All I Ask of You

00:00JamyangI left my country when I was 10 years old at that time. The year is 1997. I think the most memorable in my life is when I left my country and when I left my mom and dad. They already passed when I was 10 years. They both passed away. Actually, I studied monastery around 26 years. So I personally decided myself to come here to live like a normal lay person.

00:50KyleBut these days, with, you know— I don't know if you heard about China's recent Ethnic Unity and Progress Law. It's— it seems very— some days it's very hard to keep hope, you know what I mean? How did you personally find it within yourself to continue fighting for the cause and to see the light at the end of the tunnel?

01:10JamyangFor me, I never hate or I never, you know, dislike, like, or something. I just always wish we both— in both ways, for Chinese people, for Chinese Communist Party, for Chinese people, they also have a benefit and we also have a benefit. Which right now, what we— what we are fighting for is, we are fighting for our own language, our own freedom, our own culture. That's what we are all asking for, our Chinese brothers, sisters, and Communist Party. We are asking them to let us protect our own culture, protect our own culture and religion. That's what we are all asking, Middle Way approach, like that. I know now it's the 21st century, so many Chinese brothers and sisters now, day by day, they are changing their mind. They see now that the Tibetan cause, the Tibetan situation in Tibet and outside Tibet, now it is something not the same like whatever they heard before when they live in China. When they in China, they heard some other— like, they always in their mind, they always like, Tibet is a part of China. Because when they are in China, always advises whatever they want to teach to their people.

02:54KyleI have Chinese relatives that fully believe that.

02:56JamyangWhen a Chinese citizen came outside the world and see the news, the outside news and inside news are completely different, completely different.

03:09KyleAs a Tibetan, when you hear of news like the self-immolation of Logba Rangzen, or things like the passing of the Ethnic Unity Law, what is your first reaction? What is going through your head?

03:28JamyangAs a Tibetan, I feel sometimes very sad, you know. Self-immolation is not just like what we see in the movie and what we play games, like that. It's not self-immolation— some is like a person who has already struggled for their own right, for their own nation, and when a person feels very frustrated, with no hope, at that time people will do self-immolation. I really request for the younger generation, if possible, don't choose that way, because human life is a very precious life. From the Buddhist point of view, if a person sacrifice his life for the other beings, from the one part it's a very good— it's a very generous thing. But from the other way, eons and eons, eons, eons, you will never be reborn in a human form. Human life is a very precious. So that's all this what I want to request for the younger generation: if possible, do not suicide or do not waste your life. Wherever you are, do not forget you are Tibetan. Do not forget you have your own mother language. Do not forget who you are. And most important thing is never forget whatever His Holiness advises us. Wherever we are, be compassionate person, be a good person. That's the main thing. That's the purpose of life. The purpose— the purpose of life, what purpose of life is, actually, we can say happy life, meaningful life. In order to achieve meaningful life, ultimately warm-heartedness is the key factor.

00:00GompoMy name is Gompo. My grandfather is from Tibet. So my father and me, we both were born here. Yeah, from Arunachal Pradesh. It's in the northeast side of India. I am actually working in a digital marketing field right now. It's in an NGO, which is called Empowering the Vision Project. It's a Tibetan youth empowering organization that empowers you and it helps Tibetan youth.

00:27KyleSo for you, as a Tibetan, what inspires you to continue working for the cause, to continue fighting for the freedom movement, even despite all these hardships?

00:42GompoI think the core motivator for me is going to be His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, because whenever I see him, or whenever I get the chance to meet him in person, or listen to his talks or speeches, I always feel motivated. It— my whole soul, it gets this sort of goosebumps in my body. Second of all, I think it's going to be the people who are residing inside Tibet, because they actually are hoping, so the— So the hope is the only thing that is keeping them, the spirit of the Tibetan identity, alive, I think. Because His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself stated that the Tibetans who are residing outside of Tibet, we should not forget that we have taken a responsibility of the Tibetans who are residing inside Tibet. We have taken a responsibility that, and people of Tibet are hoping on us. They are looking up to us, and it's our responsibility to fight for the cause, right? And we— because ultimately we are identifying ourselves to the whole world, right? So I think that specific aim is what it motivates me to keep on working for the cause, to keep on fighting for the cause.

02:14KyleSo I guess my question for you is, as it's about in living outside of Tibet, do you have any advice for other Tibetans we're also living outside of Tibet on how to stay connected with their culture, even as, you know, even as the diaspora continues and Chinese occupation continues to harden and crack down on Tibetan culture?

02:37GompoI was never brought up in a Tibetan community in India because most of the Tibetans in India, they have been brought up in a Tibetan community. So my whole childhood I have stayed with an Indian community. But the thing is that what I can feel, and I guess most of you all also can feel, is that being a Tibetan in an outside community, what I feel is that I feel more, you know, sort of the identity richness. I feel more rich, I feel more strong in that, because looking at others community, and like, looking at the people of India, they have their own country, they can do whatever they want. But we, as we are living in minority, we cannot do all those things. We cannot, you know, be expressive about it. We have to be in certain limits, right? So that is the thing that always makes me in pain, and that is why I can know this feeling about being a Tibetan more. I always wonder if our country was free, but we could also be, like, staying in a much free country and, like, doing anything we can want— anything we want, right? So that's what is my message: that never will lose your hope, and always fight for the cause.

00:00KendraMy name is Kendra. I'm born here in the northern part of India. I studied there for 10 years, but we have a house in Dehradun, a place called Clementown. The settlement was established in 1964 by Agut Chuttum, and my father was one of the— his right hand, one of the founder member of the Clementown society. So yeah, then my father, he works— he, for lifetime, he worked for Chushi Gangdruk, the resistance group, you know. Yes, you know, it's a new— also we have branch all over the world. He worked for last 20 years, was president for last 10-15 years. He was the president of Chushi Gangdruk, all over the world. I bought land, and then I made this small cafe called Kham Cafe. It's very nice. You'll ask me, what's Kham? Is like a region in southern, eastern Tibet, right?

