Demberel
Basic information
Interviewee ID: 990284
Name: Demberel
Parent's name: Gombo
Ovog: don't know
Sex: f
Year of Birth: 1926
Ethnicity: Halh
Additional Information
Education: graduated a literacy group
Notes on education:
Work: retired
Belief: Buddhist
Born in: Erdenesant sum, Töv aimag
Lives in: Dashinchilen sum (or part of UB), Bulgan aimag
Mother's profession: herder
Father's profession: herder
Themes for this interview are:
(Please click on a theme to see more interviews on that topic)
work
childhood
privatization
keepsakes / material culture
cultural campaigns
Alternative keywords suggested by readers for this interview are: (Please click on a keyword to see more interviews, if any, on that topic)
To read a full interview with Demberel please click on the Interview ID below.
Summary of Interview 090732A with Demberel
G. Demberel was a famous milkmaid of Dashinchilen sum, Bulgan aimag in the socialist period. She talked in detail about the work and labor history of the thousands of milkmaids of Mongolia. When reading the history she has told us, we see that the milkmaids of that time worked energetically and with a very specific schedule. One wonders if the milkmaids in fact had time to sleep and rest or not? She was born in 1926 on Bathaan mountain of Erdenesant sum of Bulgan aimag. From her childhood she was raised by her parents and tended livestock. She disliked attending school and liked to tend livestock.
She recalled that when she was small, it was the time of the repressions and her dad used to go with a camel caravan to Beijing. At the time of establishing of the collectives they joined the collective quite late, but she worked as a milkmaid there and then retired. When working as a milkmaid, she used to get up at 2 a.m. and milk the cows then she milked them again at 3 pm. She talked in depth about the non-stop work of the herders on the milk-cow farm. In addition to all of her work she didn’t just sit around and she raised her children and took part in other collective work activities.
At that time those who worked well were elected to be the deputies. She was elected the aimag deputy three times for a period of three years and in total she has been a deputy for nine years. In order to participate the aimag deputies’ session there were times when she took along her baby in diapers. It was an interesting to hear where and with whom she left her baby when participating in the meeting. She shared a funny reminiscence about going to Moscow after being selected for her good work in 1972. She talked about visiting all the sums of Bulgan sharing her experience as a good milkmaid and how she was being called a special person in Bulgan. When looking back at her work and life, she didn’t hide the fear at the thought of how she would cope with all this milkmaid work and delivering and raising nine children. She also said that her children have raised the livestock obtained from the privatization and some of them became herders with a thousand head of livestock. She criticized the present-day people for their laziness and helplessness. They always look for something prepared (instead of working for it themselves).
