My name is Lhakpa, and I am Tibetan. I was born in exile, and my parents escaped from Tibet after Tibet was illegally occupied by China. When my parents escaped from Tibet, my mom was carrying me in her. Soon after she arrived in India, I was born, and within six months she passed away. I was told that she went to the bathroom and never came back. That left me, my brothers and sisters with no mother. My dad was so poor that he could not afford to feed his seven children. So my father donated us to the Tibetan Children’s Village orphan school. Later my dad died, and that left all of my brothers and sisters orphans. I grew up in the orphan school since I was six months old. If China had not occupied Tibet, we would not have been in exile or orphans. Likewise, there are many Tibetan families that have been displaced like my family. I remember growing up without parents: it was very difficult, but with the help from the Tibetan Children’s Village ( TCV) orphan school, I received minimal but much appreciated education, food, shelter and clothing. Without the orphan school, I would not be alive today. After I finished my school, I have been involved in the Tibetan cause. I was in Nepal for more than six years involved in volunteering work for Tibetan Children’s Village Alumni to raise money to benefit for school and other Tibetan project.
In 1995 I came to United States, and in 1996 I joined the peace march from Washington DC to New York for three months for the Tibetan cause.

On 1998 I again joined the peace walk from Portland OR to Vancouver BC for another
three months for the Tibetan cause.

I was dreaming for this Free Tibet World Tour project for a long time, and thanks to all my family and friends for positive feed back to make this happen.

Now with two months to go, I am happy to receive this support letter kindly provided by the office of Tibet.