All the children are needed
“Minee huu serere! Minee ohin sereree!” (Wake up, my sons! Wake up, my daughters!) The children reluctantly lift the thick woollen blankets and face the glacial morning air. During the summer months, children’s assistance with the sheep is essential, as Sereeter and Ayushjav’s life revolves around the milking of the mares, which takes place every two hours.
Boarding school is the only way
When the others are at school and she is alone with her parents, she is the one who helps her father gather the sheep. She says she likes to be alone with her parents but this year, Narantsetseg will also leave for school. Her parents know they will all be lonely, but sending the children away to school is the only way to educate them.
A horse for every member of the family
The children put on pants and their “deel”, the traditional tunic worn by men and women. They wrap their feet with strips of cotton cloth before pulling on their boots and grabbing their saddles. Every member of the family has a horse. They are vital to existence in a country with great distances between sparsely populated areas. After breakfast the two boys Narankhuuwill et Naransambuu will bring their younger sister with them. They are off to take the 1000 sheep out on the steppe, as they do every day during their two-month school holiday.
