Lotus Charity Excursion

Not much interesting happening these days, but I'm keeping very busy. I've been spending a lot of time at the gym, and planning for my winter vacation starting in January. Nothing is final yet, but I'm hoping to travel to Tibet and down through southern China for about five weeks during the holiday.

A few weeks ago, I joined the Lotus Educational Foundation to travel to a senior center in Hebei province, outside Beijing, to do charity work. Some fellow students, the Lotus staff, and many Chinese volunteers took a coach bus to the small village. It took about two hours to travel to the location. The senior center was for poor, senior Chinese men with no families to live. It was actually an old school and was in bad condition. The living standards were very poor. We visited inside the men’s living quarters to chat with them and help them clean things up. The floors were cold cement, there was no heating, usually one light bulb hanging from the ceiling, no running water, flies everywhere, and not even a real door to keep out the hard winds. They each had a small bed frame and a thin mattress to sleep on. Most of the men were in their seventies or eighties and could barely get around, let alone fix up their places. One old man, who seemed quite healthy, had managed to cover up his whole window with a tarp to keep out the winds. There were lots of volunteers who came to perform different tasks. Some doctors came and used Chinese medicine to help the men. They performed examinations, and they put little pins in their ears because I think the ear has many important points in acupuncture. Most of the volunteers were Buddhists from various places or groups who do this type of work on a normal basis. The people were all given vegetarian steamed buns for lunch. It’s like a soft roll filled with veggies. It’s a popular staple food in China though usually they are filled with meat. After the supplies were handed out, we said goodbye and got back on the bus, which was now full of flies buzzing around. It was an interesting trip. A good experience for the Thanksgiving and holiday season too. After we returned to Beijing, we were served a feast of vegetarian food by the Lotus Foundation in a fancy restaurant. It’s just amazing to see how easy things can go from dirt poor to being extravagant in China these days. It’s like this almost everywhere I’ve been so far.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexsumerall/sets/72157594385655072/