Hi all,
I know that this forum is for skating talk only, but I
think this China issue is big and affects many of us.
One of my close friend's in India right now trying to
help people in Tibet. I'm hoping that you can help her
in any way. I know boycotting is an excellent act of
resistance, but by helping my friend Heather, you will
be changing someone's life for the better.
Please read the following and I ask if anything, you
keep these people in your prayers.

Dear Friends:
As some of you already know, I was able to spend three
weeks in Dharamsala,India, when Tibetan communities
began their peaceful protests. I was able to make some
very dear friendships in that time and share in their
struggle for basic human rights. I learned many
valuable lessons from them and their community and am
forever indebted to them for their compassion and
strength.
I have been able to share some of my stories from
this experience with family and friends. Many respond
with a tone of amazement at the compassion and
strength the Tibetans have. This sentiment is often
followed by a desire to help the Tibetan community in
someway, but many do not know how. There is a feeling
of helplessness since China is such a strong country
controlling every aspect of life in the Tibetan
Autonomous Region (TAR). Many people also do not know
what NGOs are out there currently helping Tibetans.
For those of you who share these feelings, I have a
direct way in which you can help. My English tutee,
LobsangNamgyal, a Gelukpa monk, is trying to
arrange for six of his students to escape from Tibet
and join the refugee community in Dharamsala. Lobsang
has been in India for about two months and keeps in
daily contact with friends and students who are still
in Tibet. He originally escaped to India when he
discovered the Chinese government was going to arrest
him for helping organize peaceful protests for the
then upcoming March 10th Uprising anniversary. Between
then and his arrival in India, he traveled for two
months through the Tibetan provinces distributing
photographs of and teachings by HH Dalai Lama. These
actions are punishable by imprisonment, which includes
severe torture, and sometimes death, in TAR. I have to
admit I do not think I have met anyone so passionate
and filled with kindness in my entire life. Words
cannot describe him. Back in TAR he was aptly
nicknamed “Lama of Kindness to the Poor.” You just
have to look into Lobsang’s eyes and hear his laugh to
see that this is true. Lobsang’s students each need
15,000yuan, or $2,150, in order to pay for bribes to
cross the border into Nepal, and then cross the
Nepalese border with India. In the scheme of things,
$2,200 is not much money if you equate that sum with a
person’s life. These six individuals have an
opportunity to escape the
current brutality in TAR, whereas many others do not.
Already the Chinese have taken two of Lobsang’s
students from his monestary, shot them dead in the
street and burned their bodies in order to destroy the
evidence. The six students wishing to escape are
currently in hiding, awaiting an opportune time to
escape. I know they will make an attempt to escape
sometime soon, but have no specifics – it would also
be unwise for me to disclose any specifics if I had
them, as the Chinese want these individuals dead or in
prison. They may hope to “re-educate” the younger of
the novices. I humbly ask that you take a few moments
to think about this situation for
yourself and find the kindness in your heart to donate
some money for this escape effort. The amount you are
capable of giving is not important, the
compassion and intention behind what you give is what
truly matters. If you choose not to give, then please
keep these six individuals, all Tibetans, all Chinese
and all the world in your prayers.

If you do decide to give, please send a check(made out
to Heather Hassett) by
April 24th to:
Lobsang Namgyal
c/o Heather Hassett
PO Box 2652
Silver Bay, NY 12874 USA
Include a piece of paper with your email address on it
so I can send a photo
of Lobsang and his students to you once they make it
safely to India! My
lovely parents, Bruce & Sarah Tamlyn,will be
organizing the funds while I continue
my world travels to Britain,then safely and thankfully
home.


Please pass this message on to your friends and
family; the more people we
have to donate money the more likely we are to reach
our goal! It all adds up -
'An ocean is formed drop by drop.'

