Everyday Exile

An Activist...to Be or Not to Be...

2012-02-15T06:44:00.000+05:30

I never planned to be an activist. When I arrived in McleodGanj, I was seeking respite from unforeseen challenges of traveling in India as a single white female. I had no idea that I would find myself writing profiles of former political prisoners for an NGOs newsletter. I certainly had no idea that the Tibetans' plight would resonate so strongly with me that I would travel back and forth across the globe repeatedly, relying on donations from fellow Tibet supporters, to continue trying to bring these stories to a broader audience.

Being an activist is exhausting work. You speak up for what you believe in, knowing it is something the world “at large” does not want to hear. You pass along information throughout the day every day with virtually no acknowledgment or result. You are told not to waste your time or energy by those who would have you believe its better to accept what they see as inevitable.

I have been “home”, at a desk, collecting and passing on second hand information from internet resources for four months, now, and often find myself examining excuses for not going back to the center of exile activism.

I ask myself repeatedly, do I have what it takes to return to cover the crisis inside Tibet from the exile communities of India & Nepal? Can I face the challenges of living in a community where desperation and despair are below the surface of almost every aspect of life? What about the health issues I face whenever I go to India, and a host of new dietary concerns?

Yet, I am merely fooling myself by staying in the US and thinking this is any easier. Even if I made the decision never to pursue activism on behalf of Tibet again, I have already seen too much to ever be at peace.

Even here, I have visions of Chinese police beating Tibetans and Tibet supporters for imagined indiscretions. Almost every day, I have visions of someone in flames. Sometimes they are strangers, as if I'm watching footage of the self-immolations clandestinely passed to exile media. Sometimes I picture Tibetan friends taking up the action in Delhi or Dhasa. Sometimes I even wonder what it would be like, to be forced to live in such a way that I was driven to take action, myself.

No matter where my body is, my mind will never be free of Tibet's struggle until Tibet itself is “free”. Free, at the least, to choose its own leaders and make its own policy, free enough for all the former prisoners and torture victims to go back home legally and walk in public without fear, free enough for His Holiness to occupy the Potala Palace.

To quote John Lennon's song, “They may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. Some day you will join us, and the world will live as one.”

May that day come in our lifetime!

Bhod Gyalo!

Tibetan Parliament in Exile Statement

2012-01-28T00:35:00.004+05:30

The Tibetan Parliament in Exile has released the following video via TibetOnline.tv which includes a summary of the self-immolations, the shooting deaths at the hands of the Chinese over the past week, and an "Open Letter" to Chinese leader Hu Jintao.

(regretably the embed link does not work, so please follow THIS TEXT LINK )

Project Update: 22 January 2012

2012-01-23T06:46:00.004+05:30

Tashi delek.
Plans are finally starting to roll for the next phase of Everyday Exile's journeys in the Tibetan exile communities.
I will be returning to Nepal, to be followed by India, in the final week of May 2012 to resume my work.

2012 Goals include:
*Research current living conditions in Tibetan communities in Nepal (I will re-visit Boudha in greater Kathmandu & make my first trip to Pokhara, where there are 2 settlements I plan to explore).

*Visit to Ladakh, historically a Tibetan kingdom.

*Visit Darjeeling Tibetan community

*Visit to Kalimpong area with interest in The Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Cultural Institute School (ITBCI)

*Visit to Gangtok & Rumtek Monastery

*possible monastery/cultural tour of Sikkim dependent on permits

For those new to my project, I am chronicling stories of the Tibetan exile community and capturing the transition of Tibetan culture (Buddhism, arts, etc) in exile in modern times.
I will be visiting schools, monastic institutions, museums (where possible) & interacting with locals as much as possible in order to get the most broad and accurate information available about life in the exile communities across India & Nepal today.

I also cover exile community activism as related to current events inside Chinese-occupied Tibet. Should protests or community events related to these issues occur during my travels in any of these communities, I will cover them to the best of my ability.

Tibetan Film-Maker Ngawang Choephel Reflects on Need for Increased Activism Within Tibetan Exile Community

2012-01-03T01:15:00.005+05:30

Are we ignoring self-immolation?

The following letter was originally posted by Tibetan film-maker Ngawang Choephel ("Tibet in Song") on Monday, 2 January 2012 at 13:39 and is re-printed with permission:

"Now that 2012 has arrived, and reflecting upon the last year, I don’t personally think that 2011 was a good year for Tibet and its situation. For the few monks and political prisoners who have committed to our cause, it is painful to see them take such drastic measures, and to receive little or no result.

In 1997, when I was in prison, I heard news of Thupten Ngodup's self immolation in India. I may be wrong, but I believe he was the first Tibetan to burn himself to death. I was encouraged and energized, like all other political prisoners in Tibet because we felt that something would happen for Tibet. His act even though it was obviously sad that he had to sacrifice his life, it made us feel proud, and that our time in prison was worthwhile because we were unified in our cause and we thought that something would happen. When I had the chance to talk about it with other political prisoners, at that time in the late 1990s, they all felt that Tibetans in exile were doing more than Tibetans in Tibet, because since the late 1980’s there had not been any major protests in Tibet. I am sure that most of the Tibetans in Tibet who heard about Thupten Ngodup's historic sacrifice must have been inspired and moved. I personally felt a sort of physical link to what had happened, and thought there might be a breakthrough in the Tibetan movement from India.

Despite already knowing since birth about the endless suffering and genocide of Tibetan people, and the occupation of our land by the Chinese, I was actually personally experiencing this suffering in prison at that time. Hearing the news of Thupten Ngodup while in prison was a very unique time in my life and turning point. I felt like I was part of everything in real time. Throughout my prison term, I wished that my mother could understand the broader issue of Tibet, and that she could look past my individual suffering and our separation and understand that my time in prison was useful and meaningful.

After I was released, I was shocked to watch the 2008 protests in many different parts of Tibet which broke the silence we'd had since the late 1980’s. Tibetans in Tibet answered the Chinese leaders in a brave way and diverted the attention of all Tibetans from Chinese Communist propaganda and demonstrated their strong self awareness of who they really are despite the propaganda. It showed the failure of Chinese policy for the last 50 years and that Tibetan people still remain without freedom. It was brutally honest and current.

I was in LA when I heard that news, and was compelled to express my feelings by writing a few lines of a song which I then included in my film along with a segment of the 2008 protests in Tibet. I was editing my film at the time. While editing we had to look at the images over and over again. It would have been natural to get tired of looking at them. But while I was there in LA editing, and especially with the news of the 2008 protests, I never got tired of looking at the images of Tibetans. The more I watched, the more I felt part of them and inspired. I called a friend of mine in India to talk about the 2008 protest. I told her that I was not able to do anything, but that I had written a letter to the Senator. She said, “ Its very good that you are able to write such a letter, but we can only cry. We can’t do anything.” I remember I told her we also need people to cry.

A few months later, I was in Dharamsala, where I was reunited with two friends with whom I'd spent almost two years in prison in Tibet. They had served 10 and 11 years respectively as political prisoners. After their release, they both managed to escape from Tibet to India. The three of us were in a Tibetan restaurant, and their eyes filled with tears as we talked about 2008. It was surreal to see them in India, after our experience together in prison, but you never know what will happen, especially in the life of Tibetan people today.

Chairman Mao said to His Holiness Dalai Lama, that he would develop Tibet and then give it back after 20 something years, and likewise all Chinese soldiers have said the same thing to ordinary Tibetans - that they have just come to help temporarily and would return to China afterward. One of my former fellow prisoners told me that there must be an end one day to the Tibetan people's fate to stay under Chinese rule. He was only a little boy when China entered Tibet, and can only vaguely remember, but he remembered what his parents told him of their experiences, like all Tibetans. He really believed that China would go back one day, and he had hoped very strongly that this would have happened back in 2000. But have the Chinese forces gone back, or will they ever? They turned Tibet inside out, and now Tibetan people will no longer be able to recognize their own land and culture as Tibet or themselves as Tibetans.

Today, the identity of Tibetan people is at the threat of extinction, and Tibetan monks and nuns live in a nightmare world every day. As Abraham Lincoln said "It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time."
Finally, Tibetan monks answered the Chinese lies and inhumane treatment of Tibetan people by their courageous act of burning themselves to death with the thought that we support them. This made the most clear distinction between Tibetan determination and Chinese power and lies. Not just one or two or a few, but a total of 13 Tibetans have self-immolated in the past year. They have shown the real face of the Tibetan people and challenged the Chinese that only the truth and nothing else matters. Every time I hear the news of another Tibetan self-immolation, I go into deep thought with solitary tears.

With such historic events as 2008, and now such a huge scale of sacrifice of our brothers and sisters through self immolation, we were called upon, we who are left behind after their deaths. Those who sacrificed themselves believed that it would have some effect, but here we are left behind and still nothing has happened. I was expecting the current Tibetan leaders in exile to speak from their hearts and create a fire in every Tibetan in exile to join our brothers' and sisters' sacrifice to keep our spirit alive. I thought that the time had come for all Tibetans in exile to alter the focus of their lives and truly engage in our cause. Sadly, the response from our leaders has been the same oblivious answer and rhetoric; that Tibetans have self-immolated in order to seek international help. We may have done our part as messengers by reporting the news of their deaths, but we have not stood behind them with any personal sense of responsibility. If we had, then we would be protesting on a daily basis.

I may be wrong to ask, but what international help exactly are we asking for or hoping to get? How long can we live in expectation of someone else to help us? No government has executed their power to solve the Tibet issue the way they have done for Israel and Palestine. Instead, they have used Tibet as a pawn to benefit their relationship with China. Whenever they want to please China, they say Tibet is part of China. Whenever they want to displease China, they say there is a human rights issue in Tibet. No more, no less. Do we still expect to have international help and continue in our oblivious world creating awareness of Tibet for the last 50 years instead of doing something ourselves that is more meaningful and responsible?

My mom told me that when I was a political prisoner, it didn’t make sense for her to stay at home, that she wanted to do something that made her feel that she was taking action regardless of whether or not it would get me out of prison sooner. So she camped by herself at Jantar Mantar in Delhi for days every year.
We all know that Tibet is illegally occupied by China and that there is no freedom in Tibet. My mother knew that I was innocent. I am not trying to say that all Tibetans in exile have to camp on the street, but the situation is similar in that, regardless of whether it will have the effect we want or not, we should take some action.

We are now having the auspicious event of Kalachakra Initiation in Bodhgaya by His Holiness Dalai Lama. But do we ever stop to think, the only reason we can receive such blessing is because of freedom? If His Holiness Dalai Lama was in Tibet today, he would not be able to give a Kalachakra initiation. Without a free Tibet, we have no true religious freedom.

Our brothers and sisters who have self immolated have realized this scope of how important freedom is. Without it we are constantly in a shadow on this earth. Does it make sense for us to stay home and protest in a convenient style while our brothers and sisters have seen the truth so painfully that they have no choice but to burning their own life? I am currently in Bodhgaya for the Kalachakra Initiation. I see the thousands of people gathered for Kalachakra and it is inspiring but at the same time saddening because I wonder why we can't gather like this for our Tibetan cause, especially in appreciation for those who gave their lives thinking that we who are left behind will see the depth of their sacrifice and take action?

Its time for every single Tibetan in exile to justify their stand for Tibet. If not then we are betraying and separating ourselves from Tibetans in Tibet. It took just one self-immolation to change most of the Middle Eastern countries' protests. But after 13 self immolations in Tibet, the affect is slipping away, and it appears we will just forget about working to change the situation. No matter how different Arab countries and Tibet’s situation might be, there is something majorly wrong with the Tibetan freedom movement if Tibetans continue to self immolate and are for the most part ignored.

We may never get true international help, or China may never solve the issue of Tibet. But what matters now is that we realize that we need to give our best. If we do not, if we continue to come out to demonstrate a few times a year, or remember the importance of freedom only a few times in our lifetime, then we cannot call ourselves freedom fighters. To be a real freedom fighter once we commit to freedom, it must be part of us, every day. It must be the fire in our body just as the sun is to the Earth. With this new year in 2012, we must think at how much each life counts. That is why, even if one more person joins in action and commitment after reading this it will be worthwhile."

December 2011 Intl Human Rights Day Update

2011-12-10T20:10:00.003+05:30

Today is International Human Rights Day and the 22nd Anniversary of HH Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize Award. I would like to share with you the Statement of the Kashag (Tibetan Parliament) marking the date.

The Tibet Post International features a detailed article on this year's events in Tibetan human rights and coverage of the commemorative events in Tibetan exile communities.

A lot has happened in the year since I reported from Dharamsala on the last celebration of these occasions.

The human rights crisis in Tibet is even worse, at least in some areas, now. Many areas of Tibet are under lock down by Chinese CCP and police, particularly Ngaba, Amdo and Khardze, Kham since the monk protests and self-immolations began in March 2011.

