Belgium: Schoolchildren are Enthusiastic to Hear about Falun Gong and are Concerned about the Persecution

On the 16th of November, practitioners from Belgium were invited to a school in the city of Hasselt to introduce Falun Gong and the persecution against the practice in China to a class of ten to twelve year-old children. The children were working on a project about China and were very enthusiastic. The visit was successful and the teacher was very pleased that the practitioners were able to attend.

As an introduction, some children told us the things they had learned about China. We told them a story called “The Story of a Child and Lilly the Lotus Flower” and through this we explained what cultivation and Falun Gong are. Afterwards, we showed them the exercises and in simple language we explained their meaning and purpose.

After the break, by means of a slideshow we told them the story of Fadu, the little girl who lost her daddy after he was tortured to death because he practised Falun Gong. Some beautiful pictures helped the children to understand the story clearly and they listened very carefully. The teacher asked the children questions to see if they really had understood the story. This learning process gave the teacher and the children a better picture of Falun Gong and the seriousness of the persecution. The teacher was very upset after hearing about the atrocities against practitioners in China.

One boy asked about the instigator of the persecution against Falun Gong, Jiang Zemin: “What is the name of this bad man?” The children found it hard to believe that such a peaceful practice would be persecuted so violently. Afterwards, the children learned how to fold lotus flowers out of paper and everybody enjoyed this activity. A Chinese practitioner played “The Song of the Lotus” on her erhu, a Chinese stringed instrument. The children liked it a lot and there was a nice, cosy atmosphere.

The children wanted to learn the exercises and practise with the practitioners. They really put a lot of effort into performing them as well as possible and they found it very relaxing. To their regret, it was time to finish after the third exercise.

We received many positive reactions from both the children and the teacher. A girl told us that she enjoyed folding the lotus flowers and will teach it to her friends. The teacher appreciated the introduction of Falun Gong and thanked us open-heartedly for our visit. She found it truly noble and was grateful to us for doing this voluntarily. She said, “If I knew about it earlier, I would have invited you before.” A practitioner gave her a CD of music by Falun Gong practitioners, which she said she would use during the introduction of the China project to their parents.

The teacher and one of the parents, who assisted her, wrote down what we said, in order to be able to tell the class again at a later time. They also asked us to demonstrate the different steps for making a lotus flower so that they could teach it to other children.

Folding lotus flowers and learning about Zhen, Shan, Ren (Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance)

Learning Falun Gong exercises	Learning Falun Gong exercises

The final result - Beautiful lotus flowers!