Hydrology

Friends of the Yangjuan and Pianshui Communities, including the French Organization Hydrologistes sans Fronti�res, have constructed several water projects in the villages over the past few years.  Some problems have arisen with the functioning of some of the projects, and University of Washington Engineering Student Geoffrey Morgan, with CMEF support, successfully repaired and expanded the projects in Summer 2008 so that they can work more efficiently.

Herding

A sheep raising project was conceived as an additional fundraiser for the school. Since the Nuosu traditionally raise sheep, there would be no necessary training for villagers. If successful, the project could serve as a model for other communities. In addition to selling the sheep, the wool could be used or sold locally and meat could be consumed when visitors came to the school. Herders were chosen for their knowledge of herding, their status within the villages, and their reputation as being good people. The plan was that each herder would have 29 ewes and 1 ram. The project was successful in that the herders were very happy. In fact, villagers generally considered the project sheep to be superior to local sheep. But ecological and cultural factors make this kind of project very difficult to expand .