Lobsang Dolma, one of the artisans at Deykiling handicraft center.
- I wanted to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama so much, that was the main reason to come to India states Lobsang Dolma, artisan at Deykiling handicraft center, with a smile on her face.
She grew up in Bawa, in the Kham region in Tibet, with her mum and dad and four of her five brothers. One of her elderly brothers have already fled to India. Lobsang had no schooling and worked with the animals belonged to her family.
- We had yaks, cows, and sheeps, she says.
Her family also sold caterpillar fungus. That is used in traditional medecine and is of high religious value to the Tibetans and if they are sick the boil it and drink. Her parents still work even though they reached a high age.
The smile disappear from her face when she talk about her escape from Tibet to India. She fled from Tibet 1992 in the age of 20, over the mountains to Nepal by foot, and at that time she had in her mind that she will go to India to meet Dalai Lama but then return to Tibet after some while. The reality became different.
- There is no vehicles you can take there, she says when I ask her the quiet stupid question how they were transported during her escape.
The journey from the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, took about one month. One month with walking during the nights and hiding ans sleeping during the days.
The first time she reached the Nepalese border they got caught of Chinese military and with a big disappointment they were sent back to Lhasa. She tried a second time, she was in a group of 80 to 90 people which she did not knew anyone since before, one man guided the group and helped many refugees cross the borders from Tibet. He was given 800 Chinese yang, about 4800 INR. The money was provided by her parents and it was a big amount for them.
The journey was hard and they also had to cross several watercourses which sometimes reached up to her chin. She also tells about the fear of getting left behind the group so she tried to stay awake and alert. On the second try for Lobsang to pass the Nepalese border she was lucky and got thru.
One precious memory Lobsang have is when she had reached to Nepal and got proper food and tasted so good. During their walk they had not been able to eat properly which made the food in Nepal even taste better.
In Nepal she got help from Tibetan reception center which helped her with a ticket to Delhi and from there to Dharamsala. She was put in a school in Himachel were she studied nine months. She dropped out of school when she talked to a women she got to know said it was no use to study and that she did better use by working.
- I now regret that I did not stay longer, we learned Tibetan, English and mathematics, Lobsang remembers and says that she feels bad when she is not able to speak English which she see as a very important language so she could have communicate with people from all over the world.
Lobsang can read and write a little bit in Tibetan.
- And I can write my name in English, she says laughing.
The weaving hall in Deykiling handicraft center.
Lobsang started to work for Deykiling handicraft center because she had some relatives in Dharamsala that knew about the place. Lobsang did not know how to weave but was taught at the center. Lobsang is now 39 years old and have now three children, in the ages of 7, 9 and 16. All of them are living and studying and boarding schools in Moussorie. They come home for holidays and sometimes she goes there to visit them. Lobsang is divorced, her husband left and does not have any contact with her nor her children. One of Lobsangs younger brothers came three years after her. Her younger brother went to a monastery and became a monk but had a hard time with the studying so he quit and now lives with Lobsang.
She works at the center all year around but also weave at her home to a person that sell Tibetan aprons. She starts to work at 5 am at home and work for two hours, after that her ordinary job at the center begins at 8 am and ends at 5 pm. She says that her monthly wage is about 700 to 800 INR a month but varies a bit due to that the wage is paid per piece rate. The wage has been increasing but it is still hard to get around sometimes she says.
- Sometimes I have to borrow money from friends but I pay back the next salary, she says.
The extra income she gets from the weaving from her home gives around 700 INR, but it takes about three months to finish an order.
She remembers that the maternity leave was one month and she was the last time, for seven years ago, given 150 INR for that period. According to the manager, Kalsang Wangdu has that sum now increased to about 300 to 500 INR. Lobsang eldest sons school fees and school uniform is paid by sponsors from foreign individuals and organizations through the handicraft center. For the two youngest the school is free. Lobsang thinks that the working environment is good. They have free access to filtered water during the whole day, get tea two times per day, have spacious rooms and fans in all the rooms. When I ask if the work is stressful then I get the answer
- Sometimes it can be a little bit stressful, when we have many orders, but mostelly the pace is good, Lobsang says.
I ask if she feel that she have influence in her workplace and if they have meetings were they talk about their work. The artisans have a meeting once a year but she have not had anything to say on those meeting.
- I do not know what I would say on them, I can not come up with anything, she says laughing.
Lobsang want to study more English to be able to speak to foreigners and Tibetan because “that is a must” for all Tibetans, but have to work and support herself and her children.
-There is a possibility that I can study after the work but then I am so tired so I prepare food and then sleeps, and I am also too old to learn, she says.
She want to return to Tibet but that is complicated in many ways. She explains that she does not want to leave her three children with a risk to not be able to come back and be with them again.
- The life is better in India compared to Tibet and it also costs allot of money to go back to Tibet. In Tibet we lived in the same house as the animals, but one stair up. In India it is not like that, here it is very clean, Lobsang claims.
- I think my life also is better in many ways here in India, for example there are no freedom of speech in Tibet, Lobsang says.
Lobsang the weaving hall of DHC.
And if she fulfilled her wish to meet H.H. Dalai Lama?
Yes she did, 1993, in Dharamsala. Her courius and lively face rays when she talks about the experience.
- He asked me where I was from and said that I should study hard, she says smiling without hiding any of her enthusiasm and dedication for him.
