Chilaxin' in Hong Kong

Hong Kong - 7:49 AM (7:49 PM your EST)

If you ever have to go on a 16 hour flight over the pacific, wear something warm. The ride was comfortable, but I felt as though I was going to freeze to death entire time. 

I cannot complain much though, the airline provided me with over 30 hours of scrubs and the office to watch on the little view-screen. 

Hong Kong is beautiful, outside of the airport I can see three or four dragon pan ships floating in the water (not sure if thats for the tourists or the people here really style up the shipping yards)

I cannot stay here too long, since my flight to Chengdu leaves in about two hours, but I'm going to make an effort to come back here at some point in my life.

Bad news, the internet situation in the camp might not be what I expected, it could be a bit until I post something else up - but bear with I'll try to find a way to get back on here ASAP.

Now I am off to Chengdu, and then my long motorcycle ride to the earthquake zone starts!

Peace,

~WD

Departure.

Can't say too much else,

Jet lag is going to be the bane of my existence...

*My Mother and I before she sees me off, gotta love the glasses-ness goin on*

Either that or fact I'm going to miss the Terminator movie

If anyone spoils the ending, I'm going to throw a shoe.

I'll try to post something once I get situated at the camp!

Until Then consider me "en route, and out of reach"

~ WD

Succeed and Proceed

The plans are official, I will be departing this Sunday to head to the earthquake zone in Beichuan on the eve of the 1 year anniversary of the May 2008 earthquake.

I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am. My bags are packed (1 week a head), and my smile seems to be permanent at the moment!

**The picture effectively details how I look right now***

Today was brilliant on its own. As I was clumsily stuffing a sleeping bag into my backpack, a UPS truck brought me a pleasant surprise. Three enevlopes were shipped overnight the past weekend to me, containing 274 letters written by American children. I am now proud to say we have met our goal of 742 handwritten letters for the refugeed children, also in the envolopes was a total of $300 to contribute to the toy fund, that we will use to purchase toys in Chengdu for the young students who had lost their lives one year ago. 

After all of the frustration in the past few weeks, courage and patience held its ground. These are both qualities I will need to use in many years to come, as the pursuit of peace and diplomacy is never an easy task. 

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of those who were involved in order to make this trip possible: The schoolteachers and their students, who took the time to write a few hundred letters for the Chinese children to inspire them to continue their English proficiency and studies, (2) The University of South Carolina and Dobson Foundation, without the considerate financial support their would be no trip to begin with, (3) All of the private donors who have contributed to the toy fund, with your help we are able to purchase one toy for each student in the camp, (4) The Red Cross for your guidance and cooperation to help plan and harbor this trip to Beichuan, (5) And all of my loved ones who, without your support, I would not be the man that I am today as I will share the same love you have shown to me to this dark world. 

Your help has cleared the path, and now it is time for us to take our first step.

Stepping through walls.

The past week has been a culmination of frustration and craze. I was unsure as to if i were going to China or not, BUT everything has been cleared through the efforts constant patience and dedication. 

      I am going to China.

Just one week later! The Red Cross has been understanding and very helpful in this process, and managed to pull a few strings for me to stay a while longer in the camps, plus I may get a better flight out of this turn of events. 

More letters for the children are coming in, and I appreciate every one's support for this project. I feel as though now I should give some background information as to why i am going, and the best place to start in any personal explanation...is with a little personal philosophy.

Samuel Huntington, an accomplished political scientist once said, “Future International conflicts will be a direct result of the cultural, historic, ethnic, and religious differences that make civilizations unique” that “the most important conflict of the future will occur along the cultural fault lines separating these civilizations from one another”.yet I cannot sit here and accept that stigma as truth. The world is becoming smaller, and civilizations are encountering each other day by day. However,  His history was only partly representative of civilizations that came together, but there are varieties of outcomes that are not always clash and conflict; history has proven something grandeur has arisen from plurality rather than homogenized policy. . Many of the worlds technological revolutions, medical advancements, and humanitarian accomplishments could have only be brought upon by the culmination of lateral efforts from peoples belonging to all sorts of not just civilizations, but cultures as well.

Even though we are 7,000 miles away from China, my heart still is torn from the silence of 60,000 voices from the Sichuan earthquake.  I have no ties, no relations, no bond with these people.; but as a human, I find plausibility in my efforts to help ease the suffering that has occurred.  My career goals are uncertain, but I do know that whatever field I end up in, it MUST lead to or consist of working towards the goal of peace, possibly achieved through humanitarian assistance or diplomatic relations. In respect of my International Studies major and Chinese language experience, this opportunity will be positively influential for my academic background. More importantly, being able to utilize my compassion and drive can help inspire the future development of positive interaction between cultures of all backgrounds, as It is in a crisis that we all mourn together, but it is also in a crisis that we work and grow closer than ever before. 

This will not be an easy task. This is an objective that many individuals have spent their entire lives working towards, but history proves their efforts are not in vain. Whether it is on micro levels such as Picasso’s Guarencia or Macro levels as the UN’s economic sanctions that led to the fall of the Apartide policies of South Africa, hope remains universal amidst the divergence of homogenization. I am not scared, I am ready to take this step.  

 For information on the earthquake, and where I will be going (the epicenter) ->http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,357066,00.html, http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_7590000/newsid_7591100/7591152.stm