August 2006

KINDNESS and LOVE . . .

KINDNESS provides a house, but LOVE makes a home.

Kindness packs an adequate sack lunch, but love puts a note of encouragement inside.

Kindness provides a television set or computer as a learning air, but love controls the remote control and cares enough to insist a child “sign off”.

Kindness sends a child to bed on time, but love tucks the covers around a child’s neck and provides a goodnight hug and kiss.

Kindness cooks a meal, but love selects the “your favorite foods” menu and lights the candles.

Kindness writes a thank-you note, but love thinks to include a joke or photograph or bookmark inside the envelope.

Kindness keeps a clean and tidy house, but love adds a bouquet of fresh flowers.

Kindness pours a glass of milk, but love occasionally adds a little chocolate sauce.

Kindness is doing what is decent, basic, courteous, and necessary for an even, smooth, and gentle flow of life.

Love is taking the extra step to make life truly exciting, creative and meaningful!

Love is what makes things special.

LOVE . . .

LOVE works in ways that are

wondrous and strange,

There's nothing in life that

LOVE can not change!

Chinese Language Being Taught More in the USA

This article came out last fall, but I think you'll find it interesting to see how many people, including elementary children are currently studying the Chinese Language here in America. Notice the name of the first school mentioned in the article is: "Louisa May Alcott Elementary School" ... Remember Louisa May Alcott is the well-known American writer and author of "Little Women" which several of you have read and saw the movie we showed you in China. "Little Women" is one of my all time favorite books and authors.

CLASSES IN CHINESE GROW AS THE LANGUAGE RIDES A WAVE OF POPULARITY

October 15, 2005 The NEW YORK TIMES . . . By GRETCHEN RUETHLING

CHICAGO, Oct. 14 - The future of foreign language study in the United States might be glimpsed here at Louisa May Alcott Elementary School, in a classroom where lanterns with cherry blossoms and pandas dangle overhead, and a paper dragon, an American flag and a Chinese flag hang from the wall.

One recent morning, a class of third graders bowed to one another and introduced themselves in Chinese, and a class of fourth graders practiced writing numbers in Chinese characters on marker boards. Chinese classes began at Alcott in February, but more students are already choosing it over Spanish.

"Chinese is our new baby," said David J. Domovic, the principal at Alcott, on the North Side, one of 20 public schools in the city offering instruction in Mandarin. "Everybody just wants in."

With encouragement from the Chinese and American governments, schools across the United States are expanding their language offerings to include Chinese, the world's most spoken tongue, not to mention one of its most difficult to learn.

Last month, the Defense Department gave a $700,000 grant to public schools in Portland, Ore., to double the number of students studying Chinese in an immersion program. In May, Senators Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, and Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, introduced a bill to spend $1.3 billon over five years on Chinese language programs in schools and on cultural exchanges to improve ties between the United States and China. The bill has been referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

After 2,400 schools expressed interest, Advanced Placement Chinese classes will be offered in high schools around the country starting next year. Beijing is paying for half the $1.35 million to develop the classes, including Chinese teachers' scholarships and developing curriculums and examinations, said Trevor Packer, executive director of the Advanced Placement Program at the College Board.

"Many Americans are beginning to realize the importance of speaking Chinese," Zhu Hongqing, consul at the Chinese Education Consulate here, said. "We need to provide as much powerful support as we can."

The number of Chinese language programs around the country, from elementary school through adult programs, has tripled in 10 years, said Scott McGinnis, an academic adviser at the Defense Language Institute in Washington.

"Chinese is strategic in a way that a lot of other languages aren't," because of China's growth as an economic and military force, Mr. McGinnis said.

"Whatever tensions lie between us, there is a historical longstanding mutual fascination with each other," he said. "Planning to be ready to engage with them rather than only thinking of them in terms of a challenge or a competitor is the smart thing to do."

Up to 50,000 students are studying Chinese in elementary and secondary schools in the United States, experts estimate. Many are in cities like New York and San Francisco that have large numbers of Chinese-American students, and many take lessons after school or on weekends.

The Chicago program stands out because it is entirely in public schools during the regular school day and primarily serves students who are not of Chinese descent.

Mayor Richard M. Daley, a vocal supporter of the program, said proficiency in Chinese would be critical in understanding the competition.

"I think there will be two languages in this world," Mr. Daley said. "There will be Chinese and English."

From an all-black elementary school on the West Side to a nearly all-Hispanic elementary school on the South Side to more diverse schools throughout the city, some 3,000 students from kindergarten through high school are learning Chinese. The Chinese Education Ministry has called the program a model for teaching students who are not of Chinese descent. The ministry donated 3,000 textbooks to the school system last year.

