On a certain street in Taipei, if you are led there by a member of the Free China Relief Association (FCRA), you can open a certain door and step into a different world. This is the Tibetan Children's Home. As you enter, you see directly before you a large oil painting of a Tibetan palace, magnificent carved gold and blue dragons and phoenixes decorate the ceiling. The floor is covered with a red carpet, and on one wall is a picture of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. A piece of white cloth drapes his picture, symbolizing exaltedness and good fortune. In the next room are nineteen large and small images of the Buddha, some of them more than a thousand years old. They were brought from Tibet to India and finally to Taiwan. There are also other religious and cultural artifacts, making the room into a kind of Buddhist temple.
How did the Tibetan Children's Home come to be? In 1959, when the Chinese Communists marched into Tibet, many Tibetans were forced to flee to India and to Nepal. The FCRA, whose main business is helping Chinese refugees, also felt a responsibility towards these refugees. Little by little, Tibetans began to appear in Taiwan. Stories of the good life in Taiwan began to filter back to the Tibetans in India and Nepal. The refugees there, fearful for their children's future, implored the FCRA to admit them to Taiwan. As the program has worked out, once a student is accepted, all of his or her expenses, including the cost of plane ticket, educational fees from primary school through college, living fees, as well as a round trip ticket to return home every four years are guaranteed. About a hundred Tibetans are now in Taiwan. The older ones make their living independently, the younger ones enjoy the life and training the Home provides.
An ordinary day at the Tibetan Children's Home begins at 6 a.m., when the children, four to a room, leave their beds and clean up. Buddhist services follow, in keeping with the Tibetan tradition. Afterwards they eat breakfast and then go to school. After dinner, they can watch TV, but later they must go again to the temple, and then finish any home work that may be yet undone. They are usually all asleep by 9 o'clock.
The house parents who watch over and guide these children are also Tibetan. They insist that the children write a letter and send some pictures home once a month. Some children can't write Tibetan, and their parents can't read Chinese, so the house parents will write their letters for them when the children tell them what they want to say.
These house parents feel that they have a sacred mission to preserve Tibetan culture among their charges. Traditional Tibetan clothing is worn on holidays. The children learn Tibetan folk dances; the house father tells them stories of how the Communists came to Tibet and tried to destroy Tibetan life and traditions; he also tells them that it is their duty to keep their culture alive until one day Tibet can once again follow its own ways and customs. One day, the house parents hope, these children will be in the vanguard of a revived Tibetan culture.
Children at the Home range in age from six to fourteen years. We talked with twelve-year-old Ts'ai Jen Tuo Jie who is here with his older brother. "Our parents sent us here," he said, "because in Nepal education is too expensive, and my parents have to struggle for a living very hard. When I lived in Nepal, I helped to prepare our meals and polish the floor. We used coal gas to cook, and our floor was made of stone. Mornings I would go out to buy milk wearing only thongs on my feet. Sometimes it was very cold. Everyone was supposed to stand in line, but a lot of people would push in front of you. I miss my parents, but I like the life here much better. So does my brother. He couldn't speak Chinese at first, but he's beginning to catch up."
Many of Ts'ai Jen Tuo Jie's childhood playmates have come over, so he says that he's seldom lonely. However, he says, "There are still lots of people who can't leave. In order to get permission to leave Nepal and to get a passport, you need some money. Even to get a passport costs two hundred American dollars. My father borrowed the money to help us, but some people can't even do that."
Every effort is made to give the Tibetan children a good life. Sundays they sometimes go to the Taipei Children's Park where their giggles and obvious excitement catch people's interest, as do their strange Chinese accents. On the day we were there, nineteen lively and playful youngsters from the Home with close-cropped hair waited anxiously in line to go on the airplane rides. We spoke to one little Tibetan girl whose eyes, twinkling and glistening, showed her delight. "I came here only last autumn, but I can already speak Chinese I love to go on the airplane rides," she says. Another little nine-year-old boy, in slow but clear Chinese, says "I like to go to the zoo, too, to see the elephants."