Please keep the oppressed everywhere in mind, and do what you can to make sure they are not forgotten by the world's leaders.

~~~~~~~

Everyday Exile Project has been doing "behind the scenes" work in recent months. While this blog may be "quiet", there is activity happening.

There are still thousands of photos from the past two years to sort, organize and edit in preparation for planned publications. There are still articles to be completed and published.

Plans are still evolving regarding future travels and goals. Thank you for your continued attention to the Tibetan situation.

Ngaba Human Rights Crisis Worsens

2011-10-18T06:00:00.003+05:30

The human rights crisis in Ngaba, Amdo region of Tibet which has been on-going since spring 2011 continues to worsen.

9 Tibetans, most of them monks or former monks, and most recently (today, 17 October, 2011) a Buddhist nun, have set fire to themselves as a form of protest. Several have died as a result of injuries sustained by the flames, or by subsequent beatings by Chinese police trying to stop these protests.

In response, Tibetan government and NGOs in the exile capital of McleodGanj have created a series of events to increase awareness and pressure international governments to take action.

Here is the list of rallies & Tibet support events for 18-21 October in New Delhi, India... via Dhardon Sharling of Tibetan Womans Association (TWA)

Additional events are being held worldwide. There are a number of petitions circulating the internet.

Please pressure your government representatives to take a stand against the grave human rights violations committed by the Chinese which are prompting Tibetan people to take these drastic measure, which go against all the Buddhist teachings.

News from Exile, late September 2011

2011-09-28T13:16:00.003+05:30

*A three day conference regarding thefuture of the institution of Dalai Lama, and on the current (14^th)Dalai Lama's future reincarnation, was held from 21-25 September inDharamsala. Religious leaders from throughout the exile settlementsattended.

View His Holiness' statement.

*Tibetan parliament in exile verifies Kalon Tripa Lobsang Sangay's new cabinet member choices (article on Tibet Post Exile News page)

*26 September 2011 Morning … Newscoming out of Tibet that two 18 year old monks from Kirti Monasteryin Ngaba, Amdo, Tibet self-immolated earlier in the day. One survivedand is in hospital. One was the brother (other reports state cousin)of Phuntsok, a Kirti monk who also self-immolated this year in March.

International media including BBC and CBS covered the news from various angles. A later report from NY Times seemed more accurate from a local perspective.

*26 September Afternoon ...GadenJangtse Monks on peaceful protest and hunger strike march arrived inMcleodGanj on 26 Sept in early afternoon carrying Tibet flags andprinted material to distribute.

Sources say they will hold a hungerstrike near the main entry to HH Dalai Lama's main temple.

*26 September Evening candle lightvigil and march for the monks who sacrificed their lives (althoughsome reports say both survived in critical condition). Short entry with image on Phayul.

*27 September the Gaden Jangtse monksbegan a hunger strike across from the entrance to Tsuglakhang, themain temple of his Holiness Dalai Lama. Article on Phayul.

During the week, a 6 day prayer ceremony (puja or pooja) was held to commemorate all Tibetans who have sacrificed their lives for human rights and the future of an independent Tibet. Sponsors included the CTA Department of Religion and Culture and the former Tibetan "army". A short article ran on Yahoo News

Everyday Exile Project "Phase One" Nearing its End

2011-09-07T07:34:00.000+05:30

Tashi delek. Hello to all the "fans" and supporters of this page and my work in the Tibetan community.

I need to announce that Everyday Exile Project's "Phase One" is nearing its end.

What exactly does that mean?

It means that, after a total of 11 months living in Tibetan exile communities in India & Nepal, the time has come for a break. In early October I will be going back to the USA for several months.

But my work is by no means finished!

After a little "down time" to rest, reconnect with friends/family, and regain my strength and health with proper diet & medicine, I have a lot of data to process and share with you.

There are hundreds of photos from my stay which I have yet to edit or upload, for starters, plus I have several articles/blog posts to publish.

My plan is to return to Nepal in June 2012, where I intend to spend time in the Tibetan communities in Boudha and Pokhara gathering information and shooting cultural images.

Funds permitting, following that I will tour Ladakh (historically a part of Tibet). There are numerous other locations I hope to eventually research, as well.

I will be announcing new image post and articles over the coming months.

I will also be holding fundraiser sales/auctions of Tibetan handicrafts to finance the upcoming stage of this journey!

Thanks as always to those who donated money or kind words of support to date!

I need your help to continue this venture!

Leaving the Tibetan exile community temporarily does not mean I have in any way stopped supporting Tibet, its people, or am stopping my research/documentation!

Everyday Exile Press Release, August 2011

2011-08-23T15:50:00.000+05:30

Since returning to McleodGanj (Upper Dharamsala) after a stay in the Tibetan community in Nepal in mid-2011, Everyday Exile Project founder Tammy Winand has been focusing on researching Tibetan culture, creating photo essays on aspects of life in the exile capital, and interviewing Tibetan individuals and organizations on a variety of topics.

Ms. Winand has spoken to Tibetan film producers/directors, several Geshes from the three main monasteries which have been re-established in exile, the ANEC office in Dharamsala, and the newly elected Dharamsala regional Tibetan settlement officer.

In addition, Tammy speaks to community members from various “walks of life” on a regular basis. She covers community events and activism on a regular basis.

Ms. Winand is currently interviewing various strata of the Tibetan exile community regarding changes in Tibetan language and culture since the diaspora began in the late 1950's.

While teaching conversational English at the IBD (Institute of Buddhist Dialectics) class for Geshes, she is also speaking with students about their experiences in Tibet and since coming to India.

Ms. Winand publishes online in several places. Her main page is Everyday Exile Project, which you are viewing now.

Links to the following pages are in the right hand column of this blog:

A photojournalism blog featuring images of life in exile is maintained at Everyday Exile Photojournalism.

A facebook project fan page.

A CNN iReport profile where she writes about events in McleodGanj. Two of her reports have been fact-checked by CNN producers for use on the air.

To date, Tammy has written three articles for the exile page of The Tibet Post International news website.

Everyday Exile is more than 75% funded by donations. Funding is currently needed for a Tibetan language translator (est.$22 USD per month for 3 sessions), for monthly internet access ($22 USD per month), and for transportation to research and interviews in Mussoorie, Dehra Dun, Manali, and Tso Pema (please inquire directly for trip expenses).

Without donations, we cannot fund work in other settlements.

See our Support page for further details.

Thank you for your continued support and interest.

Sincerely,

Ms. Tammy Winand
Everyday Exile Project

Lobsang Sangay Swearing In Ceremony

2011-08-10T19:46:00.001+05:30

On Monday, 8 August, 2011, the 3rd Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) of the exiled Tibetan government, Dr. Lobsang Sangay, took the Oath of Office at Tsuglakhang, the main temple of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in McleodGanj, HP, India.

A crowd of distinguished guests, including HH the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, out-going Kalon Tripa Professor Samdhong Rinpoche, members of the Tibetan Parliament, Indian dignitaries, a large international media presence, and hundreds of excited onlookers, was present.

Dr Lobsang Sangay, His Holiness Dalai Lama, Professor Sandhong Rinpoche at the Swearing-In Ceremonies
Photo Courtesy David Huang

Opening speeches were made in both Tibetan and English, and the Kashag (Parliament) offered khatas to HH Dalai Lama as the event began. The Tibetan national anthem was sung, and Samdhong Rinpoche raised the Tibetan Snow Lion flag. According to tradition, butter tea and sweet rice were offered to His Holiness and and the main dignitaries.

Chief Justice Commissioner Ngawang Phelgyal administered the Oath of Office to Dr. Lobsang Sangay at 9 minutes and 9 seconds after 9am, which was chosen as an auspicious time. He received a standing ovation from the crowd, and was congratulated, and given an affectionate hug, by the Dalai Lama.

Dr Lobsang Sangay,L, with HH Dalai Lama After Taking Office -Photo Courtesy David Huang

Outgoing KT Samdhong Rinpoche made a speech offering his congratulations and well-wishes, speaking first in Tibetan followed by English. He spoke of the occasion as "a new chapter in Tibetan history", referring to events in the history of an independent Tibet, and declaring "this is the hardest and most testing period in Tibet's history". Professor Rinpoche praised the growth of democracy in the exile community under the guidance of HH Dalai Lama and said this transfer of power to "a new generation with modern education" would lead to "a new history for a common future". Following the speech, he transferred the Seal of Kashag to Dr Sangay, followed by a presentation of khata.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama made a speech in Tibetan, for which no translation was provided.

Dr. Lobsang Sangay's Acceptance Speech touched on many topics, mainly his promise to work for a genuine autonomy for Tibet and the goal of returning His Holiness to Tibet. "We will reach the mountain top of freedom and reunite Tibetans inside and outside Tibet," he declared, stressing that Tibet has no quarrel with the Chinese people. He emphasized that recent democratic election results have shown that "the Tibetan leadership is far from fizzling out".

Dr Sangay also heartily thanked India's government and people for their hospitality since 1959. He encouraged everyone to support the Lhakar Movement. He spoke of other initiatives including the establishment of a "Tibet Policy Institute" as well as a "Tibet Corps" (more details at the link below).

"Today, we are in the holy land of India, where the Lord Shakyamuni attained Buddhahood. Next we will meet in the holy land of Tibet, where Buddhism is the heart and soul of six million Tibetans. We are always ready to embark on this epic journey from Dharamsala, the abode of Dharma, to Lhasa, the abode of Gods. From the town where His Holiness the Dalai Lama lives, to the city where he belongs."

A full transcript of the Acceptance Speech can be found on the official webpage of the Central Tibetan Administration.

Short Profile: Tibetan Youth Actor/Activist Tsering Norbu

2011-07-31T16:46:00.007+05:30

In late April 2011, former TCV Upper (Dharamsala) student Tsering Norbu was involved in an automobile accident (hit and run) which left him with severe spinal cord injuries. After extensive surgery and treatment, Tsenor was released from hospital in Delhi in mid-July.

He is considered paraplegic (ie paralyzed from waist down) and his friends say the medical staff have told them there is little hope he will walk again.

Here is the latest update written by his friend Lhakpa Tsering (paraphrased):

“Tsenor will be admitted to Tibetan Medical Centre ( Mentsekhang ) for Three months. If It he improves, he will be there for more than a year. Mentsekhang is giving full treatment for free, we have to pay only salary for caretaker...Please help me to recover my debt of Indian Rs 97,340/-” (approx $2195 USD) in medical expenses to date).

Tsering, known to his friends as Tsenor, is a 28 year old who came alone to exile in India as a youth.

After completing his studies at TCV he became involved in local theatre productions. He appeared in "Richard Gere is My Hero" and several local stage and video productions.

Comments from Tsenor's colleagues in the community:

Dorjee Tseten, campaign director of SFT India local McleodGanj, said:

“I know him personally and worked with him during a our volunteer initiatives on democratic awareness in public through stage play on recent Kalon Tripa and Chithue elections. He is a brilliant actor and very active and forward in doing any community service through his talent”

Tenzin Tsundue, writer, political activist and newly elected President of RTYC Dharamsala, wrote:

“Tsenor is essentially a rare Tibetan theatre man, making his small living out of waiting at the table in TCV coffee shop in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala. Besides acting in the famed "Richard Gere is My Hero", as one of the 'good for nothing' Mcleod youth, he has always held the stage close to his life. He has pushed the limits of performance in the almost non-existent modern Tibetan theatre, and still he has been the ubiquitous stage performer, singer, joker, stand-up comedian. He even did a hip-hop routine as a filler in a young Tibetan pop singer.”

Tenor in a Local Tibetan Production

Tsenor and Fellow Actor Activists at Event in Chandigarh

Tsenor

Images above by Dorjee Tseten used with permission:

Additional Images and info can be found at Dorjee Tseten's photos to raise awareness of Tsenor's situation.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the medical expenses can send donations in following account. Account holder:- lhakpa Tsering Bank account number:- 30318619520 Swift Code = SBI NIN BB 676 Bank:- State Bank Of India. Bank Branch no:- 4250 Bank address :- P/O Mcleodganj Dharamshala District Kangra H.P India Pin - 176219

Ngawang Choephel: Tibet in Song Interview

2011-07-18T21:09:00.001+05:30

“Tibet in Song”, an award winning musical and cultural documentary, premiered in McleodGanj, capital of Tibet-in-exile, on 23 June, 2011, with a screening for officials of the Central Tibetan Administration. The film was originally released in 2009 at the Sundance Film Festival and had its US opening in Manhattan in 2010.

Tibet in Song is a multi-layered story by musician Ngawang Choephel, who was raised in a Tibetan exile community in South India and trained at TIPA, the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in McleodGanj, during his late teens. He later received a Fulbright Scholarship to study music in the US.

In 1995, Ngawang, accompanied by a western photographer, made the decision to return to Tibet, seeking to document the country's threatened folk music heritage. The pair traveled extensively and shot many hours of footage before Ngawang was arrested by the Chinese for “espionage” and “counter-revolutionary” activities. He was eventually sentenced to 18 years imprisonment plus a further 4 years loss of “political rights”.

After extensive campaigning for his release by his mother and numerous human rights activists and groups, Ngawang was released in 2002 on “medical parole”. He had been hospitalized for an extensive period for bronchitis, pulmonary infection and hepatitis.

Ngawang, who was in McleodGanj for the first Tibetan exile screening of his film, spoke with me about his reasons for filming this documentary, as well as his views on the music scene in contemporary Chinese-occupied Tibet and the exile communities.

It was witnessing the changes in Tibetan music coming out of occupied-Tibet that pushed him to make the journey to film the traditions before they disappeared completely.

Ngawang cites his earliest artistic influences as being the Bollywood films he and his friends attended in their youth. When he came to McleodGanj and joined TIPA in 1985, he gradually lost interest in Bollywood films and felt more connected with his Tibetan heritage . “Tibetan music was more real”, he explains.

He recalled the music from his early childhood in Tibet, and knew that music coming out of Chinese-occupied Tibet was far different. He explained that from 1965-1975, many cultural traditions, including music, were banned by Chinese authorities. Performers who did not comply with new restrictions were subject to imprisonment or even killed. From that period until the present, Tibetan music has to pass a Chinese censorship board. He feels the only authentic music with a “Tibetan identity”, a message of Tibetan unity and for independence, comes out of Amdo province, the far northeast of Tibet. Amdo is not subject to the same level of restrictions as the TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) where the majority of pop artists record and perform.

The music and dance he went to record, he says, is “everything that makes a Tibetan Tibetan”. It contained everything from messages of the common people's daily lives an stories of their faith to descriptions of the beauty of the universe. In his words it was “pure”, originating before Indians brought Buddhism to the Tibetan plateau.

Asked whether we could compare current Tibetan stars such as Kunga, Sherten and Yadon to the traditional music his film originally intended to document, Ngawang says there is little relation. He compares the difference to the disparity between bluegrass and modern rock and roll. Contemporary music, he says, is partially a result of the repression of Tibetan culture and has also been influenced by youth growing up forced to listen to Chinese “propaganda music”.

Regarding the music scene emerging from Tibet in Exile, Ngawang feels the lyrical content is heavily influenced by the current political situation. He says this music has very little traditional influence and was subject to an “unnatural progression”. Many exile musicians, he says, lack professional training and are too impatient to produce CDs. They rely heavily on synthesizers and studio musicians, often from Nepali recording studios, whose own Nepali training gives the music a different cultural influence.

He feels TIPA has done an “excellent job” of preserving Tibetan cultural traditions, but that still more needs to be done. Ngawang, who has also taught music, would like to see “workshops” for young Tibetan musicians.

Ngawang now makes his home in the USA. This trip for the screenings in exile is the first time he has been in McleodGanj in roughly 2 years. He told me he feels the place is now mainly a tourist area, and a transitional place for Tibetans rather than a permanent community. Most of the people he knew when he lived here have already moved on. He also feels the tensions between the local cultural groups and Tibetans have increased dramatically since the 1980s.

Asked about his own current and future plans, Ngawang said he is ready “at any time” to work to preserve and promote Tibetan culture, particularly music. He hinted this may include working with the Tibetan government in exile in some capacity.

“Tibet in Song” itself not only documents traditional Tibetan music and dance, but interweaves the story of Ngawang's imprisonment (get more info online). The film is scheduled to be made available for sale on the website and in other outlets by August 2011.

Everyday Exile Recent Events

2011-07-07T08:53:00.000+05:30

Since the last week of June, Everyday Exile has been busy with interviews and covering events in the Tibetan community.

We covered the RTYC Candlelight Vigil for the Tibetans who are protesting and facing human rights violations in Khandze, Kham, Tibet. The article posted on CNN iReport was picked up and used on CNN. You can view it at Candlelight Vigil for Khandze.

We attended and covered the two-day, Second Legal Education and Awareness Workshop for Tibetans in India, a joint effort of Human Rights Law Network and 4 major Tibetan community NGOs. The article appeared on Tibet Post International's Exile News page HERE.

Yesterday, 6 July 2011, was the 76th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (who is currently in the USA for Kalachakra Initiations), and we photographed the festivities at his main temple in McleodGanj as well as the Tibet Games. An album of 60+ images appears on my main facebook:
Dalai Lama Birthday Festivities

The next regular Everyday Exile Post will be an interview I held recently with Ngawang Choephel, former political prisoner and director of the award-winning documentary Tibet in Song.

Samdrup, Former Political Prisoner

2011-06-25T14:48:00.000+05:30

Samdrup was born in 1976 near Lhasa, Tibet. He became a monk at Ganden Choekhor in his teenaged years.

In 1994, Chinese officials came to his monastery and, in the name of "progress" and "modernization", destroyed Buddhist scriptures and removed portraits of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Police began to monitor the monks' activity, and he says everyone felt very uncomfortable.

