A Dedicated Civil Servant
Residents of Boidoi Village consider Dekyi Yangzom their “Ajiao” (“sweetest, most reliable person”). Six years ago, however, these same people had completely different opinions when 23-year-old college graduate Yangzom was appointed deputy secretary of the Party committee of Boidoi Village in Caina Township, Chushur County of Lhasa City in Tibet Autonomous Region.
“I doubt she’ll last a month!” some grumbled. “Can a college girl endure this kind of hardship?”
After growing up in a city, Dekyi Yangzom was indeed shak-en. “When I arrived here, I felt distressed and sad,” she recalls. The living conditions in the village were far from comfortable. Young volunteers from Lhasa and nearby cities usually endured just a year before returning home. Due to her persistent personality and courage in the face of challenges, however, Dekyi chose to stay to make a difference by “doing something.”
In 2011, the local government carried out a “comfortable housing project” involving renovating houses in the village, in an effort to improve living standards. Dekyi and some colleagues paid doorto-door visits to houses to get measurements. While visiting, Dekyi made sure to talk with the residents and asked what help they needed. It turned out that villagers enjoyed dancing and hoped for some space to engage into such activities.
During peak harvest season, Dekyi Yangzom helps villagers operate a tractor. Xinhua“And there was no specific place for us to have a meeting,” Dekyi adds. “We used to stand in an alley or sit on ground. When a gust of wind came, we ate dust.” Dekyi wrote a report and sent it to the upper government to apply for a cultural center.
Since 2012, eight village communities in Boidoi successively welcomed new facilities for cultural activities and a small park for exercising. Their tumbledown clay houses have been upgraded into tidy two-story Tibetan-style buildings. Since villagers now have decent living space, Dekyi began considering how to increase their income.
Boidoi has little arable land and many mountains. Villagers used to farm highland barley and canola. Highland barley is a key staple of Tibetan people but doesn’t sell for much. The income from a year’s harvest of the crop barely makes ends meet.
So, with other village leaders, Dekyi promoted “Highland Barley 2000” a new strain of the crop especially for the village. She invited agricultural experts and technicians to guide work in the fields. That autumn, the harvest earned 700 yuan more per mu (about 667 square meters) than the previous year. She also encouraged villagers to grow crop plants like maca and raise chickens. She gave villagers training and referred them to jobs in cities.
Local villagers traditionally used cattle-pulled plows in the fields. Dekyi and her colleagues applied for a subsidy to set up a village-level agricultural machinery cooperative, the first of its kind in the region. So now, instead of animals, machines perform the most labor-intensive tasks of farming. Villagers can also rent the machinery to other villages to earn money.
Because of Dekyi’s efforts, villagers’ annual per capita income has increased from 6,000 to 10,200 yuan, 3,000 yuan higher than the average income in Tibet.
Dekyi is most concerned about poverty-stricken families. Upon hearing that a 70-year-old woman named Baima hoped to buy a new television in Lhasa to replace her broken one, Dekyi sent her own television to the old lady. During festivals, Dekyi visits impoverished villagers and gives them new shoes and clothes. Because of her passion for her work, villagers, young and old, all address her as “teacher” to show their gratitude.
Kunsang Dekyi, a deaf child in the village, seldom played with other children and couldn’t participate in normal school. Dekyi worried about him. “My cousin and cousin-in-law are both deaf,” she reveals. “They live in Lhasa and know sign language. They make crafts and lead happy lives.” She sent the child to Lhasa’s Association for the Deaf to learn from her cousin. Now, Kunsang Dekyi is becoming more open and lively.
One poor old woman named Penpa had trouble walking. She routinely gave her ID and bankbook to Dekyi and asked her to help withdraw money. “She is just like my daughter,” says the old lady.
During peak harvest season, Dekyi Yangzom and the villagers often have dinner in the fields. Xinhua Tibet in Growth
Tibet’s GDP soared from 327 million yuan in 1965 to 92.08 billion yuan (US$14.5 billion) in 2014, a 281-time increase. Under the system of regional ethnic autonomy, Tibet’s economic and social development has achieved leapfrog development by constantly reaching higher levels. Since 1994, the local GDP has grown at an annual rate of 12.4 percent on average, registering double-digit growth for 20 consecutive years. Local fiscal revenues increased from 22.39 million yuan in 1965 to 16.475 billion yuan in 2014, an average annual increase of 14.46 percent, further enhancing Tibet’s self-development capabilities.