Battle Against Poverty Being Won in Tibet
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6 | Tuesday, September 1, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY CHINA Poverty alleviation Battle against poverty being won in Tibet Major investments in infrastructure and new homes improve life for villagers. Palden Nyima reports from Lhasa. ccess to fresh water used to be a major concern for Tibetan villager Migmar. She had to take a Kyilung Tibet 40-minuteA round trip on a tractor Namling every two days to haul water home Saga in a container across rough terrain. Shigatse Taking showers and doing laundry Layak were luxuries for the community leader and her fellow villagers in CHINA DAILY Saga county in Southwest China’s Tibet autonomous region. mother could get subsidies and sup- Fast forward three years, and port when giving birth in a hospital. Layak village, 180 kilometers from I did not know it could be safer for the county seat in the southwest- both mother and child,” Samdrub ern part of Tibet, now has taps that Tsering said. provide potable water at the “top of The township center also used to the world”. be inaccessible for many villagers. “Our village had no proper roads While the nearest household lives or safe drinking water before 2016. about 10 km away, some families But now, all the families have were 200 km from town, with no access to tap water and the village telecommunication networks avail- is connected by paved roads,” said able. Road conditions were terrible, Migmar, 49, who is the village he said. leader. Thanks to the government’s pov- The roads and pipelines have erty alleviation measures, liveli- helped lay the groundwork for a hoods have improved tremendously significant improvement in the over the years, Samdrub Tsering villagers’ lives, with Layak one of said. the latest places to benefit from “Before 2016, I did not plan to the country’s drive to alleviate send my children to school because poverty. it was too far. I worried about their Measures to boost villagers’ journey there,” he said, adding that incomes by helping them transi- everyone now wanted to send their tion from traditional herding and children to receive education “as ear- farming have also reaped encour- ly as possible”. aging rewards, Migmar said. In the past, villagers also had to “To make the shift, village offi- ride horses and yaks to go to hospi- cials organized a great deal of tal or get supplies, but now they can training for residents to help Students learn how to cook at a vocational skills training school in Tibet’s Gyalze county. PHOTOS BY PALDEN NYIMA / CHINA DAILY drive or take a bus, the 35-year-old them learn different skills such as said. “It takes only a few minutes,” cooking, welding and driving he added. excavators and loaders,” she said. Similarly, information about the “That has also helped villagers latest policies and job opportuni- change their views on work and ties to help residents move ahead income.” are readily available in their new Tibet has been one of China’s neighborhoods, a far cry from the main battlefields against poverty remote, mountainous areas of the since the central government past, he said. launched a nationwide effort in 2016 to improve the lives of the poor. Free training “The local government of Shigat- Major milestone se city provides free vocational Last year marked a major mile- training programs to us as a pover- stone in the region’s poverty allevia- ty alleviation project,” Samdrub tion push, with its Party committees Tsering said. “We can learn differ- and governments at all levels ent, useful skills that will help us get recording significant progress. jobs, from cooking and tailoring to Pu Zhengxue, head of the Policy construction.” and Regulations Department of He said three villagers who took Tibet’s Leading Group Office of A Tibetan woman works at a clothes production workshop in Shi- Villagers in Shigatse are spending more nowadays after their liveli- two 60-day cooking courses opened Poverty Alleviation, said 628,000 gatse’s Samdrubtse district. hoods improved in recent years. restaurants in Namling county in impoverished people from the 2018. region’s 74 counties and districts “Over the years, their annual fami- have been lifted out of poverty an ethnic group and local special- earned more than 420,000 yuan to all of them, especially the county more than 260,000 people moving ly income has been between 20,000 since 2016. ties such as carpets, cushions, ($61,332) from sales last year. government.” into new homes from 2016 to last yuan and 40,000 yuan,” Samdrub He said 150,000 of them, in the blankets, honey, leather bags and Dadron Lhazom plans to expand