The Diary of One NY SOS Walk Team Member

July 8^th

We started out in a heavy rain that slowly tapered off.á We walked 8 miles along residential, country roads. Many car horns honked in support.

Four or so miles into our journey, a kindhearted man standing outside his home offered to make us coffee and tea.á We declined, for we had to keep our pace, yet thanked him for his offer.

We walked the suburbs of Princeton until we made it downtown for our press conference.á Before our press conference we talked extensively with Kelly Warboys, a special writer from the Treton Times.á When Kelly looked at the photographs taken of practitioners beaten by the Chinese government, she was genuinely moved.ááá

After our press conference, we proceeded down the road a few more miles until we reached our starting point for the next day.

July 9th

We left Princeton at 8:30a.m. and walked at a swift pace, covering about 8 miles in two hours.á We had decided the day before that we needed to pick up the pace a bit, however the pace we walked was much too fast.á We reached Trenton for our press conference, which went over very well.á We were interviewed by several newspapers and a radio station!áá All interviews were well done!á It seems as though interviews are coming much more naturally now.á

After the conclusion of our press conference, we walked out of Trenton and crossed the Delaware River over into Pennsylvania.á While we were crossing the Delaware, I noticed that Auntie Lee was really working hard and seeing this elderly woman keeping up with all the young ones was truly inspiring.á

Everyone was quite tired by the end of the day!

Goodnight

July 10^th

We were dropped off 10-15 miles outside of Philadelphia.á The first major event of the day was our interview with Jennifer from the Philadelphia Inquirer.á We were informed that Jennifer is a very tough reporter.á However, I felt that those who were interviewed did a wonderful job.á After our lunch break, a Vietnam Veteran personally came out of his apartment, crossed the street, and shook hands with each and every one of us in support of our walk.á He was truly kindhearted!

In the afternoon, the bright skies suddenly clouded and a thunderstorm moved in.á We took a rest and tried to stay dry.á The rain tapered off after awhile, and in our rain slickers we pushed on until we arrived at the City Hall in downtown Philly.

July 11th

We held a press conference to start out the day. Several local practitioners took part in setting up the banners and displays and everything looked wonderful.á Passersby stopped to listen to the moving speeches.

We began walking around noon.á We were able to pass out many flyers before we made our way to the outskirts of Philly.á It seemed like just another day of walking until a very beautiful thing happened.á A man caught up to us as we made it to the top of the hill. The first thing he said was, "you all are so wonderful."

After talking for five minutes, the man pointed out that we were headed in the wrong direction and walked us back to where we needed to be.á One practitioner pointed out that his presence was not merely coincidence--he was there to get us back on track and to let us know how important it is to let the world know of the persecution in China.á The kindhearted man needed to catch the trolley or else he would have walked with us.á When we parted, it almost looked as if the man had tears in his eyes.á "I wish you all the best of luck.á Have a great walk," he said, as he shook hands with us. My spirits were uplifted and I no longer noticed the aching in my feet after this experience. I felt as though I could walk for the whole night.á