Date: March 19, 1996

From: Larry Gerstein, Coordinator March for Tibet's Independence

A week has passed since we first left The PRC Embassy in Washington, D.C. to begin our "March for Tibet's Independence" to the United Nations. Thus far, our walk has been extremely successful. About 40 people began the walk with 28 walking most of the first week. At this point, there are 14 individuals committed to completing the entire walk. The group is composed of 4 Tibetans, 5 Americans (2 from Indianapolis, 1 from Orgeon, 1 from Massachusetts, & 1 from Iowa who joined us after walking from Massachusetts), & 5 Eastern Turkistanis.

We are very glad that the group of Turkistanis are part of the walk. The people of Eastern Turkistan have suffered the same oppression & violence at the hands of The PRC as Tibetans. Their presence on the walk reinforces the extreme brutality of The PRC toward their illegally occupied neighbors. Their presence also helps to strengthen the common bond between the Muslim & Tibetan Buddhist communities.

At this time, we are two and one-half days ahead of schedule. Given the potential of poor weather, we will continue at our current pace in case we need to stop. All along the path, we have been fortunate to meet some wonderful people who have shared their food, lodging, & support with us. Many have honked their horns & stopped to obtain information. Almost every day a local newspaper reporter has joined us to hear our story. All have been very responsive & sympathetic to the Tibetan plight & that of the Turkistanis.

During the first week of our walk, we were challenged by our limited transportation. Each day we drive to the route, walk, & then drive back to our housing. Thanks to the International Campaign for Tibet, however, we now have a van. As a result, we will walk more & drive less. We are deeply grateful to the Campaign for continuing to support our walk.

For the next few days, we will be sleeping in Baltimore as we walk from the Northwest to the Northeast border of Maryland. We can be reached between 6-9:30PM at 410-558-2941 & we can also be contacted, if absolutely necessary, through our cellular phone 301-452-7095. We look forward to more of you joining us on the walk.

Please note that as of March 30, our e-mail address will change to kmurphy@nuvo.net so forward your messages to this address. Check out our website at http://www.nuvo.net/tibet if you want up to date photos, text, & route & scheduling information. As we have mentioned before, we would greatly appreciate anything you could do to keep the "March for Tibet's Independence" alive. We would be especially grateful if you could make some financial contribution. We have raised very little money & our expenses are increasing. Donations can be sent to ITIM, PO Box 194, Fishers, Indiana USA 46038-0194.

Rangzen!