On February 14, 1996, Williamstown resident Aaron Jorgensen left home to walk 400 miles in 25 days to Washington, DC. His goal-to raise awareness of Tibet and its 45 year occupation by China. Jorgensen safely reached Washington on schedule around March 5, after many experiences recounted in his updates published in local and national media, in time to attend the second annual Tibet Conference of the Americas in Washington.

Jorgensen's walk from Williamstown was in part inspired by the Washington - New York March for Tibet's Independence organized by the International Tibet Independence Movement (ITIM). Leading the marchers are the Dalai Lama's elder brother, Thubten Jigme Norbu, and Palden Gyatso, an elderly monk who has testified before U.S. Congress with torture implements smuggled out of Chinese prisons in Tibet.

The marchers set out from the Chinese embassy in Washington at the conclusion of a demonstration attended by over 400 Tibetans and supporters of Tibet shouting slogans against the Chinese occupation. Just earlier, four demonstrators were arrested for approaching too near the embassy, raising the energy of the protest. By the conclusion of the conference, Jorgensen had decided to walk the entire distance with the ITIM March to New York, and he was among the two dozen who set out on the afternoon of the 10th.

Jorgensen covered almost the entire distance to Washington on foot, walking an average of 16 miles per day with a full pack. Jorgensen spent about half the nights outdoors, in a small tent he carried, staying the other nights in the homes of contacts he set up through friends and the scattered but substantial Tibetan-American community on the East Coast. Jorgensen visited several college campuses along the way, as well as two of the many Tibetan monasteries on the east coast.

The itinerary with the current Washington - NY march will be considerably less demanding than the pace Jorgensen set for himself on his first few weeks from Williamstown. Jorgensen in particular is enjoying to the opportunity to meet the many other people participating in the march, as he describes in his journal update attached.

Jorgensen's walk is being supported by the newly formed Williams College Students for a Free Tibet chapter. The group has as its goal spreading awareness of Tibet and China's exploitation and suppression of the Tibetan people. Jorgensen and the Washington - NY march in general seek funding is in the form of personal donations.