Capturing a life in exile New exhibit at Hudson Museum examines Tibetan children forced to live in India

Tibetan prayer flags line the rocky path, guiding the children to the shrine. The rows of colorful flags capture a little boy’s attention and he smiles. His brown eyes follow the colors as they swing back and forth in the morning’s sun.

His smile reflects his childish innocence but it also masks the hardship the little boy has faced in his young life.

He is one of thousands of Tibetan children living in exile in India to avoid persecution in Tibet. Like other Tibetan children, he has left his parents and traveled hundreds of miles across the Himalayas, through Nepal to reach Mussoiorie, India.

The children are students at the Tibetan Homes School, opened in 1962 by the Dalai Lama. Today 1,800 children call it their home.

“Echoes Across the Himalayas: Tibetan Children Living in Exile,” an exhibit at the University of Maine’s Hudson Museum, offers the public a look at the lives of the children through photography, paintings and poetry.

In 1999, photographers Barbara Goodbody and Donna DeCesare accompanied author, poet and teacher of creative writing Barbara Hurd on her sabbatical to India.

At the school, Hurd taught the children about poetry while Goodbody and DeCesare took photos of the children.

“My photos of the Tibetan children and the school reflect my concern for the fate of children who have suffered or witnessed violence,” said DeCesare, who is currently photographing children in Colombia. “In my conversations with the young people, I heard profound nostalgia for home, loneliness and deep yearning to fulfill dreams.”

The children’s feelings became even clearer once they started writing down their thoughts.

“Saw my mother in my dreams but she disappeared as I hugged her. Miss my parents so much, like flowers miss sunlight,” wrote Tenzin Kunphen, a student in Class 12.

Another student, Karma Tsedon, wrote, “You are the soul of this body, without which, I am furniture … I am nothing without you, mother.”

Also a key component of the Hudson exhibit are children’s paintings.

“The paintings the children have done are memories of where they came from, their aspirations, their fears,” said Steve Whittington, director of the Hudson Museum.

The collection will be on display at the museum through Sept. 1.