01:01KyleSo as a Tibetan living outside of Tibet, do you have any ways to stay connected with Tibetan culture?

01:09KendraIt started in 2003 or 2002 or something, before they said, okay, Tibetan culture is almost vanishing. So 2002 it started. When I went to 2004, the dance started, you know? I really feel very nice, you know? I said, oh, now it's coming back, you know? And 2010, oh, it became so big and boom, you know? All people in Tibet dancing all over. You're wearing a suit and you wear Tibetan dress, it's different. You feel good, you feel proud. You know, people respect you. I told you, 2004 started the culture, the dancing started. Then the horse— was horse racing, almost vanishing, it came back, you know. Some of the businesses, you know, they started this horse racing, and they will start giving money to whoever comes. You get for 20,000 yuan, you know, like that. Then the horse also— racing started, and then people started raising horse, good horse, yes, horse. That became expensive. Otherwise, I went 2004 first time, I saw the truck was full of— truck, horse. I said, where is this going? It's going to China, you know. Yeah, I feel very sad.

02:26KyleFor Tibetans outside of Tibet, I think a lot of values that unite the Tibetan community are love and compassion. But I feel like those values are often undermined by Chinese oppression. For me, and I think a lot of young people, sometimes it's a little bit difficult to keep hope in the Tibetan cause when you see all these hardships, like the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law, the self-immolation of Logba Rangzen. What inspires you to believe in the movement, fighting for freedom?

03:05KendraHe was always for the rangzen. And then finally, what he did for the Tibetan freedom. So, really now, all Tibetans started to go and protest about the wrong thing, you know. Whatever he said in the videos and all this, everybody remembers him. And he always says, we are united, we should be one, you know. All Tibetans, you know. I have friends from Amdo, Utsang, they all come here, in the evening we eat, drink, you know, like that. I'm not like that, I don't know what's the matter, like, we are Tibetan, you know. That's what His Holiness has taught us, Tibetan, yeah. I think, yeah, dancing is nice, you know, dancing, that's where, see, if you are, some little bit about inside Tibetan, you have something, you know, quarrel, or you have to fight with somebody, yes, and when they begin the dance, you start dancing together and start talking, you become friendly, that's, yeah, it keeps you together, the dancing. In the cafe, I really enjoy my cafe. I don't make much money, but I make a lot of friends.

04:26KyleSo, what role do you think, like, small businesses play in diaspora communities, like why are they important?

04:36KendraSlowly, slowly, people started making cafes, you know. Mine is one of the oldest cafes. So business does a lot to make it so alive as well. Because I think Tibetan people are very polite, you know, very down-to-earth, and we give good food and clean food. Dalai Lama says, you know, we are good to human, you know, and we always, we are, in Buddhism, we say we should give a good food because we are charging money. If we give our leftover food and dirty, we get money. If we get sick, that comes to you. We have this, you know, being a Tibetan. Where we have a big, beautiful field, Pathang, that's my father's when he was in Tibet in 1959. The whole Pathang is my father's. We have 3,000 yaks going around, and that's 4,000 meters. It's beautiful. We have a river, and it's 65 kilometers long. And right now is the best time in July. I miss this July time. You have a lot of flowers. Oh, all the valley is flower.

00:00Tenzin PhuntsokMy name is Tenzin Phuntsok. I came from Tibet in 1994, and then I joined to the TCV school, and the year 2004 I joined in this institution, TIPA, as my interest. So it's been 23 years in this institution, learning Tibetan music and those instruments, all those things. And now— and then it's been 10 years I'm teaching to the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts school students, for the— so on the music and those things. And now I'm working as a artistic director of TIPA.

00:46KyleSo can you, in your own words, why is that so important in today's world, especially for those living in diaspora, for institutions like these to kind of work in doing that?

00:59Tenzin PhuntsokThis institution was established, founded in 1959, after three months from the Chinese occupation. So His Holiness the Dalai Lama and a few of his nearest people to come to India to escape from Tibet here. So after three months he thought that to keep our identity, so we really need to know the cultures. We really need to show something to the world about Tibetans. What is Tibetan? What is Tibet? You know, which is Tibet? Which is Tibetans? So to this we have to show, we have to know our own cultures, like customs, what we are wearing, what we are speaking, what we are singing, or even dancing. So for those things, so he founded these institutions.

01:56KyleYou said that a lot of Tibetan art forms were oral. Is there any sort of difference or difficulty in preserving oral history and performing— performance arts, as opposed to, like, written history?

02:11Tenzin PhuntsokIt's quite difficult to know because the— as I told you before, the old generations, they even don't know, they don't have any specific books, yeah. They never saw any books. Maybe some people are uneducated, so— but their parents, grandfathers, sort of, they told them some song, or maybe they just, you know, join with those, you know, festivals and those. So they see from the young ages, so what they're in memories, in their mind, or writing memories, so what they keep, so they try to teach us. So now our job is that we go to them, we learn from them, each sentence, whatever the lyrics come, we have to write, and whatever the tune, whatever they're singing, we have to check, we have to learn, then, and then we can give those lyrics to the, you know, some kind of professors or scholars to check whether this is good, a perfect lyrics, or the, you know, spelling check, and the meaning checks. What my parents told, my father told, especially my father told me that go to India and to audience with His Holiness. This is what he said, what I remember, but I didn't thought, okay, I will go and study hard or something. This is not my course, too young. So my father sent me to India, and we have 24 members in my groups. So we really have to work at night and sleep at the day. So because of the border, there's lots of, sorry, Chinese armies watching. So it took almost three months or something to Lhasa, to the Nepal border. So it's a long journey. We have lots of difficult things. We travel on the iceberg. We just pass the river, big rivers. I really wanted to go back to Tibet. I mean, I like my place, I like, but even my father is a political prisoner who served 23 years in prisons under the Chinese occupations. So because of that point, I can't go back to, you know, the situation, right? So because of that, I can't go back.

