Written by Annemarie Evans and Clara Mak - Published by South China Morning Post on 05/31/2007

Laurence Brahm: businessman, designer, architect, writer.
More recently: filmmaker and global activist on the mainland.

Brahm has lived on the mainland for more than 20 years. During that time he has witnessed China’s transformation, and he is devoted to improving the education and medical facilities in Tibet.

Brahm has spent over five years in Lhasa and established an education social enterprise called Shambhala.

On Tuesday night he hosted a fundraising event at the Kee Club, where he screened a 70-minute film – part documentary and part fiction – that he directed and acted in. The film, called Shambhala Sutra, showcased little-known areas of western Tibet, including Ngari and Guge.

An auction was held after the film to help raise money for a school that is being built in a poor village just outside Lhasa. The school is scheduled to open on June 10.

“Tonight, I hope to raise 200,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan, which will be enough to operate the school for three to five years,” Brahm said.

He said that although primary education was mandatory on the mainland, Tibet probably received the least outreach from the government due to its remote location.

“A lot of village kids don’t have options for education and we just want to give them the opportunity.”

For more information about the Shambhala, see www.shambhala-action.org.

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