From London to Lhasa

In rememberance of Tibetan Uprising Day and looking ahead to the 2008 Olympics in China we asked the people of Edinburgh to think about human rights during the Summer Games in two years time.

Two PLA officers flanked students with painted wounds and Tibetan dress chained to large Olympic rings to remind people that China contunues to disregard the rights of Tibetans and its own peoples, and will do so if we don't pressure it to keep its promises of improved media freedom before 2008.

It made an eye catching and disturbing scene that drew intersted crowds and had the petitions to the IOC and Hu Jintao filling up and the info leaflets flying. We managed 4 hours in some horrible weather. Still it was all worth it! We were seen by hundreds and even got into the local news. Read the press release at Phayul.com

We knew our hard work had been worth it as our newly-dubbed Losar Week started off with a bang – why celebrate one day when you can celebrate for a week, we thought ;) it all began on Tuesday, when Mr John Billington (former Chairman of the Tibet Society UK) came to speak to a packed auditorium. Complete with hundreds of photos, Mr Billington gave us an account of his travels in Tibet and spoke about why the West continued to ignore the situation in Tibet, before spending an hour and a half answering the many questions we put to him.

On Wednesday evening, we had a film screening of Seven Years in Tibet which proved popular with the ladies thanks to Brad Pitt ;) along with free popcorn and a pub quiz, there was plenty to keep the audience entertained. Thursday night saw us at our regular Tibet meeting, to give newbies a brief background to the Tibet issue. It was followed by a night-long session of cooking to prepare for the following day.

A week of events finally culminated in a stall on our beloved Piazza. After many delays, we finally assembled the stall. Ngawang, a Tibetan musician living in London, had graciously accepted to come and perform for us. The Piazza filled with music as we handed out free momos and banana fritters, asked people to sign petition forms and cajoled them in to buying Tibetan merchandise.

The food was well-received (much to the relief of a chuba-wearing Elena and a very cheerful Delaine!) and the number of signatures quickly grew, while we managed to raise 27 quid through sales. We could not have asked for a better day – the sun continued to shine throughout the afternoon, and it made it easy for us to complete our task of approaching every single person who stepped on to the Piazza. In this way, we managed to generate a lot of interest, and many people stopped to speak to us. More people yet volunteered to help us get the word out, including a guy with a megaphone shouting for students to vote in the Union referenda!

At the end of the day, tired but very happy, we packed up as we thought, "Bring on the new year!"

-Elena