The program has expanded from three schools in 1999 to 20 this year and is scheduled to add five by the end of the school year.

"They have a great international experience right in their own classroom," said Robert Davis, manager of the district's Chicago Chinese Connections Program, which seeks to develop skills to help students compete in the world marketplace. "We want them to meet on an equal playing field."

Some parents here worry at first about how relevant the Chinese classes are and whether they will be too difficult. The Foreign Service Institute, which trains American diplomats, ranks Chinese as one of the four most time-intensive languages to learn. An average English speaker takes 1,320 hours to become proficient in Chinese, compared with 480 hours in French, Spanish or Italian, the institute says.

Sevtap Guldur, 31, said she and her daughter Sahire, a fourth grader at Alcott, looked over the unfamiliar Chinese characters before deciding whether to take the class.

"If you're ready to learn that, go for it," Ms. Guldur said she told her daughter.

Sahire, who is fluent in Turkish, said it was her favorite class.

At Alcott, 160 students from kindergarten to fifth grade are studying Spanish, compared with 242 taking Chinese, although not without occasional frustration.

"Do we have to do it in Chinese?" a third grader asked during a recent exercise, perhaps missing the point of the class.

Raul Freire, 9, a fourth grader fluent in Spanish, said he taught words to his mother so she could better communicate with Chinese-speaking customers at the bank where she works.

"Mostly everybody in the school wants to take Chinese," Raul said. "I think about being a traveler when I grow up, so I have to learn as many languages as I can."

Adriana Freire, 33, Raul's mother, who is from Ecuador, said the skills would help her son be a better competitor in the job market. "I never thought that he was going to be able to do something like that," Ms. Freire said.

Most of the 10 elementary and 10 high schools in the program here offer the language four times a week for 40 minutes a day. Each school decides how to fit the class in the school day, with some taking time from classes like physical education, music and art to make room.

Chicago has a waiting list of schools that want to offer Chinese. The main obstacle is a lack of teachers certified by an American college, a requirement of the No Child Left Behind law, Mr. Davis said.

"It's hard when we can't hire a teacher that is qualified because of that missing certification," he said.

The shortage of teachers is common throughout the United States, said Michael Levine, executive director of education at the Asia Society in New York.

Six states have signed or plan to sign agreements with the Chinese government to import teachers from China and send teachers from the United States to China for training, Mr. Levine said.

"Eventually," he said, "we're going to have to homegrow our own."

SEVEN WAYS TO MAKE YOUR BRAIN SMARTER...

Here's a very interesting article ... How many of these things are a part of your life?

MIND GAMES … SEVEN WAYS TO MAKE YOUR BRAIN BETTER, FASTER, SMARTER ...

by William Speed Weed, Reader’s Digest, August 2006

# 1. MOVE IT … “The best advice I can give to keep your brain healthy and young is aerobic exercise,” says Donald Stuss, PhD, a neuropsychologist and director of the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto.

Mark McDaniel, PhD, professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, agrees, but adds, “I would suggest a combined program of aerobics and weight training. Studies show the best outcomes for those engaged in both types of exercise.”

As we age, our brain cells, called neurons, lose the tree-branch-like connections between them. These connections, or synapses, are essential to thought. Quite literally, over time, our brains lose their strength. Perhaps the most striking brain research today is the strong evidence we now have that “exercise may forestall some kinds of mental decline.” It may even restore memory. Myriad animal studies have shown that, among other brain benefits, aerobic exercise increases capillary development in the brain, meaning more blood supply, more nutrients and – a big requirement for brain health – more oxygen.

#2. FEED IT … Another path to a better brain is through your stomach. We’ve all heard about antioxidants as cancer fighters. Eating foods that contain these molecules, which neutralize harmful free radicals, may be especially good for your brain too. Free radicals break down the neurons in our brains. Many colorful fruits and vegetables are packed with antioxidants, as are some beans, whole grains, nuts and spices.

More important, thought, is overall nutrition. In concert with a good workout routine, you should eat right to avoid the diseases that modern flesh is heir to. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol all make life tough on your brain, says Carol Greenwood, PhD, a geriatric research scientist at the University of Toronto.

If your diet is heavy, then you’re probably also heavy. The same weight that burdens your legs on the stairs also burdens your brain for the witty reply or quick problem solving. The best things you can eat for your body, are also the best things you can eat for your brain. Your brain is in your body, after all. Greenwood’s recommendation is to follow the dietary guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (available at diabetes.org).

