benhider.com/blog

As many of you know, I am in Dharamsala/McLeod Ganj, India, home in exile of Tibetan refugees. On August 8th, 2008, the Olympics are being held in Beijing, China. Many people are aware of a lot of the political back and forth that is taking place regarding some of China’s Human Rights policies and whether or not they deserve to host the games. While I believe China -and many other countries- has some serious work to do in that department, I also believe that the games must go on. I look at it as a chance for people to see that even in the midst of major differences, we can ultimately find a way to come together for what is intended as the greater good.

What I have proposed is that people who support the cause for saving Tibetan culture by granting the people autonomy (note I did not use the phrase “Free Tibet”) and all who believe that everyone has a right to live in peace and prosperity at home should hang up a Tibetan flag somewhere (legally). Anywhere. Home, work, office, etc. Many people have decided to boycott watching. Some won’t support advertisers. There’s certainly lots of ways to express dissatisfaction. But there are also ways to express support, even while watching the games. As we know, it’s not just about Tibet. It’s about Burma and Palestine and Zimbabwe and in some ways about our own country’s involvement in the whole big picture, both good and bad.

That said, I have flags. They’re small. About the size of a large handkerchief or bandanna with a slot for putting a stick through. For $10.00 one can be yours, shipping included. They were purchased from The Tibetans Children’s Village, an organization that provides education for ALL Tibetan children, established by the The Dalai Lama’s Sister. Many of my friends here went there when they were young. I All the proceeds (minus shipping costs and PayPal fees; I will not be deducting the cost of the flags) will go to The Newcomer Education Center here, which provides basic skills education to newly arrived refugees. These are people who have just walked for up to 30 days over the mountains, some are former political prisoners and torture victims, most are destitute with no family and can speak no English or Hindi, thus precluding them from much chance at employment. The N.E.C. helps tremendously with this, working with around 150 new students each month to learn some of the basics and address any immediate needs.

If you want a flag, email me telling me how many and your exact mailing address. I am hoping that two weeks lead is sufficient time, so please make your request no later than July 24th. I’ll drop it in the mail and then email you a pay request from Pay Pal where you can either pay with a credit card or checking account, provided you have a Pay Pal account already set up (you don’t need an account if you pay with credit card) and payment only costs the recipient a fee (me), not the sender. My Pay Pal account is a U.S. account, so this won’t be an international transaction. If you want to write a check, I have a local address in Portland you can mail to, but the check won’t get cashed for a month or so until they all come in. I have come to find that donating foreign money to international organizations in India is VERY difficult, for many reasons, both bureaucratic as well as international security. Sorry, you won’t be able to write the $10 off. I’ll be paying the income tax on it in April if required. If neither of those payment options works for you, I’ll just track you down when I am back home. On 8/8/08 at 8:08:08 AM (that exact time part probably won’t happen but sounds good), I will be presenting The Newcomer Education Center with the cash Indian Rupee version of the proceeds along with a list of names and cities from whence the money came, unless you prefer to remain anonymous. No individual amounts will be listed. An example of how far $10 can go: one month’s rent for a large classroom comes in at around $110. $30 covers living accommodations and class expenses for one student for a month.

As flags go, they’re pretty cool. I’ve attached an example. That’s about all. Thanks in advance, whether you buy a flag or not, I hope you enjoy the Games.

peace,

-sbl

scott b lyons (at) yahoo (dott) commm

(No spaces! you know the rest…)

Pages: 1 2