Interview: Built on Respect Uses DIY Punk Passion to Aid Tibetan Refugees

“Most of the reason that people come into India is either to follow the Dalai Lama or to get an education,” Heidiminx says. “A Tibetan can’t afford education when the Chinese government decides to make the cost of education for a child equal to one year’s salary. They also teach all the classes in Chinese, so it’s totally neutering the [Tibetan] culture.”

A book deal for THC also is in the works, and for the project, Heidiminx is working with THC to collect essays from its students.

“The stories of what the students have gone through to be in India are sad but also very inspiring,” she says. “That’s the easiest way that I have to describe what this book is. This is a group of people that aren’t hateful. It’s a very forgiving group of people.”

When I ask how her Buddhist practice and DIY converge, she replies, “Religion is not anything that can be done for you. Sending money to a televangelist is not religion. You don’t have to be a massive foundation to help people.

“Whether it’s working in an animal shelter, whether it’s choosing to be vegetarian, whether it’s making sure that your parents recycle, there are so many decisions that can be made at an individual level. You don’t need the government to say, ‘Hey, let’s have world peace.’ If everybody collectively started treating each other better, we wouldn’t have issues.”