Student for a Free Tibet to hold cultural event this Saturday
By Melanie B. Glover
Of the 30,475 students attending UC Davis, only nine of them are Tibetan – seven of whom belong to UC Davis’ chapter of Students for a Free Tibet, an organization that spreads awareness about the Tibetan culture and its people’s struggle with the occupation of Tibet by the Chinese.
SFT will host its first-ever Tibetan cultural night at the International House this Saturday at 7 p.m. The event will feature a guest lecture by the president of the Tibetan Youth Congress in San Francisco, Dawa Ddorjee, traditional performances, food, a participatory circle dance, Tibetan medicine and goods for purchase such as Buddhist books and handmade jewelry from Nepal. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.
SFT board member and UC Davis junior Tenzin Dickyi said the event is meant to introduce attendees to the Tibetan culture, which is based on compassion and Buddhism, and to refrain from politics.
“I don’t think a lot of people know Tibet. The first thing people see is the Dalai Lama,” she said. “Most people don’t know it’s a country, and treat it like an object or idea.”
The evening will feature traditional Tibetan “momo,” a dish similar to Chinese dumplings, as well as several cultural presentations. Berkeley and Vacaville SFT members will perform music and dances, some of which are wine songs or contain lyrics about Tibetan history and tradition. One song will feature a Tibetan lute, or “drangyen,” an instrument similar to a guitar.
Located in the plateau region between India and China, Tibet is the country with the highest average elevation in the world and is home to many indigenous Tibetan people. Prior to 1950, it was a theocracy ruled by the Dalai Lama, but after many religious persecutions of monks and Buddhists, it became an administrative division of China.
Both Dickyi and the president of the UC Davis chapter of SFT, senior Nyendek Wangden, are Tibetan but were born in South India.
“I’ve never seen my country,” Wangden said. “I see a lot of Tibetans who aren’t active and involved in the Tibetan struggle, and it makes me frustrated so that I want to do more.”
The chapter – which Wangden started winter quarter of 2006 – has film screenings every quarter and tables on the Quad to provide information to students about Tibetan culture. The group also reaches out to the Tibetan community in the Bay Area by giving tours of the UC Davis campus to Tibetan children and organizing a protest in San Francisco.
Guest speaker Dawa Ddorjee, the president of the Tibetan Youth Congress in San Francisco, will kick off the evening by talking about modern Tibet. The event will close with a participatory circle dance, which Dickyi described as “simple” and “like bonding at the end before a farewell.”
“We want to show that in a free country we will do whatever it takes to preserve our culture, because Tibetans can’t do that in Tibet,” she said.
The Tibetan cultural night takes place Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. at the International House, 10 College Park Drive. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.
The UC Davis chapter of Students for a Free Tibet always welcomes new members. For more information on the organization, visit studentsforafreetibet.org.
MELANIE B. GLOVER can be reached at arts@californiaaggie.com.
