United States: Falun Gong Orphans Rescue Van Tour Travels Through Alabama and Tennessee

On September 9th and 10th, 2005, with help from their parents, young Falun Gong practitioners from Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee started a two-day van tour to clarify the truth to the public and media about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and the difficult situations of the orphans whose parents were killed in the persecution. They wanted to use this opportunity to ask President Bush to request the visiting Hu Jintao from China to stop the persecution and to help rescue these orphans to the United States so that they can have a healthy environment to live and study.

A panoramic view of the press conference to rescue Falun Gong orphans

At about 10:00 a.m. on September 10th, practitioners arrived in Birmingham, Alabama. A reporter from the local major newspaper Birmingham News attended the conference. After the practitioners set up the posters and truth-clarification display boards, a western senior citizen came and carefully looked at the pictures. One practitioner began to talk to him and answered his questions. After learning the truth, he was shocked and upset about the Communist Party's brutal persecution of Falun Gong. A reporter came and asked him if he would accept an interview and he agreed.

During the interview, he said that he was a resident of New Orleans. Because of the hurricane evacuation, he had come to stay with his daughter's family in Birmingham. He said the hurricane in the south was a natural disaster and people couldn't avoid it. But what he saw here about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, this was a man-made disaster, and he hoped everyone who saw this interview would please step forward and help those Chinese people.

The senior citizen was actually an evacuee who had been driven out of his home by Hurricane Katrina and had just come from the evacuee service registration centre. He also said he had no money left, otherwise he would donate some. A practitioner told him that we didn't collect donations. We are looking for the support from the public and to raise the awareness of the truth. We wished him success in rebuilding his home soon.

Young practitioners host press conference in Nashville Tennessee	Ashley gives a speech at the press conference in Decatur, Alabama

At about 1:00 p.m., the practitioners arrived at Decatur, Alabama. In order to save time, they only ate some snacks on the road. But when they arrived, they saw that the local reporter was already waiting for them. A practitioner apologised to him and others worked quickly to set up the press conference. During the press conference, the reporter took many photos and asked for a practitioner and her daughter's names.

At 3:00 p.m. the same day, some practitioners drove to the last destination city of the day, Florence, Alabama. Last week a few practitioners had hosted a workshop there to teach Falun Gong, and the local residents wanted them to come again this week. So they went there and reviewed the five sets of exercises with the new students. Afterwards, the practitioners briefly shared experiences with them. When they learned that the practitioners came from different states, they appreciated that the practitioners came to teach the exercises even when the gas price was so high. A practitioner said that Falun Gong was precious and couldn't be valued with money. He encouraged them to continue doing the exercises and promised to help them set up the group practice site.

On September 11th, the practitioners went to Huntsville, Alabama and held a press conference in a small park facing the city hall. A reporter from the local newspaper Huntsville Daily came to report on the event. Robert, a young practitioner from Atlanta Georgia, hosted this press conference. Robert is 12 years old and has practised Falun Gong for a few years. Though he is young, he hosted the press conference very well and left a strong impression on the audience. Andy, another young practitioner from Atlanta Georgia, and Ashley, a young practitioner from Tennessee, gave speeches. The reporter from Huntsville Daily interviewed Ashley, asking her why she wanted to join the rescue van tour. Ashley said, "I really want to play at my friend's house. But I think rescuing the orphans is more important than playing."

When the press conference was about to end, a group of local residents came to the park. When they learned of the cruel persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, they found it unimaginable and condemned the Chinese Communist Party's atrocities. The local reporter interviewed some of them too.

At about 2:00 p.m., the practitioners drove to Nashville, Tennessee and held a press conference in front of the city hall. This was the last stop of the van tour. A reporter for the local major newspaper, the Tennessean, came to report the event. Obviously, she was interested in talking to young practitioners, and she interviewed Ashley. Ashley said, "The orphans in China are innocent and do not deserve to be persecuted. We want to bring them to the United States."