October 2008

Potrero Hill Company Relies on Tibetan Immigrants to Paint the City

By Herman Wong

Yeshi Sopa came to the United States when his wife won the immigration lottery. Namgyal Tsering staved off loneliness and worry when he first arrived in America by reading about past immigrants. Though Karma Yarphel finds life in the United States challenging, it’s better than the one he left behind.

Sopa, Tsering and Yarphel are among the 20 ethnic Tibetans that make up nearly a third of Potrero Hill-based Everest Waterproofing and Restoration’s workforce. Everest’s president, Keith Goldstein, has a long history of relying on Tibetan immigrants, beginning in the early-1990s when his previous company, Gitane Painting, sponsored two Tibetan refugees for immigration. “It’s been a very enriching experience to have Tibetans work for me,” said Goldstein, whose interest in Buddhism and Nepal led to his involvement with the Tibetan community. “They have a very pleasant perspective on things.”

Often referred by one of the 1,500 Tibetan-Americans living in the Bay Area, Tibetans frequently arrive at Everest – which paints and repairs building exteriors – without prior construction experience and unsteady English proficiency. At five foot eight inches, Sopa, 44 years old, has a round, dark face and a wisp of a mustache and beard. In 1992 his wife Lhamo won the lottery: she received one of 1,000 U.S. immigrant visas granted to Tibetans refugees living in India and Nepal, courtesy of the 1990 Immigration Act. However, the visa only allowed passage for one person, who had to have secure employment in the United States. The family would be allowed to follow later.

With a two-month-old son to raise in Pokhara, Nepal, Sopa and his wife picked the best parent to stay behind. “We decided I would go first since a dad would have a hard time handling the kid,” Sopa said. In 1993 he left for America armed with a job offer from Goldstein, brokered by the U.S.-Tibet Resettlement Project, paying $7.50 an hour, one of the highest wages of the Tibetans making that trip. It took Sopa’s family five years to work their way through the immigration process.

The work at Gitane Painting was difficult at first. Sopa had never seen a painter’s hand roller, and had only used paint mixed from red mud or chalk. He stumbled along, one of only two Tibetans on staff, trying to learn his new profession and language. “I spoke little English and it was hard to pick up what they were saying,” Sopa said.

By 2003, when Tsering arrived, Goldstein and his crew had moved to Everest, which had hired more Tibetans, who in turn trained new immigrant recruits. But while Tsering had an easier start on the job, the 43 year old with the gaunt face and puffy center-parted hair of a 1970’s movie star wasn’t initially convinced that he should stay in the United States. At the invitation of some American friends, Tsering visited New York for a short vacation in 2002. While touring Ellis Island and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Dharamsala, India resident thought about his family’s future. As a general manager of a vocational school, Tsering knew that his three children would have limited career opportunities in India. “I thought I needed a change in life,” Tsering said. “It was a tough decision, but I was mentally prepared for this.”

His friends agreed to sponsor him, and Tsering moved to Berkeley to stay with fellow former co-workers from the vocational school. Longing for his family, he frequented the local library, reading about Chinese and Japanese immigrants. Their history of adversity comforted him. “Compared to them my situation is much better,” Tsering said. “When I read about their hardship, I feel everything for me has gone smoothly, like getting a job. It encouraged me to face my everyday life.”

For Yarphel, trying times continue seven years after his arrival. A friend’s friend sponsored his immigration in 2001, allowing him to escape Nepal, where work was scarce and a day’s wage couldn’t buy a night out to dinner. In the United States the 33 yearold worked in a restaurant before coming to Everest in 2003. “We didn’t have anything when we got here,” Yarphel said. “If I didn’t have a job I’d be homeless.” But life in America has been challenging. Yarphel worries about the rainy season from December to April, when work at Everest dries up, and he has taken a part-time job at a restaurant, sometimes working seven days a week. “Here life is very hard,” Yarphel said. “I spend everything on rent, food, and PG&E.”

After a rocky start Sopa improved his English, and ultimately ascended to foreman in 1997. He now owns a two-bedroom house in Berkeley, which he shares with his wife, son, and American-born daughter. “I have a great life,” Sopa said. “It’s better than Nepal. If you work hard there’s opportunity.” Tsering became one of 14 foremen at Everest a year after starting at the company, and reunited with his family soon after. They now live in El Cerrito. He said he appreciates the opportunities available to his children, two of whom are studying nursing. “As long as you abide by the rules of the country, there is no one here who can trouble you,” Tsering said. Yarphel’s wife and nine-year-old son reached the United States six months ago; they live in Oakland. “I make money. I take care of my family. They are happy so I’m happy too,” he said, though without much enthusiasm.

Of the three men only Sopa seemed comfortable talking about his ancestral home. “I feel disappointed that a lot of the world doesn’t support Tibet,” he said. Tsering and Yarphel have little to say about the topic, worried that their relatives back home would be punished for any outspokenness. Yet Tsering hopes to see Tibet again, which he left when he was nine years old. “As long as I live, I want to go back and serve the people,” he said.

October 2008

Potrero Hill Company Relies on Tibetan Immigrants to Paint the City

By Herman Wong

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