I

Dear readers,

My name is Chaochen Guan, I am a 12-year-old citizen from Canada. I live in Montreal and study at the Simonne-Monet School. I have been practicing Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) for 3 years. Its principles (Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance) help me to become a benevolent child, which corresponds to the criteria of a truly good person. This is a reality. Falun Dafa helped me in two main ways, morality and intelligence. By reading and understanding the book Zhuan Falun, I do not quarrel with my friends and I respect other people more. The more I read it, the more my mind becomes clear. Thus, during the classes at school, I listen attentively and I understand better. This is why I have the highest marks in my class. The reason for which I came to Geneva is that: on July 1999, in China, the president Jiang Zemin began to persecute the Falun Gong. The Falun Gong is a method that benefits Humanity. This persecution violates all fundamental Human Rights. At this occasion of the UN's conference, I would like to call on the whole world to recognize the fundamental rights of Falun Gong practitioners. Nevertheless, some people don't understand that children collect signatures and distribute flyers. I would like to say: I do this voluntarily.

Thank you for your understanding

Sincerely,

Chaochen Guan

II

Dear Readers,

Hello, my name is Jeff Shao. I come from North York, Ontario and I am ten years old. I go to (name omitted by editor) Public School and I am in grade 4. I have practiced Falun Dafa for two years. I practice Falun Dafa because it makes me fell very good and I'm very happy that I'm lucky enough to practice Falun Dafa. Falun Dafa has improved me very much. My school marks have gone up and my temper has improved. I can tolerate things too, but not that well sometimes. For instance, last year I was playing in the sandpit at my school during recess. Suddenly, someone threw a handful of sand in my face. Some got in my mouth. I started to gather another handful of sand to throw back, but then I remembered that I am a practitioner. I threw down the sand and continued playing. So you see, Falun Dafa has done a lot for me.

So, when my mother told me about the trip to Geneva, I thought: I've already missed a few chances to spread Falun Dafa. I should go this time. The trip was organized to stop the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China, and give human rights back to them. It was also organized to get more people to realize that Falun Dafa is good and to practice Falun Dafa (but it was organized mostly to stop the persecution of practitioners). The practitioners in China have undergone a lot of persecution, so I hope that they get their human rights restored. If we get enough people to realize that Falun Dafa is good and tell the Chinese president Jiang Zeming that Falun Dafa is good, their human rights may be restored. So I practiced the exercises in a park while someone else passed out flyers telling about Falun Dafa to the people passing by in the hopes that they would realize Falun Dafa is good and appeal to Jiang Zeming to stop the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners. So I guess that the main reason I came to Geneva was to try to get enough people to try to stop Jiang Zeming's persecution. I think that this is the reason why most of the practitioners who came to Geneva decided to come. Amnesty International has been trying to help. However, we hope that they understand that the adult practitioners are not making us do things for Falun Dafa. We do these things because we want to, not because our parents and other adults are pressuring us to. We do these things from our heart, and also because we want to spread Falun Dafa to as many people as we can. That's all I'd like to say. Thank you for taking some time to read my letter.

From,

Jeff Shao

III

My name is Jin and I'm 14 years old. I am writing to you now is because there is something which I would like you to understand. I am a practitioner of Falun Dafa, and I am a resident of Toronto, Canada. I have been practicing Falun Dafa for more than 4 years now with my family and we've benefited so much from it. My mother and I were tortured by diseases for years without cures, but once we learned Falun Dafa, we were healed in just two days. We became healthier and it's such a miracle. Falun Gong's principle: Truth-Compassion-Tolerance also guide me to be a better person and understand the value of virtue.

The persecution of Falun Gong in China from 1999 was a shock to us all. It is unbelievable that the Chinese government would ban such a great practice. It pains us to hear all those news about practitioners in China being tortured and beaten. All they try to accomplish is to be a good person in the society and reach their goal of enlightenment. Who would consider such an act a crime? Freedom of belief is a basic right granted to every single one of us. Human rights is a serious concern, because one should faithfully follow something they believe will guide their moral standard, instead of reluctantly follow someone else's guide. This is the reason why we want to end this brutal persecution. I, as well as all the other practitioners, would like to ask the United Nations to help us solve this severe crisis in China right now. More than 180 practitioners have already been beaten to death in police custody, and there are still thousands of others who are facing torture and loss. The whole situation is getting worse everyday, and it has to stop. I believe that if people are against something righteous, human moral standard will be unstable. This is the main reason why I feel it is necessary to come to Geneva. I wish to let the people all over the world know the truth, and help us stop the persecution.

Also, we young practitioners are not being forced by anyone to gather signatures and distribute flyers. We do this by our own will. I feel it is also our obligation to regain our right to practice our belief. We feel everyone should know this (Falun Dafa) and its benefits to people, just like we have sweet candies, which we would like to share with friends. Though we don't know about human rights issues as much as the adults, we do feel that refusing someone to practice their belief is definitely wrong.

Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Jin

Category: Young Practitioners' Experiences