My good friend Stephen Wilmarth is organizing a bunch of students to go to China as part of Ningxia Dragon Student Ambassadors. He has sent out an email describing this:

On June 30th, students from communities across Connecticut will leave for China and participate in what will likely be a life-changing experience. We will arrive in Shanghai and travel to the city of Xi'an, a former capital of the very first Chinese emperor. Students will visit the incredible mausoleum of the Terracotta Army.

We will embark on a 10 day tour through the provinces of Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, visiting Buddhist, Taoist, and Islamic shrines, climbing 500 foot high dunes in the Gobi desert, hiking through a landscape of mountains and high plains rarely visited by westerners, and meeting peoples of many religious and ethnic minorities who call this land along the ancient Silk Road home.

Our students will engage Chinese students in high schools and universities across the region, spreading a message of shared values and goodwill, and will come to understand the cultural and educational communities that will make China a force to be reckoned with in the 21st century. Our students will stay in the homes of Chinese students, share meals, and learn what being Chinese is like in 2008.

And then, we will travel to the province of Sichuan and "adopt" a school that has suffered the trauma of the terrible earthquake of last month. Upon returning to the US, our students - representing the very students upon which our hopes and dreams for a better future depend - have devised plans to provide the emotional and moral support for their adopted school community.

Three of our 2008 Summer Camp students come from families that can ill-afford the cost of such an important experience. But that won't stop them. This message is intended to ask you to help. We know that these times have put pressure on all of us economically. It is difficult to ask you to provide these students with the support they will need to make this journey.

If you are interested in helping, please click on the Chip In Widget that I’ve added to the right hand column of this site.