Colorado Friends of Tibet is a group of people who work to help Tibet and to preserve this unique cultural heritage. With hundreds of members throughout the State of Colorado, we have joined in the international effort to publicize what the International Tribune of Jurists call the "genocide" in Tibet.

We actively support Tibet and its people through various programs. Our Tibetan refugee support goes to help in improving the health, education and welfare of the Tibetan refugees in India and Nepal. Our support for Tibetan refugee children is mainly targeted at funding the education and improving the living conditions of Tibetan children who continue to escape from Tibet in search of freedom. In addition, we are helping to preserve Tibet's culture by making it available to the people of Colorado by organizing events such as the 1997 visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Colorado tour of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts.

Tibet was once one of the world's most remote, self-contained and religious civilizations. In 1949, troops from the People's Republic of China invaded Tibet, quickly occupying the entire country. The Chinese military crushed an uprising in March of 1959, and 80,000 Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, fled to India and Nepal, where they remain in exile today. Since 1949, over 1.2 million Tibetans have died as a result of the occupation and half of Tibet's original territory has been annexed to adjoining Chinese provinces.

CFT TEAM
Dawn Engle - President
Tenzing Shrestha - Executive Director
Greg Hunt - Secretary
Yankee Lama
Kate Cumbo
Nawang Kechog