Rally in Ottawa

On August 15, SFT Canada held a protest in Ottawa along with the Tibetan Youth Congress and the Joint Action Committee. About 200 Tibetans and supporters from Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal came together at Parliament Hill to listen to inspiring speeches by Tsering Lama (SFT Canada’s National Director), Salden Kunga (member of the JAC), Kelsang Palden (member of SFT and CTC), and Maude Cote (Board Member of SFT Canada).

Tsering’s speech reminded us all of how important it is to take action at this historical moment as China continues to brutally oppress Tibetans, even as the Olympic Games are going on. Maude spoke of her experience as part of a protest in Beijing on August 10th. Kelsang Palden delivered a great speech, which moved francophones in the group to tears.

After the speeches, we marched through downtown Ottawa to the United Nations building. Everyone stopped to watch us pass and eagerly took the flyers to find out what we were protesting about. As we marched to the Chinese embassy, we even picked up some supporters along the way who chanted along side us.


There were a lot of young Tibetans at the protest who tirelessly and loudly chanted the whole day. There were even two toddlers – future SFTers for sure! It was a long day, especially for the Toronto group who drove 6.5 hours each way to be there. But we definitely got our message across that China’s Olympics are not all fun and games.

Originally posted on the SFT Canada blog.

Blockading the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa

The Beijing Olympics' opening ceremonies are tomorrow, and already, Tibet has been on the tongue of many reporters covering the Games. As one CBC reporter put it last night, "Tibet has come back to haunt China."

Yesterday, a group of us protested outside the Chinese embassy in Ottawa. Five people chained themselves to the front gate while two climbed light posts to hang banners reading "One World, One Dream: Free Tibet" in English and French.


It all happened so fast: the troop of reporters, cameramen and photographers arrived, followed by car after car of police and RCMP. The blockaders were quickly surrounded by media as the climbers hung their banners on the nearby light posts. The nervousness I originally felt had subsided because I knew we were all in this together and that people around the world were also protesting. We knew we were doing the right thing by standing in solidarity with Tibetans and their supporters who were protesting in Beijing, Vancouver, San Francisco, and London.


Watching the news back at home last night, I saw my new friends sitting resolutely in front of the Chinese embassy gate. For so many years, we respected the police barricades and peacefully protested across the street from this embassy. But with the Beijing Olympics starting tomorrow and China trying to cover up its human rights violations in Tibet, I am so glad that we took the personal risk to scale up our regular protests. It was a small one in comparison to Tibetans inside of Tibet who risk their lives to speak out against China's brutal occupation of Tibet. But it showed us all that we can accomplish a lot when we stand up for truth and justice.


Originally posted on the SFT Canada blog.

Let the Games begin

The Olympics are 4 days away and I feel schizophrenic. My mind is in a million different places.

We're preparing for the beginning of protests here in Canada. I'm trying to coordinate getting people from 3 different cities to be in the same place at the same time in addition to my own training and preparation.

Yesterday, I got to see Jamyang Norbu speaking to the Tibetan community in Toronto. I couldn't understand much, but I could see that the entire community was inspired. Many of them hung out on the patio of a local restaurant for the rest of the day and late into the night. The atmosphere was very different from the formal talk at the Library, but Jamyang-la remained the center of attention, telling stories from Dharamsala, talking about music and singing songs.

When ever I have access to the internet, I check the latest news from India. There are hunger strikers on day 7 of a fast without food and water in Delhi. Tsundue was detained trying to cross the border into Tibet. While I know it means he didn't reach his homeland, I am somewhat relieved that it was Indian police who stopped him, not Chinese. The Tibetan Freedom Torch arrived in Dharamsala today. I received pictures to post on the website of friends and colleagues yelling "Bod Gyalo" and can't help but wish I was there with them, especially when I called them to hear them all celebrating a job well done at McLlo's. Now they are gearing up for protests in Delhi on the 7th, as are we, here in Canada.

Watching "Buddha's Warriors" on BBC tonight, I was reminded of the intensity of the Burmese and Tibetan uprisings in the past year. I can't believe that the Olympics are already here, with all the craziness that it means for us. August is bound to be a month of little sleep, but like my friends and colleagues all over the world, I AM READY.