Cross-border friendship takes root, grows into forest

Through the friendship with Chinese desertification control expert Yin Yuzhen, Ronald Sakolsky, a retired American history teacher, hopes to encourage more people to cross national borders and work together to protect their common home, the Earth. ROME, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- "We do not speak the same language, we do not look the same, but we are brother and sister and we understand each other," said Ronald Sakolsky, a retired American history teacher, when describing his bond with Chinese desertification control expert Yin Yuzhen during a recent interview with Xinhua in Rome. Through their friendship, Sakolsky hopes to encourage more people to cross national borders and work together to protect their common home, the Earth. While in China on a teaching exchange program 27 years ago, Sakolsky raised 5,000 U.S. dollars to support Yin's tree-planting efforts in the Maowusu Sandy Land in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. After Sakolsky returned to the United States, the two lost touch for a while. They reunited in China in August this year, more than two decades after their first meeting. In the meantime, over 50,000 tree seedlings purchased with Sakolsky's donation had grown into a forest. The two friends recently met again in Rome, where they were invited to attend the World Food Forum hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). "When I was there in 2000, it was just sand. Now it is all green. It's beautiful," Sakolsky said, recalling his reunion with Yin in August. He struggled to contain his emotion as he described returning to the land where they had helped plant the trees. "When I went back this year, it was like a mother and father seeing their children. Our seeds had grown into big trees. I cried a lot," he said. "As Ms. Yin said, it was like our children waving hello to me in the forest." The transformation of the Maowusu Sandy Land has given their cross-border friendship a deeper meaning. The growing trees have not only changed the landscape, but they also embody a broader shift in environmental awareness and hope for the future. "I have learned that Mother Earth is alive. I heard her," Sakolsky said, recalling an experience in which he wore headphones in the forest and placed a microphone in the ground. He said that if humanity failed to protect the Earth, the planet would no longer be able to provide people with fruit, vegetables, flowers and the oxygen they need to breathe. In Sakolsky's view, countries should work together on environmental protection. He praised the Chinese government for paying increasing attention to combating desertification, and also applauded the Chinese people for actively participating in environmental protection. "This is a concrete manifestation of a community with a shared future for humanity," he said. Sakolsky described his donation over two decades ago as a simple act of kindness by an ordinary person. "I wanted to help China. I did not expect anything back," he said, adding that Yin's perseverance over decades was what truly deserved recognition. On Thursday, Sakolsky sat in the audience as Yin was honored for her inclusion among the FAO 100 Women Heroes in Agrifood Systems and Rural Development, witnessing another milestone in his friend's life. The seedlings the two friends helped plant have grown into a lush forest, while the bridge built through their friendship continues to carry the story of ecological restoration to a wider audience, inspiring more people to pay attention to environmental protection and land restoration.