The Rowell Fund for Tibet’s board of advisors has decided to award $24,000 in grants to six projects in 2020 that deal with healthcare, cultural preservation, the environment and the recording of history.
Each project will receive $3,500 to $4,600. The fund received 31 applications from Tibetans in Tibet and outside for this grant cycle.
The fund, which is managed by the International Campaign for Tibet, was established in memory of lifelong Tibet supporters Galen and Barbara Rowell, who died in a plane crash in 2002.
“Over the years, the Board of Advisors has strived to honor Galen, the environmentalist, and Barbara, the feminist, by supporting projects that bring vitality to Tibetan communities. We also want to link tens of thousands of ICT members to outstanding humanitarian and intellectual efforts of emerging Tibetan leaders,” said John Ackerly, member of the board of advisors of the Rowell Fund for Tibet.
As avid mountaineers and outdoor photographers, Galen and Barbara Rowell helped bring Tibet and the Himalayas into the public eye. The fund continues this legacy, providing small grants to Tibetan writers, academics, photographers and conservationists.
Learn more about Galen and Barbara Rowell and the Rowell Fund for Tibet.
This year’s grants awarded by the board are:
- The Role and Importance of Tibetan Women in Community Building
Recipient: Tenzin Menkyi
Location: Leh, India
Description: Documentary film not only on the lives of successful Tibetan women, but on various issues concerning women - Tibetan Health Project
Recipient: Sakya Hospital
Location: Dehradun, India
Description: Project on general health awareness and encouraging a healthy lifestyle among the Tibetan community, particularly among monks and nuns - Lama Mani Project
Recipient: Loten Namling
Location: Switzerland
Description: Promotion of traditional storytelling and presentation tour of India, Nepal and Bhutan - Conservation of Losel Dolls (Tibetan Costumed Dolls)
Recipient: Tenzin Lhamo
Location: Norbulingka Institute, India
Description: Project on preservation and restoration of the dolls in the Tibetan doll museum at the Norbulingka Institute - Rainwater conservation
Recipient: Yeshi Sangmo
Location: Jangchup Choeling Nunnery, Mundgod, India
Description: Project on rainwater conservation to collect and use rainwater from a roof water harvesting and recharge pit for conservation and drought prevention currently being experienced due to climate change - The White Lotus Portrait of Gyalyum Chenmo of Tibet: the Biography of the Great Mother of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
Recipient: Lhamo Tso
Location: Varanasi, India
Description: A new biography in Tibetan of the Dalai Lama’s mother
ICT and the Rowell Fund for Tibet wish to congratulate this year’s grant recipients.
The advisory board, made up of friends and family of Galen and Barbara, consists of John Ackerly, David Breashears, Bob and Beth Cushman, John Jancik, Terri Baker, Bob Palais, and Forrest Ryan.