DUSSELDORF, June 27 – Students for a Free Tibet seventh annual Free Tibet! Action Camp VII came to 
a climactic ending on yesterday evening, with participants enacting complex and dramatic direct action scenarios to practice all they had learned throughout the week. After a closing circle at which new graduates of the training promised to fight harder as the Beijing Olympics approaches, everyone packed up their tents and backpacks at the serene Pauenhof Retreat Center near Dusseldorf, Germany and exchanged farewells and promises, before leaving for their respective homes.
“Every time I attend an SFT training, I feel as if my batteries are recharged and I can go back to London to continue the work for Tibet with a fresh reserve of energy, inspiration and commitment,” said Ben Martin of SFT UK. He was one of the 40 participants who attended this action camp, representing Tibet support groups and student groups from 12 different countries in Europe, America and India. This was SFT’s second action camp in Europe and seventh annual action camp.
“I’m truly glad I came,” said Ngawang Dhargyal. “The workshops I attended and the climbing training I received gave me many brilliant insights into effective organizing and activism. I will surely use these tactics when I return to my own community.” This was Dhargyal’s first time at Action Camp; he was one among several Tibetan participants.
Free Tibet! Action Camp VII featured special evening guest presenters such as writer-activist Tenzin Tsundue from India, former political prisoners Gyaltsen Dolkar and Namdrol Lhamo now residing in Belgium, and singer-songwriter Techung from the United States.
“I feel stronger now that I know that there are many other people like myself working in different corners of the world, fighting for Tibetan freedom through simple yet powerful tactics of activism,” said Tenzin Tsundue, whose moving presentation Poetry and Politics was an emotional highlight for many participants who were meeting this youth leader for the first time.
On the last day of the Action Camp, a group of participants from the “Advanced Training Track” – young SFT leaders who have attended previous camps and are learning to be activism trainers themselves – organized a surprise presentation at lunchtime where they asked participants the question, “Where will you be in 2008?” The 2008 Beijing Olympics was one of the running themes of this Action Camp, discussed in workshops and around bonfires. Participants put their names on a blank world map, indicating where they will help in the organizing of local demonstrations, rallies at the Chinese consulates during the Olympics. More than a few participants put their names next to a dot on the map marked “Beijing.”
“With the Beijing Olympics only two years away and so many young Tibetans and supporters preparing for the event, activist training and planning like this camp needs to happen more often in more places,” said Matt Browner-Hamlin, Operations Director of Students for a Free Tibet. “At SFT, we’re busy building the resources and plan to make it happen.”
Free Tibet! Action 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 the 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.
