drinking water in the camps were open dug wells supplemented by one or two borewells, which were recently erected. The settlement is located above very large iron and bauxite mines, however, and water tests showed that the level of iron content in the water was far above the permissible limit in most of the camps. This high level of iron in the drinking water has been seen as the main cause of diseases among the settlers, and particularly harmful to the development of the children. In order to remedy this serious situation, the Tibet Fund raised funding to install in each of the seven camps a borewell and an overhead water tank with a built in filtration mechanism and a piping system which is connected to every household. The project was partially completed in 2001 and many of the residents of the Mainpat settlement now have clean and safe drinking water. The entire project will be completed in 2002.

These storytellers, known as Lama Manis, often traveled around telling stories based on Tibetan thangka paintings, not only entertaining those who listened, but also educating them about the symbolism and meanings of the paintings using the traditional religious interpretations of the themes. This was an important means by which ordinary Tibetans would learn about traditional Tibetan Bhuddhist principles and legends as well as principle teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. During the holy month of the Buddha’s birth, Lama Manis were found in many villages telling stories of the Buddhas and Bodhi-sattvas. Often the entire village gathered to listen to the stories, crying together when a story was touching and sad, and laughing together when a story was witty and funny. During this time the community also chanted religious mantras together. It was truly a beautiful time, and one that is well remembered as a period of harmony and joy within the community with the Lama Manis playing a vital role in this cultural tradition.

The Lama Manis are viewed as living cultural treasures by many and an attempt was made to locate any that lived in the exile Tibetan community in order to preserve this tradition. Sadly, amongst the entire Tibetan exile community of over 140,000, only one Lama Mani, was found. This man, now in his 70’s, is the last known master of this tradition living in exile.

With funding from The Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation, the Tibet Fund provided funds to enable this Lama Mani to teach the traditional thangka m stories to students to ensure the survival of the traditional form of oral storytelling.