Dolma: Refugee Status Written and Photographed by Wayne Huang

When Dolma first arrived in New York City four years ago, she didn't speak a word of English. She came only with a determination to survive and support her family which was still in India. In 1996, Dolma, along with Sonam Gya, her husband, and children escaped persecution by Chinese authorities occupying her homeland of Tibet. It was there that they were politically involved with the Tibetan cause and were subsequently arrested, imprisoned, and physically tortured by the Chinese authorities.

In escaping, they walked fifteen days from her birth city of Tsang Topgyal in central Tibet to Nepal and eventually to India, where she settled in a refugee camp. There she continued to be politically involved, yet faced the same abuse by Indian authorities for her activities.

She has since sought and gained refugee status in the United States and lives in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn. Two years after working as a housemaid and with the financial support of a caring philanthropist, she was able to bring her husband and five children to the United States. Recently she was hired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York City as a night janitor, a job she takes great pride in.

Her story is just one of millions of refugees living in the United States, displaced in their own homeland.

Despite the hardships, Dolma still retains her sense of humor. She has been living in a converted four bedroom apartment in Bushwick, Brooklyn for the last 2 years. It has slowly become too small for her growing children

Even with her busy schedule, Dolma always finds the time to come out to protests to support the Tibetan cause. She often expresses her frustration with other Tibetans who want to forget what has happened in Tibet for the last 50 years and assimilate into their new country as much as possible.

Waiting in line at the Social Security Administration building in downtown Brooklyn, Dolma has become accustomed to the bureaucracy and paper work involved in being an immigrant.

Sonam Gya, Dolma's husband of sixteen years, never had to deal with parenthood in Tibet and India. Traditionally, raising children was left up to the women. Now he is learning to share such responsibilities, though not without frustration

Tenzin Samchok, the oldest child and only son of 13 years, bears much of the responsibility for his younger siblings. After a long day of school, he is responsible for gathering his sisters and taking them home on the subway.

Dolma wears a p and den, a traditional apron and dress combination worn by married women. Without her native dress, most people would never guess that she is from Tibet, rather she is often mistaken as a Chinese. It is estimated that there are roughly about 5000 Tibetans living in New York City

One of the new conveniences for Dolma is the ability to buy almost anything you need and more of what you want. Her children, having only lived in the U.S. a little more than a year have quickly become accustomed to begging their mother to take them to the toy store.

Tenzin Yangzom, the second youngest daughter is comforted by Dolma after throwing a fit. She says she is unhappy here and misses her grandmother who resides in India and is unable to come to the U.S. because of a pending application for refugee status. Yangzom has been doing poorly in school and is known as a troublemaker, according to her teacher.

Ever since Dolma began working the night shift at the MTA, Sonam has had to take on responsibilities such as making dinner and picking the children up from school while Dolma sleeps.

March 10th commemorates the day that Tibetans rose up against the Chinese army in 1959. Every year Tibetans around the world march in support of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and those still suffering under the occupation in Tibet. Dolma still in her MTA outfit as she had just gotten off work, marches with several hundred Tibetans to the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Tenzin Sangmo, 12, is the third child of the five siblings. While Dolma was pregnant with her in Tibet, Chinese police came to her home one night and arrested her for no given reason. She was beaten and kicked in the stomach while in jail. As a result, Sangmo was born with mental and physical handicaps and is wheelchair-bound. However, since being in the United States, she continually receives physical therapy which has helped to improve her condition.

In Tibet, it is forbidden by the Chinese government to worship, much less hang a picture of His Holiness in your home. Doing so would result in severe punishments and upwards of two years of imprisonment. During Losar, the Tibetan new year, the people come to lay ceremonial white scarves in front of a picture of the Dalai Lama in order to receive blessings for the new year. Such celebrations are impossible in Tibet now. Many Tibetans abroad feel a sense of responsibility to maintain their culture and beliefs as it is in jeopardy of being systematically destroyed by the Chinese government.

Dolma often loses sleep time in order to spend time with her children. When she returns from work at 8 AM, her children are already off to school, when they return, she is already asleep, and when they are asleep she goes back to work.

The only time Dolma is ever really alone is when she sweeps the long corridors and platforms of the subway stations in Brooklyn. She says her coworkers are always complaining about this job, but she never does. In India, to have health coverage for you and your family is unheard of