In response, one night Samdrup and 3 friends quietly planned a protest, writing pamphlets with slogans such as "Free Tibet" and "Long Life Dalai Lama". The next day around noon they went to Jokhang Monastery to distribute the flyers and call for human rights such as religious freedom and Tibetan independence.

Within 5 minutes, he recounts, they were surrounded by Chinese police and soldiers. Samdrup was holding a hand-drawn Snow Lion flag and his friends held khata (prayer scarves). Police tied their arms behind them, trying to silnce them by pulling their mouths apart with their bare hands. They were taken to a local police station and shoved into a small room, where the guards "kicked and punched us like balls across the cell". They were also beaten with belts and 3 types of electric batons. He says the beatings continued for a long time, while no charges were made, and they were not allowed to speak or defend themselves.

They were taken to Gutsa, the colloquial name for PSB Detention Center for Lhasa prefecture. They were beaten during the ride, then stripped and forced to stand naked outdoors in cold weather for several hours. Eventually they were taken to cells, each of which housed 12 prisoners. There was no toilet, and they had to sleep on the floor with no bedding.

After a few days, they were taken to be interrogated, asked who "mater-minded" the protest, who made the flags and prayer scarves. They were again beaten repeatedly with various implements. Samdrup reports these beatings took place 3 times daily.

Samdrup was held at Gutsa for 3-4 months. Conditions he reports include:

*prisoners were given no medical treatment beyond out-dated pain killers regardless of their condition;

*food, which usually consisted only of 2 steamed momos and a small amount of soup, was old and often rotten;

*prisoners were subject to having blood taken repeatedly (they were told this was a "fee" to pay for their upkeep, & one guard told him the prison head guards sold blood for profit on the black market)

After 4 months, a "mock trial" was held, at which only prison guards and one "lawyer" was present. Samdrup was sentenced to 6 years plus a 3 year loss of "political rights" (inc public speaking, right to travel freely, etc). His friends were each sentenced to 5 years plus 2 year loss of political rights.

Samdrup was sent to Drapchi, the most notorious political prison. He estimates at that time there were around 600 other male prisoners and "more" in the women's block ("I saw many nuns"). He says they received more food at Drapchi and that generally it was of a higher quality. Prisoners were allowed one family visit each month for 15 minutes.

At Drapchi, he was assigned to the greenhouses, planting and selling vegetables. Prisoners are given a hard to meet sales quota, and if they fail, they are beaten and put into solitary confinement. He also reports that monks and nuns working in the greenhouse were very upset because Buddhism teaches not to kill, and they were forced to use deadly insecticide.

He described a punishment called "winter education". They were subjected to false histories of Tibet, made to feel inferior to Chinese, and forced to denounce HH Dalai Lama. Those who refused to comply were forced to stand naked on ice. This, he says, is what leads to most prisoners having bad kidneys, livers and joints.

During May 1998 a large prisoner protest broke out in Drapchi, calling for improved facilities, medical treatment, and human rights. Soldiers on the walls reportedly fired at random into the crowd. All the prisoners were subjected to additional beatings. 12 prisoners were killed at that time. On May 6, Samdrup says he saw his friend Lobsang Wangchuk being carried "like luggage", his face bloody and arms hanging limp. "I knew he was already dead", he says. "I watched the police throw the body into a room". 13 years later, Samdrup still has flashbacks of this incident.

After the protests, guards enforced harsher conditions, and they were only allowed out of their cells once daily for a brief toilet break.

Released in 2000, Samdrup was sent home to his village. His family was called to meet him at the police station and had to vouch that he would not take part in any poltical behavior. They all had to sign an agreement to that effect, as well. He was followed daily by one local policeman assigned to his case, and a neighbor who'd been hired to spy on him.

He bought a small cafe, but police often came to check on him, accusing him of using the cafe as a "splittist" meeting place. So had to sell the restaurant at great financial loss. In 2003, once he was permitted to move to Lhasa, he found a good job but, he says, the police tracked him and told his boss that if "anything happened", the boss would be responsible. His boss came, said he trusted him, but that he had no choice but to "ask him to leave". At that time his family had also received threats.

In 2005 he decided to come into exile in India. He skips the details of his journey and tells us that when he arrived he spent 2 years studying at TTS (Tibetan Transit School, where adult new arrivals are sent). After that he joined Gu Chu Sum Ex-Political Prisoners' Association and studied at their school. In 2010 he became the head of the tailoring department at Gu Chu Sum.

During the 2008 Uprisings in Tibet, Samdrup's mother and sister were both arrested and interrogated on how he had escaped to India and whether he was still "political". His mother was released after one day. His sister was held for 8 months.

An audience member asked if Samdrup feels his experience helped or harmed his spiritual practice/beliefs. The reply: "I believe bad karma from a previous life is why this happened to me." Buddhism teaches that suffering purifies past negative karma, and that knowing this is what got him through his imprisonment.

Phuntsok Soepa, Former Political Prisoner

2011-06-15T09:34:00.003+05:30

I first met Soepa outside the entrance to Gu Chu Sum Ex-Political Prisoner's Association, sometime around Christmas. He bounded out of a gate and greeted me with a huge smile and sparkling eyes. “Hello, how are you?”, he said, before going his way as I went mine.

We bumped into each other twice more that day. When one of my western associates, who happens to speak fluent Tibetan, approached him and said a few things, I finally got the courage to ask his name. Soepa. It stuck with me because I had never heard the name before.

Over the next month, we passed each other in the street a few time, but never became acquainted.

The third week of January, the day I decided to resume teaching conversational English at Gu Chu Sum, I saw him in a crowd outside the teahouse watching a Carrom game. I said “hello” and went inside. He and a friend sat near me in the tiny Tibetan “cha khang”. I struggled to understand his Khampa dialect while we spoke about nothing in particular. As I prepared to go teach my class, I suddenly felt a tug on my shawl.

After some pleasantries, he asked if I would teach him English every afternoon. Not an unusual request, and because I had just decided to resume teaching, I agreed.

A few hours later I was seated on his spare bed (the second bed in many Tibetan homes is often used as seating area). He politely offered me hot water and a bowl of “oats thukpa”, into which he showed me how to break tingmo (steamed bread). A pile of English-Tibetan-Chinese dictionaries surrounded us.

I soon learned that he had been a political prisoner for five years in the infamous Drapchi Prison near Lhasa.

Over the following weeks and months, his story, a stark contrast to his friendly out-going manner, began to unfold:

Soepa recalls that when he was a child, his area of Tibet, Chamdo in Kham province (eastern Tibet) was a very clean place full of wildlife and forests. By the time he was 20, he says, this had changed dramatically due to Chinese hunting and deforestation. Around that time, he entered a monastery to study Buddhist philosophy.

He describes how Chinese government agents came to the monastery to force monks to denounce His Holiness the Dalai Lama, whom Tibetans consider to be an incarnation of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion. When he was 24 years old, he and two fellow monks decided to stage a protest. They printed and distributed fliers calling for a “Free Tibet”. All three were arrested by local police.

At the time of arrest, they were beaten severely. Nails were hammered under their fingernails and they were hit with electric batons. Later their hands were tied behind their back, partially cutting off their circulation til they lost consciousness. They were stripped and forced to kneel on a cold floor with wooden boards behind their knees.

He was eventually sentenced to 5 years imprisonment, while his friends received three and two year terms. They were not given a chance to have a trial. They were transported to Drapchi in a truck, a week-long journey, during which they spent nights at other prisons.

At Drapchi, they were given what was called a medical examination, during which a lot of blood was taken from each prisoner. This blood is typically sold on the black market or used in Chinese military facilities/hospitals. (At a later date, Soepa reports having heard that some prisoners had organs removed and sold).

In Drapchi, he was interrogated daily, with many torture tactics. Guards would say things like “You need to be punished and re-educated”. They were forced to sleep on a bare floor. Sometimes they were put in small dark rooms where food was passed in through a hole. At times, in the dorms, they had bunk beds. At other times they faced solitary confinement.

Daily food usually consisted of one tingmo (a small steamed Tibetan bread) and one glass of tea. “Just enough to keep us alive”. He says there were some favored prisoners who were fed well and treated better, but it was not the general condition.

During his sentence, he was allowed one family visit from a brother. He says this was only because his brother had a good relationship with some police. Even before his release, most of his family thought he was already dead.

He recalls one major event during his sentence, the first ever uprising inside Drapchi, which occurred on 1 May, 1998. At this time, he reports that 5 male and 7 female prisoners were killed by the guards, and many others beaten so severely that they might as well have died. “They became useless after that”, is how he describes it.

He was released as scheduled on 1 March, 2001. He was given 20 days to return to from Lhasa to his village in Kham. During that time, he was watched closely by Chinese spies to make sure he was not engaging in any “suspicious” behavior. He says his family, like the families of all political prisoners, was also watched and pressured.

By 2003, he had decided to escape into exile, citing mental exhaustion at being constantly watched/followed. He requested permission to go on a religious pilgrimage to Lhasa. On the way, he met a businessman with whom he'd had some previous interactions who agreed to guide him into exile.

He paid 1500 Chinese yuan (much lower than many guides' fees) and was hidden in the back of a truck amongst cargo to avoid detection. From Lhasa he had to get to Shigatse, then a small town near the border of Nepal, from where he walked 15 days to a safehouse.

Once he reached Dharamsala, he stayed at the New Arrival Reception Center for between 3-4 months. During that time he was granted two audiences with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He was assigned to TTS (Tibetan Transit School), where arrivals aged 18-35 are usually sent to study English and Hindi, amongst other subjects. During his 6 months there, he was very sick and often had to be taken to Chandigarh Hospital.

He stayed in the hospital a total of 3 years. Doctors there diagnosed him with “kidney cancer”. No medicine helped, so he went to Tibetan traditional doctor Yeshi Dhonden, who prescribed herbal remedies, which he says greatly improved his condition.

Soepa says these kidney problems have caused him to be unable to keep warm, especially in winter, and even in summer he sometimes wears a pad around his waist to insulate his kidneys. He suffers from short term memory loss, sometimes forgetting new things the next day (when we first met, it was about 5 days before he remembered my name). He also suffers depression, anxiety, and bouts of insomnia, especially when he thinks of his friends and other prisoners who were or are tortured.

His family are all still in Tibet. He is only able to contact them intermittently, and has to be very careful what he says, as phone calls are monitored. He is unable to call on certain sensitive dates, such as Tibetan holidays and religious festivals. He says his family has not faced any major problems from the Chinese because they have disowned him and told officials he is “insane”.

When asked what he would like to say to foreigners who are not familiar with the Tibetan situation, Soepa tells me:

“As Tibetans, our highest priority is to tell the world the pain & difficulties we face both inside Tibet and in exile. That is why I am here (talking to you now). Please share our stories with everyone possible so the world will know how we have suffered.”

*One of the monks who was arrested with Soepa died in prison. The other is now a monk at Sera Jey Monastery in South India.

Soepa at Tibetan Uprising Day 2011 in Dharamsala

*For further info on Drapchi Prison, see the TCHRD report: Drapchi Conditions

*Additional details on the May 1998 Uprising inside Drapchi can be found starting midway in:
http://www.inch.com/~shebar/ngawang/5nov98.htm
and
this report from the UK Parliament

Summary of Stay in Tibetan Community in Kathmandu

2011-06-11T09:12:00.000+05:30

I spent just over 2 months in the Tibetan community in Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal. It is the largest Tibetan exile community in Nepal. Tourism is the main industry. As the location of the Great Stupa, considered amongst the holiest pilgrimage sites for Buddhist, is also a center of religious activity.

Let me begin with a note that the Tibetan exile situation in Nepal is not “set”. Individuals and groups experience different conditions depending on various factors, including, but not limited to: social status, economic status, and age group. Other indigenous ethnic groups and the poor are also targets for local police.

I did not find Kathmandu as political as I had been led to believe before my arrival. I did not personally witness any direct persecution of the Tibetan community; meaning, I did not see any individuals singled out or harassed. I did note a significant increase in presence of armed police in riot gear on dates of significance to the Tibetan community or when any sizable Tibetan gathering was planned (for example, a prayer ceremony organized by Kathmandu Regional Tibetan Youth Club-as the local Tibetan Youth Congress is called).

I never personally saw these police take any action against any Tibetan individuals or groups.

On one of occasion during my stay, there was an incident covered by local media where these police forced a Tibetan woman wearing a Free Tibet (check) slogan shirt to remove her top under threat that if she did not, an entire group of protestors would be arrested.

The only other protest or political activity I observed was the posting of a few fliers regarding the TYC Centrex “Indefinite Hunger Strike” which occurred during May in Delhi, India. The fliers were posted on a monastery wall inside the stupa area the day after the hunger strike ended, and attracted the attention of many monks and nuns. I tried to question them if they knew what was happening in regards to the situation. Most did not speak English. The others were not aware that the hunger strike had already ended.

My observation is that the Tibetan community, at least in Boudha, can go about normal daily business without incident. Local Tibetan contacts corroborated this statement. I have seen several community members wearing Tibetan human rights activism tshirts and some shops sell Snow Lion and other Tibetan emblem apparel.

Tibetan contacts told me that persecution of Tibetans most often on dates of importance to the community. However, they also said that such harassment often occurs at a low level of authority; ie low ranking police arrest Tibetans as intimidation and in hopes of receiving large bribes for their “bail”. Tibetans arrested under such conditions are usually held overnight or up to 4 days but eventually released. Reported bails ranged from 100-1000 rupees. Some police are reportedly being paid directly by Chinese agents to turn over Tibetans in Nepal without documents. (see final paragraph re: legal status of Tibetans in Nepal)

Tibetans are strongly discouraged from taking part in any anti-China or Pro-Tibet/Tibetan Independence activities. Such gatherings and activities, if they occur, are monitored and/or broken up by armed Nepali police. Tibetan organizations are monitored for any evidence of political activity and may be targeted if such activity is suspected. Contacts told me they had concerns that Chinese spies were coming to local organizations seeking information.

The few Nepalis I spoke to regarding the Tibetan situation said they wanted independence for the Tibetans.

From the International Observancy for Statelessness:

An estimated 20,000 Tibetan refugees are in Nepal (according to the last census which counted Tibetans, in 1990). Many of them live in Kathmandu and surrounding areas. They have no defined legal status and are generally divided into two classes: (1) residents who entered Nepal before 1989 and their children, who were able to acquire legal status, and (2) new arrivals with no right to remain in Nepal. Tibetans cannot travel to certain restricted regions of Nepal, typically those near the border with China. Nonetheless, an estimated 3,000 refugees travel back to Tibet each year.

Cafe Dream Factory & Tenzin Wangdu

2011-06-05T08:49:00.001+05:30

Tenzin Wangdu was born in exile in India in the 1970s. He attended CST (Central School for Tibetans) Mussoorie and college in Chandigarh before moving to Kathmandu with his family for his father's job at the reception center (for Tibetans newly arrived in exile).

Tenzin served as President of the RTYC Kathmandu Chapter from 2006-08.

Along with a group of other “Ex-Mussoorie” (alumni of TCV Mussoorie), Tenzin established a “Home Away Home” project in 2005. During 2006-07, he spent some time touring and fund-raising for this project in the USA.

Home Away Home identifies TCV students who have no family in India and nowhere to spend their holidays. The project brings approximately 20 under-privileged students per year from Madhya Pradesh state to Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal for 2-3 weeks. (Boudha is the center of the Tibetan community in Kathmandu).

Each week 2-3 activities are organized for the visiting students, who are housed with local Tibetan families. The events include such things ass religious pilgrimages, tours of Tibetan handicraft factories, even ice cream socials.

The idea for Dream Factory evolved when a group of about 12 Ex-Mussoorie students were discussing other ways they could “do something useful” rather than “just hang out”. Dream Factory was developed to make community events accessible/affordable for the entire community. They have been involved in the “Grand Losar Fiesta” (New Years celebration) at the Hyatt for several years.

Located near (on the road from) the Hyatt in Boudha, Cafe Dream Factory caters to locals as well as expats and tourists. They have a full menu of coffees/teas, ice creams and snacks. There is an indoor seating area as well as a flower and sculpture garden terrace.

Cafe Dream Factory would like to organize more cultural and community events in the future. They have a facebook page, although it doesn't appear to be regularly maintained.

More information on Cafe Dream Factory's mission is available at their page on Empowering the Vision.

As we conclude our meeting, Tenzin tells me the refugee community is becoming more divided, and feels less secure, regarding staying in Nepal these days. He says the pressures began to increase in 2008 (the year of the Tibet Uprisings) but have gotten increasingly worse, and that there is always now a major Nepali police presence at any Tibetan social gathering or on dates important to Tibetans. He also said an increasing number of anti-Dalai Lama stories are airing on Nepali television.

(Dream Factory images forthcoming)

Project Update Late May 2011

2011-05-22T09:28:00.000+05:30

As of this writing, I am still in Kathmandu on my "vacation", though there is never a real break. I am always observing Tibetan and other Himalayan cultures locally, and continuing my photography.

I plan to return to India around the middle of June to resume my reporting from the Tibetan exile capital in McleodGanj. I have still not chosen my exact focus for the continuation of my work.