During nice weather, the head of the Home, Lo Sang-chia, and his wife, Ts'ai-cha, also take the children to other places such as the Jung Hsing Botanical Gardens and the Taipei Zoo. Wherever they go, the lively children never cease to attract the attention of others.
Exposed to a new world that is rich in variety and with lots of things to do and see, these children's little hearts are full of a wonderful excitement, but their hearts are also sometimes heavy when they think of their parents far away. "Sometimes when we get homesick, we hug each other and cry," says one little fellow." But you get used to it after awhile.''
Is this effort of the Free China Relief Association to bring over the children and support the home worthwhile? As long as hope lives in the human heart it has to be worthwhile to try to protect an endangered culture and to keep alive the hope that one day Tibetans will again be at home in their native situation.
[Picture Caption]
P.8, P.9
1. Tibetan refugee children from India and Nepal are brought back to Taiwan by the FCRA to receive education which will preserve their traditional culture. 2-4. When they first arrived in Taiwan, the children were uneasy and shy as they faced an exciting new world. But soon they are talking with strangers in a relaxed way. During holidays, the children put on traditional dresses to perform Tibetan dances.
P.10, P.11
As well as going to school, watching TV and playing, children study the Tibetan language and read Buddhist scripts to preserve their culture.
P.12、P.13
1. There are many Tibetan artifacts in the Tibetan Children's Home. A Buddha statuette about 5 inches tall is contained in this purse worn at the horse-rider's waist for protection. 2 & 4. In the Buddhist Hall in the Children's Home are these 19 Buddha images, some over 1,000 years old, brought from Tibet to India, Nepal, and finally to Taiwan. These images, all in different styles, are made of bronze and plated with gold. 3. A Buddha painting is hung on every wall. 5 & 6. All the children agree that their new homes and food are better than they have ever experienced before. 7. At first, the children had to study especially hard because of language difficulties. The FCRA and the Mongolian & Tibetan Affairs Commissions therefore hired tutors to help them.
When they first arrived in Taiwan, the children were uneasy and shy as they faced an exciting new world. But soon they are talking with strangers in a relaxed way. During holidays, the children put on traditional dresses to perform Tibetan dances.
When they first arrived in Taiwan, the children were uneasy and shy as they faced an exciting new world. But soon they are talking with strangers in a relaxed way. During holidays, the children put on traditional dresses to perform Tibetan dances.
When they first arrived in Taiwan, the children were uneasy and shy as they faced an exciting new world. But soon they are talking with strangers in a relaxed way. During holidays, the children put on traditional dresses to perform Tibetan dances.
As well as going to school, watching TV and playing, children study the Tibetan language and read Buddhist scripts to preserve their culture.
As well as going to school, watching TV and playing, children study the Tibetan language and read Buddhist scripts to preserve their culture.
There are many Tibetan artifacts in the Tibetan Children's Home. A Buddha statuette about 5 inches tall is contained in this purse worn at the horse-rider's waist for protection.
In the Buddhist Hall in the Children's Home are these 19 Buddha images, some over 1,000 years old, brought from Tibet to India, Nepal, and finally to Taiwan. These images, all in different styles, are made of bronze and plated with gold. 3. A Buddha painting is hung on every wall.
n the Buddhist Hall in the Children's Home are these 19 Buddha images, some over 1,000 years old, brought from Tibet to India, Nepal, and finally to Taiwan. These images, all in different styles, are made of bronze and plated with gold. 3. A Buddha painting is hung on every wall.
In the Buddhist Hall in the Children's Home are these 19 Buddha images, some over 1,000 years old, brought from Tibet to India, Nepal, and finally to Taiwan. These images, all in different styles, are made of bronze and plated with gold. 3. A Buddha painting is hung on every wall.
All the children agree that their new homes and food are better than they have ever experienced before.
All the children agree that their new homes and food are better than they have ever experienced before.
At first, the children had to study especially hard because of language difficulties. The FCRA and the Mongolian & Tibetan Affairs Commissions therefore hired tutors to help them.
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