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55 Mins
9/10/02 Pix: Act I Tara’s Daughters: She Who Can Not Be
Abandoned. |
Audio: |
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VO:
1:00:29:06 |
Much media attention
has been placed on the Dalai Lama and the mystical practices of Tibetan
Buddhism. But almost nothing has been
seen about the lives of Tibetan women refugees. Here is an exclusive look at the challenges
they face with their families in exile, the traditional life they lost as the
Chinese government took control, and the key role refugee women play today in
Tibetan cultural survival. |
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HHDL
01:01:03:17 VO:
01:01:26:07 Mrs. T & Women Photo of woman |
“We consider women in
society very very important regarding preservation of our culture because,
particularly a type of culture with
which we are very much concerned with is peace of mind” To understand Tibetan
women refugees, we must find out about their heritage: both their
homeland and their unique culture. |
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VO: 01:01:38 Historical footage of leading families of
Lhasa 01:01:52 |
Old Tibet was a
feudal society. Believed to be the
reincarnation of the Buddha of
Compassion, The Dalai Lama was as much a god as the country’s ruling Monarch.
Twenty aristocratic
families managed the worldly affairs
of state & commerce. The rest of society was made up of traders,
nomads, and monks. Tibetans shared religious beliefs that
encouraged them to maintain a peaceful
society. |
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VO: 01:02:23 MTNS, awesome |
Tibet - to the
Westerner is a land of |
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Blue mask |
legend, mystery & the fantastic. |
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Landscapes, flowers, women baby things – yaks
etc. |
The austere and
beautiful terrain of the Himalayas shaped Tibetan culture. A rigorous lifestyle close to nature
heightened awareness of the preciousness of life.
The Himalayas’ |
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long winters and
harsh living conditions created a culture devoted to the intricate study of
the Mind |
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CHILD SINGING |
And the Nature of
Reality. |
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01:03:19 Woman Kneel by ROCKS |
A profound reverence
for the generative power of the feminine is part of their culture as timeless
as the landscape. The earth of Tibet
is referred to in female terms and many of its holy sites - mountains, lakes,
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WOMEN IN SPRING |
and rocks are
considered female. |
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HERDING ANIMALS |
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VO:
01:03:42 |
Most women led
home-centered lives. |
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Lady Sakya
01:03:45:06 VO:
01:04:21:12 |
They are the pillar
of all society… Woman are very hard
worker and not only taking care of the family but also supports all the
religious, the monasteries as well as practice their own way. If they want some decision the family
discuss with the mother, the mother is the one who decides, but they don’t like
to come forward to. Is because society,
is not the woman’s world. Tibetans have always
been great story tellers |
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KESANG
01:04:25:08 |
“And my mom got pregnant, and we didn’t even
know she was pregnant. She was a
little bit on the chubby side and she always wore the Tibetan dress which
covered a multitude of sins…So we never really knew and then one day I’d come
back from school and I’d here this
new baby crying and she’d go, Well, Here’s your new sister or here is
your new brother. And I’d go ok. And sometimes she’d say “father its time and she’d be working all day and
he’d come with the knife and you know cut the cord everything was done, she’d
be cleaning the kid. Its no big deal. |
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GIRLS CREEKSIDE |
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01:05:03: VO: |
Its in Tibetan
stories and legends that Westerners can glimpse how women are regarded. |
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Girls
creekside tapestry |
Religious Scriptures
vary in their interpretation of
women. |
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WOMEN AGAINST ROCKS |
The most common term for woman is SKYE-DMAN
which means born low. There is no
equivalent term for man. |
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WOMEN BY FIRE |
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WOMEN TALK
VO 01:05:22 |
Women are
characterized as the most patient and compassionate members |
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of society. Mothers are cherished. |
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OLD WOMAN W/BEADS |
But traditionally,
women did not learn to read or write, and spiritually, females were somewhat
handicapped. Reincarnation as a woman
is not as fortunate as
reincarnation as a man. TIBETAN texts say, "She cannot become a
Bodisattva until she is reborn as a man." |
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TAPESTRY
VO 01:06:04 |
Padmasambhava brought
Buddhism to Tibet. Yeshe Tsogyal, a
Tibetan |
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TAPESTRY |
woman, became his
consort. While requesting
spiritual initiations from him she
said: |
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WOMAN W/BEADS
01:06:18 |
"Inadequate
women like me with little energy and an inferior birth incur the whole
world's hostility. Whatever we do, the
lot of a woman on the path is a miserable one. |
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WOMAN EATING |
To maintain our
practice is virtually impossible, and even to stay alive is very
difficult." |
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TAPESTRY |
But Padmasambhava
praised her spiritual accomplishments, |
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MALE VOICE
01:06:43 PHOTO FEMALE
STATUETTE |
" O yogini who
has mastered the Tantra, the human body is the |
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KIDS DANCING |
basis of the
accomplishment of wisdom, |
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KIDS IN ROBES SINGING |
And the gross bodies
of men and women are equally suited. |
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OLDER WOMEN |
But if a woman has
strong aspiration she has higher potential." |
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VO: 01:07:02 |
This sounds
paradoxical, but Buddhism teaches that
Life is suffering. While women’s
suffering is great, this can be beneficial
because suffering leads to purification , clarity & Enlightenment. Gaining spiritual insight is the true purpose of
life, so suffering can create wisdom. |
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And every aspect of
life is an opportunity for spiritual teaching. |
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Sky burial |
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VO:
07:59:01 |
Death is embraced
unflinchingly. In the cycle of
reincarnation the death of the body is just a transit for the soul. As Tibetans live above tree line where the
air is so cold the ground remains frozen, a chador, the ‘sky burial’ allows
the human body to return to nature swiftly.
Tibetans believe the
vultures will not take the flesh of evil-doers. |
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VO:
01:09:16:21 Thangkas, photos of gods Lady Sakya
01:09:24:16 |
Tibetans cultivate
personal relationships with a retinue of deities. None is more beloved than the Mother
Goddess, Tara. First time I received
the Tara initiation And I was strong
connected and that thought it was something like more mother, is second
mother who can even guide me spiritually. |
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VO 01:09:39:08 |
Tara practice is
observed by lay people at home and by clergy in temples. |
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TAPESTRY |
The ancient goddess
Tara came in |
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DARK TARA FACE |
her incarnation as
the human " |
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TAPESTRY |
Princess Moon of
Wisdom”. She |
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AERIAL VIEW PAINTING OF VILLAGE |
vowed in her journey
toward enlightenment to help all sentient beings. Monks asked her to return |
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ADULT MALE DANCERS |
as a man. She refused, |
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BACK TO DANCERS |
“Those who wish to
obtain supreme enlightenment in a man's body |
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PROCESSION OF DANCERS |
are many, but those
who want to serve in a women's body are few.
I vow to serve solely as a woman until |
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CIRCLE OF DANCERS |
the enlightenment of
all sentient beings." Tara in all her
aspects has inspired generations of Tibetan men and women. |
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Music |
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VO: 01:10:51 |
Geographically
remote, Tibet was untouched by world events through the first half of the 20th
century. |
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PHOTO MONKS RUNNING |
But in 1950, the
first armies of the People’s Republic of China came to “liberate” Tibetans
from feudal lives and bring them Communism – a government unconfused by
spiritual tenets. |
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Persecution of educated
people commenced immediately. Tibet’s
Eastern provinces were colonized Homes and villages were turned into forced
labor camps. |
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PHOTO OF REBELS ` |
Rebellion erupted
against Chinese rule in Eastern Tibet in 1956. Although brave fighters,
Tibetans lacked numbers and arms.
Women helped the fighters by providing supplies and information. |
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PHOTO OF TANKS Twa pres
01:11:52:01 |
Many Tibetans
believed the Chinese could never take possession of the capital. But Lhasa fell in 1959 despite fierce
resistance. “The Tibetan women
association is a non governmental organization and the formation of this
association goes way back from 59. It
was on 12 March, 1959 in Tibet that
Tibetan women from various parts of Tibet led peaceful demonstration
against the Chinese asking them to quit Tibet. Subsequently the Chinese arrested the 4
front leaders and they were arrested and taken to prison and tortured for
many many years and later they were
publicly executed” |
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01:12:28:10 |
Jamyang Sakya recalls
the Chinese arrival. |
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Lady Sakya – 01:12:30:03 |
We lost our country
in a way everything and we had tremendous
difficulties crossing from the Himalaya and carrying my sons in the backpack
crossing through to Bhutan. It was a very very hard decision and when the top
of that mountain is 23,000 feet sea level and looking back go to the Bhutan side and looked back
again, its with the tears. But I never
thought it was forever. |
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PHOTO ON HORSEBACK VO:
01:12:59:03 |
The Dalai Lama
disguised as one of his own guards,
escaped with his mother, elder sister,
younger brother, tutors, soldiers and loyalists. It took two weeks to reach
India. A total of 100,000 Tibetans–
49,000 women and girls escaped to India |
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Photo HHDL w/ Indian leaders PHOTO OF REFUGEE |
& Nepal where
they were sheltered as refugees. |
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PEOPLE
w/ROPES |
Thus began a chain of
events that has changed their traditional
way of |
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BROWN TENT |
life forever. |
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BUSY MARKET STREET |
According to Chinese
statistics 87,000 Tibetans were killed
during |
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BOWING PRAYERS |
the 16 months of
resistance after the ‘59 uprising. |
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AMA ADHI C/U |
Tibetan women were
treated as harshly as men. Those who
resisted were killed or subjected to years of starvation, torture
&imprisonment. Ama Adhe’s family
were leaders in the countryside. She
believes she survived 28 years in Chinese prisons to remember those who died.
She recalls being seized: |
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AMA ADHI W/INTERPRETOR- 01:14:04:21 |
Ama Adhe
translator: When the Chinese army
came in my house my daughter was sleeping next to me in bed she survived
because my friends breast feeded her while I was away. She didn’t die. My son tried to follow me
but later I heard that my son had fallen in the river and died, when I was
taken by the Chinese and I had two kids a boy and a girl. They were left
behind. |
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FLATS ON SIDE OF HILL VO:
01:14:59:15 |
The Chinese destroyed
more than 6000 monasteries, nunneries, |
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FLATS W/FLAGPOLE |
temples and shrines. |
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RELIGIOUS ARTICLES |
It is estimated that
1.2 million Tibetans have died since 1959 |
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MAN AT ALTAR |
due to war, famine,
forced labor, execution, and torture. |
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Lady Sakya 01:15:19:15 |
We came because we
wanted to be free to practice dharma so we know the Chinese Communists
doesn’t have that. We don’t know where we are going who is going to support us
we don’t know anybody we don’t know the language but its just pray that
something happened. |
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9/7/02 ACT II |
Tara's Daughters – Doc |
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TIBETAN PALACE VO:
01:15:39:10 |
Over 40 years later,
the future of Tibetan culture in their sacred homeland is unclear. |
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In 1959, The Dalai
Lama and his advisors realized that cohesiveness could be sustained by
organizing a Government-in-Exile, but its establishment took time. The future of Tibetan
culture and its religion lay in the continuity the refugee communities in
India, Nepal, and the West would provide. Early conditions were
very difficult for all refugees. |
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PHOTO OF FACTORY |
Exile ended the
age-old tradition of Tibetans living in extended families. How to care for the young, old, and infirm
became difficult. |
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Rinchen Khando 01:16:32:15
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RK – in the old times
you’d see most of the women at home …looking at household, and looking after
the children, since we came out of Tibet and we had to face a totally new
world I think our women did very well in adapting to a new ways of life at
the same time truly changing themselves. |
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WOMAN REF. W/ BABY |
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VO:
01:16:57:06 |
At first the refugees
only had tents to live in. India, with
high unemployment among its own population, could do little to help the
refugees. In shock, with improper
clothing, no medical care and poor food, many died. |
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TSERING W/ MOM |
Tsering translates
for her Mother & father. They were
part of that first migration and among the few |
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TSERING’S FATHER |
to survive and prosper |
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TSERING: 01:17:24:04 |
“They have been
working in the public work department before on the road in Denali and I was
very small, my brothers and my younger sister and older were very small and
they were all on the back like that and then my mom was working. …
before they were working on the road in the public works department at
that time they were getting just one rupee a day/ |
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Yangchen by Tibetan flag VO:
01:17:48:22 |
Like Tsering,
Yangchen is part of the first generation to grow up in the refugee
community. She works for and is
dedicated to the Government-in-Exile. |
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YANGCHEN & MOM ON COUCH |
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YANGCHEN: 01:17:58:21 |
My Mom was the only
one who could earn the livelihood to look after my dad and also for the 3
children to send to school…so my mom had a very tough time when we were very
young. |
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RINCHEN
01:18:14:13 |
Thank God Tibetans
have a good attitude towards change and the society doesn’t hold them back…
for example In the early 60’s women
would just have to go out and do any kind of work to support their family
along with their men. |
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VO 01:18:30:01 |
Industries were
started based on traditional crafts. |
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WOMAN CARRYING WOOL |
Tibetan carpet
factories opened in Nepal, lifesavers for the refugees, as they provided
decent wages. |
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WOMAN WEAVING BOARD |
In Tibet, weaving was
a family craft |
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WOMAN AT WHEEL |
In Nepal, every |
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WORKERS BUSY AT SPINNING WHEELS |
aspect of production
is part of a modern industry - |
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WOMAN SPINNING WOOL |
From wool gathering
to spinning, weaving and sales. |
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AT BOARDS POUNDING WITH TOOLS |
Women do all but the
most heavy physical labor. |
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C/U OF MAN AND WOMAN |
Tibetan carpets are
among the finest in the world. |
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C/U OF HANDS WORKING ON CARPET |
The refugee
experience varies from |
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country to country
but most women need to work for cash. |
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CUSTOMERS IN SHOP |
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MRS Tsering
01:20:07:24 Lady Sakya:
01:20:45:20 |
“In Nepal everything is very expensive not like
India so I was not more than housewife, I tried to find job and then I found
job in here in the Tibetan refugee
camp in Jawakhal this also belongs to the Tibetan exile government so this
former manager Mr. Lopsang Nyima and my husband talk and he
said oh yes better to find job if she speaks good English and we need a salesgirl in show
room so that would be very good if the Mrs.
would join the job.” When I first came in
America I made so many mistakes, in Tibetan when you see ladies the first
things you ask what your name and then
is how old are you and I did that a lot of times some they never give me
answer because in Tibet I think Chinese the same way the older you are,
respected. |
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VO:
01:21:14:21 |
While the Tibetan
refugee community is starting its fourth generation in exile, |
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REFUGEES
ON MTN PASS |
a small but constant
stream of new refugees from Tibet trickle across high mountain passes,
RISKING ALL FOR A NEW LIFE. |
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Like those who fled
before them, most arrive with only the clothes on their backs. |
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RECEPTION CTR SIGN VO:
01:21:41:07 |
Refugees who make it
to Dharamsala, in India |
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BEDS IN SHELTER |
are provided with food and shelter. |
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TSERING TSOMO SHEDS HEADWRAP |
Others stop in Nepal,
the first border crossed from Tibet. Tsering Tsomo, a
Tibetan Bonpo nun, is one who walked the perilous route. |
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WOMAN HERDING |
She had been a
shepherdess in Tibet. With no nunnery to go to, she came seeking religious
community in Nepal. |
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TSERING In front of banner |
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TSERING READING SCRIPTURE |
Six months later
Tsering is learning to read the sacred texts she had learned by rote. |
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TEXT IN VIEW |
Tsering dreams of
returning to Tibet to start a nunnery where women can learn to read and write
but she had |
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HERDING CATTLE |
to leave the Tibet
Autonomous Region to get a religious
education. |
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VO
01:22:49:12 Historical footage |
Scholarship has
always been prized in Tibetan culture. Traditionally, the monastic system trained monks in the
Tibetan arts & sciences. Only
aristocratic members of the old society learned to read & write. Among these, a handful of women were
educated for the pleasure of their fathers. |
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Lady
Sakya, 01:23:11:29 |
I had to learn at the
monastery like the boys are learning and then I come home and I have to learn
the chores like girls learn so that is
why my girlfriends would say I was unlucky because you have to take two part
of things, so I thought I can’t play like them and I had to go to the school
every day. |
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VO: 1:23:41:03 PHOTO-TEACHER AT BOARD |
But today, the
Government-in-Exile makes education the number one priority for refugees. |
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Rinchen Khando 01:23:44:13 |
One of the wonderful
things that the government in exile they has done is they have set up schools
for the Tibetan children and they have made education free and available to
all the Tibetan children. And one thing they never said was to send the boys
to school and forget about the girls, they said school for all Tibetan
children. Education for all Tibetan children.
Therefore as a result girls are educated equally with boys. always free for all, and in the schools
they are taught together and treated equally in fact lots
there is a lot of encouragement
for the girls to really come
out with their opinions or ideas or whatever. |
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VO
01:24:36:11 |
The Tibetan
Children's Village in Dharamsala is headed by Jetsun Pema, the Dalai Lama’s
sister. |
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JETSUN PEMA 01:24:42:07 |
Jetsun Pema: and this children’s village is institution
which was started in 1960 and it was initiated by HH to take care of the
Tibetan refugee children who at that time were arriving with their parents
from Tibet then the children had a difficult time and as most of the parents
were involved in the road construction work which the government of India
gave our people to do then the children had a difficult time in the road
construction camps because they had to keep on moving and they had to live in
tents so you know it was difficult for the children to be in these road camps
HH sent his officials out and brought
the children collected and in 1960 May there were 53 children brought here
that’s how He started this children’s
village… and since 1964 its 31 years since I’ve been doing this work. |
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VO
01:25:47:05 |
The budget is 700
rupees per month per person which is less than 20 dollars its all included
the education, the food, the clothing, everything is included. |
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RINCHEN KHANDO 01:26:41:15 |
Through education you
can see better you can understand better
and you can decide better for yourself |
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VO
01:26:47:16 |
Secular education
allows refugees to prosper in their host countries |
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Education has
produced a great difference between refugee born women and their Tibetan born
mothers. |
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It gives women
greater voice in and beyond their community. |
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YANGCHEN 01:27:04:12 |
Like in Tibet , my
mom never got education, she was never exposed to education like now |
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TSERING 01:27:12:07 |
…if you educate an individual you are just educating one
person… and if you are educating a woman you are educating a family you are
educating a society you are educating a national and then comes international
and everything like women they have a wider understanding rather than men. I
think |
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VO
01:27:29:13 nunnery |
Tibetan refugee women
have opportunities for religious education equal to men for the first time in
history due to this modern Dalai Lama. Nuns can study for geshe degrees, like
Ph.d’s in religion, as monks have for centuries. |
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HHDL
01:27:45:21 |
So we have to make
better facilities for women practitioner or student so this new nunnery near
Dharamsala I’m very much hoping will be
model so in the future in Tibet we can establish some more nunnery with good
quality, high standard, steady |
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C/U PHOTO OF DL VO
01:28:15:29 |
The Dalai Lama has
been described as the essential sustaining element of Tibetan culture |
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MOTHER & CHILD |
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TSERING 01:28:22:02 |
I think he
is everything for us, he is everything if you would be a leader or a
spiritual or political leader we’d be no where, from him we get spiritual
purity, we get peace of mind we get contentment we get happiness… |
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MRS. Tsering 01:28:39:26 |
I find him really
really good leader, really good leader, not only the leader we call him a
Tibetan god king His Holiness the Dalai Lama, he’s not king like other country’s king, he’s a holy
man, on top of that he’s a very special man to come to in reincarnation
generation generation he will come to us. |
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01:29:03 C/U
PHOTO OF DL |
His Holiness the
Dalai Lama is the heart of Tibet to most Tibetans. |
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Kesang
01:29:09:06 |
I had not met his HH
in India or Tibet but when he visited here it seems like you’re more
accessible more accessible here than there because over there of course he’s
held in such respect. People are in
such awe of his presence that you don’t dare even go and visit His Holiness
you don’t do that sort of thing and even if you did you don’t even look up
you don’t have direct eye contact, there is so much respect that you just bow
your head, … So I went in after being
just literally pushed in there, and I was just awestruck I couldn’t talk I
couldn’t do a thing. My husband said
Boy, I’ve never seen that side of you and I said well you that is the way I
feel we respect him so much. |
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Photo of HH as child. VO
01:30:06:14 |
He has no doubt who
has had the most profound influence on him. |
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HHDL 01:30:11:10 |
…regarding I think a
proper development of inner basic human good quality such as compassion
loving-kindness respect other’s right, I think you see, my own case my mother for example was such a
warm-hearted person. My mother so kind very compassionate. So perhaps in my
own case still I cannot say I’m a compassionate person still I can say
comparatively I can say I’m not not bad. |
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HHDL w/ Nobel Prize VO
01:30:52:20 |
The Nobel prizing
winning leader cherishes Tibetan women. |
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HHDL
01:30:56:11 |
I feel women’s role
is great, very great, I notice this in many places, not only in India
Buddhist community but also Christian communities everywhere, I notice
everywhere female side seems more
sort of interest, or more how say keen about faith one’s own faith. |
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Rinchen Khando 01:31:26:07 Yangchen Dolkar 01:31:37:11 VO 01:31:54:09 |
The very lifestyle of
Tibetans is so much influenced by the religious principle that you really can’t separate them very
easily. Starting from the
morning like we’re doing a small prayer in front of the altar then we first thing we give
whenever we give whenever we eat we give the first share to the god then we
start our eating have and before that
we pray altogether For many refugees the
spiritual aspect of the culture is what is most important. Some choose a strictly religious life by
becoming nuns. |
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Tenzing Tsamo 01:32:07:15 Head shaving VO 01:32:14:19 Tenzing Tsamo 01:32:22:15 01:33:40:17 VO 01:33:51:11 Rinchen Khando 01:33:58:19 Tsering Tsamo 01:34:07 VO 01:34:14:20 01:35:15:22 Astrologer says 01:35:23:10 VO 01: 35:31 Old historic wedding ph 01:35:47 |
My name is Tenzing
Tsamo and I come from South India. A new generation of
Indian born Tibetan women stand firmly rooted in traditional faith. We wake up at 5
o’clock and we have to study our scripture and after that at 6 am we have
morning prayer hall 7 we have breakfast and we pray altogether 8:30 we finish that then 30 minutes we have
break. 9 am to 12 o’clock we have also
Tara puja…after that we have lunch time 1 o’clock to 2. if I become a nun I have a very good chance
to study our dharma if we marry we have no chance to study we would think
about our families. Women in secular and
religious life cooperate to preserve Tibetan culture. I do go and see the
nuns and see the nuns very often and talk to them and say now what do you
understand, has that made any difference to your life? It’s very happy, a
nun’s life. Tibetans are joyful.
Celebrations are undertaken with enthusiasm. The entire community
comes together to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year. Tibetan women all
over the world make momos, juicy meat dumplings. Libations are offered
to the gods. Burning incense and
raising prayer flags mark the beginning of the new year. Astrologers and
oracles are consulted about new year’s fortunes. The elements is good,
everybody is ok here. Losar provides the
time for men and women of all ages to enjoy one another as they did in Tibet. Traditionally
marriages were arranged according to the social and economic needs of
families. They had little religious significance. |
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Kesang 01:35:54:25 Kesang wedding |
My mother married
when she was about 13 and it was an arranged wedding. My father came on a white horse picked her up
and she was crying because that is what you, then she had her first child and
boom bang 15 kids... The difference is I think, I’m the first in my family to
marry out of an arranged wedding I actually you know actually dared to fall in love. So that was
something different. I wanted an American
wedding with veil and the whole bit and my husband wanted a Tibetan wedding
so we said let’s do both. So in the
morning we had the church ceremony with the white dress and in the afternoon
we dressed he wore the chuba and I wore the Tibetan brocade dress. My brother
and Maid of Honor who is Tibetan wore the Tibetan robes and wore the Tibetan
boots and we did the whole spiel. |
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WALKING DOWN HALLWAY 01:37:07:12 |
But young people
still face considerable pressure to enter arranged marriages. |
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WOMAN IN CARPET FACTORY- 01:37:09:18 |
as a Tibetan its quite difficult you know to change our
own mind and also for the children we have to obey our parents |
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VO:
01:37:18:11 |
Pasang lives in the
U.S. as part of |
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C/U OF PASANG |
The U.S. resettlement
project. Her life is almost completely Westernized. |
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PASANG AND BOYFRIEND 01:37:26:09 |
PASANG (laugh) we had
a love marriage and we like each other, I
can’t think of what else… |
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BACK TO COUCH 01:37:33:07 |
While visiting her family
in Kathmandu, she & her boyfriend of 3 years decide to wed. Accepting the love marriage, their
families provide this traditional ceremony.
Traditionally the bride’s dowry is her jewelry. In this wedding the
jewelry has been rented for the day. The ceremony is a
daylong affair, with the Mola Tange presiding. |
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WOMEN CHANTING |
He chants jokes &
exaggerations about the merging
families. |
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MOLA TANGE MAKES SYMBOL |
The saying is that if
this fertility symbol is not scattered beyond recognition on the wedding
night, |
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cu ON MOLA TANGE’S HANDS |
the groom should have
been a monk. |
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VO:
01:39:30:32 |
As refugees, young
people with families from different regions and social classes of Tibet now
mix, a rare occurrence in old Tibet. Many refugees lead
rural lives in India and Nepal. |
|
RURAL WEDDING PROCESSION |
This wedding comes 10
years after the couple had a family.
This is the first time they have the finances |
|
BRIDE ON SHORE |
to hold the wedding
celebration and feast. |
|
BACK TO PROCESSION |
Perhaps the day is
sweeter because of the long time it took in coming. |
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OLD WOMAN W/ BRANCH |
Astrologers are
consulted on the union, evil spirits warded off, |
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LIQUID POURED ON HEAD |
and a boisterous time
is had by all. |
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PARTICIPANTS ON PONIES |
Traditionally, family
and marriage were the Tibetan woman’s social
security. |
|
VO:
01:40:40:12 MRS T IN FACTORY |
Today married
wage-earners, may be separated for long periods of time. |
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Montage of what’s to come TWA Secretary Lawa
01:40:48:00 VO:
01:41:42:01 |
Many women live alone
without family. When elected my
husband in Ladakh, I had to make choice…. so talking with husband this one
seems to be wider TWA wider than school itself, so my hubby in Ladakh I came
here we decided in mutual understanding and supporting each other. In this
way I’m very grateful to him without his encouragement, without his
understanding it would be very difficult especially with the 3 children. Refugee women keep
and honor and their culture in their daily lives; while celebrating holidays,
like Tibetan New Years’; and by honoring personal events. |
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VO
01:41:55 |
The refugees have
formed a successful Tibetan community in the Diaspora. |
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Shots from Tibet
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As the refugee’s
lives go on, Tibet’s fate, broken into Chinese provinces, is uneasy. The Chinese have over a billion people
while the Tibetan plateau is filled with space and valuable resources. Travel in and out of the area can be
difficult for Tibetan refugees as they are considered Chinese citizens who
should come home. |
|
Vulture footage HHDL:
01:42:40:14 01:43:38:21 |
Chinese policies
change, and Tibetan religious freedom is not constant. Obviously, they, not
only Tibetan women, but every Tibetan is facing this kind of problem.
Actually, in the eyes of Tibetan, the Chinese, our Chinese brothers and
sisters are alien, alien people. So you see, alien people came to our country
without proper invitation. Then dictate on us how to behave, how to think,
how to speak, including religions (laughing). That's the difficulties, there
is complicated. With over 500,000
Chinese troops in the Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibetans are becoming a
minority in their own land. Yet, those
who flee express concern for all Tibet’s residents. |
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Ama Adhe left Tibet
in 1987. She made Dharamsala home to
satisfy her lifelong dream of living close to the Dalai Lama. |
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Ama Adhe
01:44:06:09 |
I pray that the world
will be freed from such atrocities and miseries as I and other Tibetan people
have suffered. |
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VO:
01:44:26:20 |
Although few in
number, Tibetan refugees have a large impact outside of China because they
are organized, share their spiritual teachings, and remind us that freedom is
what people hold most dear. |
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VO: 01:44:06 TWA former Pres. 01:44:53:00 VO:
01:45:25:00 |
The Tibetan Women’s
Association is a worldwide non-governmental organization formed to create
solutions to the refugees’ problems. In India it was in 1984 that the Tibetan
Women’s Association was revived again,
and the main objective of the association is to work for the struggle of our
country Tibet and to fulfill the
dreams of those brave women who led
the demonstration from 59,... as of
today we have over 9000 members all
over India and a few abroad. The T.W.A. spent
years in Preparatory meetings for the
UN Women’s Conference of 1995. |
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TWA Sec. Lhamo 01:45:31:26
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We not only think of
the Tibetans but Chinese women also. |
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VO:
01:45:41:09 American: 01:46:01 VO:
01:46:10 Eva Herzer
01:46:39:05 VO:
01:46:56:17 |
The United Nations’
Fourth World Women’s Conference was attended by 30,000 women in Huarou,
China, During a UN conference, the land its held on is protected as UN
territory, like an embassy. Attendees
were horrified that Chinese security measures ignored this jurisdiction. “When I got back to
my room they had gone through my suitcase and my roommate’s suitcase. A workshop was
organized by Tibetan women refugees at the NGO Forum. The women were afraid to complain of
harassment by Chinese security until a videotape was seized. The story was
released on the international wire service and made front page news.
But they grabbed from
all sides and started to punch me and pull on my bag here so I tried to back
out of the room but they just kept grabbing at me and punching me. They told me I had no rights to speak about
Tibetans… The confrontation
between refugee women and the Chinese showed conflict rarely seen by
Westerners. |
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VO
01:47:11 HHDL
01:47:17:27 |
The Dalai Lama has
repeatedly stated the only way to settlement is through peaceful
resolution. Look carefully you’ll
see the Chinese government attitude without much notice, you’ll see some
change and the Chinese people themselves particularly the internationals…the
thinkers, the students, and also the Chinese diplomats. I think among this
category of people the spirit or desire want more liberty freedom democracy
is growing. |
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Ama Adhe 01:48:04:19 Rinchen Khando 01:48:30:12 |
For more than 1000
years, the people of our land have considered ourselves a separate race and
culture from the Chinese. We want
future generations to have feeling, that same sense of identity. Tibetans believe, unlike grass, which can
be wiped out in strong wind, we are as the earth. If you do this for the
benefit of somebody else, it’s worth taking it on you. That is most of what our prisoners did in
prisons in Tibet. They said all right,
let them torture us, let them beat us, because by our doing this it helps the
course it helps the dharma so let me be the punching bag. |
|
VO: 01:48:56:08 |
Many Western
Buddhists believe Tibet’s misfortune has
brought a great gift to the West, the Precious Jewel, the sacred teachings of
Tibet. |
Rinchen Khando 01:49:10:05 |
I definitely feel that it is the philosophy
and way of life that has made the Tibetans cope with the problems of life… |
VO:
01:49:22:09 |
How do women refugees
understand their plight? |
Lady Sakya
01:49:25:17 (her voice starts over pix of refugee
reception in India) |
If something comes
good and think that all Terpulgems blessing and this is wonderful but that
doesn’t last forever either, if something comes good in a way you
know then happy, and then if something
comes, doesn’t go well goes wrong and you think maybe this is part of moving
my obstacles not really just something bad for me doesn’t stay this
forever might come some happiness later. |
VO:
01:49:58 Wheel
of Life - |
In the Wheel of Life, birth, aging, and death
are caused by the afflictive emotions, the senses, and attachment. These keep sentient beings in worldly
realms until grasping ceases. In
cyclic existence, all living things die but they return in new forms through
reincarnation – individuals, all have their own lifespan and purpose. In Tibetan Buddhism Bodishattvic vows are
taken to reincarnate and serve until the Enlightenment of all sentient
beings. |
TWA sec Lawa 01:50:44:03 |
in order to have something good in order to
help some other people to do something good even if has to sacrifice one’s life I think
that’s really worth it. Staying for
100 years and doing nothing for others just caring for one’s health I don’t
find any meaning in it , |
VO: 01:51:10:09 |
Tibetan
sacred texts make clear woman’s spiritual value, |
GOLD STATUETTE |
From the tantric scripture of the |
-DANCING STATUETTE |
Yogina tantra class: |
Male Voice 01:51:18:09 |
|
young women in ornamental dress |
One should honor women |
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-PRAYERS FROM ABOVE |
Women are heaven, women are truth |
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WALKING THRU SMOKY WOODS |
Women are the supreme fire of transformation |
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GOLD FACE |
Women are Buddha |
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-2 NUNS ON BUSY STREET |
Women are religious community |
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2 CHANTING NUNS |
Women are the perfection of wisdom |
BABY |
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VO: 01:51:42:09 |
For most the future is here, in Nepal and
India as refugees… |
2 WOMEN SMOKING |
|
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Women are forging the link between old
Tibetan ways |
-GOLDEN FACE |
and their future. Relocation has forced
refugee women to take on new roles.
This tests a woman and makes her search her faith for sustenance. |
-2 WOMEN AT WINDOWS |
For those who believe in Dharma |
-PEDESTRIANS |
The essential spiritual path, there IS an
ultimate truth, |
|
|
-FEMALE STATUETTE |
To Buddhists, achieving freedom from
attachment |
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-PASANG BEING FED |
Whether in pleasure or pain - is |
-C/U OF AMA ADHI |
liberation |
|
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KESANG- 01:52:30:12 Xmas tree living room |
You know, Tibetans will always be Tibetans
and no matter where we are and how Westernized we get, basically we’re still
Tibetans. |
VO 01:52:54:09 |
Tibetan refugee women
keep the essence of their faith and their people’s vitality for they know
they hold the key to Tibet’s spiritual
treasures. |
Ama Adhe 01:53:09:02 |
“I am free now. There are no guards outside my door. There is enough to eat. Yet an exile can never forget the severed
roots of beginnings, the precious fragments of which are always within the
heart… As I pass through the hours of each day, I feel my heart remains with
the memories of my family and friends whose bones have become part of a land
now tread by strangers” |
Credits 01:53:42:10 |
music |
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