Belgium: Raising Awareness about Falun Gong at Retrouvailles

During the weekend of the 6th and 7th of September, practitioners from Belgium introduced Falun Gong to visitors to the 'Retrouvailles' Fair in Luik.

This year there were more than 300 associations in Boverie Park and more than fifty hours of shows. Last year, more than 35,000 people visited the fair and also this year it was a big success. At the fair were associations present like dance and music associations, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Tai Chi, Yoga centre, etc.

Practitioners of Falun Gong demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises while others distributed leaflets and talked to festival-goers about this cultivation method. The people at this fair were very open and were happy to receive information about Falun Gong. In the morning, some people even came spontaneously and asked for information brochures although the booth had not yet been set up.

A visitor already knew of Falun Gong from the Internet and came over to read information about the persecution in China at the booth. He asked himself why this persecution exists and wished to receive more information about it. After a practitioner spoke with him, everything about this horrible persecution became clear.

An organiser of another fair visited the Falun Gong booth. He asked practitioners if they were interested in demonstrating the exercises at his fair, too.

A Chinese woman visited the booth together with her Belgian husband and their son. She already knew about Falun Gong, has read Zhuan Falun and knew that it is forbidden and persecuted in mainland China. When she and her husband were listening to a practitioner who gave a detailed explanation about Falun Gong, the son of the Chinese woman began to imitate the exercises from a demonstration poster at the booth. When a practitioner noticed this, she gave an instructional DVD of the Falun Gong exercises to the boy. Afterwards, the Chinese lady asked the practitioner, “What about your health since you began to practise Falun Gong?” The practitioner replied that she feels very good and therefore she didn’t need to go to a doctor for over five years. The Chinese woman was very positive with respect for Falun Gong and she said that she’d like to go to a practice site.

Another visitor of the booth wished to know more about organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners in China. He was very interested in this, so a practitioner gave a book to him about the depositions of David Kilgour and David Matas. Also a girl from Brazil wished to have such a book. She was also very interested in information about the Falun emblem. Another woman had already heard about organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and also took a book with her.

A man who visited the booth on Saturday had no computer so with regret he couldn’t visit the websites. However, he wished very much to know more about the Divine Performing Arts. A practitioner gave books to him about the show in Antwerp. The next day, he returned. He was very interested in Falun Gong, too. Because he had no computer, a practitioner gave him a copy of Zhuan Falun free of charge on Sunday.