Tibet, a country on its own right

Tibet has its own culture, its own religion, its own people – it is a country on its own right. China invaded Tibet in the 1950’s and since then Tibetans have had their human rights violated in their own territory. China claims that Tibet is part of its nation and the international community shamefully accepts it on the grounds of its ‘economic dependency’ to the largest economy in the world.

Not only did China invade Tibet, it has also been exterminating Tibetan culture and people in the past decades. This has been taking place in different ways, but all very systematic. In the name of ‘development’ Tibetan way of living has been sidelined. Also national policies have been providing huge incentives for Chinese to move to Tibet, in a clear effort from Chinese authorities to populate Tibet with Chinese.

Thousands of Tibetans have had no other option, but to leave their country. Many now live in India and Nepal and that’s where I met them. In a way the ‘Tibet’ that remains is not Tibet anymore – it is more a museum for Chinese to earn money from tourists than anything else - and you may find more authenticity in places such as Bodhgaya, Tashi Palkhel, Sikkim, and the Himalayas. In these places Tibetans are free to express their religion, culture and themselves.

Dr. Artsa Tulka, 63. Lives in Bodhgaya, India.

Tengboche Monastery, Himalaya, Nepal.

Yangzom, 67. Lives in Dharmasala, India.

Tsewang Norbu, 69. Came to Darjeeling, India, in 1959.

Tashi Palkhel, Nepal.

And most important, every child should have the right to be a child

The most amazing part of working with Indian children in the past 2 months was that regardless of how difficult their lives are, children everywhere love the same things. What all these children want at the end of the day is to enjoy their childhood and they should be able to freely to do so. Children like to dream, climb trees, pose in front of a car, dance, ride a bike, talk during class, listen to music, smile, be shy, and to run.

Brick kiln

Brick kiln workers migrate to West Bengal every year. This is a seasonal industry and factories close during the monsoon period. In the heat they work for hours a day: carrying the bricks, putting coal onto the furnaces, molding the bricks.

Children usually accompany their parents when they move and have therefore to drop out school. They end up working in the factories with their parents. As government schools in a different state do not accept children’s enrollment in the middle of school year, their only chance of getting education is attending Bridge courses, which are provided to try to mainstream them into formal education in the following year.

The problem is: in the following year their parents will move again; and again they will drop school and start working in the brick kiln factories. The challenge is how to break this cycle.

To learn more about organisations working here, visit Rajadighi Community Health Service Society and Save the Children India.

This photography project was commissioned by Save the Children.

My favourite book…

These are the favourite books of Anarnika, Nilima, Beauty, Nayem and Radharani.

Biri rolling

Biri is a thin cigarette filled with tobacco flake and wrapped in a tendu leaf. In Murshidabad district, West Bengal, almost every child is involved in the biri industry. Most of them work at home rolling biris for hours a day. Even children attending school roll biris before and after class to provide income for their families. In almost any house you enter there will be children and women rolling biris. Biri is an engrained part of the lives of this mostly (90%) Muslin community.

After rolled, biris are sent to factories for roasting and packaging. This is a highly profitable business mostly because of the cheap and illegal labour it makes use of.

To learn more about organisations working here, visit Child in Need Institute and Save the Children India.

This photography project was commissioned by Save the Children.

These are some of the amazing children I met in the dumping ground

Priya goes to school and dreams to be a doctor.

Prashanta dropped out school 3 years ago due to family economic pressure. He works in a fishery and dreams to build a 3-4 storey house and sit at the top of it.

Arati goes to school and fears to be beaten by teachers.

Babai is 11 years old and dreams to be a dancer.

Laxmi dropped school 2 months ago because she didn’t like that teachers chatted to other teachers instead of teaching.