Tenzin Ngawang Journey of My LIfe

Journey of My Life

by Tenzin Ngawang

Copyright Š 2017 Tenzin Ngawang & Raine Simon All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission of the authors.

Layout & Design - Dave Ellison

New Beginnings Refugee Scholarship Fund

The Surrey School District in British Columbia, Canada welcomes hundreds of refugee children into its schools each year and provides numerous supports (the Welcome Centre, ELL classes, settlement and multicultural workers) but has yet to establish a fund to assist refugee children with attending post-secondary institutions. The New Beginnings Refugee Scholarship Fund will bridge this gap.

By sharing his story, Tenzin is helping to establish a legacy fund, which will be administered by the Surrey School District, with the first scholarships to be awarded in June 2018.

Selection criteria for the New Beginnings Refugee Scholarship will be a combination of academic promise, citizenship, and a personal narrative of overcoming adversity.

To make a tax-deductible donation please go to: www.Surrey.....

Contents TEXT Place I Was Born Place I Studied Sad Apple Trees University of Tibetan Institute My Country My Future

8-9 10-11 14-17 18-19 22-23 24-25

ILLUSTRATIONS Afternoon Tea Apple Trees Cabbages The Struggle Sun Through Clouds

8 12-13 20-21 22 24

Dedication I am grateful for all things, but especially for my dear mom and dad. I appreciate my parents and will always remember what they had sacrificed for me.

By this letter I am expressing myself more than I can say in simple words.

Dear Mom and Dad, I know you love me more than anything else in this world and that you see yourself in me. You want me to do all the things that you never got the opportunity to do, even though you wanted it so badly.

You guys still see me as a three year old kid who pees in his diaper and cries for help, but believe me I am grown up now and, Dad, now I am even taller than you.

Life has taught me lots of things about survival but you guys taught me how to be happy, how to be a good person and how to love everyone. As Shakespeare wrote, “Love all, trust a few and do wrong to none.�

Thank you Mom and Dad and I promise that one day you are going to be really proud of me, Tenzin Ngawang (Your son)

Artist Profile

I am a Grade 11 student attending WL Seaton Secondary school in Vernon, British Columbia and working to graduate with a Double Dogwood Diploma.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to contribute to Tenzin’s story by taking on the role of illustrator. I aspire to improve my skills as an artist and graphic designer, and hope to develop them further at the post-secondary level.

While I tend to feel more comfortable with traditional drawing, like Cabbages on pages 20-21, I used digital software to create the other images.

In my creative process, I focused more on specific lines rather than whole chapters. A good example would be the digital image The Struggle on page 22, which I based on the lines: “I grew up in a family where no one had ever graduated/Mom and Dad never got the chance/ Grandparents never had the right.�

When I read this, an image came to me, one that represents how difficult it is to get education in many parts of the world. Except for those few who made it, education was far out of reach for most people.

Author Profile

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Tenzin was born in India, in a small Tibetan refugee settlement called Tenzingang. There he spent the first fourteen years of his life. He and his family moved to Kalimpong, a small hill station town in the Indian state of West Bengal, where they lived for two years. In January 2014 his family came to Canada as refugees under the sponsorship of Tibetan Cultural Society.

The pursuit of education has been one of the driving forces of Tenzin’s life. In June 2016, after just two anda-half years in Canada, he graduated from Enver Creek Secondary School in Surrey, BC. Starting in Fall 2017, Tenzin will enrol in the British Columbia Institute of Technology Mechanical Engineering program.

Tashi Delek (traditional Tibetan greeting/blessing)

Place I Was Born

Afternoon Tea

8

My name is Tenzin Ngawang I was born in India in Tenzin Gang And even though I was born in India I was not a citizen of India A stateless person I was and would always be It is only because of the efforts and kindness of the Dalai lama that the young generation does not get lost in India.

I was in my early five years of my childhood sitting with my mom in my grandpa’s lap, the warmth of his body embraced me so much that I could not feel the cold of winter.

My grandpa was sipping the warm tea; the top layer was so fully butter covered I could see how the butter reflected the orange bulb of the sun.

My grandpa said, “I think I am going to die in India.”

My mom said, “We will go back one day, as sun rises out of cloud.” § I asked my mom for the first time what was Grandpa talking about. She told me,“We are Tibetan, we lost our country, and we are just a guest to this country.” As I grew up I felt like, despite the fact that we were born in India, we were more connected to our motherland, and in my veins ran the blood of a pure Tibetan.

