LHASA - Pandor, 37, has never been pregnant or married, but she is a proud mother to 22 children.

Born in Shigatse, a city in the Tibet autonomous region close to Nepal, Bhutan and India, she said she learned her mothering skills "on the job".

Six years ago, Pandor, who like many Tibetans only uses one name, moved to the regional capital, Lhasa, where she found work at a children's home. The facility, which cared for orphans from newborns up to senior-college students, was looking for women to manage family units.

"We divided 300 children into 18 families and assigned a full-time 'mother' to each of them," explained Norbu Drolma, director of the institute.

"We wanted our mothers to be different from a teacher or supervisor. We wanted to give these kids a home, and a mother to go home to," Norbu Drolma said.