Help SFT Honor His Holiness on His 75th Birthday by Investing in Tibet’s Future

His Holiness the Dalai Lama turns 75 years old today. This is not only a personal milestone for His Holiness but also an historic day for the world.

We are constantly humbled and inspired by the monumental contribution this single individual has made to social justice, religious harmony, environmental conservation, and universal responsibility.

Today, as we join people worldwide in celebrating this auspicious day, His Holiness will dedicate another day of work to his people, especially those living in Tibet. 

Together, we can give His Holiness a birthday gift that will complement his tireless work for Tibet: an investment in Tibet’s future.

Please donate $75 or more to SFT’s Tibetan Youth Leadership Program to honor His Holiness on his 75th birthday, and we will send you a limited-edition 11×17 color print of A Vision in the Lake Lhamo Latso, a momentous painting that reflects the aspirations of the Tibetan people.

Created by Tibetan artist and SFT India board member Karma Sichoe in the traditional thangka painting technique, this artwork depicts His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama seated on the lion throne in the Potala Palace in a future free Tibet. Lhamo Latso is Tibet’s holiest lake, where historically senior monks meditated for visions regarding Tibet’s future.

Help SFT turn this vision into a reality by supporting our programs to train and empower the next generation of leaders of the Tibetan movement.

His Holiness has emphasized the importance of education and encouraged young Tibetans to develop skills that will benefit the Tibetan nation. SFT’s Tibetan Youth Leadership Program has trained, mentored, and motivated more than 500 young Tibetans, empowering a new generation with the necessary tools to serve their country and shape its future.

We envision a future in which the Tibetan youth have taken on the political, economic, and social responsibility for the nation and His Holiness is finally reunited with his people in his homeland. Help us realize this vision by supporting SFT’s Tibetan Youth Leadership Program. 

Please join all of us at SFT in wishing His Holiness the Dalai Lama a Happy 75th Birthday.

-Tendor, Kate, Tendolkar, Mary-Kate, Schuyler and all of us here at SFT HQ

Romance, Revelations and Revolutions – A review of “Tibet’s True Heart – Selected Poems by Woeser”

Below is a review of a new book of selected poems by the acclaimed young Tibetan writer Woeser. The review was just posted on a High Peaks Pure Earth, a new blog which, according to its description, “provides insightful commentary on Tibet related news and issues and provides translations from writings in Tibetan and Chinese posted on blogs from Tibet and the People’s Republic of China.” Publication of the book, entitled ‘Tibet’s True Heart,’ was apparently self-financed by the editor/translator, A.E. Clark. It was released at the end of July. As soon as I returned from the UK where I was organizing with SFT during the Olympics, I ordered it, and I have devoured the poems inside. The review below is appropriately glowing. It’s truly a beautiful volume, both in terms of the poetry itself and the obvious care with which the poems have been chosen, translated, assembled and brought to the printed page. Here’s the review:

Newspaper headlines describe Woeser as Tibet’s most famous woman writer and blogger and a lone Tibetan voice, intent on speaking out. Until now, Woeser has perhaps been best known as a Tibetan dissident writer whose blogs are banned and have either been repeatedly shut down in China or hacked by Chinese nationalists. Her collection of poems, short stories and essays published in 2003 by a renowned publishing house in southern China entitled “Notes on Tibet” was subsequently banned and, refusing to be subjected to political re-education, she left her prestigious job as editor of a literary journal in Lhasa, as well as all the security such a job brought, and went to live in Beijing, where she still continues to live today.

In March 2008 she was briefly placed under house arrest, during which time she became the main source of information regarding the wave of protests and demonstrations that swept Tibet, as chronicled in the daily Tibet Updates on her blog. The threats to her personal safety have been well documented and translations into English of her Tibet Updates, published online on China Digital Times, have brought Woeser and her work to a wider audience. In July 2008, her decision to sue the Chinese government for their continued refusal to grant her a passport was a brave, audacious move, testing China’s legal system and bringing the plight of Tibetans as second-class citizens within China to the world’s attention.

Now a new volume of translations of Woeser’s poetry is available to English readers thanks to the efforts of scholar and translator A.E. Clark. “Tibet’s True Heart”, published by Ragged Banner Press, brings together original translations of 42 poems written by Woeser spanning a period of 20 years. It is a remarkable volume of poetry with translations that not only do justice to an eloquent, moving literary voice but also enlighten and educate with the copious notes, explanations and maps included in appendix.