04:35KyleHow do you remain so steadfast in your resolve to continue preserving culture and to not lose hope? Because personally, and I know some other young people feel this way, it can be hard to keep hope. And I'm not proud of it, but sometimes I feel very angry sometimes. So personally, what is going through your head when you think about the movement?

05:04Tenzin PhuntsokFrom my point of view, I don't feel any anger because normally, His Holiness used to say, don't get angry. Even if your enemies are doing bad things, you don't have to get angry. Because if I get angry, they will do some other bad things. They'll do some other extra things, right? If we can keep this one thing, talk, smile, maybe one day we will come down. So this is what I would prefer. And yeah, it's been 67 or 68 years since the Chinese occupation. They're doing totally destroy the Tibetan identities, the Tibetan peoples. They're going to kill, they destroy monasteries, they kill lots of Tibetan populations, peoples, right? Still, we are very minority, we have only 6 million people, very minority from China, but still we have hope. But we have a proverb in Tibetan. We used to say, (proverb). It means Chinese people fall down because of lots of doubts. Chinese people, there's lots of doubts. And Tibetan people, how do you say, hope. We have hope, right? Hope, right? Hope. So these are two different things. No one's going to destroy our— those identity and those cultures or language, whatever. I think they will keep— going to keep. I don't have that much— how to say? No, I don't know, afraid of those things.

00:00Thubten Thobjor NawangMy name is Thubten Thobjor Nawang, and I'm 17, and I'm from Italy. I've been here at TIPA for, like, a month.

00:10Tenzin SonamMy name is Tenzin Sonam, I'm 14 years old, and I'm from Australia, and we've both been here at this TIPA summer camp for almost a month.

00:20Thubten Thobjor NawangSo here is basically, like, a normal school day, but instead of, like, doing science, math and everything, we do Tibetan instruments and dance and, like, even language too. It's, like, so cool to, like, see how the Tibetan culture is still living on today, even if it's, like, getting oppressed by the Chinese. So it's really nice, even because, like, normally when I stay in Italy, there's not a lot of Tibetan influence, so maybe I just get alienated sometimes. But when I come here to India, and maybe Bylakuppe or here to Dharamsala, it's really nice to see the Tibetan culture still living.

00:56KyleWhy do you think it's important for, like, younger Tibetans to kind of connect with, you know, older Tibetan traditions?

01:04Thubten Thobjor NawangUs younger generations, and for the future generations, I think it's really important to keep our traditions, like, going on, so we can continue and keep fighting for our freedom for Tibet. And, yeah, even because I think at a young age your brain is more, like, malleable to, like, informations. And, for example, like, to learn, like, a language, it's much easier at a young age than maybe when you're older. And when you actually understands that the Tibetan culture is maybe more important, maybe that's a little bit, like, too late. But if you do it from a young age, your brain is, like, susceptible to learning more, like, instruments and language.

01:46Tenzin SonamEspecially because us, as, like, Tibetans who live outside of Dharamsala, and we, like— we don't get, like, much Tibetan stuff going on in our life except for our family. So it was, like, important us for to come here for— it's only a month, but it's, like, really important that we, like, keep our traditions and everything.

02:05Student 1I think both is important because it's good to, like, have, like, friends from different countries, and you'll have, like, the similarities, and you all want to be here, and, like, you like the same things.

02:17Student 2I just like the diversity of the Tibetan group. Like, we're from different parts of the world, and then we have, like, different, like, ideas and, like, thinkings, and then we just get, like— get to know each other.

02:29PhD studentI am a PhD student in music theory at the University of Chicago studying Tibetan Performing Arts, and I had many recommendations that to learn traditional, classical Tibetan music, dance, opera, I should come to TIPA. And so I came this summer, which is my time off from coursework. I think originally, I was at the University of Pennsylvania doing my undergraduate, and I had an opportunity to teach English at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, and that was in 2016. So that's when I first sort of was immersed in Tibetan culture and religion. I guess for me, what's really kept me and drawn me to Tibetan culture is just, like, all the friends I've made along the way. They've just been so welcoming, and in a way that I felt in studying European music, it's a little bit more cold. You don't really, really get to, like, have more, like, life-changing friendships.

00:00Dhondup GyalpoMy name is Dhondup Gyalpo, and I'm working in our TCV school as a teacher first, and now I'm the headmaster of the primary section, class 1 to 5. And I came from Tibet when I was just 7 or 8 years old, in 1984, and then I studied here in the same school where I'm working, in Upper TCV School, for 12 years. Then I went to college, in the Eton College, I did my graduate degree, and then again I came back. And this is my 27th year of teaching. And TCV is like a home away from home. I've been here during that time for 12 years. Though my parents are in Tibet, they are very safe. And from their mouth, they are saying that, "Yes, my child is in a very safe hand.". So during that time, thousands of students are coming here, not just for food, not just to see India, not just for pilgrimage, purely because of the language and culture that we are providing for the children. After 2008, Beijing Olympics, and there was an uprising in Tibet also. And from that onwards, the policy in Tibet has been changed tremendously. It's a big change. There was a time people can cross the Himalaya and then they reach here. If a family in Tibet whose child is being sent to India, and if the government knows about that, and you know, isn't it, they're going to torture the whole family, they're going to do all kinds of things. And that's why after 2008, very few children are coming. The most important thing is the language, isn't it? Very, very important. And once the language is gone, we are all just Asians, isn't it? So our main focus is on the language, yes. And then from the very primary level, we start only with our mother tongue, Tibetan. And then class one, Tibetan. Everything. The math is in Tibetan language, the science is in Tibetan language, the textbooks are in Tibetan language, the writing is in Tibetan language. And then class 3, all are in Tibetan language. The youngsters are not that much interested in opera. The school should do something. It's true. We have to invest in the youngsters. And where are these youngsters? The youngsters are in the school. If the school doesn't move, then there's no way that all the great artists— they're getting very old, isn't it? It's difficult. It's difficult for them. It's a drama, it's a tragedy, and it's a moral story, and so many characters are there, and a sense of humor is also there, and plots are all different, and very traditional plots are there. And by the end of the story, it's all about just teaching, kindness, compassion. That's the moral of the story. It's really beautiful. From my perspective, in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, very few Tibetans are literate. So, to send this message, to send the Buddha's message to the crowd, drama is the best. Because they can't read, isn't it?

