Mundgod Work n' Family

McKown, Collen. “Tibetan Resident of Mundgod Settlement on Family and Work”. The Tibet Post International. 26 September 2011.

This article explores the family and work difficulties of a single family, Tenzin Choney (26). Choney’s family consists of her husband (45), uncle (95), and daughter (2). Her uncle and mother left Tibet in 1959 and came to India where Choney was born. Choney spent 4 years in the Indian Army where she trained in yoga, rock climbing and helicopter jumping but she is now a stay at home mother where she cares for her daughter and uncle. Her uncle suffers from poor eyesight and hearing which,h if they choose, could cost Rs 10,000  to fix. Her husband only makes Rs 1,000 a month through catering and food service. They say  that there are more jobs elsewhere such as Bylakuppe where Choney’s husband is from but her uncle has no desire to leave. The monsoons have been so heavy that farming is much too difficult. In the past everyone could work on the farms but now this begins to lessen.

The Central Tibetan Administration use to contribute Rs 2,000 every 4 months to help with her uncle but then stopped coming. It seems that the only way to have a financially stable home is to send someone abroad to earn a greater income but this is not a possibility for a family like Choney’s.

Although the story seemed so narrow it brought some realizations or images that I had not imagined. The article mentioned adult refugee settlement homes. I figured that all elderly lived with here family like Choney’s uncle but this is not the case. I am semi interested in how these function and work. What medicines do they take there? What kinds of food do they eat in the homes?

Also, the Idea of intense monsoons have me worried whether there will be farms for me to study and help work on.