|
||
| THIS WEEK | |||
MONGOLIAN WINTER
INTRODUCTION
MONGOLIA - HOME OF THE LEGENDARY CONQUEROR GENGHIS KHAN AND A VAST
COUNTRY OF NOMADIC HERDERS, WHO PASS THEIR ANIMALS DOWN FROM GENERATION
TO GENERATION. IT HAS EXPERIENCED ITS HARSHEST WINTER SNOWSTORMS IN THIRTY
YEARS. TWO AND A HALF MILLION ANIMALS HAVE BEEN WIPED OUT, THREATENING
THE LIVELIHOODS OF ITS PEOPLE. VOA’S LETA HONG FINCHER JUST TRAVELLED TO
THE MONGOLIAN COUNTRYSIDE TO GET A FIRST-HAND LOOK AT THE IMPACT OF THE
DISASTER. SHE INTRODUCES US TO TWO FAMILIES WHOSE LIVES MAY NEVER BE THE
SAME.
NARRATION
DARIMAA IS A 58-YEAR-OLD ANIMAL HERDER LIVING IN MONGOLIA’S UVURHANGAI
PROVINCE. FOR YEARS, DARIMAA AND HER FAMILY WERE COMFORTABLY HERDING 400
ANIMALS. BUT STARTING LAST SEPTEMBER, THEY WERE HIT WITH BRUTAL SNOWSTORMS,
A NATURAL DISASTER WHICH MONGOLIANS CALL THE DZUD.
DARIMAA
“Before the dzud, everything was all right. But then it started snowing
heavily and the animals got very weak and began to die. We bought as much
feed as we could afford, but it wasn’t enough.”
NARRATION
THE TEMPERATURE DROPPED TO MINUS 46 DEGREES CENTIGRADE AT TIMES, AND
KILLED 300 OF DARIMAA’S ANIMALS, LEAVING HER FAMILY WITH ONLY A QUARTER
OF THEIR ORIGINAL HERD. ALMOST HALF A MILLION NOMADIC HERDERS IN MONGOLIA,
ABOUT A FIFTH OF THE COUNTRY’S POPULATION, HAVE BEEN DEVASTATED BY THE
DZUD.
FOR HERDERS LIKE DARIMAA, ANIMALS ARE THEIR ONLY SOURCE OF FOOD, TRANSPORT, AND HEAT. NOW, HER FAMILY HAS TO RELY ON EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR FOOD, AND EVEN THAT ISN’T ENOUGH.
DARIMAA
“The government promised to give each family 10 kilos of flour and
10 kilos of rice, but so far we only got the rice.”
NARRATION
SINCE THE END OF WINTER, DARIMAA’S FAMILY HAS MOVED CONSTANTLY IN SEARCH
OF BETTER PASTURE FOR THE 100 SHEEP THAT STILL REMAIN, AND TO ESCAPE THE
CARCASSES, WHICH PILE UP WITH EACH NEW DEATH.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS ORDERED HERDERS TO BURN OR BURY ALL THE CARCASSES FROM THE DZUD. BUT MOST HERDERS CAN ONLY USE ANIMAL DUNG FOR FUEL.AND THE BEST DUNG COMES FROM COWS, WHO WERE THE FIRST TO DIE. SO THE CARCASSES REMAIN.
AND EVEN SOME OF THE BEST, MOST EXPERIENCED HERDERS ARE BARELY ABLE TO COPE WITH THE SCALE OF THEIR LOSS... SUCH AS THE VETERAN HERDER SUMYA. THIS SIXTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD GRANDFATHER USED TO BE ONE OF THE WEALTHIEST HERDERS IN THE SOUTHERN GOBI REGION OF MONGOLIA.
LAST YEAR, SUMYA MOVED HIS CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN AND 1200 ANIMALS NORTH TO UVURHANGAI PROVINCE, IN HOPES OF FINDING BETTER GRASSLAND. INSTEAD, HE FOUND THE DZUD, WHICH KILLED 900 OF HIS HERD.
SUMYA
“I’ve been a herder ever since I can remember. I tended animals for
many, many years and I was always in the top five herders in my district.
It was only this year that I lost so many animals.
NARRATION
USUALLY AROUND THIS TIME OF YEAR, SUMYA’S FAMILY WOULD BE LIVING WELL
OF THE FOOD AND DAIRY PRODUCTS FROM THE HERD. BUT NOW, THEY CAN ONLY TAKE
THE WOOL FROM THEIR DEAD ANIMALS TO SELL IN MONGOLIA’S CAPITAL ULAN BATOR,
350 KILOMETERS NORTHEST FROM HERE.
THIS IS A COUNTRY OF NOMADS AND MOVING IS IN THEIR BLOOD. BUT NO MATTER HOW FAR OR OFTEN THEY MOVE, IT WILL BE YEARS BEFORE MONGOLIAN HERDERS RECOVER FROM THIS DISASTER.
LETA HONG FINCHER,VOA-TV, UVURHANGAI, MONGOLIA.