03:38KyleSo I'm curious, personally, my mother is Tibetan and my father is Chinese. And in the house, we spoke a lot of Chinese, but we never grew up speaking Tibetan. And so, I had never seen another Tibetan until two years ago when I first joined SFT. So I'm wondering, for somebody maybe who doesn't have that foundation, what is a good way for them to kind of begin to learn, to begin to immerse themselves in Tibetan culture?

04:11Dhondup GyalpoSo, my advice to the kids is, don't just read books, isn't it? It's quite boring, also. Don't— listening is very important, but what you need to do is, you need to find out these things— it is there— and try to participate, isn't it? Nothing is difficult if you— if you are interested, nothing is difficult. When you see these people dancing the monpa dance, isn't it, and then somehow something is there, isn't it? Some kind of magic is there, really. You also want to move your body, isn't it, really, with these people. And then after some time, of course, you will be involved.

00:00Tenzin DashaoMy name is Tenzin Dashao. I'm 13, and I'm from Connecticut.

00:03Tenzin KendumMy name is Tenzin Kendum. I'm 13, going on 14, and I'm from Canada, Toronto.

00:10Tenzin DechenMy name is Tenzin Dechen, and I'm 11 years old, and I'm from America, in Connecticut.

00:18Student 1So a normal day in TCV summer camp, normally I wake up at around 5, 4:30, around. After that, I do my morning prayers, and then after that, I eat breakfast. The schedule changes every single day, but it's— we have classes like calligraphy, language, music, art, sometimes. On every single Monday we have cooking classes, and we also have Tibetan flute practice, and from, I believe, 6:30 to 7:30, we have Tibetan gorshey classes.

00:51Student 2In history class, we're right now learning about, like, the Tibetan map, our motherland, and, yeah, and we learned about the Tibetan, like, a flag, how, like, the colors, like, what red and blue means, and we also learned, like, Buddhism and a lot of stuff.

01:18KyleI guess I'd like to ask, like, to each of you, what was the reason why you decided to come to TCV?

01:25Student 3Both me and my parents wanted to preserve Tibetan culture, so I came here to expand my knowledge about Tibet and why it's important to me, to my family, to the people at TCV. That's why I came here.

01:43Student 4I came here because to learn the Tibetan culture and how to speak Tibetan, and to learn a lot, to learn to be like— to learn to be kind.

02:06Tenzin KendumI didn't want to come here. My mom sent me here to learn lots about the culture because I have— I do previously have, like— I do previously know some stuff about Tibet. It's just, like, I just don't know all about, like, the backstory and what happened in that country. So my mom sent me here to, like, learn more about it, and she also sent me here to learn how to write and read in Tibetan, which, yeah. But although I didn't want to come here at first, I'm pretty glad I did because I got to— I found, like, great friends, and I just— I love it here.

02:46Student 5I thought it was just gonna be, like, just, like, a lot of, like, learning and stuff, but it's not, like, only learning. It's, like, more like of learning more about, like, your culture and more like how's it like, and, like, a really good way. So, yeah, I feel like it's more, like, immersive than learning it outside.

03:03Student 6The whole reason I came to TCV, same as my brother, my friend recommended TCV to me. I saw, cuz a while ago, he never knew any Tibetan. He didn't know what Tibet even, like, was, the country— I mean, he knew what Tibet was, but, like, the history behind it and the culture, he never knew any of that. But when he came back, he started explaining to me everything he learned, and I was like, wow, that's pretty interesting, like, just one month, that's how much you can do for a person. When I was coming here, I didn't expect the teaching to be as immersive, just like homework and all that, but the teaching is more immersive, and I get to learn way more than I expected. I learned way more than I expected. The teachers are very good. They teach a lot. They teach more immersively. They don't just, like, give you worksheets and tell you just to learn about yourself. They talk to you, and they explain everything to you.

03:51Student 7I learned a lot more here in one month than I learned in my regular Sunday school in, like, two years, yeah, because there are classes every day.

04:00Student 8So my father, like, my late father, he came to this school from— because, like, he came to the school, right, and he was in Kimzong 20, and he went to Upper TCV for, like, a good amount of years. And then it was my mother— recommended me that I should go to the school to learn and preserve more about the culture, because I don't have— I also— I don't have much previous knowledge on my, like, culture, Tibet. But it's— yeah, I surely did learn a lot here, and also, while learning, I did build close bonds with the kids in my class.

00:00SangyeMy name is Sangye Choedon, and I'm from Norway, and I'm 18 years old.

00:05JigmeHello, my name is Jigme, I'm 21 years old, and I'm from New York.

