I was born on 11th February in 1989 in a semi nomadic family in a village called Gari which means 'happy town' in Tibetan. This village is located in Eastern Tibet.

Rinchen Jam is my name given by a Tibetan Buddhist Lama. I haven't got any brothers but two sisters instead. I couldn't remember when my father had left me and my mother and went to Lhasa to run a business there. But I could remember when my father had visited us once when I was six year old. At that time I had cried a lot when he was going back to Lhasa again. I don't know what he had said, but I can still remember clearly that his eyes were full of tears.

Afterward I had come to know that he had discussed with my mother and grandparents if they would agree to take me with him, but they didn't accept his opinion since I have been holding a part of their hearts. I went to the local school for two years but got nothing from that school because it's an unqualified school.

Later on, my mother told me that she had faced a lot of problems paying my school fees. Once she went to one of my relatives to borrow some money for my school fees, but he didn't lend her any money, she had said to

me that she would never forget this unbelievable event after I was grown up. I and my mother had left to go to Lhasa where my father was doing business as his career got better. I got admission to a primary school there and I used to get top three positions during the exams and of course my family was very happy with my results. Unfortunately when I was in fourth grade a Buddhist Lama told my parents that I would be an extraordinary person if I were move to a monastery to be a monk, my parents did as the Lama had asked them. I was moved to a monastery called Labrang which quite famous in Tibet.

So there I started to experience a totally new world. I had to live with my teacher in that monastery because my family didn't have money to buy a house for me. At the time I was 13 years of age.

My teacher was not a very bad person but he was too strict. He used to wake me up at 3:30 AM to send me to do worship in a temple which was little bit far away from where I was living. As a child I was very scared of ghosts and also I was very cold in the winter. The advantages I have gained from the strictness of my teacher were that I got first position when I gained the entrance exam to the monastery after three years. I lived with my teacher for more than five years. After that somehow I was really unable to live under

his over strictness. I had discussed with my parents about my problems living with my teacher. I rented a house and lived by myself. I studied the Tibetan Buddhist philosophy for a few years and then what I really wanted was to learn English. I had tried to escape in 2006 to India but my family caught me. In 2007 I discussed with my parents about my desire to learn English in India one evening after we had dinner. My father had sighed and said " don't escape to India without a Chinese passport". They spent some money applying for a Chinese passport. Fortunately I got it after three months. When I was leaving Tibet, all of my family members were crying, especially my grandparents and they almost lost consciousness. I know I will never forget that experience in my life. I safely arrived in India and the Tibetan government in exile sent me to T.T.S {Tibetan Transit School}. There I studied English for three years and now I am learning at E.S.T {Educational Support Tibet}.

Thanking you

E.S.Tibet Student
Rinchen Jam