Tenzin: "We do not know who Tashi's parents are, but we do know a small amout of information about her following her birth. Shortly after being born, Tashi was buried in the earth under a tree at the back side of the Sera Monastery in Lhasa. During this time, a monk who was looking for his lost cow, saw some dogs digging under a tree. The monk went to the tree and looked closely and saw a baby wrapped in a plastic bag and he brought this baby to a family where there is ten children. This family looked after Tashi for seven years and then this family brought Tashi to Jatson Chumig on August 10, 1998. After Tashi finished her six years of primary school education at Jatson Chumig, she now attends a middle school in Lhasa. Tashi is ranked fifth in her class at this middle school in Lhasa and she is now doing very well."

 

The following story appeared in the Lhasa Newspaper at our request for Tashi's story:

[Note: This story has been translated from Chinese to Tibetan to English]

 

Tashi: "Hello, my name is Tashi Yangzom and I am 16 years old. I have been a Jatson Chumig student for 9 years. I first came here in 1998 and I remember the old school and what everything was like. I remember the old kitchen and where we used to eat our food. Things are much better now. Now we have cleaner place and things are better.

 

I have grown a lot and am much bigger since I first come to Jatson Chumig. They took photos of me when I came to Jatson Chumig in 1998 and I have pictures of today, I am much bigger now.  Today I am in middle school and that means that I sleep at Jatson Chumig but leave every morning to go to school. I attend middle school and I am very good in my class because I won an award. I work hard in school and do real good.  There is a lot of work at the school and we go to classes all day six days a week. This school is a Chinese middle school and most of the kids are Chinese, but some of my Tibetan friends are here too and I am friends with all the kids from Jatson Chumig. I like all the kids in my school, it does not matter to me if they are Chinese or Tibetan, they are my friends. I remember when we used to play at Jatson Chumig, now there is not as much time for play because school is what I do. All my classes are taught in Chinese, like at Jatson Chumig, except we are not taught Tibetan anymore. Sometimes on Sunday, Headmaster Jampa sits with us and tells us stories, I love hearing his stories. We listen to him carefully as he is like a father to all of us and it is he who makes it possible for us to be here and to go to school. My hours at school are long and then we have much homework every night. I spend almost all my time studying for school and there is no time to play anymore. Maybe that is because I am 16 years old and I am not a little anymore."

Tashi Yangzom             Age: 16         

"I love Jatson Chumig Family"