00:09KyleI guess in a world with so much information happening, so many political developments as the world becomes increasingly, like, ever connected, you know, we have China's Ethnic Unity Law, we have all these crazy developments happening. What are some things you guys do outside of Action Camp to kind of, like, stay on top of things, to keep up with what's going on and to make sure that you guys are doing the right actions, you know, trying to put your effort in the best spot?

00:37SangyeFor me personally, like, in Norway there's not, like, a lot of stuff that we can do because, like, we don't have this organization number or anything right now, so we can't do, like, a protest wherever we want. So that's why right now our chapter is mostly based on, like, content and media. That's why you see most of the, like, stuff we do is just post videos on, like, Instagram to promote, like, what's happening in Tibet and, you know, the struggles we're facing.

01:04JigmeSo when I'm not with SFT, not doing activism or actions, I try to, like, do, like, small things. Something simple is, like, sharing Tibetan food with everyone who may not be familiar with it, just trying to, like, remind everyone that we still exist, the culture is still trying to be kept alive; try to attend gorsheys every once in a while, maybe not as much as I should be, but— and I also just try to make an effort to make new connections with other Tibetan people.

01:34SangyeWe also made a Facebook because I remember that, like, my teachers, like, all teachers, they were, like, really interested in, like, the new chapter and everything that I made, and then they were like, "Oh, but I don't have Instagram." And then I was like, "Oh, okay." So I just thought, like, maybe it would be nice to make Facebook for, like, the older generations. And I've seen that, like— I don't use the Facebook page that much, but, like, when I do go in there once in a while, I can see the comments from, like, older generations, like, "Good job, da," you know, which is really nice.

02:05JigmeBefore I had been going to Action Camp, I really only had a few Tibetan friends in New York, but now it's very— it's very touching, almost the say that, oh, in every different section of the world now I have a new friend that, like, I can always pay a visit to. And it's been— there's definitely a stronger sense of connection that I can feel all around the earth.

02:28SangyeFor me, I feel like it's really nice because in Norway we're, like, maybe, like, 60 Tibetans in the whole of Norway, right? And, like, we're not a lot of youths, so, like, the only youths are, like, me and my cousins, right? So maybe, like, we're 10 of us. And then one thing, like, I haven't really— I don't really have, like, a good, like, bond with them when it comes to, like, Tibet and, like, everything, because, like, they can't speak the language. Like, my Tibetan is not the perfect, but, you know— so we can't— we're never, like— or I've never really grown up with, like, that type of Tibetan, like, sense, like, culture and everything. The reason why I love coming to all of these action camps is that I really found a, like, more, like, a sense of belonging. I felt like that there's actually, like, people out there in the world that feels the same as me and, like, goes to the same as me, you know, which was, like, really, really nice, because back in Norway I don't feel that at all. So, like, being here, it's like I just have everyone. It's like, really— I never feel that.

03:38JigmeAnytime we do something like a protest or an action, our main goal is also spreading the message of the freedom for Tibet, but also there's this another— there's this other goal where it's building a sense of community, which I think is very well achieved, and, again, something else I find touching. I always look forward to meeting new people. Maybe that sounds cliche, but I also look forward to meeting friends I'd made the previous year. And sometimes I think, oh, maybe I have enough friends, but then I turn out to be completely wrong, and then I realize, oh, there's always room for more.

00:00HanifaSo, my name is Hannie, or just fully Hanifa. I'm 16 years old. I live in Belgium, but I'm ethnically from Chechnya and I'm from SFT Belgium.

00:13KyleThis camp is majority Tibetans. We have, like, one Uyghur, and you are not a Tibetan, so I'm wondering, I guess, what exactly was your reason for coming here, despite being, you know, the minority? Your reasons for joining SFT?

00:29HanifaSo I grew up with Tibetans a lot, like, since kindergarten already. I had a lot of Tibetan friends growing up, and I kind of grew up, like, in a culture itself, and I already knew about, like, the sufferings and, like, all the problems happening in their home country. And growing up, I was also focusing, like, on my home country— home country that was also— that got also invaded, like, years ago, and it's still, like, under occupation. And me seeing, like, my friends struggling, trying to go to the protest and everything, they're— them inviting me to protest, like, since I was, like, young, to me seeing SFT at, like, an event where I was volunteering, yeah. And I just met my president— my two presidents, Munkyi and Zenden, and I just had so much fun, and I was so interested, and I was like, I need to do this. Like, if I cannot do it for my home— for my country, I'm gonna do it for another country.

01:28KyleI'm half Tibetan and half Chinese, yeah, so— So I find that our stories are kind of similar in that, right? So can you tell me a little bit about your experience about being, like, half Kazakh and half Chechen?

01:42HanifaIt was really uneasy growing up. Because, like, not really having support from one side of the family because they didn't really accept my other side. But I was a kid. I was a kid. And shaming me about something I can't change. I can't change my ethnicity. I cannot change who my dad is. I cannot change my mom's decision. Why am I getting attacked for this?

02:05KyleAnd do you find that experience kind of helps you empathize with the Tibetan movement, this discrimination, this kind of hate towards you that, you know, is definitely unjustified? Do you think that kind of adds to your understanding of the Tibetan struggle?

02:21HanifaOf course. I've met a lot of my— like, I have a lot of Tibetan friends who I kind of relate to, with their stories looking a little bit like my stories, us relating to each other, us connecting with each other, comforting each other. And yeah, I've experienced a lot of discrimination towards me, a lot of discrimination, even, like, right a week before coming here.

02:54KyleIt's interesting to me how, like, this big political issue— or not political, honestly, but from my point of view, but this big geo— kind of geopolitical issue of, that's independence, that's freedom, boils down to these kind of fundamentally human concepts, you know, like human connections, cultural background.