This project was originally intended to share personal stories of Tibetan exiles who had faced great struggles leaving Tibet and also in adjusting to life in exile in India and Nepal. The longer I stay in the exile community, the more it seems this is not as big of an issue as I had previously thought, although certainly former political prisoners and their families qualify.
Still, it is often difficult to get the kind of details from those people that are needed to do full write-ups.

The first month of my return to India will likely be spent seeking out individuals and organizations with whom I previously had little contact, in the hopes that I will find fresh stories, and be able to help those who really need help.

I would ideally like to present personal stories which also express various aspects of Tibetan culture.
I do hope you will understand the recent lack of posts here, and will continue to follow and support my work.

Remembering the "Yushu" Earthquake

2011-04-28T09:36:00.000+05:30

On 14 April, 2010 a magnitude 6.9 earthquake destroyed much of the area of Yushu (also referred to as Jyekundo or Kyegudo) in Kham, Tibet (which the Chinese call Qinghai Province).

One year later, many victims are still homeless. Tibetan exile communities held prayer ceremonies to remember those who died or lost everything. Questions remain on how international aide was distributed. And there is a controversy regarding the seizure and sale of land in the quake stricken area. (see report at: Tibetan Review )

The following is the profile of one exile whose life was affected by the quake:

I first met Sonam at the popular new cafe where he was working in late autumn 2010. Before learning his name, I simply referred to him as “Smiley”, because he seemed to have a huge perpetual grin. He was a good server, always polite and attentive. Eventually, over several months, our casual conversations resulted in the knowledge that his family lives in Kyegedu, aka “Yushu”, the area most affected by massive earthquake in April 2010.

Sonam agreed to be interviewed on the condition that I use only his first name and publish no photo, as he thought such things might pose danger to his family.

Sonam is the second youngest of 3 brothers and 2 sisters. One of his sisters was killed in the earthquake. His parents were also injured, but survived and, he says, are recovering. They whole family is still living in a tent due to extreme damage to their home. He is able to speak to them only occasionally.

Sonam, now 21, came to India at age 15, in 2005, because he wanted an education and was unable to afford the fees charged by Chinese schools in his area of Tibet. He took a bus to Lhasa, then paid a guide and walked, at night, with a group of 9 others, for one month to reach Nepal.

He says he was able to make friends at his school in India fairly quickly, but that he misses and is very worried about his family. The worst part of living in exile, he says, has been adjusting to the hot weather and radical change in diet and eating habits.

When asked about his hopes for the future of Tibet, he told me he believes that someday Tibet will regain freedom, and that the Dalai Lama will one day return.

Sonam is entering “Class 11” (11^th grade) at TCV Bylakuppe. He says that education is the main thing required in order to achieve success in life. His wish is to become a computer engineer. After achieving that, he wishes to return to Tibet to see and help his family rebuild their lives.

Everyday Exile Project is Evolving...

2011-04-25T09:14:00.000+05:30

I have debated for many months about whether to post this entry, struggling with fears that people reading it might be offended and withdraw their friendship and/or support. However, I now know that I must say these things, if only for my own peace of mind, and that to hold them back would be dishonest.

It is not my intent to offend anyone.

At the start, I want to note that most of the people I've met in my travels in India and Nepal have been well-intentioned and appreciative. But there is a (seemingly) growing segment of the exile population resorting to the desperate measures described below. I think my audience deserves to hear about these aspects of life here, as well.

Last year, my first visit to McleodGanj, I was very sheltered. I had a few close friends and was not exposed to a lot of the negative aspects of local life. This year, from the week I arrived, my experience was very different.

Without going into details, since late October 2010 I have dealt with 3 attempted sexual assaults, including one by a former student who I trusted as a friend. A prevalent local impression is that western women are easy conquests, and many men treat all “inji” (western) women like cheap whores.

I have had 3 relationships which I later discovered began solely because the men believed marrying me would automatically entitle them to go through the visa process as my spouse and get them to the USA. The relationships ended poorly when I discovered that I was merely seen as a means to an end, not at all valued as an individual. Two of my acquaintances who had long relationships (up to 7 years) with Tibetans, and who spent thousands of dollars to support and sponsor them through the visa process, were divorced immediately upon their partners' arrival in their respective western countries. Dozens of other such stories are repeated throughout the community.

I have been approached repeatedly by locals assuming that because I am white, hold a US passport and was able to get overseas, that I must be rich. They plead for me to sponsor them or buy things for them. Some have multiple sponsors already. Many have wealthy relatives supporting them. I guarantee that most of them have (or have access to) more money than I do. I myself am supported by a sponsor and donations.

Again, this is not true of the entire exile population. In my total 11 months of life in their settlements, I have met relatively very few locals. Many are hard working individuals devoted to their work, families, and to promoting awareness of human rights issues and working for the improvement of their community. It is the few who act out in the notoriously negative ways I've experienced that make it difficult (for me) to remain motivated to stay and continue supporting them.

I would be interested in seeing the institution of programs to educate locals about the realities of life in western countries. Respected community leaders should speak up to on how to treat foreign visitors with respect. I would like to have western expats in the community speak on their personal negative experiences and express how badly these incidents hurt them. I may raise this topic with other expats when I return, although at this stage I have no interest in being the one to develop any such program. Knowing what I do about the community, I cannot honestly see it ever being implemented.

My current question to myself is whether continuing my work with its original focus can be of any benefit. My intent with Everyday Exile Project was to help the Tibetan exile community and promote awareness of the on-going human rights situation inside Tibet. I do not know whether I am able to be of any real help, or, quite frankly, identify those who honestly NEED help.

I do know am not emotionally strong enough to allow myself to continue being disrespected and abused.

Therefore, it is time for me to take a step back and re-evaluate what Everyday Exile Project's main focus should be from this point on. Posts will continue on the project's photojournalism blog, as photography is my main passion, and I am hoping to strengthen this area of my coverage.

I do hope my readers will understand and continue to be supportive while Everyday Exile goes through this evolutionary phase.

Thank you.

Observations from Boudha: An Overview

2011-04-11T13:49:00.002+05:30

Although it sounds trite, the first thing I noticed about the Great Stupa of Boudha once I entered the “gated” area where it sits, is that, well, it's big. A big white mound topped by a gleaming golden spire on which are painted the “Eyes of Buddha”, and from the top of which multiple strings of prayer flags are hung.

Around the base, particularly at early morning and early evening, hundreds of Tibetans in traditional dress circumambulate on their daily kora, prayer beads in hand, spinning prayer wheels and uttering various mantras and prayers. Add to this mix a few dozen Nepalese Buddhists, local shopkeepers and businessmen, and another few dozen western tourists wielding cameras and shopping bags.

Boudha Photo Gallery includes many images of local monasteries, stupas, and daily life in the community.

The Great Stupa, situated on an ancient Tibetan trade route, is said to entomb the remains, or relics, of the previous Buddha. Kassapa Buddha (alt Kasyapa or Mahakashyapa; Tibetan name Ösung Chenpo ), making it one of the most holy sites in Tibetan Buddhism. Some Nepalese sources date it as more than 1600 years old, while Tibetan sources claim it is roughly 1250 years old. It is one of the largest stupas in the world.

When the Tibetan exile diaspora began in 1959, many refugees chose to settle around this holy site, and it is now the center of the Tibetan community in Kathmandu (Another Tibetan community has grown around Swayambu Stupa on the other side of the city). More than 50 monasteries and nunneries, representing every sect of Tibetan Buddhism, have been constructed around Boudha. Two of the better-known are Kopan and Shechen. There are also schools for dharma study geared specifically at westerners.

Life here is both colorful and, to the uninitiated western mind/eye, confusing, Traditional Tibetan life is centered on religious devotion and ritual. In additional to kora around the base of the stupa and prayers, one also sees a variety offerings...water bowls, incense... being made. Inside boards designed for the faithful to make their daily prostrations are lined up alongside a series of smaller stupas. It's not unusual for a practitioner to make 100 or more prostrations daily.

When not focused on the stupa, daily life often, to the eye of the visitor at least, revolves around shops serving the dharma “industry”, selling all manner of items for monasteries and home altars. All around the stupa, a multitude of shops featuring Tibetan Buddhist paraphernalia, clothing, and the usual tourist gear vie for business. Cafe signs promise the finest traditional regional fare, stupa views, and wifi zones. CD vendors blare constantly repeating musical versions of “Om Mani Padme Hum” and “Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha”.

Next seem to come the small grocers, and, of course, the prerequisite cha khangs (tea houses) where locals (and more intrepid travelers) of all ages sit for hours sipping tea and dining on traditional fare including momos, thenthuk, and thukpa. Men and women, apart from married couples, tend to sit in separate groups, discussing different issues amongst themselves.

On two separate occasions, I interviewed young, well-educated Tibetan residents who told me that, while they were born in Nepal, they imagine that life in Boudha is probably more like life in Tibet than most other exile communities. At the same time, they emphasized that this is just a "feeling", as they have never been able to visit their ancestral homeland of Tibet.

There are signs, though, both subtle and gross, for those who know what they are looking at, that this is a refugee community.

I will be delving into those aspects further in upcoming stories.

---

Up-coming stories:

*a Tibetan elder's home project in Kathmandu

*a local cafe which promotes activities for Tibetan youth.

*commentary on Tibetan exile community in Nepal from young Tibetan refugees

April Update: Everyday Exile Project

2011-04-05T11:28:00.001+05:30

Everyday Exile is currently "on vacation" in the Tibetan exile community in Kathmandu, Nepal. I am staying in Boudha(nath), center of the Tibetan community in Kathmandu. In addition to trying to regain my physical health, I am also making efforts to improve my emotional state.

Posts will be further between while I am here, and focused on the everyday aspects of life for the local Tibetan community.

The human rights situation for the Tibetans here has deteriorated significantly since 2008, and more so over the past year. When I return to McleodGanj in June, I will fill in what I have observed here regarding human rights issues.

Boudha is the location of one of the holiest Buddhist pilgrimage sites, the Great Stupa. My next planned post will be a short history of, and observations from, this amazing area.

Tibetan Woman Doing Kora at the Great Stupa of Boudha in Kathmandu, Nepal

Tibetan Uprising Day & Womens Uprising Day Reports

2011-03-12T16:03:00.000+05:30

Tibetan Uprising Day Crowd outside Tsuglakhang Temple in McleodGanj, Capital of Tibet in Exile

10 March 2011 marked the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day. Tibetan exile communities around the world commemorated this event with a variety of religious, cultural and political events.

In McleodGanj (Dharamsala) capital of the Tibetan Government in Exile and home to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama since he escaped into exile in India in 1959, thousands of Tibetan refugees thronged to the main temple to hear His Holiness speak. They carried Tibetan Snow Lion flags and wore traditional Tibetan dress to assert their ethnic identity.

His Holiness made a speech which included his intention to retire from his political role. Elections for a new Kalon Tripa (Prime Minister) and Parliament are to be held on 20 March, 2011 throughout the Tibetan exile communities worldwide, and the Dalai Lama said it was time for a democratically elected official to assume the political leadership role.

After the events at the temple, the crowd rallied outside, led by Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue and members of the Gu Chu Sum Ex-Political Prisoners Association, and formed a procession to Lower Dharamsala. Participants carried a variety of handmade signs bearing slogans such as "Free Tibet", "Stop Martial Law in Tibet", "Free Political Prisoners in Tibet", "Allow Freedom of Press in Tibet", and "Be the Voice of the Voicless in Tibet". (China, whose military has forcibly occupied Tibet for over half a century, does not allow media coverage of Tibetan issues, and places strong restrictions on the rights of Tibetan people. Tibetans are not allowed to practice their religion freely, have little access to Tibetan language or cultural education, and face arrest and torture if they voice their wish for independence or other human rights/freedoms).

On 12 March, 2011 the Tibetan Womans Association (TWA) held a rally at the temple to commemorate Tibetan Womens Uprising Day. This was also followed by a procession to Lower Dharamsala, led by prominent women in the community and Buddhist nuns from local nunneries.


Tenzin Tsundue, Tibetan Activist, Rallying Uprising Day Crowd

Tibetan Losar Festivities Report

2011-03-09T12:20:00.000+05:30

Losar, Tibetan Lunar New Year, wrapped up on 8 March, 2011. In Tibet, festivities last two weeks, but the exile communities in India generally observe three days.

In McleodGanj, locals began setting off fireworks the evening before the official beginning of the new (female Iron Rabbit) year.

At 7am on the morning of Losar Day One, Tibetans and the international community of Buddhist practitioners in McleodGanj began making their way to Tsuglakhang, the main temple of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Tibetans wear their finest, usually new, traditional chupas for the occasion, It is traditional to observe the start of the new year by making "kora" (walking circumambulations) inside the main temple. A puja is held, at which the Dalai Lama may make an appearance to speak. This year His Holiness was in retreat and did not appear.

After the religious ceremonies, families and groups of friends gather to share a traditional meal, sing and dance, and play games. Everyday Exile's founder spent the afternoon with the group from Gu Chu Sum Ex-Political Prisoners' Association. In the evening, small fireworks went off around town.

Day Two is traditionally a family and friends day. In the evening there were more home-style fireworks.

Day Three began with a puja and the raising of new prayer flags.

On "Day Four" there was a fire puja, but most shops and restaurants had already returned to business-as-usual.

An album of Losar 2011 images can be viewed at Everyday Exile Project founder Tammy Winand's personal facebook page. (this link should work for everyone).


Tibetan Girls in Traditional Chupa at Tsuglakhang on Losar Day One

*Watch for coverage of Tibetan National Uprising Day 10 March, the 52nd Anniversary of Uprising Day, coming soon.

Later this week, we will present the personal story of a young student who escaped alone into exile, whose family later lost everything in the 2010 Kyegedu ("Yushu") earthquake in Tibet.

Losar Tashi Delek

2011-03-04T08:05:00.000+05:30

7Losar Tashi Delek. Happy Tibetan Lunar New Year! We are entering the Year of the Female Iron Rabbit.
Festivities got under way in McleodGanj (capital of Tibet in Exile), India last evening, a full day early, and despite cold rain. Locals are setting off fireworks from street vendors.

Losar technically begins on 5 March, 2011 and will last 3 days (as celebrated in the Tibetan exile communities in India). In parts of Tibet, celebrations last up to two weeks.
Amdo province celebrated the New Year last month.

This is the first year since the 2008 Uprisings in Tibet (demanding freedom from Chinese occupation/oppression) that there have been no restrictions placed on Losar festivities in the exile communities.

In preparation for the holiday, Tibetans and the international community of Buddhist practitioners which resides here have been cleaning their homes, scaring off evil spirits, making torma butter sculptures, and buying decorations. In addition, people are shopping for new clothing (it is traditional to wear a new outfit on Losar, as well as to have a new hair-do, or make other significant changes).

After 8 March, I will be posting a report on the Losar New Year celebrations as observed here in McleodGanj.

Everyday Exile Project Status Update

2011-02-21T12:26:00.002+05:30

Recently Everyday Exile Project's founder Tammy Winand was interviewed by The Tibet Post International about her work with the Tibetan exile community. View the Full Article.

Current Projects:
*interviews with Tibetan youth re: their future/the future of Tibet
*following developments in the approaching Kalon Tripa and Tibetan parliamentary elections
*researching experiences of former Tibetan political prisoners

Project's Current Needs:
1) Tibetan language translator volunteer to help interview community members whose level of English is limited, and to help with writing Tibetan language posters to display in the community with info on the project.
2) People to promote Everyday Exile project on their blogs, twitter and facebook are needed. If you have an interest in Tibet/Tibet in Exile, please tell others about this individually run non-profit whose goal is to bring awareness to the situation of Tibetans living in exile.

3)DONATIONS...Donations are needed for the following individuals and projects:
*Ngawang, a former political prisoner, to help meet basic living expenses
*Lobsang, a former political prisoner, to help meet basic living expenses
*Sonam, a student from Kyegedu, whose family has been living in a tent since the massive earthquake last year
*beginner and intermediate English grammar books for Gu Chu Sum (former political prisoner association)

Please consider a small donation or sponsorship to help me continue working with/in the Tibetan exile community! Any amount is useful and greatly appreciated.

Personal Profile: Tsering Choekyap, Tibetan in Exile

2011-02-06T20:18:00.000+05:30

Tsering Choekyap is a monk in his mid-fifties who has been in India since his mother carried him there “on her back” in 1960 when he was four years old. His sister, then one and a half, died on the way, too weak to handle the harsh journey.

They came via Nepal, first going to Bodhgaya, then making their way to McleodGanj.

He was left at the then new Tibetan Childrens Village when it was still called the Nursery School. He recalls very vividly crying and trying to runn after his mother as he watched her back going away from him, when she left him in the care of strangers to return to Nepal.

He says his case is by no means unique.

Every night, he tells me, he tried to run away from school when he would not be seen. And every day someone would find him in town and call school authorities, who'd come to collect him and beat him for his misbehavior. He took to hiding in sewer drains. As a result, he became very weak and so ill he had to spend two years convalescing in a hospital, relearning first to crawl then to walk.

When he was well enough to return to school, he was sent to several different locations in India. He ended up at Pachmarhi Central School for Tibetans in Madra Pradesh state, where he spent 9 years.

