Not so pretty new houses

The house sits on the bottom of a slope, it is colorful though apparantly needs some new paint. As a part of the house, a rock pile acts as a shrine with prayer's flags balanced in the middle.

The young woman is the only one in the house, her husband has gone up the mountain to collect firewood. By the front door is a rooted wild orchid. The husband found it on the mountain. It should sell for a good price in the city.

The woman talks to us while playing with the fire stick. She is quite young, speaks very good Mandarin Chinese, and even colors her hair in dark maroon.

They bought this house on borrowed money. Her husband was born and raised in this town, his family's house not far up the mountain. They have only a tiny piece of land. With her husband out doing labor work and her poor health, the land is left unattended. There is no running water, a pipe directs mountain stream down to one central location. One of her chores is to fetch water with a wheelbarrow.

One thing is on the mind for every family in the village. They are asked to build new houses by the road. The reason, to have a nice impression on the higher officials and tourists, to give Tibetan villages a new good, a prosper look. And for this look, families like this one have to borrow a lot more money and buy materials from the governement for a higher price. Furthermore, they have no where to get a loan. Their situation does not qualify them at the banks.

"Where can we possibily find that much money?!", says the woman.

I remember seeing new houses by the road, each village has a uniformed roof color. They too, are the result of the new policy. A policy that will drag some families to the abyss of endless debt.

What tells this young girl apart from others in the village is that she is brave enough to talk. But where can I bring her message to? Where? And after showing it to others, what help I can bring to them? A friend of mine told me not to make others' problem yours. But if there is anything I can do, I want to.