03:20HanifaBecause Mehliya is Uyghur. This past week I was really looking up to her. I've also seen her, like, Instagram posts, and I was like, wow, this girl has been leading protests since she was, like, 13, like, she's been organizing protests, like, on her own with her mom, and I was like, wow, wow, like, she's really dedicated to that. And I felt like, yeah, I should also be— like, I should also be fighting for the independence of my country, but it's really uneasy.

00:00MehliyaMy name is Mehliya and I'm Uyghur, I'm Turkish, and I live in Canada.

00:05KyleSo one thing about cross movement and allyships, in your own words, what is the importance of that? Why exactly is that so important to foster?

00:13MehliyaI think when we're fighting a genocidal dictatorship that has huge economic power over the globe essentially, like the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, it's important that we band together because as we have seen through individual efforts, whether it be Uyghurs, whether it be Tibetans, whether it be Hong Kongers, whether it be Mongolians, pro-democratic China movement individuals, it doesn't matter. They all have done everything they can, but until there's a united front tackling the CCP, from every angle that we can, we're never going to get the true, free freedom that we want.

00:48KylePersonally, I'll admit that when I, as somebody who's Tibetan, like, when I see news about, like, China's Ethnic Unity Law and I feel angry, I feel discouraged. Would you be comfortable with sharing any experiences you've had in the past about maybe feeling kind of discouraged, and how you got through that to continue fighting?

01:08MehliyaThe vice justice minister, I believe, made a statement saying that they can target individuals outside of China. And that's actually transnational repression in a legal framework for the CCP. It's not actually legal, recognized by the international body, but they made it legal for themselves to do that, and that made me feel really nervous and discouraged, because there's a lot of individuals who, whether they're behind the scenes, whether they're at the forefront, whether they're allies, whether they're just protesters showing up, or whether they're people taking crazy direct actions, some who have family back home, some who have citizenship or documentation back home, that they can put themselves in danger with this work. And my biggest fear was that this law and this provision and this law that was so clearly stated would then discourage other people. And that makes me so scared and sad, because that's not how we should look at this new law. And at the end of the day, I remind myself that this movement is bigger than me. This movement is bigger than my own family, because the goal isn't for me to see my family. The goal is for my country to be free. Seeing my family safe and sound, not dead, would be an amazing bonus. I can't guarantee that. You can't guarantee that. CCP actually wishes the opposite, right? So I think the one thing that I keep going— that keeps me going is that this is for the freedom of my country and freedom for the generations to come. This doesn't end with me. It didn't start with me, and it will never end with me. Even when East Turkestan is free, the fight to remember and not forget the genocide, the fight to remember the ethnic cleansing, the fight to remember how Uyghurs were stripped away from their culture, their identity, their rights, all of it, that fight will go on forever. Personally, I'm someone who— I live by this. I believe it's a hadith that— I'm Muslim, so there's a hadith that I live by, and it says that, Allah says, if you see an injustice, stop it with your hands. If you cannot stop it with your hands, stop it with your tongue. If you cannot stop it with your tongue, then you renounce it in your heart as the bare minimum. And to me, I have my hands. I have my full physical body. And along with that comes fighting for my country. Because without that, there is no longer Uyghur identity. Without Uyghur identity, my lineage dies. My ancestors die. I do this movement because it's with people and it's my country. It's my mother. It's my grandmother. It's my grandfather that passed. And it's my kids and my grandkids. And the generations to come that I will never meet, but that will carry my blood, my father's blood, my mother's blood. We're all activists. When we're born Uyghur, when we're born Tibetan, we're born freedom fighters, you know? We're like, automatically, as soon as people ask who we are, we give the context, we explain who we are, where we come from, and what our people are going through. That in itself is activism.

00:00OserI'm Tenzin Oser Tsering, known as Tenzin Wisset Tsering. So my role at SFT: I'm the president of SFT Boston. At Action Camp, I was the campaigns track coordinator, or, I guess, teacher. From Confucius Institutes to No Beijing to then Thermo Fisher, which was a really big one for us, because Thermo Fisher, they had— they had one of their main headquarters in Waltham, which was no less than 35 minute drive, yeah, which obviously succeeded, and they ended their contracts with China. I've been so introduced to the SFT space since I was born. I remember vividly going to SFT parties and fundraisers back when I was, like, five. My parents just introduced me to the camps as a source of just meeting a bunch of Tibetans from all over, which I think helps me a lot to grow in my own Tibetan identity.

01:07KyleSo when you talk about kind of, like, this diversity, you know, in the context of the freedom movement, how do you think that adds to kind of youth activism as a whole? Like, what is the importance of having diversity, as opposed to, like, I don't know, just the Tibetan movement from America or just the Tibetan movement from New York?

01:29OserI think all Tibetans have somewhat some sort of a similar idea of the freedom movement in general. I think it's just the approach that is so different in most countries. Comparing that to Europe, I'd say, like, France, I think majority of the French Tibetans that are living here, they're pretty well coordinated with what's going on in their community. Especially Switzerland, the fact that they have their Tibetan Youth Association of Europe, their TYE group, yeah. I'm always hearing new people just popping up. All of a sudden there's some guy, like, 40 minutes away from Zurich, in another town that's in the middle of nowhere, and all of a sudden he's just joining, and I think that's just, like, really, really great to hear, because it just seems like they're just so well organized. Being in just SFT space, I think something that we uphold that's very different from most other, I'd say, camps or organizations is just the fact of, like, common ground, meeting a common ground and creating a safe space, in the sense of the fact either— we're all like— we're majority of the participants here are Tibetan, and of course we're a cross-movement camp. We're catering as well to other cross-movement organizations that are also in the same situation that Tibet is in. Human rights is— human rights is a common— like, it's a common instinct. It shouldn't be— it shouldn't be a question. And in 2026, after all the world wars, after all the— after all the battles that our whole world has gone through, first I think it's just a regular question of when is— when is everyone gonna get their chance of being a free and common community, and the whole planet, because we all deserve to have the basic human rights that anyone, no matter where in this planet, they deserve. I think it changed my life in ways that I can't explain, but it's created friendships and memories that will last with me forever.

