SFT Canada Office…we have one???

YES, we do and we’ll be rockin out here on Sat night! As Maude mentioned below in her post, all the SFT Canada board members will be Vancouver over the weekend, planning, plotting, and strategizing…and they would love to meet all of you…yes, you – SFT Canada’s members and supporters.

So, if you’ve been reading all the blog postings about the conference down in Santa Barbara and you’re feeling left out of all the SFT fun, grab a couple of friends and head over to SFT Canada’s National Office for our first offiicial Open House and Benefit Party!

We’ll have momos and beer and wine for sale (as well as pop/juice!), so come on out, help support SFT Canada and have a good time doing it!

SFT National Office is located at 808 East 28th Ave (one block east of Fraser on 28th). Things will get going around 8pm and go until late!

p.s. If you don’t live in Vancouver, no need to feel too left out, Losar (Tibetan New Year) is coming soon, so stay tuned for SFT and Tibet related events happening around the end of February in your community.

Board retreat coming up…!

Hey everyone,

I’m so psyched to be leaving town in 48 hours for the board retreat in Vancouver: it’ll be great I’m sure!

Time to get organized, share ideas, plan the year ahead and celebrate our victories…

If you’re in town you should definitely come to our party and meet us all. It’ll be on Saturday night at the SFT Canada office, from 8pm onwards.

See you soon!!!

Santa Barbara Leadership Training

As Kalaa the Great says: Hey hey hey!
So this conference in Santa Barbara has been, well, sexy. Whaddowegot? We have lascivious leader, poetic participants, sublime sunshine, titillating training and great grub. The Canadians down here are all on track two: training for trainers. This means that soon we will be passing on the skills we have acquired here to all of you… and by soon, I mean this summer in Montreal!!! I am really looking foreword to implementing and sharing some of the tactics I’ve been taught, especially those involving work with the media. SFT conferences are meant to inspire and
One more message: S.U.R.F on!
Pema Lhalungpa
SFT BoD

The Beijing 3 United

“Five years is way too long…”

It will be five years ago next month since three SFT members travelled to Beijing with Canada’s Trade Mission to protest the de-linking of trade and human rights. Yesterday afternoon was the first time Kate, Freya and Sam had been all together since that amazing trip. There was some reminiscing about their three days in the dragon’s den: how they were detained by Chinese Police, pursued by Chinese and Canadian officials, nearly framed by secret police, and generally paranoid until they were escorted by the Canadian Embassy onto the plane bound for home.

The action was a watershed of publicity for SFT and an impetus for creating SFT Canada.

Since their trip to Beijing, Freya has worked extensively with SFT New York and has now been accepted to Columbia’s Masters program; Kate has finished her degree at UBC and now heads SFT Canada; and Sam disappeared into the Brazilian Amazon and recently returned to Canada to volunteer on the SFT Canada board. The trio also discussed plans and strategies for the upcoming SFT Canada Board retreat that will be held this month in Vancouver. Students for a Free Tibet Canada is now in it’s third year of existence and going strong.

Sam Price, Vancouver

Photos from SFT Vancouver’s Human Rights Day Event!

Photos of the mock sweatshop/prison labour camp street theatre organized by SFT Vancouver for International Human Rights Day.

We were set-up in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery from 10am-4pm and handed out more than 300 leaftets about human rights abuses in Tibet. Lots of people stopped by our table to sign letters and petitions and even those who rushed by were still aware of what was going on!