Eastern Tibet, or Kham, is a place of rugged ranges and torrential rivers, home to the fierce Khampa rebels who tried for a decade to defeat China's army and win independence for Tibet. Pamela Logan is an inveterate traveler who fell in love with Kham and was deeply affected by the poverty she saw there. With the help of many friends, she started a nonprofit to do the impossible: bring development and humanitarian assistance to Tibetans under Chinese rule.

This book chronicles Logan's fourteen years of work in Kham: helping children stay in school, saving the lives of babies and mothers, providing job training to nomadic herders, improving health care, assisting communities hit by earthquakes, and repairing centuries-old architecture.

Compassion Mandala records Logan's first-hand observations of rural Tibetan society and China's relentless efforts to modernize it. Outlining each gate of the development mandala -- areas such as education, health care, jobs, and the environment -- she explains how Tibet has changed over the past century, giving historical context to contemporary challenges. She details obstacles faced by Tibetans as ethnic minorities in China, and she describes how they are adapting to China's rapid development and coping with the tidal wave of Chinese migrants arriving in their homeland. She portrays many individuals she knew: incarnate lamas, ordinary farmers, educated professionals, corrupt officials, devoted Buddhists, and a brilliant young woman determined to overcome her humble origins and realize her dreams.
Compassion Mandala: The Odyssey of an American Charity in Contemporary Tibet, Pamela Logan, Hibiscus Books, Paperback, 376 pp, $27.99

Seeking a path to the highest places, Pamela Logan studied aerospace at Caltech and Stanford, worked at a couple of NASA laboratories, and taught college-level aeronautical engineering before setting aside her technical career to explore Asia. As science director at the China Exploration & Research Society, she led a wall paintings conservation project at a Buddhist monastery in the Tibetan region of Kham; she also helped search for Silk Road ruins using spaceborne imaging radar. In 1997, Logan launched Kham Aid Foundation, a nonprofit that she led for fourteen years doing development and humanitarian assistance projects on the eastern Tibetan plateau. She lives with her husband in Colorado.

CONTENTS: Compassion Mandala
Maps	xi
Timeline	xv
Compassion Mandela	xxi
Preface	xxiii
Prologue	xxv
Part I
The Beginning	3
A Guarded Welcome	5
Kham: An Introduction	10
[Education]
Schools, Children, and Books	15
The Tea Road to Kham	20
Guardian of the Future: Gyalten Rinpoche	22
Guardian of the Past: Sogyal	28
[Openness]
Journey to Dzokchen Monastery	40
A Monastery Business Plan	44
Our Scholarship Program Starts	55
A Major Misstep	59
Encounter with the Dalai Lama	61
Gaining Momentum	63
Rescued by Herders	65
Sogyal's Circle	70
Part II
[Health]
Searching for a Health Care Path	77
Encounter with a Prostrating Pilgrim	79
[Environment]
Trees and Mountains	91
A Prodigal Child	101
The Disabled	103
Earthquake!	106
[Maternal Health]
Midwife Training	120
News and Progress in Dege	121
Assessing health Care Needs	124
Biking the Road to Dege	130
The Bridge is Finished	138
Part III
[Income Generation]
Modernizing Agriculture	144
Tourism Takes Off	148
Clinic Aid Delivered	149
Scholarship Challenges	152
School Renovation	156
Education Obstacles and Transitions	163
[Information]
A Poor Family	168
Greenhouse Setbacks	172
Mother to a Whole Village	174
Among Nomads	179
Part IV
[Cultural Heritage]
A Grant for Preserving Culture	192
Changes on the Grasslands	198
Preparations	201
Shaolin Monks and a Rumble in Lhagang	203
Handicrap	211
A Crafty Abbot	213
Conflict	216
Hostage	221
More Conflict	225
Chess Moves	228
A Girl Meets Her Sponsor	231
Ancient Homes	234
Redemption in Dorakarmo	237
A Sick Student	240
Advance Work	246
The Greenhouses Go Under	249
Part V
[Governance]
Corruption	255
Picture Frames	266
The Test	267
[Community Ties]
The Life and Times of Wayo Village	270
Gaining Trust	276
Our Girls Overcome	283
Repairs to an Ancient Home	287
Search for the Perfect Product	290
Market Linkages	292
Integrated Community Development	295
Return to Palpung Monastery	296
Looking Back--and Forward	298
The Prodigal Child Takes Wing	300
A Terrible Year	301
Part VI
[Resilience]
At University	316
Under the Radar	317
Into the Blue	320
Reckonings	321
Farewell Tour	324
Bittersweetness	326
The Next Generation	328
The Wisdom to Know the Difference	329
Chime	330
Final Notes
Epilogue	337
Gratitude	337
On the Use of Pseudonyms	339
Places	339
Index	343
About the Author	349