00:00UmaMy name is Uma; Lobsang is my last name. I'm 25 years old, soon 26. I'm from Switzerland, and I'm co-president of the Tibetan Youth Association in Europe. I was always interested in the political side, like doing political work for Tibet. I was like, okay, probably I'm just gonna learn how to lead a workshop, but I did not expect that we have to lead a workshop, like, on Tuesday morning, like, three hour workshop, and an energetic— I was like, wow, that's not enough time. But then it somehow works out, and it's— I just noticed, like, in the T-squared— I just noticed everything is, like, the learning by doing, and having this balance between, like, the theory and the actually leading. I feel like that's really important. I do feel more confident to actually teach the, like, our chapter leaders, because we're on the board now. We already talked about this too: maybe even have a small Action Camp in— like, a big Action Camp in Switzerland, and that would be amazing. For me, it was the part that I could come with my two sisters. So I never thought that they were gonna come, because, like, one and a half years ago, they were not really into the movement. I thought, like, okay, now I'm gonna take a step and ask them if they want to come to the Action Camp. And I was like, no, they're definitely not gonna come. But somehow they were so open about it— like, not so open, but it was— yeah, so I was actually surprised both came. So I'm just happy that we're— they can finally, like, experience the same feeling, because I always tell at home what I was doing at TYE and felt like they couldn't— maybe couldn't relate, but now I do feel more like home.

02:18KyleCan I ask a little bit more about kind of the transition phase between your sisters going from, like, not really involved in the movement to suddenly being, like— I guess maybe not suddenly, but wanting to come to Action Camp, like, wanting to get involved?

02:34UmaIt was in summer, so they came to volleyball, all these volleyball events, and then you meet people, mostly. I mean, you don't see, like, TYE behind a person. It's like they just had a good time. So as they, like, noticed, overall, like, part of TYE, it's not, like, the organization they think of, it's more like the people behind. And I think that made it a lot easier, so it came, like, kind of naturally.

03:05KyleDid you find yourself coming out of your comfort zone at any point, like, during this Action Camp?

03:10UmaI think it's also something throughout my experiences, like, in my life, that I put myself into situations to get out of my comfort zone, and I'm actually not even scared about it anymore, because I kind of have this feeling that it's gonna turn out well, or even, like, okay, even if it's, like, okay, it's fine with me. I'm gonna learn and something anyways, you know? So, yeah, it's— even if it's awkward, I mean, it's— I'm still alive. I'm still here.

00:00WodhenI found out about it because I'm interning with Students for a Free Tibet, and it's just been nice spending time with, like, a lot of Tibetans in the office at work, so it's like, I want to meet more Tibetans.

00:14KyleDid you have any specific takeaways that you hope to bring home to New York?

00:18WodhenI really like— well, a sort of thought I've had about before, like, this experience was how important, like, intergenerational spaces are for us. Like, the older generation passing down stories to younger generations, how that carries on the memory of Tibet. First and foremost, I see its purpose as transmission is how we preserve our culture, right? We understand Tibet through the lens of our elders' experiences. So I think, first of all, it'll build a stronger relationship to Tibet. This reminds me of my experience in Dharamsala when I went to the Tibetan Youth Festival, but we were in this seminar discussing Dalai Lama's Voice for the Voiceless, and the moderator was really encouraging for English and Tibetan speakers, because a lot of the youth there were very self-conscious about their Tibetan. And at the beginning they would, you know, warn everyone, like, "Sorry, my Tibetan isn't that good." And so the moderator was very aware and was like, "Welcome to both languages." And there was this, like, old mola who, I guess, also wasn't fluent in Tibetan. She didn't know how to read, and she also prefaced reading the paragraph. She's like, "I'm not good in Tibetan." And that's when I was like, oh my god, I feel like I've been thinking a lot about myself and how I'm not fluent in Tibetan, how it feels like it's only me who's in this, and I only think about it in terms of the Western upbringing context. But in that moment, when I heard that mola also didn't know how to read Tibetan, I realized it's just, like, a consequence of being Tibetan and not just, like, a Western or American specific thing. And so, given that strong reference point, that, like, sort of de-centered my experience and helps me realize this is, like, all of us in this together. I feel like I've experienced a lot of shame from maybe not knowing Tibetan as well as I do with English. Can I ask what your experiences are with that barrier?

02:23KyleI don't really know Tibetan. And as someone who's half Tibetan, half Chinese, you know, I know Mandarin. So there's a little bit of a strange dynamic, I guess, in that, given that not only do I not speak kind of like my mother tongue, but I speak the language of the country that's kind of oppressing my other side.

02:46WodhenOh, divides the community. I'm so glad you asked that. Like, what I think about is that in Nepal or India, it's very much easy to run into your family member, like, when you're going for, like, a circumnavigation around the stupa or the temple. But in America, like, everyone's off to work, and you have to schedule your time differently, and there's very— there's much fewer opportunities to meet someone spontaneously like that around the temple, or we don't really have temples we walk around as much. So that's where it— I feel like is such a us— like, invisible, insidious consequence of us moving, is, like, fewer opportunities to see our community members spontaneously. And I think we've become, like, more— I mean, it's also a result of my parents getting older, but I think we also become more isolated within our, like, nuclear families. I hope we can continue the kind of community that our parents had with each other as a younger generation, like the tight-knitness, and then just helping each other out whenever so many to help, even if you're not close. And because that doesn't matter— what matters is, like, our survival, our livelihood.