#3. SPEED IT UP … Our brains naturally start slowing down at the cruelly young age of 30. It used to be thought that this couldn’t be helped, but a lot of new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to be faster and, and in effect, younger. “Your brain is a learning machine,” says Michael Merzenich, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. Given the right tools, we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger. All that’s required is dedicated practice: exercises for the mind.

Merzenich has developed a computer-based training regimen to speed up how the brain processes information (positscience.com). Since much of the data we receive comes through speech, the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to improve both speed and accuracy. Over the course of your training, the program starts asking you to distinguish sounds (between “dog” and “bog,” for instance) at an increasingly faster rate. It’s a bit like a tennis instructor shooting balls at you faster and faster over the course of the summer to keep you challenged. Though you may have started out slow, by the end of summer you’re pretty fast.

Similarly, Nintendo was inspired by the research of a Japanese doctor to develop a handheld game called Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, which has sold more than two million copies in Japan. No software out there has yet been approved by the FDA as a treatment for cognitive impairment, but an increasing number of reputable scientific studies suggest that programs like Merzenich’s could help slow down typical brain aging, or even treat dementia. The biggest findings in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly adaptable, or “plastic,” as neurologists put it. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn. And it may speed up in the process.

To keep your brain young and supple, you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you: playing Ping-Pong or contract bridge, doing jigsaw puzzles, learning a new language or the tango, taking music lessons, building a kit airplane, mastering bonsai technique or another skill, and even relearning differential calculus.

“Anything that closely engages your focus and is strongly rewarding,” says Merzenich, will kick your brain into learning mode and necessarily notch it up. Merzenich, 64 years of age, has “4,000 hobbies,” including a wood shop and a vineyard.

#4 STAY CALM … While challenging your brain is very important, remaining calm is equally so. In a paper on the brain and stress, Jeansok Kim of the University of Washington asserts, in no uncertain terms, that traumatic stress is bad for your brain cells. Stress can “disturb cognitive processes such as learning and memory, and consequently limit the quality of human life,” writes Kim.

One example is a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is a primary locus of memory formation, but which can be seriously debilitated by chronic stress. Of course, physical exercise is always a great de-stressor, as are calmer activities like yoga and meditation. And when you line up your mental calisthenics (your Swahili and swing lessons), make sure you can stay loose and have fun.

#5 GIVE IT A REST … Perhaps the most extreme examples of the mental power of staying calm is the creative benefit of sleep. Next time you’re working on a complex problem, whether it be a calculus proof or choosing the right car for your family, it really pays to “sleep on it.”

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have looked at the conditions under which people come up with creative solutions. In a study involving math problems, they found that a good night’s rest doubled participants’ chances of finding a creative solution to the problems the next day. The sleeping brain, they theorize, is vastly capable of synthesizing complex information.

#6. LAUGH A LITTLE … Humor stimulates the parts of our brain that use the “feel good” chemical messenger dopamine. That puts laughter in the category of activities you want to do over and over again, such as eating chocolate or having sex. Laughter is pleasurable, perhaps even “addictive,” to the brain.

But can humor make us smarter? The jury is still out and more studies are needed, but the initial results are encouraging. Look for a feature on exciting new research about humor and intelligence in the September issue of Reader’s Digest. (I’ll post this information when I get it.)

#7. GET BETTER WITH AGE … You’ve heard about the wisdom and judgment of older people? Scientists are starting to understand how wisdom works on a neurological level.

When you are older, explains Merzenish, “you have recorded in your brain millions and millions of little social scenarios and facts” that you can call upon at any time. You are a much better synthesizer and integrator of that information.”

Older people are better at solving problems, because they have more mental information to draw upon than younger people do. That’s why those in their 50s and 60s are sage. They’re the ones we turn to for the best advice, the ones we want to run our companies and our country.

As Barry Gordon, a neurologist at The John Hopkins School of Medicine puts it, “It’s nice to know some things get better with age.”

MORE WAYS TO STAY SHARP:

· DON’T SMOKE … Smokers perform worse than nonsmokers in studies of memory and cognitive function. No one knows whether smoking directly impairs memory or is merely associated with memory loss because it causes illnesses that contribute to poorer brain function. In addition, smoking increases the risk for stroke and hypertension, two other causes of memory impairment. In any case, if you smoke, it pays to quit. Research shows that people who stop smoking have less mental decline than those who continue to smoke.