*
From my heart to yours,
Heather
PS - For more information on the Tibet issue go to*
www.phayul.com

--- "Joe Arrindell jr." <cybergater74@...>
wrote:

>
> Hi to allI agree with Kathy. I am a very quiet
> member and I hardly read an entire mail throughly.
> But I read Kathy's and I have to admit, they should
> be boycotted, I also have a few friends that I cant
> reach, and it is very frustrating not to be able to
> reach someone whom you care for.
>
> All the best over there,
>
> Joe A.A. Arrindell Jr. Physiotherapist Fitness
> Instructor Easy tape Instructor I.I.S.A.
> Inline-skate Instructor www.movetocure.com
> P Please consider your environmental
> responsibility before printing this e-mail
>
>
>
> To: inline-instruction@yahoogroups.com;
> sfskaters@...: Katimac@...:
> Mon, 7 Apr 2008 21:19:29 -0700Subject: RE:
> [inline-instruction] Skating Cops Protecting Olympic
> Torch Runners
>
>
>
>
> Hi D.You know I love you for all you do for the
> sport of skating. I also knowthat you listen to your
> skaters, so I'm hoping you'll be willing to hear
> arequest from this skater regarding skaters and the
> Olympic Torch Relay:Normally, I'd be all for skaters
> helping police with crowd control,especially when
> there's an opportunity to get skating and skaters
> ontelevision in the process. But these Olympics are
> controversial for goodreason. China is the worst air
> and water polluter in the world, callouslybrushing
> off world environmental organizations' pleas for
> reform withexcuses like "The empire is large, and
> the emperor far away." China has theworst human
> rights abuse record of any nation. They execute more
> people inthree months than the entire rest of the
> world combined does in a year. InChina, if you so
> much as post something on the internet suggesting
> that itmight indeed be time for the Chinese
> government to bring it's policies onpollution or
> human rights or democracy into line with the rest of
> the modernworld, you can expect to be hunted down,
> beaten and thrown into prisonindefinitely. Finally,
> China has kicked all foreigners out of Tibet, and
> shut downinternet access and telecommunications to
> the outside world in the wake ofthe Tibetans' recent
> protests demanding release of previous protesters
> whohave been rotting away in Chinese prisons for
> years. What do you think theChinese are doing to
> those protesters while the world cannot see?
> Itraveled to Tibet twice in my role as a Zephyr
> Guide. I saw for myself howthe Chinese abuse the
> Tibetans while raping and pillaging their
> lands,temples and culture. These days I am worried
> sick about my Tibetanco-guide, our camp cook and his
> young staff, the nuns and monks we met onour
> travels, etc. I cannot reach any of them. I do not
> know if they havefallen victim to the violent crack
> down the Chinese have meted out, or
> themiddle-of-the-night home searches where the
> Chinese cart off anyone who isnot an immediate
> family member on the assumption that they must
> therefore bea protester hiding from the police.The
> Tibetans were and are risking their lives to raise
> awareness of thebrutal oppression they are suffering
> under the Chinese occupation of theircountry. We in
> the US, who have the freedom to raise our voices,
> write aneditorial or march in protest any time we
> want, owe it to the oppressed toraise our voices in
> support of those who the Chinese would try to
> silence. The Chinese want to use the Olympics to
> show off what a modern, economicallysuccessful
> country they have become. Never mind that their
> economic successcomes largely because it's cheap to
> manufacture everything when you don'thave to clean
> up the toxic pollution the factory spits out, and
> you can getyour raw materials from huge strip mines
> and clear cuts in previouslypristine Tibetan
> wildernesses. To me, helping the police keep US
> protesters outside of camera range duringthe Olympic
> torch relay, is simply fighting for the wrong side.
> If you wantto showcase skating when the torch passes
> through, call the press and skateyour own torch
> relay with big banners that say "Carrying a Torch
> for Tibet"and "Boycott Made in China."Kathy
> McSparranDirector, Phoenix Inline Skate SchoolZephyr
> Adventures Guide-----Original Message-----From:
>
inline-instruction@yahoogroups.com[mailto:inline-instruction@yahoogroups.com]
> On Behalf Ofsk8godfather@...: Monday,
> April 07, 2008 11:51 AMTo:
> sfskaters@...: [inline-instruction]
> Skating Cops Protecting Olympic Torch RunnersHi
> Skaters,One week before we start the SF to Santa
> Monica Skate Against Violence. Check out the video
> of the skating cops in Paris as they try to protect
> theOlympic Torch runners. We might do the same here
> in San Francisco. I ammeeting today about the
> possibility.http://www.sfgate.
>
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object...433D42.DTL&o=0>com/cgi-bin/object...433D\
42.DTL&o=0D.
> Miles Jr.The GodFather of Skatinghttp://www.cora.
> <http://www.cora.org> org[Non-text portions of this
> message have been removed][Non-text portions of this
> message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
_________________________________________________________________
> Explore the seven wonders of the world
>
http://search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=7+wonders+world&mkt=en-US&form=QBRE
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>




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