He recalls watching parents come to claim their children to take holiday and waiting for someone to come for him. Finally, he says, after 3 years, he accepted that he was truly an orphan.

One day, when he was 13, he was called to the school office. He saw a long haired man, a stranger, talking to the school principal. The principal said, “This man has come to take you to your parents.” In disbelief, he tried to refuse to go, but he was forced to join the stranger, who took him to Shimla. In Shimla, he was taken to a tent and introduced to people he was told were his parents.

It had been 9 years since they'd seen one another. They lived in a tent, both parents working on road construction crews, as many Tibetans did in those days. He says they mostly did not speak to one another. He thought of the people as strangers he could not trust.

Later, when CST Pachmarhi was shut down, he was transferred to CST Mussoorie for grades 9 through 12. It was here that he first encountered a westerner. His face crinkles as he tells me that he remembers seeing a giant, a huge man. This man introduced him to basketball. Later, he says, he saw other westerners at nearby Woodstock American School.

Upon graduation, he was awarded a Merit Scholarship from the Central Government of India. He considers the scholarship his greatest achievement, because without it he would not have had the opportunities which later came to him.

He studied at Punjab University in Chandigarh, where he completed his Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Education degrees. His favorite subjects were chemistry and mathematics.

After graduation, in 1979, he was requested by the Council of Tibetan Education to go teach at Lamdon Model School in Leh, Ladakh, a remote northern region of India near the Tibetan border. The majority of students were Ladakhi children, and all classes were taught in English following the same curriculum set by the Indian school system.

He says he was an angry young man in those days. But he recalls listening to some speeches by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which were broadcast via radio, which deeply influenced him.

In 1989, while on holiday in McleodGanj, he was ordained as a monk. He said he had previously considered following that path, but that circumstances had not permitted it until that time. When he returned to Ladakh, he encountered some surprised reactions that the long haired man was now wearing monk's robes.

He continued teaching until the end of 1992. Around the same time, he was in an accident where he was hit by a truck. Soon after he decided to stay in McleodGanj and study Buddhism.

In 2001, he was asked to come work at Namgyal Monastery, the personal monastery of His Holiness Dalai Lama. He worked there for about three years. In 2004, he was approached by some monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery telling him they wanted him to serve as their translator on an annual fund-raising tour of the USA. He spent 9 months traveling, he says,”from New York to California”.

These days he works translating transcripts of speeches by the Dalai Lama into English for use on the Namgyal Monastery website's archive.

Recently, during His Holiness' teachings in Varanasi, he ran into some former students. They recognized him, and he them, after 15 years. One woman, he says, proudly told him she was now a doctor, a head surgeon, at a major hospital in Leh. She told him of other students who had become engineers and scientists.

“This is when I realized my life had not been wasted,” he tells me. “I suddenly realized how I had influenced the lives of others.”

Weekly Headlines from Tibet in Exile

2011-02-04T12:37:00.002+05:30

The Tibetan exile community in exile in India has been in international headlines this past week. While coverage began for all the wrong reasons, specifically negative Indian media hype, I feel the increased awareness of the community in general can have positive results.

Indian police raided the monastery of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa during the last week of January 2011.

Times of India and other Indian media broke out with grossly speculative allegations including that money seized was intended for illegal land deals and that the Karmapa is a Chinese spy. Google news search results for Karmapa from the past are HERE.

The Tibetan community across India has been showing its support for its spiritual leader by holding candlelight vigils at various locations including Bodhgaya and the Karmapa monastery.

On 2 February, 2011 a spiritual procession from the main temple of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to the Gyuto Monastery seat of HH the Karmapa took place.

CNN iReport coverage of the Karmapa Support March.
View India's NDTV video coverage of the event.

Also in this week's news, the three final candidates for Kalon Tripa (Tibetan Prime Minister), were in McleodGanj for a debate where question were presented by various local organizations. Read the article from Phayul on this event.

Profile: Sonam Gangsang, Tibetan Exile from Ladakh: Part Three

2011-02-01T07:17:00.001+05:30

"When I tell my Indian friends that I am a Tibetan, the first thing they ask is when was the last time you visited Tibet. Unfortunately, the answer is I have never seen Tibet.

Though I am born as an exile, I really pray and wish to go back to Tibet. It's my dream to take my last breath in Tibet."

Sonam Gangsang (3rd from left in green and beige chupa) with Her Sisters

This is the third and final installment of Everyday Exile Project's profile of Sonam Gangsang, a young Tibetan woman born in exile in Ladakh. If you missed our previous two installments, please see Part One (regarding Sonam's parents journey into exile) and Part Two (regarding Sonam's education).

I studied till class 12 in T.C.V school and later completed 3 years college in South India. I have been working in BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) in customer care service (call centre) in Pune (which is 3 hours from Mumbai) for 4 and half years.
I chose to work in BPO in Indian Society because three of my younger sisters are still studying at college level. Although T.C.V provides scholarships, we still need to cover other expenditures (including travel expenses to Ladakh during holiday).

Ladakh being surrounded by mountain, there is no train transportation. So, during winter the only option is to fly (regardless of whether you can afford it or not). During summer, it almost takes 3 days to Ladakh from Pune.

It takes 26 hours by train from Pune to Delhi. We reach Delhi early morning and stay at Tibetan Hotel and can leave for Manali in the evening by overnight bus.We reach Manali the next morning, but taxi/bus to Ladakh leaves from Manali to Ladakh early the following day, so we have to hold at Manali for a day or 2. The journey crosses rough road through 4 mountain passes, taking about 18 hours. You may also get stuck on the way if it rains a lot. So, going back and forth from Ladakh is not at all easy.

My elder sisters helped us when we were studying but now we're all supporting my 3 younger sisters. It's impossible for my parents to afford without a regular source of Income, and our elder sisters have their own families to look after.

My younger sisters are in Pune but they are staying in college hostel and visit us during weekend and also spend short holidays with us because we cannot afford to send them to Ladakh every holiday.

Although it's very difficult to stay away from old parents for such a long time (10 years), helping my younger sisters is very satisfying. My parent completely understand when we are away from them for such a long time.

In Pune, I stay with one of my sisters and other 2 friends who are also Tibetans from Ladakh and have a similar family story. My room mates also take care of their younger sisters expenditure.

We do not have same routine due to the nature of job of call centre who works according to the working hours of foreign country to which we provide service. So our work mostly runs from afternoon til late night and we get back home only in the morning when we are doing night shift.

During the weekend, our younger sisters and their friends (all Tibetans from Ladakh) come to our room. Sometimes we have 11 girls in 1 room during their holidays and we cook Tibetan food. We try to make everyone feel comfortable as if the room is their own house.

We cook in our room and rarely buy food from outside. We make Baklap (roti) with eggs and milk in the morning. We usually have one meal in office canteen. We cook for each other whenever other roommate is yet to come home. For lunch we usually eat Rice and Vegetable. We normally east three meals each day but there is no specific time to have food. It depends on work shift time.

Unfortunately, we cannot go to Kora and visit Monasteries as there aren't any in Pune City. But we have lots of Portraits of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in our room and we read the prayer book often. When anyone of us come back to Pune from Tibetan Society, we bring Tibetan Incense, Phing and thukpa (a veg and/or meat noddle stew) for food.

We rarely get free time except weekends. During weekends, we all meet and mostly stay in room to spend time together and cook Tibetan Food.

We don't have any pets.

EEP: How do you feel about living in exile?

By the grace of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the support of different organizations from different countries, its not very difficult to meet our basic daily needs. However, emotionally its not easy being an exile. We really don't know and always have a feeling of fear that when India will tell us to leave? Anything is possible when they change their government policy and administration.

Westerners have been always supportive to Tibet. When we see them in Tibetan Community, we think that they are very genius. They make us feel that they love Tibet and stand by us for Free Tibet.

EEP: What are your hopes for your personal future?

Regarding my career, I do not have any hopes or plan for next 2-3 years until my younger sisters finish their studies.
My parents had a very difficult life ...and still they are busy going to farm everyday eveb with severe knee pain and taking pain killer everyday.

My dream is to take them Pilgrimage to all the major monasteries in Nepal (many Buddhist Holy place are there) and India - Bihar (Bodhgaya), Dharamsala, Bir....when I have enough money. They are extremely religious and hard working. I feel they really deserve to take some rest from hectic life before its too late. I want to stay with them and serve them after several years. Even if I can serve a cup of tea when they come back tiring from farm is a big deal for them.
But honestly, life in Ladakh is quite difficult so I dream to settle at some other place.

EEP: What are your hopes for the future of Tibet?

Regarding this, I really want to put more contribution as an individual because I think, every individual has a responsibility for FREE TIBET, not just watching and expecting a few individuals to take action to take our freedom back from China.

With major support from rest of the world to insist China to Free Tibet and of course, needless to say the efforts of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans in exile and in Tibet, I am sure that the sun will rise to us(Tibet) very soon.
The younger generations are the voice of older people who cannot read and write ...to work for Tibet.

Needless to say, if you ask any Tibetan....His Holiness is everything to us. We cannot imagine a world without His Holiness. Long Live His Holiness! May he lives in this universe for centuries to centuries for the benefit of all the sentient being.

Personal Profile: Sonam Gangsang, Tibetan Exile from Ladakh

2011-01-25T11:14:00.000+05:30

PART TWO: Sonam's Personal Story (this will be the first of two installments, as Sonam provided a lot of details to us):

I was born in a Tibetan exile community in Ladakh in 1985.

At age 6 I was admitted to boarding school with my 2 elder sisters. As we have so many children at our home, my parent sent 3 of us (middle children of 9) to the boarding school.

Out of 26 children's homes or Khimtsangs, seven are allotted to destitute Ladakhi children. Each home has 20 - 22 children and being taken care a foster mother. By the grace of H.H the Dalai Lama and S.O.S sponsors, food & shelter are given free of cost.

I feel very lucky and happy that I have a god mother, Ingibjörg Steingrímsdóttir, from Iceland, who took care of all my other expenses since I was 6 yrs old. She not only helped me financially but also sends letters & parcels to me often with lots of love and care.

One funny thing I would like share with you all is, I don't know my actual birthday, and my parents and I have never celebrated each others birthdays. We used to check our RC Refugee Registration Card or Green Book (Tibetan Govt in Exile document) to know our birth date when we are asked to confirm it.

However, my god mother never forgets my birthday. Every year she sends a big cake in a metal box all the way from Iceland to me in Ladakh. She writes a letter to our school sponsorship secretary to distribute part of the cake to my fellow home-mate of boarding school, part to my family and part to me to ensure no one feels bad or left out. When she sends money to our house, my parents use the part of the money for prayers for her well-being, saying that although she has never met me, she still supports me with so much trust. I am extremely grateful to her for her support and can never forget her in my life.

Here are some of the difficulties Tibetan exiles, especially those from Ladakh, face.

It was quite hard when I graduated from class 12 in Tibetan School and joined college. It was the first time I went anywhere where there were no other Tibetans.

Weather was the biggest problem when I first reached South India during May. Summer was unbearable as I was used to only cold whether in the north.

Food was also a major problem. Though we were born and raised in India, we had only stayed in Tibetan Community. So for the first few weeks eating Indian food was very difficult, but it soon became normal. Tibetans are known to be highly adaptable to other environments.

Although Indian people are very friendly, it took me several months to open up to make friends with them. Tibetans are often very shy and Introverted. I later realized being shy and Introvert is as same as low confidence.

The biggest problem is Tibetans have been in exile in India since 1959, but still every 6 months we have to renew the RC (Refugee Registration card) at our respective location FRO (Foreign Registration Office). Its illegal if we do not renew it on time.

As Ladakh is very remote, people mostly go out to study and for job to other places. We cannot come back to Ladakh every 6 months to renew the RC. Recently, they made it mandatory that you should either go to office personally to renew RC or send an updated proof letter stating you are within India.
1)My parents cannot send the letter through email in attachment form (which is known to be easiest).
2)Sending fax is also difficult because you have to go to the main market to receive the fax.
3)If we send it through post, sometimes my parents do not get it.

It's not easy to ask the organization where you are working or in college for such letters as they rarely come across these kinds of requests. We have to explain why we need the proof letter which is not an easy task at all.

Once my parent receive the letters from all 5 of us living away from Ladakh, they have to travel to the main market (where the FRO is located) to renew the IC. If you exceed the renew date, they many impose a penalty.

Another problem is, when we go to Indian college, if we write the national in the form as Tibetan then they ask us to pay the fee of Foreign students. So, we write Indian as our nationality in our documents, but its a very sad feeling that we cannot write our true country Tibet.

(watch for the final installment coming next week)

Profile of a Tibetan Refugee Family in Ladakh; Part One

2011-01-17T15:15:00.001+05:30

The following story was written by Sonam Gangsang, a Tibetan born in exile in Ladakh. It is the history of how her parents came from Tibet to India, and the difficulties they faced from the time they departed Tibet until present.

Modifications were made for spelling and grammar.

"My name is Sonam Gangsang. I was born in Ladakh, India in November 1985, so I am 25 years old.

My parents were born in Tibet but fled from Tibet when they were children because of Chinese oppression. My father was 13 and my mother was 15 when they came to India with their parents.

They told me that in 1960, they started their journey from Tibet to India, walking day and night with their goats and sheep. They had around 400 animals with them when set out. They traveled mostly at night so the Chinese army would not see them. During the day they stayed in low-lying quiet areas where there were no Chinese army posts. They reached the Tibet - India border that same year but faced immense problems because of heavy snowfall. Many of the sheep and goats died on the way because of extreme cold and no grass.

My parents still emotionally describe how they suffered from 1960 – 61, which were very bad/unlucky years for them. Out of 400 animals, only about 40 survived.
They stayed in the extreme northern part of Ladakh called Jangthang but unfortunately they faced lots of problems and had to shift to another place in 1962 due to Indo - China war.

It may seem unbelievable, but they traveled all the way from Tibet to India on foot. They didn't travel by vehicle even once during their journey.

For nearly three years, from 1960 through 1962, they didn't have a single piece of vegetable or fruit because of poor conditions, especially weather. Their staple foods were animal products (milk, curd, butter, Cheese), tsampa and meat. Though Tibetans are animal loving and very sympathetic, they do not have much choice when it comes to eating meat.

They finally reached Ladakh in 1963 and settled by sharing tent among many other families. That year, they got rashant (rice & flour) from India government which
my parents still say they are very grateful for.

Slowly, between 1968 - 70, Indian government and Tibetan gov't provided houses to stay in according to the number of families. They were also granted land (shared by many families) to plant grass. There was no electricity and they had to go very far to fetch water. There were no schools.

My parents married in 1972. My eldest sister was born the same year. She helped my parents look after the animals, and look after her younger sisters. There is hardly a 2-3 years gap between all the children.

The Tibetan Settlement in Ladakh in the 70's was the most remote and least developed of all Tibetan communities in exile. Nomadic refugee camps were scattered along the Indo-Tibet border, where communication and physical contacts were almost entirely cut off from the rest of Tibetans in India. His Holiness was deeply concerned about their future, particularly the fate of the children. In order to alleviate their poor condition, a plan was implemented to provide education and introduce sustainable development programs in that region.

With initial seed money donated by His Holiness and land donated by the local Indian government, S.O. S T.C. V (Save Our Soul, Tibetan Children's Village) school set out to build a children's village near Leh, Ladakh. The combined SOS Primary and Secondary School at Leh-Ladakh opened in 1975.

My parents told me that overall they gave birth to 12 children, of which 3 died. Now we have 9 daughters in our family and no sons. All of us were given free education. The 2nd and 4^th eldest child chose to quit school although our dad always stressed a good Education. They sent us to school while they were busy working our farm, which is quire far from the residential area.

My dad is a good carpenter despite lacking any formal training and has slowly managed to collect all the necessary equipment. He made many tables, chair, cup-board, shelves, and beds for sale to others.

I am proud to say that 90% of our home furniture was made by him. He is one of the few people who can do proper construction work, which he has been doing for many years. He normally opts for construction work as he gets more pay. He has to feed a big family and is the only bread earner of the family.

My mom looked after us and also took care of cows and sold milk. My dad often traveled to Jangthang for construction work and to do a small business. He buys biscuits, sweat, cooking oil from the shop in Ladakh and sells those in Jangthang area where he gets a profit of Rs. 5 - 10 from each packet.