· DRINK IN MODERATION … Excessive consumption of alcohol is toxic to neurons and is the leading risk factor for Korsakoff’s syndrome, a disorder that causes sudden and irreversible memory loss. If you’re a heavy drinker, cutting back can prevent further memory loss and will usually lead to some recovery of damaged memory function. (Miss Becky suggests no drinking of alcohol, for several health reasons, which I’ll discuss in a future article.)

· BE SOCIAL … Close ties with others can improve the cognitive performance of older people, according to a MacArthur study on aging and other research. Social support can come from relationships with friends, relatives or caregivers. A Canadian study published in 2003 identified a lack of relationships with friends and family as a risk factor for cognitive decline. The study, which followed people over age 65 for four years, found that the probability of maintaining good cognitive function was highest among people who socialized often and had strong social ties; the probability of losing cognitive function was highest among people who had the least contact.

Social engagement often goes hand in hand with intellectually stimulating activities, which in turn promote good memory function. Social relationships can also help support you during stressful times, reducing the damaging effects that stress can have on the brain.

· WATCH YOUR HEAD … Head trauma often results in memory impairment, which is a risk factor for future development of dementia. You can prevent head injury by using the appropriate gear during high-speed activities and contact sports. Car accidents are by; far the most common cause of brain injury, and wearing seat belts greatly reduces the injury risk. Use a helmet when bicycling, riding on a motorcycle, in-line skating and skiing. And you can lower the risk of concussion by wearing a mouth guard, which deflects the force of a blow to the chin, during contact sports such as football, hockey, soccer, basketball, rugby and martial arts.

SUNSHINE PROJECT UPDATE

The following report and pictures were sent by Hua Wei, one of the special ladies who has continued to direct the project since we've left China. Thanks to all who have continued to support this effort and bring SUNSHINE into the lives of these children.

GAOCHUN DEAF SCHOOL .... 06/03/06

The Children's Day this year is not on a weekend, so we planned our annual trip to the Deaf School today (06/03/06).

The girl named Lv Xiaohong and the boy who is good at sports, named Wan Qiwang graduated already and was admitted to

a high school for deaf students in Nanjing.

There are more students this year than ever before at Gaochun since the school has now

added more than 10 mentally disabled kids. Altogether there are more than 70 students now in the Gaochun Deaf

School.

This year another PROJECTOR has been placed in the classroom, so there are two projectors now

supported by our Sunshine Project. The teachers praised a lot for these two instruments since they

find them very useful in their teaching.

Another girl supported by the Sunshine Project, named Yang Shuwen, was honored as one of the Ten

Disabled K-12 Students in the Nanjing Region, while one of the 100 Best of Most Excellent K-12 Kids.

The school has three new teachers this year. The kids have some new performance.

 

Deaf Student performing for us.

(From Left to Right: Jing Hong, Bola [student leader] BYU Teachers Mrs. & Mr. Rusts, Hairong, Miss Yuan & Hua Wei)

We have another couple of BYU teachers, the Rusts, to be with us today. They were performing games on the stage and making

dumplings with the kids. Jinghong's daughter, Hairong, who is now a high school student also joined our trip.

And another faculty member, Miss Yuan, form the Network Center of NJU also joined our team.

More students performing ... a new teacher on the right.

Their computer lab really is looking nice, especially compared to what it was like when we started the project.

The school's teachers hope to have another Projector next year from our project, but Jinghong and I are not sure

about our budget. We said we will try to raise more funds and wait until we have enough support. But what

becomes more urgent is that the money from the Hong Kong people is less this year. Anyway we will try to work

hard.

************************************************

This is the end of Hua Wei's report and I would just like to express my thanks to her and all those who traveled to the school and who donated money to the project ... you are making a difference in the lives of these special children. My daughter Kara, who is currently working on a PhD in Education, was able to visit the school last year and she was so impressed with the project. She is giving some support and is encouraging us to continue to support this project, as well.

I have a good project in mind for raising some funds as we each work on becoming more physically fit and "smarter" .... Look on this site for more details to follow.

The SUNSHINE Project

The SUNSHINE Project:

Purpose: To bring SUNSHINE (light, warmth, happiness, hope and love) into the lives of poor deaf Chinese students by sharing our friendship, love and resources to help them gain education and training to become positive, happy, contributing members of society.

How we bring SUNSHINE to students of the Gao Chun Long Xiao School:

1. Provide money to pay the tuition and fees for poor students who can not afford to attend the school.

2. Purchase needed teaching equipment, such as scanners and printers for their computers, projectors to use in the classroom, etc.