year, accounting for more than 98 Tsering said. last 19 areas still listed as impover- incense, helping needy residents Role model her business to benefit more villagers. percent of the targeted population. He is learning to drive a truck at ished, had completed all the nec- work toward a better life. The county government has “I hope to encourage more vil- Samdrub Tsering, from Kyilung a driving school, and has passed essary work for poverty alleviation She has a workshop in her home held up Dadron Lhazom’s business lagers to learn skills to make car- village in Namling county, said the the first two levels of the four-level last year and were just waiting for village in the county’s Dana town- as a model for poverty alleviation pets, tapestries and blankets,” she new homes have allowed the com- course. the official declaration from the ship that employs 12 local people, efforts. said. “I hope more college gradu- munity to benefit from modern “My plan is to get a truck driver’s central government. including five from formerly Last year, with help from the gov- ates get involved in entrepreneur- amenities and technology. license as soon as possible so I can Dadron Lhazom, an e-com- impoverished families and two ernment, a store selling her locally ship and e-commerce.” Before moving in 2016, villagers find a job driving trucks on a con- merce entrepreneur in Namling college graduates. made products was set up at the The regional authorities have endured a harsh environment at an struction site. That way, I can get a county, one of the 19 areas, said she Her company sells products all county seat, with the rent waived. also focused on moving communi- average altitude above 4,100 meters. better salary,” Samdrub Tsering has been receiving various forms over the country via the Taobao “Without the support of the gov- ties to better homes to improve Medical treatment, transportation said. of support from the government. e-commerce platform. It also ernment, my family and my their lives. and schools were inadequate, he Her business, established in operates a business account on the friends, I could not have gone as far A total of 18.92 billion yuan has said. Contact the writer at 2018, sells handicrafts of the Tibet- Douyin social media platform. It as I have,” she said. “I feel grateful been invested in the effort, with “Before 2016, I did not know that a [email protected] Orchard gives welcome boost to farmers’ incomes By PALDEN NYIMA company based in Beijing that while in the past, she couldn’t and DAQIONG in Lhasa focuses on eco-friendly industry, afford an electric bike. the orchard covers 90 hectares of “I used to borrow money to sup- Before 9 am every day, Metok sandy land and grows fruits such as port my daughter in college. But Samye Tibet Pema rides her electric bicycle to nectarines and peaches. now I have enough money,” she work at an orchard, carrying a pair said. “After working in the orchard of gloves and a spade. Jobs for farmers for three years, I have learned some Dranang Lhokha The 42-year-old farmer is pleased The project has provided jobs for basic tree growing skills. I’ve also to work at the orchard as it is a sta- 500 farmers from Samye township, planted some trees at home, and ble job and is only a 15-minute ride including 15 from Metok Pema’s they’re growing well.” CHINA DAILY from her home in Samye village, in village, which shares the same Tsering Choedron, a fellow vil- Dranang county of Tibet autono- name. Since it commenced opera- lager who has worked at the of the county’s poverty alleviation mous region. tion, the orchard has paid employ- orchard for four months, said it projects and has contributed to “In the past, I had to travel long ees more than 4 million yuan was within walking distance of her poverty reduction by providing job distances to find work. It was not ($582,000), with each worker earn- home and had proved to be the per- opportunities for local people. Metok Pema picks peaches at the orchard, which provides a stable convenient,” Metok Pema said. ing 160 yuan for a day’s work. fect solution for increasing her Lei said Samye township was job and contributes to her family’s income. PALDEN NYIMA / CHINA DAILY “But now my job is near my home, I Metok Pema and her husband family’s income. lifted out of poverty in 2017, with can better handle both housework grow barley, peas and potatoes for Her daily work includes watering Dranang county following suit the and farming.” food, and they needed to work the plants and weeding. next year. greatly improved with the planting bear fruit,” he said. “We also The orchard, opposite Hepori part time at construction sites “The salary is not bad,” she said.