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Polish Olympic Weightlifter Makes Tibet Protest in Beijing

Yesterday, the weightlifter Szymon Kołecki, shaved his head in a gesture of solidarity with Tibetan monks, before competing and winning a silver medal.

He told a Polish sports news outlet:

“This haircut is from this morning. I can’t directly say why I did it. It’s connected with certain things that the Olympic Charter forbids. But I will say that it’s symbolic.”

On March 20th this year, a week after the Chinese government brutally suppressed peaceful protests in Lhasa and sparked a country-wide uprising, Kołecki said:

“Unless the Chinese regime becomes more moderate, I’ll compete with my head shaved in a gesture of solidarity with the Tibetan monks.”

Head-shaving was one of the suggestions the Athlete Wanted campaign made to athletes as gestures of support for Tibet at the Olympics. In Poland, the campaign was carried out by the Inna Przestrzeń Foundation’s Tibetan Programme, as part of which Polish athletes were contacted directly as well as via the internet. More on the campaign in Poland here: http://ratujtybet.org/Pekin_2008/

Following this year’s dramatic events in Tibet, Kołecki also said:

“I am outraged by what’s going on in Tibet. When I read about it, I can hardly believe I’ll compete in a country that bloodily suppresses street protests and persecutes people who don’t agree with the party. I can’t believe the Chinese have launched an immense operation to block Lhasa.” He continued, “This month in Beijing is a chance for the world’s biggest audience to see how China persecutes the Tibetan people.”

“Until August 17th, I’ll be focused chiefly on my participation in the contest. But after that I’ll keep my eyes wide open and if I see something worrying, I’ll surely not look away.”

Thanks to Tibet Watch in Poland for the translated information.

During the Olympics: Watch FT08.TV

SFT’S NEW OLYMPICS VIDEO CHANNEL: www.FT08.TV
SFT’s new online video/TV channel is up and running, and filled with lots of must-see on-demand content, including inspiring Tibet activist video-profiles, action reports, video-blogs, and more. We’re also airing a nightly Windhorse Report live from London – our roundup of reports from Beijing and around the world during the Olympics, with breaking news about protests, call-in interviews with news-making activists, episodes of SFT-TV (the efforts of SFT’s grassroots members), and info and analysis about the situation on the ground in Tibet. Please, spread the word and watch FT08.TV now!

Tibet protester Lucy Fairbrother took on the might of China – and won. Here she explains how…

Check out this long article from the Mail on Sunday, the Sunday version of the Daily Mail, a very large (and very conservative) newspaper in the UK. It is one of many recent articles about Lucy & Iain, two extraordinary SFT UK activists who made up half of the team that grabbed worldwide headlines with a dramatic banner action outside the “Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium on August 6th.

This piece is long, and pretty interesting. But knowing Lucy, it also contains some parts that are sure to make her cringe. Though probably not nearly as shallow as most American press, it should be noted that media in the UK is afflicted with its own special streak of sensationalism. Hence the first-sentence mention of her “cosy £1million middle-class home” (she actually lives in a tiny 2nd floor flat in a working-class neighborhood – I’ve been there). Anyway, check it out:

By Polly Dunbar, The Mail on Sunday

Alone and thousands of miles from the comforts of her cosy £1million middle-class home in genteel Cambridge, Lucy Fairbrother bit her lip and trembled as the Chinese police interrogators bore down on her and started bawling in her face.

‘Who is your ringleader… who paid for you to come here?’ they demanded.

During a 12-hour ordeal Lucy was subjected to a torrent of hundreds of questions, shuddering as a policeman’s fist thudded, again and again, on to the top of the table she was sitting at, and being warned that her refusal to co-operate would land her in deep trouble.

At one stage a woman interrogator was brought in and, after another barrage of questions, screamed at Lucy: ‘Are you plotting with the Dalai Lama?’

Safely home: Lucy Fairbrother back in London last week

Yet the shy 23-year-old Classics graduate refused to crack – confident in the knowledge that this panic-stricken reaction by the Beijing authorities only proved that the spectacularly audacious – yet typically British – protest she had helped stage on the eve of the Olympics opening ceremony had been a complete success.
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