In the late 1990's dad stopped going to Jangthang for small business. He realized that there is more loss than profit. People in Jangthang need many things but they do not have money to pay, so they exchanged the things with wool, meat (barter system). Most of the time people take loans when they do not have money, as they trust each other and return the money later (sometimes after several years). From the late 1990's till today, he is going to Jangthang only for construction work as he gets better pay in Jangthan than in Ladakh.

My dad also set up small shop to find the alternative ways to earn money to feed us.We sell sweets, biscuits, soap which we can easily afford to buy from Indian wholesale market. While he was in shop, he also repairs radio, watches to earn extra. My sisters and I had an experience of being shopkeeper while my parent were busy working in their field."

Sonam's Parents in Their Home in Ladakh

Next time I will post Sonam's personal experience of growing up in India as a refugee.

Tibet in Exile News Round Up: 6-13 January, 2011

2011-01-13T12:56:00.001+05:30

This week, rather than post direct links to the stories, I would like to recommend all interested readers visit the Phayul News Index page.

Additionally, The Tibet Post news from Exile page is a good source for current issues.

To stay informed of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's schedule, visit DalaiLama.com

The 2010 Annual Report by TCHRD (Tibetan Centre for Human Rights & Democracy) is now available.

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Everyday Exile Project has created a sister blog dedicated to Photojournalism from Tibet in Exile which will be updated 3-4 days weekly, on days when no posts are made from this blog.

The One Minute in Exile video feature has been temporarily put on hold due to issues with upload speeds.

Personal Profile: Tsoyang, "La Phing" Maker and Vendor

2011-01-11T15:53:00.007+05:30

Tsoyang is a 48 year old mother of 3 living in Bir Tibetan Settlement. She spends her days preparing and selling "la phing" (a western Chinese snack popular with Tibetans in Kham) from a shop front on the main street. Her customers include local Tibetans, Nepalis and western tourists. She, her (second) husband, and one of her three children, live in a room behind the shop, its dimensions roughly 7 by 15 feet, the same room in which she cooks her product.

She tells my translator, in Tibetan, that living in this small room is very smart because she can save a lot of money on rent. The room holds all the family's personal belongings, her cooking business supplies, and a large Buddhist shrine.

Tsoyang came to India and Bir settlement from Tibet 4 years ago. She wanted to provide a better life for her children. Her first husband, in Tibet, was an alcoholic who abused her and their children. For their safety, and to provide the children with better educational opportunities, she brought them to India. All of the children are now in schools where they can learn Tibetan language and culture in addition to subjects which will serve them in the modern world.

The following is a small photo essay on her work:

Tsoyang Laddling La Phing Mix

Tsoyang Peeling Steamed La Phing Cake from Pan

Tsoyang's La Phing Stand

La Phing is a Tibetan pronunciation of the Chinese name for this snack, which I am told is "liang fen". This version is called La Phing Serpo (yellow la phing). It is also available as la phing karpo (white la phing...which I have yet to try).

You can learn more about the making of la phing at this photo-post by my friend and fellow Tibet supporter.

Give Us Your Questions on Tibet/Tibet-in-Exile

2011-01-07T08:35:00.000+05:30

YOUR participation in this project is encouraged. We are very interested to know what you want to know about Tibet and the Tibetan situation. Everyday Exile will do our best to get you a prompt answer!

If you could ask a Tibetan anything, what would it be?

What do you most want to know about the history of Tibet?

What do you most want to know about Tibetan Buddhism?

Do you need links to Tibetan news sources? Are you looking to volunteer with/for Tibetans?

ASK US!

Also, please leave comments regarding what you have read on this blog. The featured artists are very interested in hearing comments from readers in the west.

Weekly Tibet in Exile News Round-Up

2011-01-05T11:32:00.001+05:30

Here is the weekly round-up of news from Tibet and Tibet-in-Exile, sourced by Phayul unless otherwise noted.

Tibetan Political Prisoner in Critical Condition

Tibetan Sentenced to 2 Years for Visit to India & Attending Dalai Lama Teachings

3 Tibetan Writers Sentenced for “inciting activities to split the nation.”

6 Tibetan Refugees Arrested in Nepal

See The Tibet Post Exile News page for additional stories.

For info on the schedule/activities of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, see Dalai Lama.com

Everyday Exile's Tammy Winand will be doing guest posts on two other websites during Jaunary. The first, due to be published around 12 January, will be for a Buddhism blog. The second will be the start of a regular monthly feature on Tibetan issues and culture for a Canadian-based spirituality and cultural website. We will provide those links at the time of publication.

Lastly, YOUR participation in this project is encouraged. Please leave comments regarding what you have read here.
We are very interested to know what you want to know about Tibet and the Tibetan situation.
If you could ask a Tibetan anything, what would it be?

Images from McleodGanj: Living Conditions

2011-01-02T13:33:00.001+05:30

As mentioned in our previous post, living conditions in McleodGanj can be quite harsh for those who are not blessed with strong financial means.
Today I am going to provide some images showcasing various aspects of local life.


Common Sight: Rubbish Thrown from Balconies Washes into Rain Ravines


Gas Cylinder Day: Locals Must Apply for Permits to Obtain Cooking Gas. New Cylinders are Picked Up at Street Corners and Carried to Homes & Businesses


View from TCV Cafe Overlooking Temple Road Cross-over. Note the Small Rooms in the White-Washed Building. Each is a Single Family Housing Unit, Many Occupied by Streetside Vendors.

More images will be added over the coming days, each focused on an aspect of everyday life in McleodGanj or another Tibetan settlement.
Next time I will showcases streetside views, including local vendors of food and handicrafts who run their stalls outdoors in all weather.

Living Conditions Feature + Weekly Tibet in Exile News

2010-12-29T12:43:00.002+05:30

In addition to this week's round-up of Tibetan exile news (see bottom of entry), today I offer another new feature showcasing various aspects of everyday life in Tibetan exile settlements (these issues are not limited to Tibetan settlements but are prevalent throughout India, especially rural areas).

Most people reading this from the USA or Europe will not be aware of the difficulties faced by much of the local population. So I thought I'd highlight a few of the issues I found most difficult to accept when I first came here.

McleodGanj is located in the Dhauladhar Range of the Himalayas at an elevation of 6,831feet (2082 metres). Winter daytime temperatures can rise into the mid-50s F when the sun is shining, but temps drop quickly as sunset approaches. Most locals do not have heated rooms. Heating is generally not provided in public places including hotels (most people live in rented hotel rooms, as apartment complexes are uncommon). From November til February, we don 3-4 layers of clothing, shawls, gloves and blankets. At night, many people build small fires along the road or on balconies for extra warmth. The average temperature in my room at sunrise is 46F.

Many locals do not have their showers in their rooms (bathtubs are a luxury for the wealthy), have unheated water or a very small water heater. This week I have seen people in shorts bucket-bathing outdoors at sunrise. Last year I met a family who walked to a nearby waterfall once a month to bathe and do laundry. The water was so cold that my hand turned red and went burning numb within seconds when I tested it.

A friend of mine has Tibetan acquaintances living outside the major residential areas who do not even have toilets. Public squat toilets are located at either end of town but charge from 2-5 rupees. It is not unusual to see people squatting around a corner, barely out of sight of the main road, when nature calls. The local dog, cow, monkey, donkey, mule and pack pony, rat, and mongoose populations do what they do in the street, as well.

In town, street-side gutters carry water from surrounding buildings, which others have told me is kitchen and toilet water. Many locals use these gutters as rubbish disposal bins. During heavy rains, everything is washed into ravines cutting down the hillsides toward the riverbed...the same river used for showers and laundry. When the rains stop, a colorful hodge podge of refuse lies strewn across the landscape, picked at by ravens and dogs and cows.

It's amazing what kinds of living conditions one can adapt to or simply accept because they have never known anything different. For obvious health and environmental reasons, these are some of the issues the world needs to respond to when addressing living conditions not only of Tibetan refugees but all exile settlements and in third/developing world-nations in general.

(Next week I'll take a closer look at the rented hotel rooms and other living conditions for locals)

Now, The Weekly Round-Up of News from Tibet-in-Exile (links from McleodGanj-based Phayul unless otherwise indicated):
China Increasing Activities in Nepal, Tibet & Pakistan

Global Peace March for Free Tibet Sets Out from Dharamsala

Indian Court Grants Citizenship to Woman of Tibetan Parentage

Update on Activities/Travels of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama from Dalai Lama.com

Kagyu Monlam Ends + Update on His Holiness Karmapa's Schedule

Weekly Round-Up of Tibetan Exile News

2010-12-22T12:15:00.000+05:30

Wednesday may seem like an odd day to do a weekly news round-up, but as I started last Wednesday, I decided to continue on the same day.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama continues his tour and teachings in Sikkim. Details of his travels/teaching schedule can be found at Dalai Lama.com

His Holiness the 17th Karmapa is presiding over the Karma Kagyu Monlam (prayer ceremonies) in Bodhgaya. Details are on the Kagyu Office page.

Exile news links below come via Phayul Tibetan Exile News Page based in McleodGanj:
India Changes Policy During Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Visit..."No Mention of 'One China' Policy"

Three Tibetan Prime Minister Candidates Remain for March 2011 Kalon Tripa Elections

WikiLeaks Cable Reveals Tibetan Exile Statistics

Canada to Take Up to 1000 Tibetan Refugees from Arunachal Pradesh

Three Tibetan Monks Wanted by Chinese Now Safe in Exile

Everyday Exile Project is still working on an extensive profile of the Ladakhi refugee family mentioned previously.

New: One Minute in Exile Video Feature

2010-12-19T18:00:00.000+05:30

Everyday Exile Project is introducing a new feature called "One Minute in Exile". These will be 60 second segments of everyday life in Tibetan settlements in India, mainly McleodGanj, the capital of Tibet in Exile and home to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.

Clips will include "live action" street scenes simply showing local conditions. In addition, there will be profiles of organizations/individuals working with or for Tibetan exiles and eventually Tibetans-in-exile.

The first clip, an overview of downtown McleodGanj, is online now:

First installment in Everyday Exile Project's new "One Minute in Exile" feature, showcasing 60 second segments of life in Tibetan exile communities in India.

Episode Number One was filmed from the rooftop of Jimmy's Italian Restaurant in "downtown" McleodGanj, capital of Tibet in Exile, on an afternoon in mid-December 2010.
Note the tin, slate and tarp rooftops, narrow streets, and haphazard wiring.
These are the town's two main streets: upper Jogibara (alt Jogiwara) Road at left and upper Temple Road at right.
You can see the usual mix of Tibetan, Indian and expat/travelers.
Also note the metal grates over the road at right. These grates cover gutters where water from surrounding buildings runs. The gutters are also used as waste disposals (despite availability of other facilities designated for that purpose) and are sometimes also used as urinals.

Please also visit and comment Everyday Exile Project's Tibet in Exile Photojournalism album!

The Week in Tibetan Exile News

2010-12-15T15:57:00.000+05:30


Tibetans &Foreigners at International Human Rights Day, McleodGanj, India	(capital of Tibet in Exile)

On December 10, 2010, International Human Rights Day, along with the observance of the 21st Anniversary of His Holiness Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize Award, was celebrated in McleodGanj, India at Tsulglakhang, His Holiness' main temple.

Prior to the opening speech, NGO's distributed literature relating to the Tibet situation and other human rights issues.

The morning program ran from 9am-11am and included speeches as well as traditional Tibetan cultural presentations.

Distinguished guests included Tibetan exile government officials Chief Justice Commissioner Ngawang Phelgyal Gyechen, acting Prime Minister Tsering Dhondup, Parliament Speaker Penpa Tsering, and Deputy Speaker Dolma Gyari. Other members of Parliament as well as heads of NGOs and regional monasteries and nunneries were present.

At 2pm, the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society offered a cultural program featuring traditional Indian, Nepali and Tibetan song and dance. Each performer or group was offered a traditional khata (prayer scarf) as a symbol of gratitude.

In addition, various local NGOs presented the monies collected during recent fundraisers to seven families affected by the November 30 fire in Jogibara Road, McleodGanj.
(story by Tammy Winand, appeared as CNN iReport on 11 December 2010)

14 December: Exile Musicians Hold Concert to Raise Awareness for Jailed Tibetans Tashi Dhondup (singer) and Dhondup Wangchen (film-maker)

15 December: Tibetan Youth Congress and other NGOs protest Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to New Delhi

*UPCOMING: Everyday Exile Project is working on a profile of a Tibetan family who walked from Tibet to India Ladakh region in 1960

Project Status Update

2010-12-05T08:38:00.000+05:30

Everyday Exile Project status update: 5 December, 2010

Day by day I make additional contacts in the Tibetan exile community with whom I discuss their situation. The situation is complex, multi-faceted, and there are no clear cut solutions. The Tibetan exile situation is as complicated as the number of exiles, each of who has a personal story, personal needs, personal goals.

Current needs:

1) Tibetan language translator volunteer to help with interviewing community members whose level of English is limited, and also to help with writing Tibetan language posters to display in the community with info on the project.

2) UPDATED: Donation for Heater has been received! Thank You!
(orig post:A room heater is needed. McleodGanj is located in the Himalayan foothills at roughly 6,831 ft above sea level. Winter months are damp and chilly. Room temperature this morning was 50F (10C). A $20 USD donation would cover the cost of a suitable heater.)

3) People to promote the project on their blogs, twitter and facebook are needed. If you have an interest in Tibet/Tibet in Exile, please tell others about this individually run non-profit whose goal is to bring awareness to the situation of Tibetans living in exile.

Thank you for your readership. Please consider a small donation during this holiday season! Any amount is useful and greatly appreciated.

NOTE: This page was unavailable for a few minutes on 5 Dec. 2010. The message "blogger has deleted this blog" appeared when the URL was entered. A few minutes later, I was able to log in. Following that, upon logging out, was able to view the blog. Other viewers have told me they are able to view it now, as well. Do not know what happened, but copying data just in case it happens again!

Drawings by Lobsang, a Tibetan in Exile

2010-12-02T08:29:00.000+05:30

Lobsang is a 22 year old Tibetan refugee from the Kham area of Tibet. He told me that he began drawing when he was a child. He comes from a nomadic/shepherding family, and reports having no pen, pencil or paper to draw with or on at that time. He said he would go out and find animals and draw them, or mountain scenes, in the dirt or on walls.

His family wanted him to have an education and opportunities. So his parents and mother's parents brought him to live in India roughly 5 years ago. He was a student at TTS (Tibetan Transit School) in Dharamsala and also studies English with a non-profit in McleodGanj. He also volunteers several nights a week to assist with cooking for programs to raise awareness of the Tibetan situation.

Lobsang studied traditional thangka painting but is most interested in modern art. He is undecided as to whether he wishes to make it his full time career.

14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso


17th Panchen Lama

(note: The 17th Panchen Lama was kidnapped at age 6 when he was recognized by His Holiness Dalai Lama. Chinese authorities have claimed it is "protective custody". Neither he nor his family has been seen for 15 years.)

Add caption

"Karma", a Cousin of the Artist


Kalsang, the Artist's Thangka Painting Instructor

Bir Tibetan Settlement Overview

2010-11-25T12:34:00.000+05:30

Approximately 65 km (35 miles) southeast of McleodGanj (a 3-4 hour public bus journey), the capital of Tibet in exile, lies the Tibetan Settlement of Bir. Against the sharp backdrop of the Dhauludhar Range of the Himalayas, Bir's landscape is rolling foothills where terraced farmland lies interspersed with natural forest and semi-tropical foliage.

Bir was founded in 1967 by the 3rd Neten Chokling Rinpoche, father of Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche, much of whose family still resides in the area. When he passed away following a car accident in 1973, Orgyen Tobgyal took over care of his father's monastery.

Most of the Tibetans who reside in Bir either came from the Kham region of Tibet or are descended from the settlement's original Khampa residents.

Within a 45 minute taxi ride from Bir settlement lie 5 major monasteries, with a 6^th under construction, and a former monastery which has been converted into an educational center for international Buddhist students. The Kagyu, Nyingma and Sakya lineages of Tibetan Buddhism are each represented. There are also a few Buddhist nunneries.

The local monasteries are: Palpung Sherab Ling (Karmu Kagyu); Dzongsar Shedra (Rime/non-sectarian); Chokling (Nyingma); Palyul Choerling (Nyingma) and Tashi Jong (Drukpa Kagyu ). Tsering Jong temple is in the final stages of construction. Deer Park Institute, established by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche in March 2006 under the patronage of the Dalai Lama, is an international center offering Buddhist studies from both Indian and Tibetan texts, various retreats, and Tibetan language courses.

Compared to McleodGanj, which bustles with activity much of the year, Bir is a quiet community which attracts serious dharma students from western countries, as well as back-packers/trekkers and visitors going to the nearby paragliding site of Billing (the landing field is just outside Bir). Retail, restaurant and tourism-related businesses are the most evident source of income for locals.

The community has a Tibetan Children's Village Branch called Suja, with just under 1500 students. Their mission statement, from their website: “to ensure that all Tibetan children...receive a sound education, a firm cultural identity and become self reliant and contributing members of the Tibetan Community in particular and to the world at large.”

A walk through local alleys reveals numerous gray stone and concrete buildings with steel doors, barred windows and corrugated metal roofs. Some are labeled with Tibetan agency names, varying from waste management to freedom movements, and appear to be abandoned. Others bear no markings but seem to be in use as warehouses or even “factories” for locally handmade products.

Prayer flags are strung from almost every building. Even the most run-down block houses have small flower gardens around their stained stone and concrete walls. The main street is noisy and lively while in the pedestrian side alleys you pass only a few local residents going about their daily lives.

Bir was the setting for Khyentse Norbu's first feature film, “The Cup (Phörpa)” (1999), based on events that took place there during the 1998 World Cup final. Many local residents appeared in the film.

An acquaintance of mine who has lived in Tibet commented to me that life in Bir is about as close to Tibetan life inside Tibet as you can get in the exile communities in India.

Traditional Tibetan Artisans At Work in Bir Tibetan Colony

2010-11-18T16:07:00.000+05:30

