Imagine that so many people are overjoyed of your death

It's like a RPCV Guinea reunion on gmail and facebook, everyone has his/her status express the joy, the shock, the disbelief, the skeptism of unknown future, following the annoncement of death of General Lansana Conté. Eh Allah! 40 jours de deuil (je pense plustot c'est la célébration de sa mort!) et la lutte de pourvoir commence?! The people going to suffer even more...

Of course part of us wonder if he has been dead for sometime, and his inner circle has finally decided to let out the news. In anycase, and let's hope for some positive changes!

I am hoping for a MIRACLE!

There are also NGOs in China, not just companies trying to make money

Since I can't fill up all my time with babysitting the construction workers at my parents apt, shopping for unimaginable amount of building materials big and small, trying to find some friends and hang out with them (quite hard when one lives so far and doesn't work), and of course drowning myself in the internet, I found a couple of NGOs (not for profit organizations) to volunteer at.

Is a NGO started by an university student who learned about AIDS orphans in Henan. A province south of Yellow River. Apperantly this is a rather poor province, in the late 90s, lots of people sold blood to state hospitals to make money, and the blood weren't checked before given to patients who needed blood transfusion, the consequences you can imagine. The founder started first an orphan school in Henan, but was shot down several times by the state and finally he couldn't continue the school in Henan.
So he came back to Beijing and started 东珍(Dongzhen) to educate young people on HIV/AIDS.

Here is a postcard (what does it remind you of?), that I have helped to pass out on the streets. It was the first time for me to hand out stuff on the streets.

Here is a market shopping bag by the NGO as well. There are quite some creative people here in China!

There are also NGOs in China, not just companies trying to make money

The other one is Jane Goodall Institute Roots and Shoots program to educate young people on environmental protection. Of course this isn't a chinese born and grown NGO, but nevertheless it is a NGO thriving in China. I was told that NGOs focusing on environmental protection work out the best in China.

A public lecture by Dr. Jane Goodall at Beijing University.

Here is picture taken of Jane at a holiday fundraiser in Beijing. Poor thing, she is spending so much time and energy these days traveling all over the world to raise funding for the environmental projects of the institute. I wonder if she sometimes just want to go back to the forest and sit by her chimpanze friends for some reall quite and simple time.

Even it is 天寒地冻，I still want to see you - Beijing

天寒地冻 - sky cold earth frozen

My parents apt. work is taking a bit of a break right now, so I have more time to myself, and onto my second round of city seeing, eventhough, it is really really really bone chilling cold.

The lobby of the capital museum

a model of old theatre house inside the museum

the bell tower where the bell used to be rang at 7pm tell people to leave the streets for their home, and at 5am to annonce that morning is starting
Inside the drum tower, where the climb is so steep, I had to walk down sideways

looking down to the rooftop of the center of Beijing where the old houses - siheyuan are preserved

St. Joseph church (over 100 years old) by the Wangfujing walking street

I want to cry; it made me laugh; then I ponder

was in a bathroom washing my hand, the lady next to me left the faucet on while soaping her hands, and faucet was pouring out water, like i am crying a river inside of me for these water just going to waste...

so, we calcuated how many trees we would've cut down in 20 years, if every chinese uses one pair of disposable chopsticks a day, with the kids I am teaching Ecology-English (with the Jane Goodall Institute Roots and Shoots program) , let's see, 730 chopsticks x 1 300 000 000 x 20 = MANY chopsticks, equivalent of 7 200 000 000 trees. so, one boy said "I am just gonna use my hands!" I laughed out loud.

SO, I am a natural nature lover, always like all sorts of animals and plants. 3 years in a hut in Guinea, I even ended up liking the little bugs, even the fuzzy catipillar I use to hate, okay, I still can't stand snacks. So, it's very easy for me to care for the environment, but I wonder, I ponder, I scratch my head, how do we convince those city lovers, concret and metal lovers to care for environment where all that they like are made from the very nature I love???

Chopping Chopsticks

China produces 45 billions disposable chopsticks a year, which means 25 millions trees are cut down to do it, large part of the production is shipped overseas. For me, since I am in Beijing, starting yesterday I put a pair of reusable chopsticks in my bag. But for my friends, you, overseas, that's not realistic, but what else can you to do reduce the demand?