Tibetan Healing Fund (THF) is a not-for-profit humanitarian organization established to improve primary healthcare and education for rural Tibetan women and children in the Tibetan regions of P.R. China.  Thanks to your kind support, both financially and through countless volunteer hours, we are now approaching ten years of service to improve the public health situation for thousands of Tibetan people living in rural communities.  This is an exciting and critical time for the work of Tibetan Healing Fund.  Although there is still great need and work to be done in the future, we should still celebrate what we have accomplished togethether.

2012 Updates !

• Now into our 11th year, we continue to feel grateful for your ongoing support.  As a volunteer-run organization, even in this challenging economy, we were able to raise and send over $30,000 to Tibet last summer for both health and education projects.  On behalf of Tibetan children and their families, we thank you again for believing in and supporting our organization!  An additional $14,000 came to us through private donations over this past 2011 holiday season.  Thank you!

This year feels like the beginning of a new era: THF founder and past president, Dr Kunchok Gyaltsen, who returned to Tibet after earning his PhD in June 2010, hopes to make 2 visits to the US to conduct workshops in Tibetan Medicine as well as provide in-person updates on projects.  We hope to host him in Seattle in late April, and with luck, in the fall, he’ll be joined by one or more co-workers from the Birth Center and/or Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College.

Health Education in Maternal-Child Health

 • Dr Tsering Kyi and her colleagues conducted 3 workshops in 2011 to train 169 village women, village doctors, family planning appointed persons, and women’s federation chairs in maternal child health (MCH), all of whom received certificates from the government as recognized health care providers.  Held at the Tibetan Natural Birth Center and Health Training Center with the benefit of practical experience, these trainings in topics related to children’s health and pregnancy and birth skills, covered both Western and Tibetan Medicine concepts of MCH, and basic information and skills such as pre and post-natal care, delivery, family planning, and common illnesses.  Although most participants were Tibetan, also represented were ethnic minorities such as Mongolian and Chinese Muslim, from a wide range of poor counties including many nomadic areas.  This fulfilled our goal of training 334 health workers over one and one-half year’s time.  

• We were able to produce 500 additional copies of a “Prenatal Care” video, utilized in various health education activities, including the MCH workshops.  Made by THF in 2002, this DVD is now sanctioned and may be distributed by Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College.

Provision of Direct Health Services

• Dr TseringKyi and her co-workers at the Tibetan Natural Birth and Health Training Center in Rebkong attended 630 births in 2011, up from 371 in 2011, and 60 in the first 5 months it was opened in 2009-over 1061 births!!!  More than the local Prefecture Hospital!  In addition they have provided over 8,000 health education, pre/post natal care and women’s health service office visits for both Tibetans and other ethnic minorities. 

The Birth Center is the result we have dreamed about – good quality, accessible, affordable, linguistically and culturally appropriate health services available for rural Tibetan women and their children. The Birth Center is not a hospital but was created as a home for women who need a comfortable and safe environment where they can receive healthcare, gain health education knowledge, seek advice on nutrition and life saving needs, and improve their quality of life. Moreover, the Birth Center was created as a training center for local health workers, such as community midwives and village doctors who work at the grassroots level of health care, to improve their knowledge and skills of health in order to better serve health services in rural Tibetan area.

• We were able to support Tibetan medical doctors and their assistants in the delivery of at no cost medical care on two occasions, 3 days each, in remote counties on the Tibetan plateau, seeing 700 and 900 patients, mostly women and children.

• In addition, under the direction of supervision of our colleagues at Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College, doctors travelled to the region affected by the earthquake of 2010.  Since April 2010, over $25,000 was received by donors for the Yushu Earthquake Relief services. The funds were sent to the Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) Tibetan Medical College. The medical faculty and students from this college have been providing free medical care and supplies to the earthquake victims over the last few months since the earthquake struck. Recently, a medical team from the college was sent to Yushu in November to provide additional follow-up medical care, supplies, and medicine to the local Tibetan communities who survived the earthquake and are still suffering.

Education Project

• Education students were able to tutor over two hundred primary school Tibetan children in Tibetan, Chinese, English and Math.  This support provided a teaching opportunity for 8 Tibetan undergraduate students who will ultimately work as teachers in remote areas. 

• Two THF volunteers conducted English language training for Tibetan medical students at Tso-Ngon (Qinghai) University Tibetan Medical College. 

The years, 2010 and 2011, were momentous for Tibetan Healing Fund; we have much to be grateful for, and we continue to be inspired to fulfill our mission:  to improve primary education and basic health services for rural Tibetan women and children.  Thank you all for your ongoing and compassionate support!