Herdsmen on horseback help with prevention measures in remote village

On the morning of Jan 26, Khalmehmet Kuxyan, a 46-year-old Kazakh herdsman in Khujirt, a small village in Ili Kazakh autonomous prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, led nine companions on horseback to the government headquarters and asked to meet Li Dong, the local Party chief.

Using broken Mandarin, it took Khalmehmet Kuxyan two minutes to make the chief understand that he and his fellow herdsmen were asking if they could help local cadres with prevention measures amid the rising number of novel coronavirus pneumonia cases in the area.

"I told Li to trust us because we are familiar with this area, and as the sons of nomads who have lived here for ages, it is time for us to unite and do something for our community," Khalmehmet Kuxyan said.

Back in the days when nomads roamed the Ili Valley, Kazakh tribesmen often organized cavalry troops comprising 10 men to patrol the meadows and protect herdsmen.

Today, faced by a new enemy in the shape of the virus, such groups have taken up their mission to protect people living in the small village of Khujirt in the Ili Valley.

In winter, heavy snowfall and intense cold make communication between the 200 scattered households and the outside world difficult.

"Most of the time here in winter, modern transportation cannot get through, making travel on horseback a vital means of communication," Khalmehmet Kuxyan said. After getting permission from the village committee, the horsemen divided into two teams and began to work in shifts.

During their daily patrols from 11 am to 10 pm, the teams tell people about epidemic prevention measures, dissuade locals from gathering, and look for potential safety hazards. Meanwhile, since the local bazaar has been closed, the riders have become deliverymen, meeting villagers' daily needs.

"If there is anything they need, including fruit, vegetables and medicine, we will deliver it to their doorstep. But things do not always go smoothly in the winter," Khalmehmet Kuxyan said.

The youngest member of the team, 23-year-old university student Tasken Tilis, knows this only too well.

"I was actually taking a holiday at home, when I heard that Khalmehmet Kuxyan wanted to organize a team to help people in our village. I offered my services without hesitation," Tasken Tilis said.

Two weeks ago, he and his teammates were delivering medicine to a herdsman living dozens of kilometers away. On the way back, it began to snow hard as darkness fell.

"The snow was heavy, we could barely see, and suddenly my horse and I fell into a deep drift. I struggled to get out, but no matter how hard we pulled, the horse remained stuck," Tasken Tilis said.

The team members decided to dig a path in front of the horse, but as they were doing this, their gloves froze. They took them off and continued to dig with their bare hands. Twenty minutes later, they finally extricated the horse.

"It was almost midnight when I reached home. My shoes and hat were as hard as stone, and I could barely feel my nose," Tasken Tilis said.

"Although we are familiar with a particular route, and some of us are experienced herdsmen, we cannot say that everything is going to be all right. However, this incident did not deter me from my mission. I can take any challenge."

The team has now been working for nearly two months, and nobody wants to quit.

Li, the Party chief, said: "At the start, I did not realize their patrols and deliveries would be so helpful to our village. But as we did not have enough staff to cope with everything, we gave it a try. Now, I think everyone in the village appreciates the herdsmen's impressive efforts."