Before the earthquake, Pugkel lived with his wife, their five children and his young brother in a 60-sqaure meter house he bought in 2005 in Xihang road in the southeastern part of Jiegu town. Pugkel was once a nomadic herdsman, moving with his herd across the vast grassy plateau. However, in 2004, the government launched a relocation program in the name of environmental protection. With few other options available to him, Pugkel sold his 40 yaks, 40 sheep and 10 horses for a total of 160,000 yuan (US 23,000) and tought a small house in Jiegu.
According to Pugkel, “My family lived in a tent and led a nomadic life on the grasslands, where we could move around freely, and easily provide for our herd with the plentiful water and lush grass of the plateau.z” Adding,“”One yak could be sold for 4,000 yuan, one sheep for 400 yuan (US58), so a household could make an average of over 100,000 yuan (US14,600) each year.”
According to Karma Rinchen, Deputy Chief of Jiegu Town, the town has become home to over 300 migrants like Pugkel since 2004.
During the earthquake, Pugkel’s brother was seriously injured and has since been moved to Xi’ning, the provincial capital, for medical treatment. His two sons and two daughters have been sent back to his hometown village of Xiaosumang, 90 kilometers (56 miles) away from Jiegu. He is now living temporarily with his wife and his two-year-old young son inside the tent guarding the ruins of his home.
Most migrants live along the hillsides of the northwest and southwest parts of the town. Having abandoned nomadic traditions that had endured for generations, many were hopeful of a new, more modern life inside of the town. Now their dreams lie in ruins.
Since arriving in town, Pugkel has been unable to find a stable job. Apart from occasional work in local construction projects, his family’s major source of income has depended on Pugkel traveling into the countryside each May to dig for cordyceps, a precious herbal medicine. In recent years, the price of cordyceps has skyrocketed, and is now comparable to the price of gold. Even so, Pugkel is unable to make more than 100,000 yuan (US14,600) each year.
Pugkel’s neighbor, Khamtrul Drolma told NewsChina that Tibetans without fixed jobs or a stable income tend not to save money. “When we make money, we use it to either build houses or buy jewelry. So when our house fell apart, we lost everything.” “The price of my house had increased to 250,000 yuan (US36,600). But now I have nothing,” explained Pugkel. “Now I want to go back to the countryside. Many of my friends and neighbors have packed up and moved back to their hometowns.”
Nyima Gyatse, the teacher from the Yushu Vocational Technological School, also expressed his opinion of the difficulty now faced by nomadic migrants. “We Tibetans used to have an old saying, ‘if a family owns a yak, then the whole family won’t be hungry, for a yak provides us with meat, milk, butter and clothing.’ But in this town, without a permanent job or stable income, it’s hard to even survive.”
Waiting for Tomorrow
In the dazzling mid-afternoon sun, Wang Xiaodong and Zhu Yanxia, a couple from Henan Province in central China, sit chatting with their neighbors. Wang and Zhu came to Jiegu last year to open a shop. Now they live in a makeshift tent made from plastic sheets next to what remains of their business.
Yet despite the quake and its aftermath, Zhu Yanxia has no intention of leaving Jiegu. She and her husband are now waiting to reopen their shop. “The business has only just started to make some money. So we won’t leave.”
With supplies at a minimum, a number of robberies have occurred within the town. Many shop owners have hidden their shop signs with cloth or reinforced the doors with iron bars.
Zhu Yanxia’s Tibetan neighbor Tenzin Nyima and his family haven’t acquired a tent either. Tenzin Nyima’s head and left leg were badly injured during the quake. Yet despite his injuries Tenzin now sleeps on a wooden plank.
Yumco Chodra, aged 14, and the daughter of Danzeng Nima, is a student at the town’s local primary school. She is now waiting for the school to reopen. According to Yinding Cuomao, a mathematics teacher at the school, with the support of numerous NGOs, the school distributed food and bottled water to children every day. A charity fund has been started to help build portable houses for students as temporary classrooms.
In the immediate aftermath of the quake, Jiegu was littered with debris, and homeless dogs with muddy, twisted hair wandered aimlessly along the streets. But as of April 17, bulldozers, rescue workers, student volunteers sporting red armbands, Tibetan monks and soldiers began to collect garbage and clean the streets. It may take weeks, even months, but the people here are determined not to let their homes become relics of a ghost town.
