Torch Bearers and Tibet

The recent scuffles over the Olympic Torch in San Fran, Paris and London have caught my attention.

Indeed, even earlier protests over the progress of the torch on its way from Athens to Beijing have made me take notice.

That's because I recently finished a book about Tibet and the abuses of human rights its people have been suffering. The book was called A Beginner's Guide to Changing the World.

It was written by British authorIsabel Losada, who apparently, after a quick check of her web site, was arrested in London over the weekend for aiming a water gun at the torch.

But I didn't pick up her book because I wanted to read about Tibet. I picked it up because I wanted to read a woman-penned travel memoir. I thought A Beginner's Guide to Changing the World was going to be about one woman's travels in India, Nepal and Tibet. And it was. But it was also so much, much more.

Turned out, Losada traveled to Tibet and was so affected by what she encountered there, that she returned home to London and founded a nonprofit organization called Act for Tibet, which works to educate the public about the Tibetan cause and "act for Tibet."

In the course of the book, the author spent more time in London investigating the various Tibet-minded organizations operating there and learning to navigate the world of protests and nonprofits than she did traveling to Tibet or nearby India and Nepal.

Yet as a traveler, I was really struck by the book. I couldn't help but admire Losada. She traveled far from home, let those travels get under her skin, and then returned home determined to make a contribution. She didn't just travel and forget. She traveled and transformed.

As the protests over the upcoming Olympics look to continue as torch makes its way about the world, I highly recommend A Beginner's Guide to Changing the World.

It's inspiring, funny and educational.

Author photo from IsabelLosada.com.