3. NJU teachers and students will carry out a variety of fieldtrips and activities at the school with the children, sharing love, fun and friendship.

Two of the oldest and most accomplished deaf students at Gao Chun Long Xiao School. They met our van and escorted and hosted us each time we came to their campus.

How the Project began:

NanJing University students who were members of Miss Becky’s 4-H Club, fall semester 2002, started the project at Christmas time in December, by collecting money at the Christmas party to help poor children get more education. Miss Becky invited some other American BYU teachers and NJU teachers to participate. With some very generous donations, we soon had over 8,000RMB.

Through the efforts of Hua Weina and Gao Fenghua, two NJU Teachers, the Gao Chun Long Xiao and Nie Shlui Pei Zhi Xue Xiao schools were identified as needing help and were close enough to NanJing to allow our students to visit and interact with the deaf students.

A visit was made to the school, by American and Chinese teachers, to find out their needs.

Becky Mitchell and JoAn Criddle, BYU English Teachers (2002-2003) on their first visit to Gao Chun Long Xiao.

Gao Chun Long Xiao is a very excellent school, with young dedicated teachers, fair facilities and positive environment. It’s a boarding school with children from pre-school to grade nine. All the students have hearing disabilities and are learning sign language. They are bright, happy children, who performed some dances for us. It’s wonderful for these students to attend this school where they have friends and can learn and be happy. It was sad, however, to learn that there are many other deaf children whose families do not have the money to pay the tuition and fees for them to attend. We also learned that they would really like to have more contact with the outside world – the children only go home two weekends a month.

Currently we are:

· Planning our first trip to the school with NJU students on Saturday, April 19th. We plan to tour the school, then take the youth on our bus for an trip to a nearby old Chinese town. We’ll have a picnic along the way, play games and have lots of fun.

· Inviting our friends and family members to contribute to the sponsorship of individual children who can not afford to attend the school. The cost for one year is about $175 or 1400RMB. We have already received commitments from Americans to pay for at least seven more children to attend the school.

· Purchasing a printer, scanner, opaque projector and screen to be used in their classes. Also getting some sign language books needed by one teacher.

· NJU teachers and students are organizing the project to continue after Miss Becky leaves NanJing at the end of this school year. She will continue to support the project from America.

If you are interested in sharing the SUNSHINE and participating in this project, contact Miss Becky at: missbecky@xmission.com

Share a little SUNSHINE with others!

More about the SUNSHINE Project

An UPDATE on the SUNSHINE Project:

Visit to the School:

On Saturday, April 19th, over 20 NanJing University students, along with some NJU teachers, family members and friends of Ken and Becky Mitchell, the BYU China Teacher at NJU that year, traveled by bus to the Gao Chun Long Xiao School for deaf children.

We took with us a student with computer skills to connect the printer and scanner that we had purchased for the school. He also serviced the computers and promised to return to provide proper care for the computers, on a volunteer basis.

The deaf children led us on a tour of their school and classrooms, we put name tags on all of them, and the University students paired off with the students, communicating in writing and body language.

The deaf students performed for us, and we for them:

We shared lunch, played a variety of games, including baseball, made “rainbow” bracelets with the children and the older children accompanied us on a short field trip in their town.

The above students were some of the ones that we sponsored ... they could not have attended the school without the money we donated to the school.

At this time we discussed with the Director of the school other needs. We were given information sheets on ten deaf children who will not be able to return to the school the next year, unless we could get the money to pay their fees. These fees include their board and room as well as school costs. We also discussed their need for some projectors in the classrooms.

Both the deaf students and the university students had a WONDERFUL experience on April 19th. Before the next Saturday, five of the deaf students had written letters of appreciation to the University students, who have replied and sent pictures, etc. Future visits were being planned.

SARS Prevents Visits . . . Due to the SARS problem, both the NJU and Deaf School campuses were locked down and no other visits were permitted. The students and teacher hope to resume regular visits when the fall semester begins. But the following things have still be accomplished:

Library Started . . . NJU Teachers purchased and sent several new books to the school to begin a little library. Other books will be added at others times:

Ten Students have been sponsored: NJU Students, Teachers, Friends and family members from America and Hong Kong have sent the money to pay the fees for 10 students to attend the school for the next school year. The cost is $175 or 1400RMB.

Future Plans . . .

· After the SARS problem was over the NJU teachers delivered the money and other items, clothes and school supplies, that we had collected to the school. They are continuing to find and purchase some audio-visual equipment for use in their classrooms.

