Tibet Oral History Project: Interview with Yeshi Lhadon on 6/29/2007

The interpreter's English translation provided during this interview is potentially incomplete and/or inaccurate. If you are not fluent in Tibetan, please refer to the interview transcript for the complete and correct English translation. Read the interview transcript in English at http://tibetoralhistory.org/Interview...

** This interview about life in Tibet was conducted by the Tibet Oral History Project. This non-profit organization aims to preserve the history and culture of the Tibetan people by interviewing elderly Tibetan refugees about life in Tibet before and after the Chinese invasion. Learn more at http://www.TibetOralHistory.org.

** Interview Summary: Yeshi Lhadon believes her village, Doktsa, was the happiest place--with high mountains, temples on the mountains and villages down below. There were no schools or hospitals, but the villagers were completely self-reliant. She was about 14 years old when both her parents died and she became responsible for raising her two younger sisters. She was never able to enjoy her childhood days like a normal child. When the Chinese arrived in her village, they gave the villagers tools and told them they must work harder to cultivate the land. Yeshi Lhadon and her husband left their village to go to Lhasa because rumors were spreading that the Chinese would mistreat everyone and take away the children. They worked as laborers for the Chinese doing bridge construction near the city. Then they moved to Phari near the Indian border and stayed there for 5 years while contemplating escape to India, which they finally attempted in 1959 when Yeshi Lhadon was 37 years old.