NEW YORK – Students for a Free Tibet announced that it will hold its annual Free Tibet! Action Camp June 20th to 25th in Dusseldorf, Germany. Activists gathered at the same location last summer for the sixth Action Camp – SFT’s first in Europe.
“We call all young Tibetans and supporters in Europe to attend this camp to realize their potential as frontline activists and effective leaders in the struggle for Tibetan freedom,” said Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “These camps have created a network of young leaders and a new youth movement for Tibet that is providing strategic vision and leadership to the Tibetan freedom struggle.”
The first Free Tibet! Action Camp was held in Florida in January, 2000. It was co-sponsored by The Ruckus Society and Milarepa Fund. Since then, SFT has trained over 400 students and young Tibetans through these annual action camps. Many action camp alumni have grown into positions of leadership in the Tibet movement, and many others now work within their communities to bring awareness and activism to larger audiences.
“It’s hard to believe that this is the seventh Free Tibet! Action Camp,” said Han-Shan, who serves as Development Director as well as an Action Coordinator, “but with the Beijing Olympics around the corner and so many young Tibetans and supporters preparing for the opportunity, activism training like this is more important than ever.”
Over the years, SFT’s action camps have achieved a modest fame for bringing together student activists, young Tibetans, and seasoned human rights campaigners from around the world for a week of hands-on activist trainings, discussions, and the traditional bonfire in the evenings. For a week, camp participants are immersed in leadership training for activists. They attend a campaign briefing each morning over breakfast, deepening their understanding of the issues they’ll be working on. Each day, they attend dynamic workshops on the history and philosophy of applied nonviolence, grassroots organizing, campaign strategy, media outreach, political theater, fundraising, and nonviolent direct action tactics like banner-hanging and sit-ins. Each evening brings a different event— this year will see a participatory seminar in traditional Tibetan music and dance, an SFT “Town Hall” meeting with an in-depth look at the organization, and a planning session for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“I attended my first action camp when I was only 17. I believe that as a Tibetan it’s my duty to obtain the skills that will make me a better freedom fighter,” said Kunsang Kelden, a Tibetan student at Hampshire College who became one of SFT’s regional coordinators last year. Tenzin Dawa, another SFT member, attended her second action camp because she felt “inspired as well as attracted by the warmth of the other participants, the trainers… and the bonfire discussion and music. It was an extraordinary experience that filled me with the hope that Tibet really will be free one day.”
In a letter she wrote to SFT, former political prisoner Ngawang Sangdrol said: “When I participated in the 2004 Free Tibet! Action Camp, it became clear to me that this program is a wonderful opportunity for young Tibetans to learn the art of campaigning and organizing, which is crucial to our movement. Therefore, I request SFT to hold these camps more often so that the Tibetan youth, including myself, will awake from our slumber and unite in our march toward a free Tibet.”
Applications will be accepted through May 15, 2006. To apply or learn more about the Free Tibet! Action Camp, please visit www.studentsforafreetibet.org/actioncamp
