Enhancing far-flung villager's lives

When the deadly 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck neighboring Nepal in April 2015, Gyirong county was also badly affected.

Phurbu Tsering was in the county town on business at the time, and upon returning to Ta two days afterward, he was shocked to see the devastation.

"When I got back to the village, the scene I saw saddened me - the sky was dark and cloudy, and there was debris everywhere. Most of the people were sad or fearful," he said.

"I comforted the villagers by telling them the government would help them. I told them the government would provide them daily supplies, food and other necessities."

Before the earthquake, everyone in Ta lived in houses made from clay and wood that were small, dark and cramped.

In response to the disaster, which caused widespread damage, the government built new houses for each family that cost about 182,000 yuan each. Construction of all 119 houses was completed by the end of last year.

"Thanks to the government, all the houses in the village are new, two-story brick-and-cement dwellings, with bedrooms for each family

member," Phurbu Tsering said.

"All the houses are equipped with water closets, which they did not have in the past, and all are designed to have a place to install shower facilities."

In the past, villagers would keep their cows and sheep in their yards, which sometimes resulted in illnesses, such as echinococcosis, a parasitic disease associated with tapeworms.

"Now the animals have separate sheds, and the villagers no longer have to suffer the smell of cow dung in their yards in the summer," the official said.

One elderly villager named Lhakpa said she felt sorry for Phurbu Tsering because he always seemed to be tied down with work and barely had enough time to rest.

"I regard him as a good leader, and we are happy to have him in the village," said the 73-year-old.

"When I was young, there often wasn't enough food to go around, but life is good now, with abundant food and other necessities.

"In the past, we sometimes didn't even have the ingredients for tsamba, whereas now we have so much food that we can get sick of eating tsamba - even the dogs don't want it!"

palden_nyima@chinadaily.com.cn