This after the recent news that South African authorities failed to grant the Dalai Lama a visa to attend a summit of Nobel peace laureates in Cape Town.
The journey was part of Streetschool, a personal development programme in Woodmead that helps people find purpose and meaning in their lives.
“This has been a real humbling experience for me,” said Avalon Gullan, one of the St Stithians College pupils who attended the programme.
Gullan said she learnt a lot about the Tibetan community’s religion. Fellow pupil Tayla Rorich added, “A huge chunk of their religion and identity was taken away from them.”
Cawane Gullan, also from St Stithians College produced a tribute art piece of a white dove, symbolising peace, for the Tibetan community. He said the artwork represented what he hoped the exiled Tibetan community would attain. He added that from the trip he came to realise that Western ideas of peace conflict with global ideas.
The participants of the programme also visited and interacted with Tibetan political refugees at an empowerment centre. The refugees had been tortured. “It hit us that this is what’s happening and nothing is being done about it,” added Rorich.
Details: www.streetschool.co.za
