Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy

The Butterfly Effect of Protecting the Earth

The Heart Energy in Melbourne Campus “Yes, I do!” to take Actions

In August and September 2010, the city of Melbourne welcomes good friends from different countries around the world. The 63rd UN DPI/NGO Annual Conference is to be held in Australia for the first time. All world NGO volunteers got together to advocate the issues of global health. On the eve of the Annual Conference, August 28th, an activity to safeguard the earth was held. Members of the cultural goodwill group with love, peace and respect for human rights walked into campus to promote the concept of safeguarding the earth. Noble Park Chinese School and Taiwanese Schools in Melbourne engaged in cultural exchanges with the group. Students got the chance to have love and peace take root in their hearts from early childhood and parents and teachers were impressed with the achievements. The cultural goodwill group is composed of three organizations—Association of World Citizens, Federation of World Peace and Love, and Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy. The 60 people group will hold series of seminars and cultural performances of qigong and martial arts in the 2010 World Summit of Human Rights for World Citizens to advance respect for human rights and safeguarding the earth.

The series activities of 2010 World Summit on Human Rights for World Citizens –the activity of “Safeguarding the earth with good hearts and good articles” has received warm responses from 196 countries all over the world. On August 28th the activity was held in Noble Park Chinese School and Taiwanese Schools in Melbourne. Volunteers will annotate the spirit of the activity and invite everyone to endorse “The Declarations for Human Rights of World Citizens and Peace” online. It is expected our collective good thoughts can help to lower the temperature of the earth. In witness of the recent spates of natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions, floods and droughts exceeding scales recorded in the past, we should all exercise good thoughts to safeguard the earth. In March this year, the second largest city in Australia, Melbourne suffered hail attack. And the hailstone was as big as a golf ball. Some of them were more than 10 cm in diameter and dropped at 100 km per hour. One roof of a train station was pierced a big hole by hail and passengers have to be evacuated.

The abnormal climate change highlights the urgency of dealing with the living crisis of all creatures. The Cultural Goodwill Group brought with them a video of Tiger’s Wish to express, on behalf of the tigers, the rights to live. The purpose is to evoke attention to the calamities of climate changes and extinction of animals. The students were guided to meditate for one minute to bless the earth and to make a promise to safeguard the Earth. The activity was brought to the climax with the energetic dance by the Tai Ji Men dizi. “Tai Ji Men Energy Family” shows the vitality of the youth loving the earth and their collective promises to safeguard the planet. The performers, from age 3 to 18, have demonstrated the reflections of the relationship between people and between man and nature.

About 40 students and parents of Noble Park Chinese School took part in the activity. The principal, Louisa Lay, said, “Through the animation, children can easily understand that environmental protection is a good activity. Children will bring today’s learning back home, back to the English school classrooms, or bring to different races and tell their classmates that they have learned a very significant thing in the Chinese school. Let them have a better understanding of how to care the nature.” More than 100 students and parents of Melbourne Taiwanese Schools participated in this activity. The principal, Ann Chen said, “Caring for the earth has become a part of Australian life. But the children are young. They do not know what recycling their parents are doing or what it truly means. I’m very happy that you volunteers let them know the significance. Through the experience you have shared with us and the activities you organized, our students have learned why it is so important to care for the earth and how to do a better job." After school, many students happily did the “Energy” gesture in front of their parents and convey the message of caring for the earth.

This Goodwill Group is formed by the volunteers from Taiwan, the United States, Britain, and Malaysia. Principal Ann Chen hoped that the students could have more exchanges with the volunteers in Chinese. In addition, she thinks highly of the activity-- “To safeguard the earth with good hearts and good articles’” and hoped to actively guide students to practice in this program. In particular, after watching "Tiger’s wish," she reminded students of the significance of respect, which includes respect for human beings and respect for the earth. After watching the program, the parent named Kimgoh from Malaysia was in tears and said it is really important for students and parents to learn the importance of respect. The impact on child is really profound. This cannot be bought with money. And it is really good for the earth is we can teach kindness to our children.

The Cultural Goodwill Group will hold cultural exchange program and education seminars on human rights and the activity of “safeguarding the earth with good hearts and good articles” from 12:00 at noon to 14:00 in the afternoon on September 2 at the internationally renowned University of Melbourne. Local Melbourne people are welcome to the site to experience the cultural exchanges, and to surf the Internet to participate in the “safeguarding the earth with good hearts and good articles”. You can surf the association’s website at www.worldcitizens.org.tw to provide related activities or good articles. You are encouraged to invite friends to join the activity, share personal experiences and form a shield of positive energy to protect our earth.