· They will plan with the NJU students future visits to the school for activity days and perhaps bring the older children on a fieldtrip to Nanjing, etc.

· Will continue to communicate with the school director to plan for and purchase needed audio-visual equipment for the school to use.

Our goal: Bringing more SUNSHINE into the lives of these special children.

SUNSHINE PROJECT VISIT -- 2004

SUNSHINE Project Visit – March 13, 2004

Return to China -- In February 2004, Miss Becky and Smiley (Ken) Mitchell returned to China to teach for one semester in Beijing at Peking University. One of the things that make this such a wonderful experience was the opportunity to meet and visit with many of our former students and friends in China.

Visit to Gao Chun School -- The wonderful Nanjing teachers (Hua Wei, Jin Jian, Yang Jinghong, Gao FengHua and student leaders organized a special visit to Gao Chun School in March of 2004. Ken and I took the night train from Beijing to Nanjing and had a wonderful reunion with many special students and friends there. Several helped us prepare materials to take to the deaf students, including puppets and “snowballs.”

Here deaf student shows one of the puppets that the NJU students made and presented to the school.

Here are the 18 students that our project supported this school year -- without the funds we provided, they would not have been able to attend the school this year. Adult and student project leaders are also in the picture.

Note in the picture that many of the students are giving the "sign" for "I Love You". There was lots of LOVE and Sunshine shared that day!!

One of the Teachers demonstrated the projector that our project purchased for the school this year. The teachers all loved it and found it a great teaching tool.

One of the highlights of this visit was getting the school, ONLINE. The NJU computer students got them connected and we paid for DSL service. As you can see here, the students LOVED it. Many of them have continued to communicate via e-mail with their NJU student friends.

(See hand "sign" for "I Love You" on the back wall. Some of the students performed and . . .

The students from a middle school in Nanjing who joined our group performed as well as. This group had raised money and collected clothing to bring to the school.

Everyone liked the performances.

One of our NJU graduate students arranged for a TV station to send a filming crew to cover the story of our visit and the SUNSHINE Project. Here they are interviewing one of the oldest, most talented boys, who is using "sign language" to communicate -- he can speak a little.

This is the entire group of students and visitors.

It was a WONDERFUL day for everyone. We played games, (the students especially liked UNO), did some crafts, played some sports, ate lunch, communicated one on one in writing and made some special friendships. It was the first time for some of the visitors to come to Gaochun school. They were very impressed with the school, especially the children and teachers and many promised to continue to support our project. A special THANKS to all the NJU students and teachers who made this special day possible ... TOGETHER we are able to "make a difference" in the lives of these special children.

Several of the NJU students expressed to me how good it felt to share "sunshine" with others. One of the NJU students who had visited the school the year before, decided to volunteer once a week in Nanjing at a school for deaf students close to her, so it did not take as long to get there. She plays with and "loves" a five year old deaf boy and they have become good friends. She told me, "I feel good when I make someone else happy."

That's the secret of HAPPINESS ... to forget about ourselves and love, serve and care about others ... then HAPPINESS and JOY will come to us!!!

Foreign Teachers Seeded SUN PROJECT

SUNSHINE Project visit to Gao Chun Long Xiao School for deaf children, March 13, 2004:

This Nanjing University journalism student, holds a flower made by the deaf students which was presented to her and the name tags that we used ... note the "smiley face". She wrote the following article about the SUNSHINE Project and our visit for a Chinese Newspaper. She also did the English translation for us, which follows:

Foreign Teachers Seeded “Sun Project”

The Gaochun Special Education School was in the sunshine on Mar. 13th. The students were welcoming the “Sunshine Deputies”, including American teachers Ken Mitchell, Becky Mitchell, Mr. Nielson, Mrs. Claton, and the staff and students from Nanjing University and Nanjing Foreign Language School. People gathered and held a party in the school hall. On the stage, children were singing Seed A Sun by sign language: “I have a wonderful wish, wish I could seed a sun.” Off the stage, the “Sunshine Project” has seeded the sun of love and hope here.

