Vegetables provide vital nutrition for growing children, especially in China's highland areas where produce is virtually unavailable to rural people.

At many schools, daily food is mainly rice or tsampa gruel.  Almost no meat is served to school children in remote areas.

Greenhouses allow schools to save money on the high cost of fresh vegetables and use their limited funds for other student expenses - beds, blankets, heating fuel, and dormitory repairs. This also relieves parents of extra costs they cannot afford. Greenhouses provide an important boost to rural education ... (more)

Kham Aid Foundation has been operating greenhouse projects in Western China since 2003. Kham Aid greenhousess currently supply vegetables to over 600 students daily at Sershul Middle School and Chengguan Boarding Primary School .

The schools that will benefit from the 2006 Ride will be selected on the basis of need, suitability of their land, and farming experience of their teachers. It’s estimated these new greenhouses during their ten-year lifetime will provide food throughout the school year to at least 2,000 students at a total cost of only $4.40 per child per year.



Greenhouses are essential to Tibetan children and their education because kids need good nutritious food in order to learn. Most rural schools are literally starved for funds to feed their boarding students. The bottom line is: no greenhouse means no school lunch - and that’s enough to make many children drop out.

>> In depth: Tibetan children's nutrition

Above: Participants in Kham Aid's greenhouse microcredit program

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