Elementary School Students Bring Petition Letter to a Jail to Help Rescue Their Innocent Teacher

I am a school teacher. After I began my cultivation in Falun Gong (Falun Dafa), I worked even harder and cared even more about my students. Through my speech and conduct, the students felt the righteousness of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" that Falun Dafa teaches.

In March and April of 2004, the evil forces distributed a bunch of cartoon booklets to all the schools, attacking Falun Dafa as a [slanderous term omitted]. Some schools that did not know the facts organised the students to have speech contests. The students had no way of telling what was true and what was false and were badly harmed by the lies. I began to explain the facts about Falun Gong to the school officials to prevent them from distributing these materials. I also went out in all kinds of weather to distribute materials containing factual information about Falun Dafa on weekends. One day at the end of May, I was arrested by police and locked up in the county jail.

When the students learnt the news they were all shocked and very concerned that their teacher was going to be persecuted again. The whole class cried, all wanting to do something to help. A student called his home and asked his father who worked in Guangzhou City to ask his relatives for help. His father was very sympathetic and immediately called some of his relatives working at the county courthouse jail. One student suggested that they write a petition letter and then solicited signatures from pupils as well as their parents. All the students worked together to save their teacher. A student wrote in his letter to me, "My mind wanders away quite often during class. I think of you constantly, and whenever I do, my tears fall. Several of us sang at the podium on Children's Day and could not help crying." During those days, people came to my house every afternoon to enquire about my situation. Some wrote letters to me and were crying at the same time. The substitute teacher found that no matter what nice words she said to the students, she was not able to keep the class going. Not intimidated by their young ages, the students decided to get together at 9 a.m. on Saturday and go to the jail with their petition letter.

It was an unforgettable meeting. I was called out to meet some visitors at around 10 a.m. that morning and was surprised when I saw the students' faces on the TV monitor. They began to cry as soon as they saw me. I could not control my tears either when I saw their crying faces. We were only allowed to communicate in writing. Seeing me in my prison uniform with an unshaven face and having lost weight, the student who was writing cried harder and had to let another student take over. They expressed their condolences one after another. Each of them stuck his head in front of the camera trying to see their teacher longer. Their actions showed their pure and kind hearts. I wrote, "Bye" when the meeting time was up. But they did not want to go. A while later the guards let me go back and see them one more time. When I walked from my cell toward them, I could hear their cries and weeping. They all pushed against the iron gate from outside the jail and stared at the cell area. They waved their hands and cried and shouted at the first sight of me, and cried even louder as I walked closer. Being only little kids, all they knew is that their teacher is kind. They did not know what else to do other than cry. Their crying caused the warden to also start shedding tears and the police officers to lower their heads. Passers-by stopped to find out what was going on. The children's crying was heard all over the jail. They stuck their hands through the gate, attempting to pull me out, but could not reach me. My tears kept falling, and I could not utter a word. Suddenly a thought came to me and I said, "People need 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.'" The warden turned back to wipe away his tears. A policeman said thoughtfully, "Falun Dafa, with its 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance' is truly good. If everyone followed 'Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance,' there would be no criminal offences anymore." People were moved by his words. The time that the students and I met was too short. I waved "Goodbye" to them in order to stop their sadness. They said, "Please take care of yourself. Come back soon. We are waiting for you to teach us." I turned my head and saw that they were all staring at my back and did not want to let me go. Back in the cell, everyone was moved when they read the big pile of letters the students had written to me. Everyone especially liked "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance."

I returned to the school after about ten days. The students were like triumphant warriors seeing their long-departed family, smiling and laughing happily. Groups of students would surround me at recess. The semester was almost over and they were about to graduate. They planned a party to welcome me back. Individuals chipped in money and they bought watermelons, pumpkin seeds and drinks. They prepared programs and invited the other teachers and school officials. The children made all the arrangements themselves. They let the teachers and school officials sit down first and then poured the drinks and served the watermelon. Then they sat down themselves. They asked the school officials and me to give short speeches, followed by their dancing and singing programs. Everyone enjoyed the party. The teachers all said that they had never been treated so nicely before.

It was truly unforgettable. The sight of my students and their cries, tears, and outstretched arms will remain in my mind forever. This experience of going from sorrow to joy is a manifestation of Falun Dafa to those who are being saved.