“Sunshine Project” was initiated on Christmas Day, 2002. Associates of “China Teachers Program” of “David M. Kennnedy Center for International Studies” Mr. Ken Mitchell and his wife Becky Mitchell, Mr. Richard Criddle and his wife JoAn Criddle with their Chinese students discussed about doing something for the Chinese children. They raised an amount of money and donated it to the Gaochun Special Education School with the help of NJU teachers Hua Weina, Yang Jinhong, Jin Jian and Gao Fenghua. This benevolence was named “Sunshine Project”. Thanks to the project, over 50 thousand Yuan and some educational devices such as projector, copier, and scanter have been donated to the school; a little Reading Corner has been built up to facilitate the students’ study; 18 students who were initially too poor to go to school could go back to the classroom again. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, Mr. and Mrs. Criddle also called for help from their relatives and friends after they went back to U.S.A last year. And now more and more warm-hearted people gathered into the “sunshine”. Liu Cui’er, a Hong Kong doctor and many students of Nanjing University and Nanjing Foreign Language School have participated into this activity.

Li Xin, a student majoring in Business Administration at Nanjing University, drew 200 yuan from the National Scholarship she has won and contributed it to the “Sunshine Project”. Zhu Guang, from the Mathematics Department at Nanjing University, has come to the school for the third time. He and his classmate Kong Linhong helped the students set up ADSL to facilitate their surfing the Internet. The students in Class 10, Grade 2 at the Nanjing Foreign Language School has brought lots of books and 400 yuan, and also with their well prepared entertainment programs.

In the hall, every student was wearing a card printed a smiling face and a smiling face ring, which were both made by Miss Becky. She hoped the students could communicate by smiling. Beginning with smile, “Sunshine Deputies” brought out their gifts such as candies and books; their partners presented their self-made Lucky Stars and Paper Roses. When the party reached its peak, Miss Becky played snowballs with the children. The children were so happy, smile on their checks, and sunshine in the hall.

“I love children very much,” said Miss Becky with a smile, a colorful hand made necklace around her neck and several paintings and calligraphic works in her hands. Those were all gifts the disabled students made for her. Miss Beck said, “I will continue to help them till they graduate and become a person useful to the society.” She showed the photos of her family to the students Yang Hui and Lv Xiaohong and said, “I have seven grandchildren, and now I have the eighth and the ninth child. You are the members of our family.” Yang Hui and Lv Xiaohong received the photos and happily took photos with their “foreign grandmother”. Yang Hui expressed “Thank you” and “I love you” by sigh languages. Yang Hui, 20, once wanted to enter the high school but quitted because of financial problems. Now she fortunately became one of the objects of the “Sunshine Project”. She smiled and told her wish, “I want to enter the Nanjing Special Education college to major in designing.” Her dream is to become a fashion designer.

The “Sunshine Project” not only sent sunshine to the disabled students, but left sunshine in the heart of the participators. Zhou Yin, a Politics major at Nanjing University who’s kept in touch with Yang Hui for almost a year, said, “They seldom communicate with the outside world and lack confidence. I hope to spend more time with them and help to build up their confidence.” Wang Jianni, from the Nanjing Foreign Language School said, “I think this activity is meaningful. It makes you learn to help others when you live under a relatively normal condition.”

Mr. Ken also expressed his admiration to the students, “If I could not speak and listen, I would not know what I should do. But they are all so happy and active. I truly admire them.” He expected more people to participate into this project, “I’m happy to see so many students come this year. Maybe there will be more next year. It’s true that every city and every place have this kind of need and we can’t help everyone, but it’s better to help one than to do nothing.”

The “Sunshine Project” has seeded a sun in the Gaochun Special Education School, more care and help from the society are expected, as was sung by the children in the Seed A Sun, “It’s enough to seed one sun, one sun is enough; it will grow many, many suns. And every corner of the world will become warm and bright.”

Update on My Life ...

Today, July 19th, 2006, I'm at our small cabin in the Logan mountains, just about a 15 minute drive from our home. I do not have internet here, so I'll have to post this when I return home in a couple of days.

This has been a very busy month for me:

* Drove to Montana to attend a memorial service for a special friend who died in June. A friend drove with me and we listened to some tapes about the medical advances in treating mental illness that have come about in the last decade. This was very interesting to us, as our friend who had, died had struggled with a mental illness for years. This information was helpful in understanding mental disabilities better ... now doctors are treating the brain as another organ of the body and we know that chemical imbalances in the brain can cause illness for people and there are a variety of things that can cause those chemical imbalances. The good news is that there are now medications available to assist in the treatment of these illnesses.

* Took care of the three grandchildren that are living at our home for four days while their mother was leading a group of young women in a summer camping experience. It was a busy week getting them to all their summer activities, which included summer camps at the Historic Farm, 4-H Adventure camps on the USU campus, and supporting Baylor's baseball team as they played in and won the end of the season tournament -- this was all in addition to preparing meals, washing clothes, reading stories, etc.

