Herdswoman Tamdrin’s Life.docVIP

Herdswoman Tamdrin’s Life 　　The Village of Namseling lies in a valley of South Tibet. There the industrial structure mainly centers on traditional animal husbandry. Namseling has a meadow about of 800 hectare. By day， most villagers drive their fl ocks and herds to graze on the grassland， and in the evening they drive their animals back to enclose them at home. However， even today， there are still a few families herding on the mountains all year round and living a nomadic life， so does Tamdrin. On the morning of July 4th， 2012， accompanied by Tasang， my interpreter， I interviewed Tamdrin in her house. She was helping her eldest daughter to take care of her one month old granddaughter. Her husband and eldest son-inlaw were at work in the pasture on the mountain. Tamdrin is 48 this year. She is a resident at Group 2 in the Village of Namseling. There are fi ve people in the family， including the Tamdrin couple， two daughters and a granddaughter. Her eldest daughter is 23 this year. Her eldest son-in-law lives with them but his registration is in Group 3 and hasn’t been moved to his new family. Her little daughter is now only 14 years old and a student in junior high school. The Tamdrin’s house was built in 2010. It is a two storey building supported by eight columns， occupying a total about 130 square meters and a little smaller than the other houses in the village. When the house was built， she received a subsidy of 15 thousand Yuan in total from the government’s Settle Down Program. She borrowed 10 thousand from the bank and more than 10 thousand from her relatives. Now， her loan from both the bank and her relatives remains. After the house was completed， Tamdrin moved in. The house has Tibetan furniture， a TV set and a DVD player. Even so， Tamdrin says， “I would rather live on the mountain because all my family is there. Living on the mountain is free and easy.” I asked her why therefore she built a house in the village. Tamdrin replied， “I did it for my ch