Two boys laugh in Qumalai county's Qumahe Primary School on the day in July 2013 that their school received three solar panels from the nonprofit StepUp!.

A boy stands on a pile of rocks as strong winds sweep snow from the peak of a mountain in Yege township in July 2011.

Children eat outside at Yege Primary School in 2011. The tent that served as their wintertime canteen has since been replaced by a building in the isolated nomadic community.

A ram is transported in the back of a pickup truck after being purchased from a tent-dwelling nomad far from any road in Qinghai province's Yushu prefecture in 2011.

A ram is transported in the back of a pickup truck after being purchased from a tent-dwelling nomad far from any road in Qinghai province's Yushu prefecture in 2011.

More nomads who rode horses and yaks several years ago are using motorcycles and cars to get around.

Qumahe Primary School’s principal Youngdingqupai stands next to solar panels donated by a nonprofit in July 2013 in Qinghai province’s Qumalai county.

Qumahe Primary School’s principal Youngdingqupai stands next to solar panels donated by a nonprofit in July 2013 in Qinghai province’s Qumalai county.

Chenlee Shira plays with a yak calf in Yege township in July 2013. The 13-year-old’s nomadic parents camp on the mountains close to the school so the boy can return on weekends.

The sun drops behind a mountain behind a Tibetan Buddhist holy site along the road leaving Qinghai province’s Yushu prefecture.

People do business on the streets in Yushu prefecture’s seat in Qinghai province in July 2013.

People do business on the streets in Yushu prefecture’s seat in Qinghai province in July 2013.

A girl waits outside Yege Primary School’s teachers’ dorms.

A girl waits outside Yege Primary School’s teachers’ dorms.

People do business on the streets in Yushu prefecture’s seat in Qinghai province in July 2013.

People do business on the streets in Yushu prefecture’s seat in Qinghai province in July 2013.

Chenlee Shira (left), 13, and classmates study in July 2013 in a classroom built after the 2010 magnitude-7 Yushu quake damaged their previous class building.

Chenlee Shira (left), 13, and classmates study in July 2013 in a classroom built after the 2010 magnitude-7 Yushu quake damaged their previous class building.