Buddhist Remembering Tibetan Refugees/Garuda Festival Mask

Description

The name of my birthplace is Doktsa. It was the happiest place. High on the mountains was the temples & villages were down below. Our monastery was called Zizi Gonpa. My mother died of excessive bleeding after childbirth. My father died from swelling of the legs from bongdong. I was 14 when my parents died. My father was 52 & my mother 54. She gave birth at a late age. The youngest daughter is still living in Tibet. I was bringing up the 2 younger ones. I was like their mother. My sister lived in the hills tending the animals. Many horses, sheep, yaks. As soon as we got up in the morning, we had to go in search of firewood. We had to go around 4 a.m. & were back home before 6. Then I would heat up some thukpa 'noodle soup' & feed the children. We had sheep & we had to make clothes from sheep's wool. We had to spin the wool. There was our monastery, which was at a distance of ... if you went in the morning you could come back by evening. We had to go walking. The tastiest foods were momo 'dumplings' & gyathuk 'noodles.' We didn't know to cook any other dishes. Our home was made of 30 pillars. On the ground floor, we kept the cows, pigs & horses. The family lived on the middle floor. On the uppermost floor, we stored the harvest. I remember them & still dream of them. The occupiers provided us with tools. They said that we had not worked hard & that we had been enjoying ourselves. They were killing, taking people away, causing a lot of suffering & beating. I remember these things. This is why we fled. With the grace of His Holiness the Dalai Lama & support from outside, please get Tibet's independence. If we do not get our independence, our religion will be lost because generations change. As generations change, slowly our religion will be lost. People like us have religion. We have received many teachings from lamas. His Holiness the Dalai Lama has visited this settlement about 15 times.