[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]Days away from the Dalai Lama's speech at the Kohl Center, an international traveler presented a rare glimpse of Tibet at the Humanities building Tuesday night. Tenzin Dickyi, a Tibetan Harvard student invited to speak by Students for a Free Tibet, explained Tibet's position in the modern world and informed the audience on the specific circumstances of the people living there. "Tibet is illegally occupied [by the Chinese], and the Tibetan movement for independence is a nonviolent movement," Dickyi said. "[It is something] that people everywhere should support, not just for the fate of Tibetans, but for the fate of the world." Dickyi, who was born in India and whose mother was a Tibetan exile, moved to the United States when she was 14 and only recently visited Tibet for the first time. Gaining access to Tibet can be difficult, Dickyi said, since it is either too expensive for people, or they lack the proper visa. Even then, she added, visitors must pass fierce interrogation. However, Dickyi said she entered the country by first going through an incorporated region of Tibetan land that let her slip through into Tibet without being interrogated and without presenting her visa. She showed many examples from her visit of how the Chinese were trying to extinguish the Tibetan way of life by replacing their customs with Chinese culture. "The Chinese are saying that they are trying to modernize Tibet … but they have done little in the way of building proper hospitals and schools," Dickyi said. "Most of these 'modernizations,' like the roads they built, were to help [their] soldiers get into the country." According to Dickyi, most of the current transportation systems China offers into Tibet, like its road and train systems, are too expensive to be used by the people of Tibet. She said the systems only bring more Chinese into the region and export the land's mined resources. SFT members were particularly appreciative of Dickyi's presentation. "Overall, I liked her presentation," said Asius Vangio, a member of the University of Wisconsin chapter of SFT. "We were fortunate to get such a speaker, because she is one of the people who actually went to Tibet." Some in attendance came out to learn more about Tibetan issues and see how the Tibetan exiles view their current situation. "I just wanted to learn more and get a sense of what protesters feel and what their perspective is," said Mark Lippmann, who attended Dickyi's presentation. "This is a colossally sad issue … and I think that this is the only one of its kind that is happening right now." The Dalai Lama arrives in Madison today, and will speak at the Alliant Energy Center. He is also scheduled to speak Friday at the Kohl Center on the University of Wisconsin campus. "We are usually overjoyed to hear that we may get a chance to see him," Dickyi said. "He is such a good teacher, … and his [visit] gives us a little taste of Tibet."