* One weekend, I drove to Boise, Idaho (about a 5 hour drive) where my son had just moved a couple of weeks ago. He called and asked me to come help, as they were having to move to a different house because the one they were living in had mold and a water problem in the crawl-space under the house that could make his children ill. So I drove up early on Saturday morning and tended the children (two little girls) while they moved everything on Saturday. I stayed until early Tuesday morning helping my daughter-in-law get things organized and tending the children while she unpacked.

* When I arrived home, my brother’s two children, Kayla (10) and Jake (9) were at my house … I had invited them to come to give their parents a week to themselves to celebrate their wedding anniversary. My brother’s wife has an older son who is a drug addict and has problems with the law. He finally is in jail now and we are praying that it will help him to overcome his addictions. This has been very hard on his mother. These children are near the ages of our grand children that are living with us now, so they had a great time playing together…. Kayla and my granddaughter, Britt, attended a 4-H Adventure Art Class on the USU campus each afternoon during the week. Jake and my grandson, Baylor, had a great time shooting bows and we only got two arrows on the neighbors roof. All the children loved playing in the water and sand in my backyard. They all went tubing down the canal, saw a new movie; had a cook-out, watched the video, "Iron Will" and slepted-over at our cabin in Logan Canyon, where we also made and decorated pinewood flutes. I helped Kayla and Britt sew some matching pj’s and I made them small bags out of the left-over fabric … I also made matching pj’s for Gwen, who is too young to use the sewing machine yet. It was a busy and fun week.

* Also the same day I arrived home from Idaho, friends of ours from California arrived. They have an RV (Recreation Vechile) they had driven to Alaska and back. The RV contains a bathroom, bed, kitchen, etc. They parked it in our driveway and stayed for three days. They had been pullling a small car in back of the RV, which they would use to get around places after they arrived. The car was having some problems, so Ken took it to the man that works on our cars and he was able to fix it for them for a lot less money than it would have cost them in California. Bob and Sherry are really great people. Bob and Ken when golfing two days, I took Sherry sight-seeing in Salt Lake City as she had never been there before. Did you know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the world's largest Family History Library inb the world in Salt Lake City?Sherry put her grandfather’s name in the computer and on a website, we found LOTS of his ancestors, some as far back at the 1300’s. We printed off 30 pages of names for her. She is really excited about that and wants to do more family history. They took us to dinner one night and on the way we stopped at a cemetery where several of Bob's ancestors were buried. Sherry took photos of all the headstones we could find with the information she needed. The last night they were here, they cooked out at the cabin with us and all the kids.

* Also, last week, with the cooperation of my husband and daughter-in-law to take care of all the kids, I made another trip to Salt Lake City on Friday to attend a court hearing for a lady that I've been working with for almost a year. I met her in the class that I taught at the county Jail. Since the first of the year, we have become closer friends thru visits and letters. She has been transferred to another jail and asked that I be there for her in court. It was good for me to learn more about the charges against her and to see the justice system in work!!!

* Our Chinese friend, Zhai Wei, who has been living with us for the last three years, decided to move to another apartment, to make more room for Jason's family as it looks like they will be with us for several more months and she needed a change of environment. I hope this will be a good thing for her. I think she wanted to be more independent of us. Ken and I have spend hours this month helping her move, driving her to the airport to take a trip to Florida to visit friends and picking her up and taking her calls in the middle of the night when she has had problems in the new apartment.

* I've also made some trips to Provo to check on my Dad, who continues to have a variety of health problems. My niece is living there for a month and Dad is really enjoying her little boy, who is two-years-old. While she is there, I do not have to go down as much.

On top of doing all these things, I've suffered a bad cough since the first of the month. It has kept me awake at night so I've not slept well, the cough medicine helped a little, but I was just too busy to take better care of myself. So Monday, I went to a doctor and found that I have a sinus infection, and some problems with my stomach. The doctor gave me four medications to take and I have to drink lots of water and rest. So that day I packed up my things, got food for the week and headed to our little cabin in Logan canyon, where I’ve been staying ever since … doing lots of RESTING and sleeping and trying to get better.

Love to all ...

Miss Becky

P.S. I was not able to get this posted earlier because I had a problem with my computer and it had to be sent away to be repaired. I've spend the last couple of weeks getting better and cleaning and sorting things at our home to make more room for our son's family.

I can't believe that the month of July has passed ... Ken and I will fly to California on Saturday (August 5th) to visit family and friends and Ken will be playing golf with his friends from his high school years. Hope you all have enjoyed a great summer.