My real name is Sangjee Tashi. My Pseudonym is Nye Sonpo which means *kind Man*. I was born in 1986 to a poor nomadic family in Northeastern Tibet, where ninety nine percent of the villagers are illiterate or uneducated. My village is called Bho. It is situated at the base of a beautiful hill range covered with meadows. Our domestic animals are sheep, yaks, dri (female yak) and horses. There is no more residence for us, which means we ought to move from one place to another every month or so. We live in a huge black tent which is made of yak's hair. There are five children in my family and I am the eldest. By the way there is an ugly tradition in our village that the eldest child can not go to school ever because we believe that the eldest one is much more responsible for the stability of our family than the rest.

Unfortunately I am the eldest, so when I was seven, I started the first chapter of my life as a little mucous shepherd. Everyday I went into the mountains for looking after our domestic animals. At night I slept outside in the tent with my Dad, to protect our domestic animals from the dangerous wolves and thieves, where I could see the real beauty of the stars and moon. I tried to count the stars but it was impossible on a clear night. My Dad was a good storyteller, so every night before went to sleep I implored him firmly to tell me a story . At that time the main hope of my family for me was so simple.

Just to be an excellent shepherd and it was my goal as well. Gradually I grew up with the characteristics of those silent mountains, aimless sheep and yaks. I had remained totally cut off from the rest of the world.

A decade later I fell in love with a virgin who was a village mate of mine. We mingled for two years and we loved each other indeed. We decided to get married and asked our family, but they divined to a high lama about our marriage. Unfortunately the high lama said that, it was not good enough. That is why our parents did not agree with us because they believe deeply in high lamas. So under the humiliation of religion and high lamas I departed my darling in a moment unwillingly. Anyway I was helpless then.

One day I made an unshakable decision to flee to India to seek a new life. One rainy evening I sold five sheep to someone and I myself went to Lhasa. In Lhasa, I met some of my village mates and we began our journey by walking to India without any guide. After fifteen days we had nearly arrived at Mountain Kailash by the border of Tibet and Nepal but it was so sad that, someone betrayed us to the Chinese troops. As a result they arrested

us and we were jailed.In jail they tortured us for eleven days continuously and then released us. I asked my companions to make our second journey nevertheless. They refused. So we returned to Lhasa.

One day, I was watching TV in a restaurant where I encountered another village mate of mine. I asked him why he came to Lhasa. "I am going to India," he whispered. But we both did not have enough money to pay for a guide. So we decided to come to India without any guide. We put our money together and we had a total of three thousand yuan. I asked my friend "to spend all money in Lhasa for our enjoyment." That means I thought perhaps we would die on the way, because we did not have any guide. So we moved into a luxury hotel, had a big and good meal. After relaxing for several days in Lhasa we started our journey of crossing the mountain range of the Himalayas enthusiastically. Of course, it is an unquestionable thing that we faced many problems on the way such as cold, hunger, fear and so forth. Anyway we went ahead without looking back, eventually we got to Nepal safely.

After five months we arrived to Dharamsala and got a special meeting with H.H The Dalai Lama. That encouraged me to be a full human being. The next morning our Tibetan refugee Reception Center sent me to T.T.S with some other new comers to study. At T.T.S., people were reading books, talking about philosophy, literature, and politics. But then I was completely blind about those fields. I felt strongly, "Oh! This is the time I enter the gate of education garden." Then I went to the river bank, sat on a stone and tried to explore myself for a few hours. Finally I found myself as if an alien. I missed my family, grass land, sheep, yaks and horses very much. Anyway I consoled myself and began to learn both Tibetan and English from the alphabet. In November 2008 I graduated from T.T.S successfully. After that I stayed at Dharmsala for a couple of months. During that time I translated an English Book into Tibetan but I have not finished yet. On -14th -June -2009, I joined E.S.Tibet School and this school is much better than my former schools. I am very proud of myself to get such a great, hopeful opportunity.

Either tomorrow or the death which will first come we never know. Still there is a green dream in my deep hazy sleep, which is always trying to break the injustices for the future of world peace. Just inviting my dream to come true, I want to act locally and think globally, that means I want to do something special for the betterment of my tomorrow's new Tibet. For the achievement of this, I am ready to make a long journey, no matter how much pressures befall on me, I have the courage to struggle and I believe that where there is a will there must be way.

Thanking you

E.S.Tibet Student
Sangjee