9

Place I Studied

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I studied at Central School for Tibetans in Tenzin Gang But always wanted to study in a better school But my parents could not afford it I always had a dream That my brothers would study in a better school At least one of them for sure Even though I couldn’t §

Being eldest son in family, my mom would always remind me of my duty towards my younger ones. She would say, “Your brothers are going to look towards you, so you have to be a good example for them,” and as an obedient child I would say, “Yes, mom.”

I still remember the day when I topped the essay writing competition that was done in more than twenty Tibetan schools all over the parts of India. I felt like I was flying in the air, when the teacher called my name in assembly where all the students were present. I froze in that moment and wasn’t able to move a muscle, my heart pounding and pounding and wishing this time to get frozen so I could enjoy this moment till eternity. I walked towards my class, and wished that as a prize for winning this competition my younger brother would get a seat in TCV (Tibetan Children’s Village) ; at that time it was one of the most famous schools in Tibetan community and it still is.

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14

Sad Apple Trees

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My family owned a small apple farm And invested more than ten years of their lives In this small little farm Where nothing grew § During monsoon period in India, I would look outside of my window with my grandpa at our small little farm.

Clouds rose slowly and a rainbow appeared in the sky; it looked like someone had just washed the whole village.

I would gaze through the window and see a green carpet cover all over the place. Everything would look more beautiful after a heavy summer rain, which is relief for farmers from the busting heat and also for their crops.

I would always hear jokes from farmers, who would get really angry when someone from outside our village tried to tell them to be patient or work more on their apple farms.

Some of them would say, “I will farm anything, but when it comes to apple I would rather sleep in my bed.�

Their patience and confidence had been crushed down by those apple trees over the last ten years, leading many of their dreams to become fruitless like the apple trees.

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Once my family met an agent Who gave us free cabbage seeds to plant Promising he would buy them But he never did § I still remember how my Grandpa would say, “Never be scared to work hard work, be a good person, and believe in God.” It was in August, the right time for our cabbage to be sold. I would go out in our farm to check the size, weight and toughness of cabbage so we could sell them at their best.

I saw my Grandpa was angry about something and later on he was angry at the agent who had promised to buy our cabbage. Now he was saying no, “Sorry, too much in market.” For the first couple of days everything was good, we fed cabbage to our cows and gave them to our neighbours.

But things changed later on, the cows stopped eating the cabbage and once my mom asked if my neighbour would like some cabbage and she said, “We have more than enough.” § My family could not stand the smell of rotting cabbage in the field My Grandpa and I had to dig their graves Graves for our sweet little cabbages Which were waiting for us To give them some respect That we could not by selling them.

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University of Tibetan Institute

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I had the abilities to be selected I had the knowledge to do it But never got the chance to do so Because I didn’t have the connections § After Tibetans lost their country, they came into exile as refugees, where many died because they could not adapt to India’s hot weather. Many Tibetans refugees like my family settled in India, where we formed our own small governments, schools and institutes through the aid of the Indian government and individual foreign donations.

In Varanasi there is a Tibetan institute for higher studies in Tibetan, where students could go directly through high school even though you are still in high school. The only condition is that you have to pass five tests, which are mandatory to write when you apply.

But only if you know somebody working in Tibetan government office and only if he or she has a good contact.

19

My Country

The Struggle

22

I grew up in a family where no one had ever graduated Mom and Dad never got the chance Grandparents never had the right § I have read our holy book and I still do, and sometimes on a special occasion I would read the Chapter called Kathang Dupa, which is literally about our future, about what is going to happen to Tibetan people and how we will know that it is the time for the prediction to come true.

It is a prediction by one of our greatest guru; way before we were invaded by China. This holy chapter was written long ago, before we lost our country and it predicted that we would lose our country, but we would get it back like the evening sun and soon we shall fall down.

In the middle of it, there is a prediction that one of our Guru would be born on this earth to protect us from all the misery, but people would never appreciate it. This is the line which fills my eyes with tears, for being such an ungrateful being. § Sometimes it makes me feel Like, good thing we lost our country What, is the point of having such a country Where ordinary people don’t have the right to study And it also makes me sad That we are enjoying our freedom in India While, our brother and sisters Are paying the price in Tibet

23

My Future

Sun Through Clouds

24

I saw my future Dying somewhere Where I can’t reach but I can see Drowning deeper and deeper in the back of my mind.

When I have these thoughts I try to remember what my mom told my Grandpa when he had lost hope She said, “As sun rises out of cloud, so will you.”

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