Text and photos by Lilian and translation from Tibetan to English by Youdon
She grew up in Bawa, in the Kham region in Tibet, with her mum and dad and four of her five brothers. One of her elderly brothers have already fled to India. Lobsang had no schooling and worked with the animals belonged to her family.
- We had yaks, cows, and sheeps, she says.
Her family also sold caterpillar fungus. That is used in traditional medecine and is of high religious value to the Tibetans and if they are sick the boil it and drink. Her parents still work even though they reached a high age.
The smile disappear from her face when she talk about her escape from Tibet to India. She fled from Tibet 1992 in the age of 20, over the mountains to Nepal by foot, and at that time she had in her mind that she will go to India to meet Dalai Lama but then return to Tibet after some while. The reality became different.
- There is no vehicles you can take there, she says when I ask her the quiet stupid question how they were transported during her escape.
The journey from the capital of Tibet, Lhasa, took about one month. One month with walking during the nights and hiding ans sleeping during the days.
The first time she reached the Nepalese border they got caught of Chinese military and with a big disappointment they were sent back to Lhasa. She tried a second time, she was in a group of 80 to 90 people which she did not knew anyone since before, one man guided the group and helped many refugees cross the borders from Tibet. He was given 800 Chinese yang, about 4800 INR. The money was provided by her parents and it was a big amount for them.
The journey was hard and they also had to cross several watercourses which sometimes reached up to her chin. She also tells about the fear of getting left behind the group so she tried to stay awake and alert. On the second try for Lobsang to pass the Nepalese border she was lucky and got thru.
One precious memory Lobsang have is when she had reached to Nepal and got proper food and tasted so good. During their walk they had not been able to eat properly which made the food in Nepal even taste better.
In Nepal she got help from Tibetan reception center which helped her with a ticket to Delhi and from there to Dharamsala. She was put in a school in Himachel were she studied nine months. She dropped out of school when she talked to a women she got to know said it was no use to study and that she did better use by working.
- I now regret that I did not stay longer, we learned Tibetan, English and mathematics, Lobsang remembers and says that she feels bad when she is not able to speak English which she see as a very important language so she could have communicate with people from all over the world.
Lobsang can read and write a little bit in Tibetan.
- And I can write my name in English, she says laughing.
The weaving hall in Deykiling handicraft center.
Lobsang started to work for Deykiling handicraft center because she had some relatives in Dharamsala that knew about the place. Lobsang did not know how to weave but was taught at the center. Lobsang is now 39 years old and have now three children, in the ages of 7, 9 and 16. All of them are living and studying and boarding schools in Moussorie. They come home for holidays and sometimes she goes there to visit them. Lobsang is divorced, her husband left and does not have any contact with her nor her children. One of Lobsangs younger brothers came three years after her. Her younger brother went to a monastery and became a monk but had a hard time with the studying so he quit and now lives with Lobsang.
She works at the center all year around but also weave at her home to a person that sell Tibetan aprons. She starts to work at 5 am at home and work for two hours, after that her ordinary job at the center begins at 8 am and ends at 5 pm. She says that her monthly wage is about 700 to 800 INR a month but varies a bit due to that the wage is paid per piece rate. The wage has been increasing but it is still hard to get around sometimes she says.
- Sometimes I have to borrow money from friends but I pay back the next salary, she says.
The extra income she gets from the weaving from her home gives around 700 INR, but it takes about three months to finish an order.
She remembers that the maternity leave was one month and she was the last time, for seven years ago, given 150 INR for that period. According to the manager, Kalsang Wangdu has that sum now increased to about 300 to 500 INR. Lobsang eldest sons school fees and school uniform is paid by sponsors from foreign individuals and organizations through the handicraft center. For the two youngest the school is free. Lobsang thinks that the working environment is good. They have free access to filtered water during the whole day, get tea two times per day, have spacious rooms and fans in all the rooms. When I ask if the work is stressful then I get the answer
- Sometimes it can be a little bit stressful, when we have many orders, but mostelly the pace is good, Lobsang says.
I ask if she feel that she have influence in her workplace and if they have meetings were they talk about their work. The artisans have a meeting once a year but she have not had anything to say on those meeting.
- I do not know what I would say on them, I can not come up with anything, she says laughing.
Lobsang want to study more English to be able to speak to foreigners and Tibetan because “that is a must” for all Tibetans, but have to work and support herself and her children.
-There is a possibility that I can study after the work but then I am so tired so I prepare food and then sleeps, and I am also too old to learn, she says.
She want to return to Tibet but that is complicated in many ways. She explains that she does not want to leave her three children with a risk to not be able to come back and be with them again.
- The life is better in India compared to Tibet and it also costs allot of money to go back to Tibet. In Tibet we lived in the same house as the animals, but one stair up. In India it is not like that, here it is very clean, Lobsang claims.
- I think my life also is better in many ways here in India, for example there are no freedom of speech in Tibet, Lobsang says.
Lobsang the weaving hall of DHC.
And if she fulfilled her wish to meet H.H. Dalai Lama?
Yes she did, 1993, in Dharamsala. Her courius and lively face rays when she talks about the experience.
- He asked me where I was from and said that I should study hard, she says smiling without hiding any of her enthusiasm and dedication for him.
Text and photos by Lilian and translation from Tibetan to English by Youdon
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