00:00Dr. Robert BarnettI'm Robbie Barnett. I work here in London at SOAS, it's part of University of London and I'm a professor here, a research professor. Well, actually, my connection to Tibetan studies is quite a little bit unusual. Although I'm an academic, I joined that area of work very late, when I was in my late 30s, really. Before that, I worked in theatre and cinema and film, and I had nothing to do with this kind of subject, really, although when I was 17 I went and lived in India for a year and taught English in a Tibetan refugee school, quite famous little monastery in Dalhousie in Himachal Pradesh. So I did have a very close connection to Tibetans at that time, when I was very young. I didn't really realise the Tibet situation until the third day I was there and I happened to walk into the middle of a demonstration in the main square in Lhasa. This was in 1987. So I became, by chance, one of the Western eyewitnesses to that event, the October 1st protest. And I stayed for several weeks afterwards. I organised some other Westerners to try to collect information and to, we set up a medical team to treat people who were wounded because they couldn't go to a hospital or a clinic, too dangerous. So that was very, shall we say, rapid, very shocking immersion in the reality of what we call the hard state, you know, the state that shoots demonstrators and very brutal at that time.

01:46KyleSo, for a Tibetan living in exile who's born outside of Tibet and who has never seen Tibet, like, what does this term, Tibetan culture, what does that mean to them? And, you know, who gets to define that?

02:04Dr. Robert BarnettSo I think the question there will be, well, who decides? Do Tibetans get to decide how this tradition gets modified? Or is it done by the state, or by TV, or by advertising companies, or something like that? So this is all part of the complexities of modernity, and the Tibetan culture is kind of caught in the middle. And it's always going to be like that. The question is to try constantly to return it to Tibetans, particularly, in some cases, older Tibetans, who can remind us of what this tradition meant at the time, when it was a bit younger. So before, you were the younger brother of the Chinese, but you were yourself. Now, you are the younger brother of the Chinese, but you're also Chinese. So they're now saying Tibetan culture is Chinese culture, but it's also, not that we're trying to destroy it, this is what they claim, but it has some differences, it's distinctive, but it is Chinese culture. This is the new argument, and they're going to extraordinary lengths to preach that kind of idea. So this is, it seems to me, and a couple of my colleagues, that this is a kind of turning point for Tibetans inside Tibet, that it's a bridge too far. So the Chinese are quite careful generally in being gradualist about bringing in the more aggressive strategies. But this one, they've now introduced it into kindergartens. They have to learn about Chinese culture. They have to talk about Chinese festivals, Dragon Boat Festival, Harvest Festival, or, you know, Qingming, the Ancestor Worship Festival, its grave-sweeping, as Tibetan festivals. And Tibetan festivals, well, they don't say Tibetan, they say our festivals. They say, we Tibetans, this is one of our festivals. They don't call it Tibetan as such because they think Tibetans are Chinese.

04:18KyleAre you optimistic about, you know, Tibetan language successfully being passed down as much as possible throughout the generations? Or do you see kind of, like, I don't know if loss of interest is the right way to say that, but kind of more like younger Tibetans looking to learn other languages, or in the countries that they're based in?

04:41Dr. Robert BarnettI think actually you put your finger on it when you said loss of interest. But that's the key issue, but not interest in the sense of I'm interested in something, I'm enthused. I don't think that's what we should— what we mean here by interest. What we mean is interest in the sense of gain, interest in the sense of: is it essential to my survival or my functioning or my prospering to have this asset, in this case language? So it's interest, when we talk about a country has, you know, national interest, that kind of— now, that's what makes a language survive, I think. You do have languages that survive where there isn't a kind of economic or social benefit from it of a substantial kind, you know, you don't make money from it. But the key factor in language survival is generally you can get a job with that language. I think there is a slight problem in the Tibet world that we tend— we tend to think in terms of oppression. We use words like that. We thought— we think about victims, we think about things that are done to Tibetans. But that's perhaps— in the long run, that's not a skillful approach, because instinctively someone with— who we're asking to take up this issue, politician or something, they don't really want to take up an issue for someone who's suffering. They might say they do, but they don't. They want to take up an issue for someone who's doing, who's proactive, who's making a change, who's got a potential in a very real sense in some way.

06:25KyleLiving in diaspora, what are things you would do to kind of sustain Tibetan culture? Would you get involved in art or politics? What kind of aspects would you try and emphasize to keep Tibetan culture alive, if you were me?

06:41Dr. Robert BarnettThis is probably a kind of off-center suggestion, but I'm very interested in the idea that it's just a possibility that what's going to turn out to be really interesting for those of us that are very, very engaged with Tibetan history and its future are the times when Tibetans, shall we say, do something with their lives or their careers or their activities which are not about Tibet and become extremely good at something. They become a scientist or a writer or a lawyer or a doctor, particularly professions, but it doesn't have to be that. It could be a builder, maybe that's a profession too, or a plumber or an engineer. We don't have to think that the content of great Tibetan work is about Tibet. The content of great Tibetan work might be about, you know, constitutional law, or might be about, you know, nuclear physics, and people are doing this kind of stuff now. There are Tibetans doing this. But later on when people realize, oh my God, this is a Tibetan, this guy. And he's not just a Tibetan whose grandfather— he knows Tibetan, and he's familiar with Tibetan culture and Tibetan religion and rich Tibetan literature. But I may only discover that, you know, 10 or 20 years later. But then my admiration for that person and that culture will be far greater than the admiration that comes out of sympathy or the admiration that comes out of salvaging, you know, rescuing a culture. There's probably some very clever Tibetan phrase for this about you hide your jewels and you engage with the people you meet on the road. Discover what they need, only later do they discover what riches you have.