Without food or proper shoes, Gedun Rabsal trudged nearly 1,000 miles to leave his dying home of Tibet. Memories of the lush green pastures -- the ones you only see in paintings -- a friendly village atmosphere and his family's cooking stayed close to his heart during his journey to India.\n"It was something I had to do," Rabsal said. "It's a very sad emotion. I didn't want to lose the fight in my homeland, but I needed to get out. It was tough, but looking back, I would do it again."\nSeventeen years later, Rabsal still cannot return home. He misses the peaceful agrarian culture of his village of Emdo, with its unique art, music and spiritual strength. Fortunately, like many Tibetan refugees, he's found comfort in a place where Tibetan culture thrives. \nFor now, his home is Bloomington.\nSome might be surprised a small town in Indiana has become one of the major centers for an international movement. For decades, Bloomington has made an impact on the Free Tibet movement through its abundance of Tibetan culture, activism and its hometown leader, Thubten Norbu, the Dalai Lama's brother.\n"You could probably say that Bloomington has more Tibetan culture and more involvement in the Free Tibet movement than any other city in the Midwest," said Rabsal, now a Tibetan language professor at IU.\nIt's a place where students who live tens of thousands of miles away from Tibet still dedicate hours every week to contribute to the freedom of a country they've never seen.\nIt's a place where you can see the artwork and worship of a dying culture at the Tibetan Cultural Center or the new Chamtse Ling Temple, where residents can taste the culture of Tibet at one of two restaurants, located a few yards away from one another.\nIt's a place where refugees, like Rabsal, can hold onto their way of life but keep their fight alive for someday receiving independence in Tibet.
Leaving Home Behind\nThe Free Tibet movement has been an international issue since 1949 when China's People's Liberation Army invaded Tibet, killing more than 10,000.\nThe Dalai Lama fled in 1959, while his brother found refuge as a professor at IU.\n"The whole movement really kicked off in the early 1960s when Norbu came to IU to teach," Rabsal said. "After that, it attracted more Tibetans to come to IU and Bloomington."\nAlthough culture and activism may lead many Tibetans to Bloomington, these are not the reasons they leave in the first place. Violence and economic despair from Chinese control has caused thousands to flee their homeland.\nAccording to Amnesty International's Web Site (www.amnesty.org), more than 250,000 Tibetans have died in prisons and labor camps. Tibetan women are raped, sterilized and forced to have abortions. Children are shut off from Tibetan culture and subjected to beatings by teachers and authority figures.\nThubten Anyetsang, owner of Little Tibet restaurant on Fourth Street, remembers the day he left Tibet.\nHe awoke in the middle of the night to the deafening explosions of bombs from the Chinese crashing down on his village. The bomb blasts heated his home as shrapnel flew by his face. He and his brother put on all of the clothes they owned and fled the city.\nAt seven years old, Anyetsang had to make the journey with only his 9-year-old brother along at his side. His father, a freedom fighter, stayed behind to help the villages after the attacks, as his mother was pregnant at the time.\nAfter three months, they finally trekked from Tibet to India, where, by a stroke of luck, they met up with their father.\n"It was one of the most difficult things I have done in my life, but also one of the best," he said.\nSept. 27, 1987, Rabsal left his Tibetan home at the age of 22, following an educational movement which put considerable pressure on monks in the area. He decided to leave the monastery and journey elsewhere for academic and religious freedom.\n"It is hard to give one example to describe what the Chinese do," he said. "They take away everything that Tibet is about and they do it by imprisoning monks -- by killing people. There really is nothing you can do about it."\nBoth Anyetsan and Rabsal say they left behind a piece of themselves when they moved, especially their family. Rabsal found out years later his father has since died after he left. Anyetsang returned to Tibet for the first time in nearly 30 years, only to meet his brother he never knew he had, and to find out his mother died as a result of violence by the Chinese.\nIt's incidents like these that prevent Rabsal from going home.\n"It wouldn't be the same place I remember," he said.
Caring for Another Country\nIU Students for Free Tibet march alongside the road, signs in hand, trying to raise awareness for their cause. As they hold their signs proudly in the air, vehicles whip by, throwing garbage and yelling crude jokes at the local activists.\n"Some people can be really dumb," said sophomore Erin Lally, a member of IU SFT. "It gets frustrating when people act like idiots, but it's because they are ignorant. They just don't understand what Free Tibet is all about."\nStill, despite the frustrations, the students march on and keep fighting for what they believe.\nIU SFT holds several events, such as walks and movie showings, to raise awareness for the cause. IU SFT shows weekly movies about Tibetan culture such as "Seven Years in Tibet," starring Brad Pitt, and also held a birthday party for the Panchen Lama, a 14-year-old Tibetan leader kidnapped by the Chinese.\nIU SFT member and graduate student Taryn Firkser said movie showings and other events are not only a fun way to get students interested in Tibet, but they can be very helpful to their cause.\n"People need to be informed if they are going to help out," she said. "The Tibetan culture has so much to do with this cause. The Tibetans' culture is dying as the Chinese destroy it."\nAlthough many people call their activism a losing battle, Firkser said several leaders have already been released by the Chinese due to the combined efforts of SFT groups across the country. Their activism has also led to major companies boycotting China because of their involvement in Tibet.\n"Whenever something like that is announced, it feels real good," Firkser said. "Sometimes people get frustrated because it is a very slow movement, but when something like that happens, you know that you are making a difference."\nLally, who is a student in Rabsal's class, said her interest in Tibetan culture inspired her to take on the cause.\n"I want to go to Tibet someday to see their beautiful culture. I don't want to see their culture being ripped away," she said. "We are fighting so there will be a Tibet in the future."\nAlthough many students may not share the passion for Free Tibet Firkser has, she said she feels all people should take an interest in the lives of others.\n"The Tibetans have this funny thing where they won't eat a certain animal because it may be one of their relatives in a past life," she said. "That kind of goes to show that we are all connected and what happens to others should matter to you."
Looking to the Future\nWhen Anyetsang made his first visit to Tibet, he said it was not at all the place he remembered. The Chinese government had tried to "modernize" his home by confiscating the farm lands and building roads and factories on the land. Not only was their way of life destroyed, but the construction has been unfinished for decades, he said.\n"I saw kids playing in the dirt all day instead of going to school," he said. "So, I decided to spend the money I earned in America and try to give something back to them."\nAnyetsang built a school in Tibet and has kept it stocked with supplies for years. He proudly boasts pictures of the children from the school around the dining room of his restaurant. He occasionally gets the chance to travel back to his homeland and see the impact he has made on the country. \nWhether Tibet will ever be free is debated heavily, but many IU SFT members believe the idea isn't so far-fetched.\n"So much has been done already," Lally said. "It's a really slow movement, but hopefully, we will win out."\nRabsal said he dreams of the day Tibet will be free, so he can finally go home. In the meantime, he said he'll continue the fight in the United States.\n"I don't want to die in America," he said. "I want to die in Tibet, but I can't go home until Tibet is free from China."\n-- Contact managing editor Adam Aasen at aaasen@indiana.edu.