Recently I had the opportunity to spend several days in the Tibetan colony at Bir, in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. While there, I was fortunate to meet several artists working on decor for a new monastery, Tsering Jong, being constructed at the residence of Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche. They kindly allowed me to ask questions about their work and to photography some pieces in progress.

Pelden and Phuntsok are traditional thangka painters, both in their mid-twenties, who came to India from the Dege area of Kham about 5 years ago. Pelden says he came for more opportunity to study, while Phuntsok gave his reason as wanting to meet and “study with the lamas” (many great Buddhist teachers are now living in exile). They both said they have been studying thangka painting for about 7 years.

Currently they are working on what they called protector deity images to frame the Tsering Jong shrine room doorway. When asked which deity, one of them took out a book and pointed out an image of a thangka from Potala Palace in Lhasa labelled Mopa Drak-ngak, the Tantra of Subduing.

The pieces, as stretched on wood frames to work on, measure roughly 4 feet wide by 6 feet high. The artists are using traditional ground stone pigments imported from Tibet for the project. They explained that a piece of that size usually takes 6-8 months to complete depending on how much time they spend on it daily.

Outside and downstairs, we came across two traditional woodworkers, Rinchen and Serthup, also from the Kham region of Tibet. They were on break from building a full scale 3D mandala which will go in Tsering Jong when complete. Usually mandalas are 2D depictions, often in painting or, for ceremonial purposes, made of sand, so this one is unique. Unfortunately I did not get to ask them many other details.

Below are images of each of the artists and their works in progress.

Pelden, Tibetan Thangka Painter

Pelden working on Thangka

Pelden Working on Thangka

Phuntsok, Tibetan Thangka Painter

Phuntsok Working on His Thangka

Phuntsok Working on Thangka


Phuntsok Working on Thangka

3D Wooden Mandala for Tsering Jong

Tsewang Dhondup, Tibetan Exile, Injured During Demonstration

2010-11-07T13:07:00.000+05:30

In March 2008, a series of peaceful demonstrations spread through Tibet from Lhasa. On 24 March, Tsewang, a monk in a monastery in Kham province, Tibet, saw a demonstration begin at a nearby nunnery. He says that he felt very proud and decided to go, along with many others, and join them.

He says that when he reached the protest area, there were around 300 demonstrators chanting their support of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan freedom. Before long, a roughly equal number of Chinese police and army began to beat the protestors with batons. Still, they continued.

Police threw smoke bombs and then opened fire on the crowd from surrounding rooftops. Tsewang saw a monk that he recognized as his acquaintance Kunga fall after being shot. He went to try to help but says he could not tell where the wound was due to the folds of the monk robes, only that he was bleeding badly. He and another monk helped Kunga up and started to walk away.

At that time, he says, he felt a strong pain in his side. He quickly realized he had been shot, but tried not to let the others know so that they would not be afraid or get discouraged. After another few steps, another shot hit his elbow. He lost all feeling in his arm and was unable to help carry Kunga any further. He says he remembers telling them he'd been shot before he fainted.

He was helped up by people around him and carried to a motorbike, where people riding in front and behind supported him as they rode to another village. There, villagers helped bandage his wounds. They made a make-shift wooden pallet, and his friends carried him for six nights to a place where they thought they could hide.

His story jumps back and forth, at this point. He says that he and 5 or 6 other people stayed on a mountain for a total of 15 months. They ate mostly the Tibetan staple barley grain “tsampa”.

Due to lack of medical treatment and unsanitary conditions, he describes that his wounds became infected and began to rot. He mentions periods of intense pain and others when he had no feeling at all. Eventually his friends removed his bandages, cut away the dead skin and infection, and poured a type of white wine in the wounds to disinfect them as best as they could.

Tsewang told us he often thought of committing suicide. It was winter when he was shot, which added to their difficulty. He was afraid of being discovered and worried about bringing further trouble to his friends who were helping him. At first he thought if he killed himself, it would be easier for them.

His friends encouraged him to recover, telling him he had to survive to escape to India to show people the truth about what had happened to them. Their support, and this hope, gave him the will to survive.

For 6 months, he says he was unable to move, even to get up to go to the bathroom.

By the 8^th month, he says he could walk a few steps with help, and that by the 10^th month he could walk a little without help. At that time, one of the friends who had stayed with him on the mountain decided to help him get to India. The friend left a wife, two children, and elderly ailing parents to make this commitment.

They rode for ten days on a motorbike to reach Lhasa, where supporters donated food, money and clothing and helped them find a guide to escape. They first reached the Nepal Reception Center before being sent on to Delhi, and they reached Dharamsala in May 2009.

The gunshot wound to his left elbow shattered the bone. He cannot bend that arm, which bears massive scarring (photo below) and remains in a sling. The arm and hand have begun to atrophy. Tsewang said that he feels it would be wrong to accept further medical treatment without the international community doing something to help those still inside Tibet who are being hurt every day.

At the end of his speech, the friend who escaped with him from Tibet saw Tsewang trying to undo the sling on his arm to show his wounds to the audience and came from the back of the room to help.

Tsewang has had no contact with his friends or family in Tibet in the year and a half since his escape. He has no work or income and is living alone in a former Tibetan exile support office. He relies on the generosity of other Tibetans and the international community for food, clothing and spending money.

If you feel moved by Tsewang's story and would like to help, please make a PayPal donation in his name through Everyday Exile Project (at the right hand sidebar of this page). We promise it will be delivered directly to him.

Interview with Kusang Tenzin, Tibet Hope Center

2010-11-04T12:42:00.000+05:30

Kusang Tenzin came to India from Tibet in 1992 at age six. After he completed his studies at TCV (Tibetan Children's Village), he became a private English tutor to fellow Tibetans. The number of students soon increased to a point where he felt a school could serve them better. In 2007, he decided to take an initiative to open Tibet Hope Center.

Since that time, Tibet Hope Center has evolved. At this time, they still offer English conversation classes, but Kusang says these are being phased out. While they continue, the organization is trying to incorporate current issues of a national and international nature into the classes. He says the idea is to give students more confidence to be able to participate in conversations of more than just a casual nature with western visitors.

Kusang says the center wishes to address different community needs, as many other language courses are now operating. Their goal, he told me, is to offer new and different programs to serve unmet community needs. At the same time, they wish to remain “non-political” and also rely only on local feedback to determine whether they are accomplishing their goals.

Tibet Hope Center organizes a once monthly town clean-up, as pollution continues to be a major local issue despite many initiatives to curb the problem. Kusang told me he thinks it is important for Tibetan exiles to realize they need to take responsibility for their daily lives and environment.

Some of the new plans Kusang hopes to institute include an after school program for exile children whose parents are working, one on one baby-sitting to allow Tibetan children to interact with western volunteers, and support for individuals based on need.

In October 2010, Tibet Hope center opened a restaurant called cafe Panda on the roof of Katen Lodge, off Lower Jogibara (alt Jogiwara) Road in McleodGanj. The cafe serves a wide range of Tibetan, Indian and western food. At this time, five percent of profits from food sales are going directly to Tibet Hope Center. In addition, movie showings and other planned events are raising funds for specific projects, including the “Make a Wish” project which will provide clothing and other items for needy local children.

Locally, Tibet Hope center relies only on word of mouth to inform residents of classes, projects and events. Their website, is designed to serve westerners with an interest in getting involved in the community through volunteering.

Poetry from Exile, by "Samten"

2010-11-02T15:38:00.000+05:30

Letter to a Friend

Samten

Sleep, you have no wife, no country.

Which is an important individual benefit,

That is a huge worry.

Where there are many things to do, there is confusion.

So sleep, there is only sky above your head,

Only earth is your bed.

Education can't make your stomach full

With money you will not be able to get to the end of sadness.

Sleep and relax, although there is no

Prediction and constitution for you sleeping.

It is beneficial, sleeping in a single life.

Sleep, friend, you can't go to America

In the break of this situation.

Miss Universe will never belong to you after consideration.

Sleep, friend, father has not left a will for you,

Mother does not entrust you.

Are you not a remainder?

At this time of violent change, of deception,

There are many people who give you advice

And share real thought around you.

But when you get in trouble

Nobody is with you,

Nobody will even offer you a piece of cigarette in your need.

Continue sleeping, mind will be calm,

Nobody makes you angry,

No need to pay

Sleep forever...
(copyright 2010 by Samten; this work may not be used without the express written consent of the author, who may be contacted via Everyday Exile)

Samten is a 23 year old former monk who came to India in 2003, escaping by bus and foot via Nepal. He says he was very fortunate that the biggest difficulty he and his companion faced en route was safely finding the right route.

After reaching safety at the Nepal Reception Center, he was given food. After 4 months, he was questioned by officials before being sent on to the Delhi Reception Center. He said that he and the officer who interviewed him had a hard time understanding one another's dialects, so on his paperwork his age was guessed and a new birth date assigned.

He spent only one week in Delhi before moving on to Dharamsala and getting his new arrival interview with His Holiness the Dalai Lama, after which he was assigned to Tibetan Transit School. He studied there for 4 years. After graduation he moved to McleodGanj, where has has had various cafe and street vendor jobs.

A very intense young man with a sincere desire to learn, Samten has told me he wishes to eventually become an English teacher, but that he often feels doubtful about the real possibility of this happening. He is currently working in a cafe 7 days each week, 8 hrs per day, and attending English class in the morning. His current wage is roughly equivalent to $17 USD per month.

In Samten's poetry, I see some of the pain of loss all Tibetan exiles must feel...loss of country, loss of family and friends, loss of identity, feelings of despair and isolation, confusion at not knowing which way to turn.

If you would like to make a donation to Samten, you can do so through Everyday Exile Project, which accepts PayPal. When submitting, write his name in the subject line or include a note specifying exactly how the donation should be used.

Watch for our next update on Thursday, 4 November, 2010 featuring an interview with Tibet Hope Center, a McleodGanj based Tibetan community center.

Tashi, Former Political Prisoner, Speaks at L.I.T.

2010-10-31T13:50:00.000+05:30

On Tuesday evenings at 7pm the non-profit group and school L.I.T., Learning and Ideas for Tibet holds an event night where former political prisoners tell their stories to an international audience. The planned speaker, a gunshot victim, was unable to come due to complications related to his injuries. At the last minute a new speaker was arranged.

The speaker asked us to refer to him only by the name Tashi (which can be translated as 'luck” or 'lucky”) out of respect for the safety of his family, who are all still in Tibet. Chinese police and government often try to bribe family members of former prisoners for money (supposedly to guarantee the safety of the prisoner) or information on their current whereabouts.

Tashi, a former monk, was arrested along with 35 other monks in 1995 when his monastery put up Long Life Dalai Lama and Free Tibet banners. They were taken to a prison north of Lhasa and held without trial for some time before receiving their sentences. Each monk received a different sentence, ranging from 2 years to life to death. Tashi's sentence was 2 years.

The Chinese claim that this prison facility is the best for political prisoners. They claim it offers job training and treats prisoners very well. They were told they would be allowed to study half of each day but were actually only permitted one month of study per year. Tashi says the education mostly consisted of political re-education to try to sway them into Chinese way of thinking and joining Communist party.

Each day they were required to work at different tasks for at least half the day, and shifts were varied, sometimes day, others night, with no advance warning. Jobs included construction work including carrying stone and brick, vegetable gardening, and tending pigs. For their labor they were offered the equivalent of 5 rupees per month pocket change (5 rupees is less than 10 cents US).

Prisoners were told they were being given better food, but some days they received nothing, others only old food. When officials came to visit, they were given good food, new clean clothing and fresh blankets. As soon as the officials left, the clothing and blankets were taken away.

Before sentencing they were forced to live in a room with no furniture or toilet. After sentencing, he was moved to a room with between 6-12 other prisoners, each allotted a small bunk. He was allowed 15 minutes of toilet time. The room was on lock-down from 8:30pm through 7am each day.

He was allowed 2 family visits each month (which he says is double what other prisons allow). No more than 2 family members were admitted at a time, and they had to obtain ID cards. In actuality, he says, only the same 2 people could come each time, as new ID cards would not be issued.

Tashi explained that Tibetan prisoners could be beaten for singing in Tibetan, or for failing to be able to quickly state their prisoner ID number in Chinese when asked. Relatively speaking, he says he did not witness much violence in his prison.

In 1997, at the end of his sentence, he was forced to sign a statement that he agreed with Chinese government policies, that he would join the Communist party and never go against China again. He was released, but forbidden from rejoining his monastery. Due to Chinese police interference, he also had difficulty finding other work.

In September 1998 he decided to escape to India and joined a group of 72 other Tibetans ranging in age from 9-60. They walked for 90 days to reach the Nepali border. As with most refugees, they moved from the Nepali Recpetion Center to the New Delhi Reception Center on to Dharamsala.

In Dharamsala, new arrivals are granted an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama where they receive a personal blessing. After the audience, they are assigned to schools or work training.

Tashi joined Gu Chu Sum, the former political prisoners association, where he studied English for one year. He worked at Lung Ta Japanese restaurant for 4 years, then 3 years at Gu Chu Sum's office. He is currently not working and wishes to continue his studies.

When asked, he said the worst feeling he experienced in prison is when Chinese denied him the right to be Tibetan, forcing him to speak Chinese, follow Chinese customs and rituals, and to observe Chinese holidays including those which went against Tibet.

He feels McleodGanj has been a disappointment. Like many Tibetans, he has had a difficult time adjusting to local food and climate. He says there are very few opportunities for Tibetans to find good work and that food and housing costs are very expensive.

If you would like to make a donation to Tashi, you can do so through the Everyday Exile Project by making a PayPal donation. In the message area or subject line, please specify his name. You can also donate to Gu Chu Sum or any of the people profiled on this blog in the same manner.

Everyday Exile Project is non-profit, more than 50% funded by sponsors. We still need at least $25USD per month above what we are currently receiving to cover basic expenses. Please consider becoming a monthly supporter at the $5, $10, $25 or $50 level. Thank you for your continued interest and support.

Random Encounter with a Tibetan

2010-10-26T11:14:00.001+05:30

A Slice of Tibetan Exile Experience

Majnu ka Tilla, over the brief span of 3 days I spent there, did not offer many opportunities to spark conversation. I had just started to learn my way around the close-knit community when it was time to board the bus to head to my main destination.

Therefore, this week's project update is a slice of the life of a Tibetan I encountered while traveling from Delhi north to the Tibetan exile capital in McleodGanj.

My seat companion on the bus out of Delhi was a Tibetan man in his late 30s. He was polite but obviously a little awkward at first abt sitting next to me. I said “tashi delek” and also smiled and nodded when I understood something he said to the elderly woman across the aisle, hoping to make us both feel more at ease.

Eventually I gathered my courage and asked his name in Tibetan. He told me Phuntsok and quickly explained he spoke almost no English. Along with my very poor Tibetan, it made communicating difficult, but, after an awkward start, it did not deter us. Over the course of the 12 hr journey from Delhi to Dhasa, he managed to convey to me a great deal about his experience.

He came from eastern Tibet via Nepal to India 6 years ago. A wood carpenter by trade, he studied the art for a year at Norbulingka Institute near Dharamsala before going to work in Dehra Dun at a (Sakya) monastery. He explained that because he had always tended his family's yaks as a child (many places in Tibet are traditionally nomadic farming regions where families grow crops and graze herds) and began woodworking training at a fairly young age, he had never had proper schooling and could not even write Tibetan. He seemed envious that I planned to study it.

At a rest stop, in the middle of the night, he bought me chai and told me that his wife and sons have moved to Germany (how and when was unclear), and that he was on his way to Dhasa to try to get UN refugee status to go and meet them.

I only had a chance to wish him good health and good luck before he left the bus in lower Dharamsala.

His determination and kindness had reminded me of the nature of Tibetan people which originally led me to do this project.

I hope he will be successful in receiving permission to join his family in Germany and that they will all lead happy lives.

His story is one among tens of thousands of refugee stories. I can only hope to share new ones with my readers on a regular basis with the hopes of showing why we need to support and help the Tibetan people.

Please talk about the things you learn here. Help others find out abt the Tibetan situation. The more people who know, the greater the chance that we can work together to change policies and make more of an impact.

This project relies heavily on sponsorship and still needs an additional $50 USD per month to cover all its expenses while staying in the Tibetan exile communities in India. If you are so inclined, please make a small donation or become a monthly sponsor (see right hand sidebar of blog page). When you do, you can specify exactly how you want your gift to be spent. If you do not wish to donate directly, you can also consider shopping for Tibetan or Buddhism related gifts this holiday season at our Support for Tibet gift shop.

Thank you for your time and continued interest in this project.

Watch for our upcoming feature on the experience of a young man who was shot by Chinese authorities after shouting “Free Tibet”and narrowly escaped with his life.

