Happy Losar (Tibetan New Year)! On behalf of the Tibetan Association of Northern California, Tibetan Association of Southern California, Los Angeles Friends of Tibet, San Diego Friends of Tibet, Orange County Friends of Tibet, Bay Area Friends of Tibet, and the International Tibet Independence Movement (coordinating organizations), I am very pleased to inform that we will be coordinating two "Walks for Tibet's Independence." Beginning on April 25, the 11th Birthday of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, The Panchen Lama, one group of individuals will start walking from San Francisco, California to Los Angeles, California. This 500+ mile walk will take approximately 60 days. At this point, it appears this walk will be led by Pema Lhundup (General Secretary, Tibetan Youth Congress & one of the 1999 hunger strikers in Geneva, Switzerland), Ani Palchen Dolma (Former political prisoner & author of The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun), and Venerable Yeshe Togden (President, Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet).
On June 1, a second group of individuals will start walking from San Diego, California to Los Angeles. This 180+ mile walk will be led by a Tibetan Nun and Tibetan Monk and the San Diego Friends of Tibet. Both walks will end at the same time on June 24 in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, right before His Holiness The Dalai Lama offers a teaching in downtown Los
Angeles on June 25.
Why are we walking?
1. Because Tibet Belongs to Tibetans
2. For the Tibetans in Tibet
3. To educate people about the situation in Tibet
4. To dialogue with Chinese individuals about the history & current situation
in Tibet
5. To advocate for the release of Gendhun Choekyi Nyima
6. To advocate for the release of other Tibetan prisoners
7. To ask China to negotiate with no preconditions with the Tibetan
Government In-Exile
8. For Tibet, Eastern Turkestan, Southern Mongolia, and Taiwan's independence
We strongly believe that our previous four walks were highly successful, in part, because of the involvement and support we received from people like yourself located around the world. We respectfully request your help once again. We really need it to succeed!
How to help?
1.If appropriate, have your organization support the walk as a Co-Sponsor. Any way that your organization can contribute/support would be acceptable. Right now, there are over 50 Co-Sponsors. To be included on the Walk Brochure, we need to know your decision about Co-Sponsorship by February 14.
It is very important that we show strong international support for Tibet during this walk. One simple way to demonstrate this is by displaying the names of the Co-Sponsors on all our materials.
2. Assist with promotions and media coverage, including publishing an announcement of this walk in appropriate newsletters and mailings.
3. Provide a link to our walk webpage. We have an image you can use as a
link. Contact me and I will forward this.
4. Walk with us for any part of the route.
5. Sponsor a walker. Ideally, we want more Tibetans on the walk then Westerners. The core group of walkers will be about 15 people. Thus, 8-10 Tibetans are needed for each walk. Any Tibetans that could be sponsored for all the walk or parts of the walk would be appreciated. Obviously, we welcome all and any Tibetans who can participate. In 1998, groups of Tibetans joined us each weekend. This was very inspiring and we hope it will happen again. We also welcome sponsorship of Westerners, Mongolians, Taiwanese, and East Turkestanias who could walk for any part of the route. We estimate that a walker will need $1,000 for living expenses during the entire walk.6. Sponsor meals for the walkers each day ($10 per walker or $150 for all the
walkers).
7. Walk with us on April 25 to celebrate Gendhun Choekyi Nyima's Birthday and raise awareness of His detention for the past five years.
8. Assist with recruiting high profile individuals (e.g., Monks, Nuns, entertainers, authors, scholars, religious leaders, government officials) who would be willing to walk part or all of the route (e.g., a day, weekend). We plan to bring Tibetan Monks and Nuns from India to take part in each walk. This will be quite expensive ($2,500 per person to cover airfare and living expenses) and we need assistance with this.
9. Arrange housing (floor space is definitely OK) along the route for about 15-25 people.
10. Arrange presentations at educational institutions and/or community groups along the route.
10. Contribute $1 for each day of the walk.
11. Coordinate your own March for Tibet's Independence--even a one-day event.
12. We rely almost entirely on grassroots support, therefore, any amount of money you can afford would be greatly appreciated.
Send Financial Contributions to:
International Tibet Independence Movement
PO Box 592
Fishers, Indiana 46038-0592
United States
We hope that 1000s of Tibet Supporters will stand with us at The PRC Consulate in Los Angeles at the conclusion of the walk. We also hope that on April 25, Tibet Supporters around the world will advocate for the release of the world's youngest political prisoner, Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, The Panchen Lama.
We are confident that this project will be a great success not only in terms of educating people and securing their support for Tibet, but also obtaining major media attention for the cause. We trust that you will be inspired to support the "March for Tibet's Independence." It is absolutely essential that we all keep up the momentum for a Free Tibet in the year 2000. Thank you for your previous support! I look forward to hearing from you very soon and walking with you. Please contact me if you have any questions about this project or our request. Visit our website for further details (www.rangzen.com)
Bhod Rangzen!, Larry Gerstein
President, International Tibet Independence Movement
rangzen@aol.com (e-mail)
