March 14, 1997
Dear Friends of Tibet,
We would like to take this opportunity to tell you the latest on the
TibetNet project and an important new dimension which will greatly
increase the Tibetan Government's communications. We hope you will be
able to contribute to this new initiative, our goal is to raise US $35,000
for construction and maintenance of Internet facilities to help bring
TibetNet's message to the world.
*The TibetNet Project*
A vast nation isolated for many centuries by its location on the Himalayan
plateau, Tibet has always suffered from poor communications. Indeed, the
lack of contact with other nations allowed the Chinese army to invade
Tibet in 1950 - the rest of the world was unaware of the onslaught until
it was too late. Tibet's ancient and fantastic civilization and ecosystem
are now faced with extinction due to 47 years of mismanagement and abuse
under its colonial rulers.
It would be very difficult to oust the Chinese by armed force, and it
would go against the Tibetan Buddhist belief in non-violence. Instead, His
Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people have used diplomacy and
non-violent activism in the hopes that the People's Republic of China will
be condemned and pressured to withdraw its occupation forces from Tibet.
It is our belief that anyone who hears of what has happened in Tibet will
support its cause. But the Tibetans must be heard. The Canada Tibet
Committee has worked in collaboration with the Tibetan Computer Resource
Centre since 1993 to establish and maintain electronic communications
between the Government-in-exile and its support community abroad. The
financial contributions of World Tibet Network readers have enabled the
link to be built. There is now a TibetNet Office in New Delhi which is
maintaining the project and expanding into settlement camps in other parts
of India and Nepal.
*The Gangkyi Wide Web*
Now the Committee of 100 for Tibet and the Tibet Online Resource Gathering
have planned an expedition to Dharamsala, India, home of His Holiness the
Dalai Lama and the Tibetans in exile, to install an Intranet email and
"Gangkyi Wide Web (GWW)" network that will allow Tibetans in the
Dharamsala area to communicate much more effectively with the outside
world. A dedicated team of Internet development professionals is
preparing to go late this spring, but we need your help.
All the members of the expedition are taking leave from their jobs and
paying their own way to Dharamsala; we need your help to cover the
projected cost of the expedition's hardware, which is US $15,000. In
addition, the annual cost of TibetNet's overall maintenance and staff in
Delhi and Dharamsala is approximately $20,000. We would like to ask each
of you to send what you can, be it $10 or $1000, to help the Tibetans
prove that non-violence is a solution that works. In a world where
terrorism gets so much attention, it is important to support those who are
willing to brave the path of peace.
If you live in the U.S., please send your tax-deductible donation to:
The Committee of 100 for Tibet
PO Box 60612
Palo Alto, CA
94306-0612
IMPORTANT: you must write "TibetNet" on your check.
Outside the U.S., please send your donation to:
Canada Tibet Committee
4675 Coolbrook
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3X 2K7
For more information on TibetNet, please visit:
http://www.tibet.org/TibetNet/
Thank you for your help!
Tibet Online Resource Gathering
http://www.tibet.org/
Tenzin N. Tethong, Michael Bachmann
Committee of 100 for Tibet
http://www.tibet.org/Tibet100/
Conrad Richter, Thubten Samdup, Nima Dorjee, Brian Given
WTN and Canada Tibet Committee
Tseten Samdup
WTN and Office of Tibet, London
http://www.gn.apc.org/tibetlondon/
Phuntsok Namgyal, Sonam Dargyay
TibetNet, India