Photography by Norbu Wangyal

2010-10-18T11:09:00.001+05:30

I was introduced to Norbu Wangyal via email in September, 2010 by Joe Mickey of The Tibetan Photo Project .

We exchanged a few emails, and Norbu enthusiastically agreed to also participate in Everyday Exile Project.

The following is the intro letter he gave about himself and his work.

"Photography is an art. Photography is a passion."

"My name is Norbu Wangyal, born in Tibet and came to India in 1983.

I did my schooling at Upper TCV School. While in school I always had a passion for photography but I couldn't explore it much.

After completing school, I went to Delhi to study. After school, I started working to earn money so that I could start following my passion (photography).

With my savings, I bought a Nikon D60 and started clicking. Soon I realized that I needed a theoretical guidance, and I joined a workshop cum training at National Academy of Photography in Kolkata.

I completed the course a month ago and came to Dharamsala to capture the diversity of culture and exile moments.
I really want to get involved in the Tibetan cause and community through photography."

Everyday Exile is proud to present a series of images by this talented photographer focusing on his perspectives on what it means to live in exile.

All original images with titles by the photographer.

"Caring"

"Beauty in Prayer"

"Blessed"

"Colourless Concentration"

"Elderly Prayer"

"Enjoying Tibetan Bread and Tea"

"Interesting"

"Young Curiosity"

"Monk"

"Pray"

"Pray Everywhere"

(The images below were taken on the day of the Kalon Tripa Primary elections for the next Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the Chitue, or Parliament)

"Voting is My Right"

"My Candidate"

"May the Best Win"

All images above copyright Norbu Wangyal, 2010 and may not be downloaded or used in any way without the express written consent of the photographer. If you are interested in using these photos, please contact Everyday Exile with information on where and how the images will be used, and we will seek permission from the photographer on your behalf.

Everyday Exile is actively seeking other Tibetans interested in sharing their personal stories, photography, art, poetry, or other writing.
We are also interested in participation from anyone who works with or for the Tibetan community in exile anywhere in the world.
Please contact by email or via our facebook fan page (link in blog right side bar) if you are interested.

Please remember that Everyday Exile depends on the generosity of sponsors to continue this project. Your contribution is important and may dictate how long we can continue this project.
I hope you will consider a one time donation or sponsorship, or a purchase from our Support for Tibet shop.

Thank you for your time, interest, and continued support.

Project Update, 13 October

2010-10-13T20:14:00.000+05:30

Reader response to our first personal experience article has been high, and obviously we are thrilled that it reached so many people.

Travel to India begins today, and of course there will be an update once we arrive in the Delhi Tibetan colony.

The Everyday Exile YouTube channel intro video will be shot either in Mumbai or Delhi and should be online before 24 October. Apologies to anyone who has been looking for that.

Please remember that this project relies on sponsors for most expenses, so please consider making even a minimal donation or becoming a monthly sponsor. Remember, you can specify exactly how you want your donation to be used when you send it via PayPal.

Thanks everyone for your interest and continued support.
Next stop...India!

Tibetan Pasang Tashi Shares His Story

2010-10-11T03:23:00.000+05:30

In September 2010, Everyday Exile sent a questionnaire to Pasang Tashi, a student met in McleodGanj earlier this year. We asked about his personal history, his everyday life, and his hopes for the future.

Last week, his answers came, and we are pleased to be able to share with you our first personal story from a Tibetan living in exile.

With his permission, the answers have been edited for grammatical purposes.

“I was born in July 1986 and am now 24 years old. I was born in a small village in Kham, Tibet. I was born into a nomad family. For our living we had a small farm and sold butter and milk. I remember my family had a few yaks and sheep. Economically we were very poor, but we were a very happy family.

I left Tibet in 1992 because my parents were expecting me to be an educated person. In Tibet, we don’t have opportunities to get a proper education or freedom of religion and expression because of Chinese government.

I came to India with my dad.

My father was smart man, he managed to cross the main boarder by letting me act as a Nepali boy, wearing Nepali dress and hiring someone to take me across the boarder, but it was risky. If Nepali army caught us, they would send us back to Tibet and inform Chinese government.

I was little lucky enough to get into India without facing a lot of troubles on the way.

Many of my friends have stories of coming to India by climbing through the (Himalayan) mountains. They faced tons of problems on the way: Chinese army would shoot on sight if they caught them, climbing mountains means crossing on snows with no food for days and days.

My father went back to Tibet. At the time, I was wondering why my dad did didn’t stay in India. Then I realized he had to be with my mom and brothers. Also the climate of India was very different and was not good for him.

I came to India at age of 4. I got some fever and pimples all over my body because of climate difference. India weather can be like hot, humid but in Tibet it is always cold.

I faced some problems with Indian people. I guess it is natural that people always face problems. But these were small problems. Generally Indian people are loving, kind and not problem creators unless you do something first. I would say Indian people are great for us and we all respect them for letting us stay here as refugees.

I was very young while coming to India, so I never went to school or work in Tibet. I was born in Tibet, but my life started in India.

Tibetan people who came from Tibet get free schooling and live in one of Tibetan school with assistance from His Holiness (the 14^th Dalai Lama) and supporters from around the world. I went to school at Tibetan Children Village in Dharamsala.

I studied commerce subjects while I was in high school and did my Bachelor of Commerce in south India. Currently I am in Mumbai, learning film-making and photography with help from my relatives. While doing bachelor course, I lost my interest in commerce so I am now in media field. I believe through media I can pass the message of the truth about Tibetan situation.

If I find work, I hope it will be as assistant director or editing manager in Indian world. But I also have an idea of making a small film on Tibet for the Tibetan cause.

I plan to get a job at a call centre while I finish my studies, where I can save money and get experience. Many young Tibetans do this job while completing education.

I live alone. I eat what I have. I love having healthy breakfast, so I can go for muesli with milk. I like having eggs and hard toast. When I was in school, they provided tea and bread. I eat rice, vegetables, and roti(*1) for lunch and dinner. Usually we eat three meals a day. I try most of time to cook my own meals, rather than eating in restaurants, which is expensive. Sometimes I do eat at a friend's place .

I rarely go for Kora(*2) but I do go whenever I get chance. I don’t get enough time for it but I would love to go to Kora. It gives you peace mind and chance to meet old Tibetan people.

While in school, I like sports, football or volleyball. Here in Mumbai, I have few close friends, so I spend my days in cafes getting information around the world from internet.

I like playing sports, listening to music. I like hanging out with friends, going in big malls without buying anything and enjoy looking around and meeting people. I read and watch movies for pastimes.

Living in exile makes me proud. I am especially happy to have a leader like His Holiness. Living in exile is difficult, but it is one way to keep our ethnic identity and unity among Tibetan people.

McleodGanj is one of the most touristic places in India. I think it is good platform for Tibetan to express the truth about our country. I feel good about westerners visiting Mcleod Ganj. They are many westerners who support the Tibetan cause mentally, physically and financially. I feel thankful to them for sharing knowledge about worlds and exchanging ideas.

I always thought of serving my country Tibet in any field I could do. That’s my hope.

I always believe that our Tibetan identity will never die, no matter how long it may take to challenge Chinese government. In the end we will be free again.

footnotes

*1-roti: an Indian flat bread

*2-Kora: both a type of pilgrimage and a type of meditation in Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Kora is performed by making a walking circumambulation around a temple, stupa or other sacred site.

Note: If you wish to send a message to Pasang Tashi, you may do so by leaving it in our comment box. We will pass all messages along via email.
Also, anyone wishing to make a donation to him, or to Everyday Exile Project, please see the boxes in the right panel of the blog. When you donate by Paypal, you can specifiy exactly how you wish the donation to be used.
Thank you.

Pasang working at his cafe job in spring 2010 prior to leaving for his studies in Mumbai.
Image copyright 2010 Tammy Winand. All images on this blog are the property of their respective copyright holders and may not be copied or otherwise used without the express written consent of the copyright holder.
We do encourage interested parties to inquire about usage and terms.

Project Update: 6 October, 2010

2010-10-06T21:55:00.000+05:30

With exactly one week remaining before my return to India, here are the latest activities of Everyday Exile Project.

Our first written interview responses from Tibetans are due back by the end of today, and will hopefully be posted here prior to my departure on 13 October.

There is one photo essay being done for us by a Tibetan correspondent in the Dharamsala area.

Support for Tibet shop has added several new designs/products, including some graciously donated for use by a Tibetan activist. We have had some interest from other western designers interested in offering their designs and hope to present those soon.

The Everyday Exile YouTube intro/mission statement video should be live no later than Saturday evening US eastern time. I will update again here when that happens.

At this time, I would also like to express my concern, along with that of the Tibetan community, at the recent events surrounding Kalon Tripa and Chitue elections in exile communities in Nepal. May "right" prevail.

Photo copyright 2009 Tammy Winand.
All images in this blog are the property of their respective copyright holders and may not be copied or used without their express written consent.
Inquiries welcome.

Support for Tibet Shop Helps Fund Everyday Exile

2010-10-03T23:40:00.000+05:30

The Support for Tibet shop on print-on-demand website Zazzle.com is another initiative raising funds for the Everyday Exile Project.

Started by Tammy Winand in May 2010, Support for Tibet features Tibetan Snow Lion flag items as well as other Tibetan and Buddhist themed gifts including altar cards, bumper stickers and t-shirts. You will also find Buddhist site photography and Tibetan activism photojournalism.

Support for Tibet has a section specifically for designs donated by supporters. If you are interested in designing an image for use there, Tammy would love to hear from you!

All royalties earned from sales at SFT go directly towards Everyday Exile Project's expenses.

Lotus Peace Design by SupportforTibet
Learn how to sell my t-shirts online for free at Zazzle

Profile: Everyday Exile Founder Tammy Winand

2010-09-29T20:58:00.000+05:30

Everyday Exile Project founder Tammy Winand was born in York, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Dallastown Area Senior High School in 1986 and briefly attended West Chester University, where she studied French and was active in the International Students' Association.

Tammy relocated to central FL in 1992. She has since worked in tourism related retail in several US national parks. Tammy has always enjoyed travel, and has made extended visits to Ireland and the UK.
In 2009, she reconnected with a college friend from Mumbai (Bombay), following which she planned her first trip to India.

While on a tour of northern India, Tammy came to McleodGanj, capital of the Tibetan government in exile and home to HH the 14th Dalai Lama. She became involved in a small non-profit organization, L.I.T.-Learning and Ideas for Tibet, where she volunteered as an English conversation teacher and helped plan event nights to broaden awareness of the Tibetan situation.

During her time in McleodGanj, Tammy became acquainted with numerous Tibetan exiles, including former political prisoners, monks and nuns. Their stories of their experiences moved her deeply. When she returned to the US and spoke about her experiences, Tammy realized that a surprising number of people have little or no knowledge of the Tibetan situation.

A few months later, Tammy began to develop the idea for the Everyday Exile Project, looking for a way to bring the Tibetan situation to a wider audience. It began with the thought of writing a book from the perspective of Tibetans in exile, and developed into an on-going internet outlet for Tibetan exile voices.

Tammy will return to India on 14 October 2010 for her second extended stay in India, followed by an extended visit to Nepal, and possibly Leh (Ladakh), where she hopes to gain a broader perspective of the Tibetan culture.

In addition to the Everyday Exile Project, Tammy is passionate about photography, which can be viewed online HERE. If interested, please inquire about further places to view and purchase prints and posters.

Tammy is currently the sole volunteer of Everyday Exile Project.
She can be contacted at the project email on this blog's profile page.

"We Live in Exile" by Tammy Winand. All images used on this site are copyright protected and may not be used in any manner without the express written consent of the copyright holder.

Everyday Exile Project Press Release

2010-09-29T05:55:00.001+05:30

For Immediate Release

28 September, 2010

"EVERYDAY EXILE", NEW NON-PROFIT PROJECT IN INDIA/NEPAL SUPPORTING TIBETAN EXILES

US citizen Tammy Winand will return to McleodGanj, Himachal Pradesh, India, capital of the Tibetan government in exile, on October 25 to lead the Everyday Exile Project. She will spend five months in McleodGanj, followed by an extended visit to Tibetan communities in Nepal.

Interviews with Tibetan individuals, as well as western volunteers who work with/for Tibetans, will present the evolving story of a nation and culture in danger of disappearing.

Tammy Winand first volunteered with the Tibetan community in McleodGanj as a conversational English teacher from December 2, 2009 through March 1, 2010.

During her first visit, Tammy's students, including several former political prisoners, monks and nuns, shared stories of survival and hopes for the future which moved her deeply. Upon return to the United States, speaking to others about her experiences in India, the lack of general knowledge about these issues inspired her to create a project to make Tibetan voices heard.

McleodGanj, also known as Upper Dharamsala, is a hill station in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, located in the foothills of the Himalayan Dhauladhar Range. It became the capital of the Tibetan government in exile in 196o and is the official residence of His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama. An estimated 60,000 Tibetan exiles live in the immediate area.

Everyday Exile is an on-going internet project with the goal of producing at least one book regarding Tibetan exile experience. Tammy will remain in McleodGanj through March 2011 before moving on to the Tibetan community of Boudhanath, outside Kathmandu, Nepal. She may also visit the ethnically Tibetan area of Leh in the Indian state of Ladakh. She plans to return to the United States in late 2011.

Everyday Exile will conduct verbal and written interviews with members of the Tibetan exile community, covering various age groups and social strata. Video interviews and footage of local Tibetan agencies and organizations will also be presented.

Interested Tibetan individuals and groups as well as interested western volunteers are encouraged to contact us to get involved.

Everyday Exile Project is a platform for Tibetans to tell their personal stories of life in exile in their own words and art. Interviews and video reports will be shared online at the project blog and YouTube account. Tammy is funding the majority of project expenses, with the remainder from sponsors and online fundraisers.

For further information, contact:

Everyday Exile Project

Tammy Winand, Founder

Email: EverydayExile@yahoo.com

Website: http://everydayexile.blogspot.com

Project Update, 27 September 2010

2010-09-27T10:41:00.000+05:30

Everyday Exile is moving forward with preparations for return to India on 13 October.
After a week to recover from jet lag in Mumbai, I'll head to the Tibetan colony of Majnu ka Tilla (MT) in New Delhi for several days before continuing on to the capital of the exile community in McleodGanj (aka Upper Dharamsala).

Amongst the developments this week are:
*the addition of an Everyday Exile YouTube Channel. Clips showcasing various aspects of Tibetan life and culture will be added during our travels. Also included will be interviews of organizations which work with and for Tibetans.

*the addition of an arts and literature feature, where Tibetans in exile will present their visual and literary works.

*the project founder, Tammy Winand, has created a CNN iReport profile where she will add stories on Tibetans and events in Tibetan colonies

*the addition of donation and sponsorship opportunities for supporters of Everyday Exile (see below for a complete breakdown).

Everyday Exile Project is more than 50% funded by sponsors. At this time our income falls an estimated $50USD below projected expenses. We need your help!

Interested parties may make a one time donation in amount of their choosing, which they can designate for specific purposes (ie project supplies, daily necessities, etc) or a specific organization mentioned by the project.
Those who wish to support us by subscribing on a monthly basis may do so at 4 different levels.
*The Basic Level is $5 USD monthly and funds will go towards daily necessities.
*Bronze Level is $10 monthly and funds will be split between daily necessities and project supplies.
*Silver Level is $20 monthly. In addition to the previously named purposes, a third of the funds will be passed on to Tibetan individuals in need (with their permission, I will post bios of each individual in need of help)
*Gold Level, at $50 monthly, is our highest level. In addition to supporting the project and Tibetans in need, supporters at this level will be entitled to a copy of the Everyday Exile book when it becomes available.

ALL individuals who make a donation or become a patron at any level will be listed as a supporter on our sites as well as in the eventual book (with their permission).

It is very exciting to share the growth of this project with you all!
A heart-felt "thank you" to everyone who has helped me get this far!

Welcome to the Everyday Exile Project Blog

2010-09-22T07:34:00.000+05:30

The Everyday Exile Project is a platform which allows Tibetans in exile
anywhere to share their personal stories with an online readership and
eventually in book form.

We welcome inquiries from Tibetans and western volunteers for Tibet who would like to participate by sharing their stories.

One of the driving forces behind this project was the surprising lack of knowledge about the Tibetan situation amongst people I've spoken to since my own return from McleodGanj, capital of the Tibetan government in exile, and home to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama since his 1959 escape from the Chinese occupation of Tibet.

It is my sincere hope that this blog will make the day to day experiences of a wide range of Tibetan exiles available to average citizens everywhere in the world, thereby putting a human face on this epic international struggle, as well as introducing the remarkable Tibetan culture to an increasing readership.

Further information and updates can be found at the Everyday Exile facebook page. Please join us there.

This project will officially launch with new stories from Tibetan exiles after 25 October, 2010.

In the meantime, you can read stories of former Tibetan political prisoners the project founder met during her first visit to McleodGanj at the following links: