t h e   9-10-3   p r o j e c t

>  j a m p e l   t s e t e n

My name is Jampel Tseten and I am 33 years old. I was born in Penpo, Tibet and my father's name is Ngawang Namgyal. From the age of eight, I went to our village school for six years. After that I joined to Drepung Monastery and there I studied Tibetan Buddhism for some years.

On September 27, 1987, I participated in the first mass demonstration for Tibet¹s Independance, which was lead by 21 Drepung monks in Lhasa. On that day, the Chinese police arrested and imprisoned us all. By the kindness of the previous Panchen Lama, he helped toward the release of myself along with some other monks. After I was released, I continued to remain involved in working for Tibetan independence, and proceeded to print and distribute posters, and shout slogans. The Chinese arrested some of my friends for these activities, and I was also very much in danger of being arrested. I had to escape into exile in India in July 1991. After I arrived in India, I went to the Tibetan Children¹s Village Suja School for one year to learn English. In 1992 during the winter vacation, I returned to Tibet with my friend Ngawang Thardoe.

In 1993, after I came back from Tibet, I lost my chance to study at Suja School. I got another chance to study by the kindness of our Exile Government, but at that time Yeshi Togden (President of Gu Chu Sum) was working alone in the Gu Chu Sum office. I gave up that chance to go to school in order to help Yeshi Togden. When I was working in the Gu Chu Sum office, I also attended the Buddhist Dialectic School in Sarah for two years to obtain teacher training. In 1997, after I graduated from teacher training, I returned to work in the Gu Chu Sum office as an alternative committee member until February 19, 2002.

During a Gu Chu Sum meeting in late September 2001, I was elected as the joint secretary committee member, and continue to carry out these duties.

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