My name is Sambo. I was born on 16^th June 1987, in the Wayan Rho village which is located by the first bend of Yellow River in the northeastern of Tibet. I am a nomadic guy. I have two younger sisters and a beloved father. But my saddest thing is that my dear mother passed away when I was small child.

There is a more than fifty nomadic families in my village. From our fore- parents, our livelihood depends on the livestock including Yaks and Dri (female Yaks), sheep and horses. We all are very happy because we live in a peaceful and natural place.

The mountain ranges which are covered by grass, wild and herbal plants surround the backside of my village. There is wide grassland filled with colorful, different flowers in front of the village and some pure or twinkling rivers are flowing through that grassland. The most people in my village are illiterate but they are very happy because of natural songs and landscape. We live in tent which is made from Yak hair and we have to move from one place to another place according to the seasons.

At the age of 9, I began to go to primary school. Really I was the luckiest boy among the children because I had a good opportunity to become

a literate person compared to other illiterate boys. Some parents tried to send their children to school but the children didn't want to do. Some children desired to go to school but their parents didn't allow them to go to school and kept them for herdsman and shepherd. I graduated from primary school when I was 15 years old. Then I went to middle school in our Machu County.

During the second years in the middle school, I had got the idea to come to India. I didn't want to go to school continuously because they could not provide enough education to students in my school. I realized I was very poor in Tibetan and also about other subjects when I was going to the middle school. So I decided to come to India for three points.

First point: I wanted to see H.H. the Dalai Lama very much, because he is the one in whom I believe very much from the core of my heart. Second point: I didn't want to be the poorest student among all my classmates. I want to be a useful person, not a destructive man. This was my destination when I left the school in Tibet. Third point: I wanted to learn English. I want to become a peaceful person, not like a rude person, not like a negative person and I believed myself that I was a simple man.

In the autumn 2003, I came to Lhasa with two of my cousins without

saying anything to our parents. After leaving, my father knew and followed us. One day, we and my father suddenly met in front of main temple in the Lhasa city. Fortunately my father was not serious; he had very wide mind and good attitude for me. Then I actually told him all about my thoughts. So he advised me strictly that "I let you do what you want to do. If I don't allow you do, you will blame to me and I will regret about the past. So it is the best thing that you will do as you wish. But you should do study hard and you should try to stand on your own feet wherever you go. You also think about what you are leaving behind; home, the family, the relatives, all of them were crying and worrying about you, and hoping that you would come back home alive".

At last, my father helped me and went back home. I started to move to India with nine partners and one guard. We moved from Lhatse to India by walking. The walking was the hardest for us, to pass thousands of miles with fears and burden of worries. Inside of Tibet, we moved only at nights and hid in the caves and by the rivers during the day. It was very dangerous when we passed the army base many times. I couldn't imagine about such terrible travel, eventhough I have experienced. We inticed ourselves to move forwards even when we had no food for some days. The whole way of my travel was filled with worry. We took two months exactly to arrive to the

Tibetan Reception Centre in Nepal. Our travel was the longest travel from the Tibetan new comers who had took the same way to India.

On the 12^th December 2003, we arrived at the Tibetan Reception Centre in McLeod Ganj. After some days, we had an audience with H.H. the Dalai Lama. It was a very great time. The tears of pleasure were dripping down my cheeks when I saw his smiling face and heard his great voice. After the audience, I was relaxed and happy because I had achieved my first aim. Then I was sent to T.T.S (Tibetan Transit School) by the Tibetan Reception Centre. T.T.S was my first school where I started to learn the English alphabet and development of education and preservation of Tibetan cultures. I graduated from T.T.S on the 28^th November 2008.

I spent seven months in McLeod Ganj after I finished T.T.S. I faced my problems here because I had no family, no relatives and no money. By the way, I had got a great opportunity to participate in the examination of E.S.Tibet (Education Support Tibet) for selection of new students.

Fortunately I passed the exam. I joined the E.S.Tibet School on 14th June 2009. Nowadays I am studying English and computers. My aim in this school is that I want to improve my English. In fact, the conditions of this school are very nice. I am happy to study here because I realise that it is very

difficult to get such a great opportunity to learn English and Computers somewhere without paying any school fees. Everything is provided to us as our wish. This is my golden time to learn more knowledge and to become a useful person. This is my second step to become an educated person. As for me I am very happy here because I am content about the studying conditions.

Thanking you

E.S.Tibet Student
Sambo