US Teacher's $5,000 Donation Grows Into 50,000 Trees and a Diplomatic Triumph

Thought Question: What is something small you could start today that might grow into something big 25 years from now?

Back when Ronald Sakolsky used to teach, he went on an adventure. His journey took him to China’s Henan Province. There, the exchange teacher was inspired to make an unusual donation. He gave $5,000 to a woman in the Mu Us Desert who wanted to plant trees.

Twenty-six years later, the retired educator discovered there’s an entire grove named after him.

The woman was Yin Yuzhen. She was a local farmer. She had moved to the desert in the 1980s. Away from her family, she decided to plant trees on the sandy dunes to help stave off loneliness. Sakolsky saw a news report about Yin. He thought her mission was admirable. So he raised the money and gave it to her in 2000. She promised to spend it wisely, and they parted ways.

Earlier this year, Sakolsky heard from Yin for the first time in decades. She had used the internet to track him down, and she had news. His $5,000? It was now a forest of more than 50,000 trees.

“I want him to know that I kept my word, and that Chinese people keep our promises,” Yin told NBC News. She invited Sakolsky back to China to see the forest. In August, he joined her in a ceremony to plant another tree, this time one symbolizing their friendship.

The happy reunion went viral. During Chinese President Xi Jinping's September 24 state visit to Washington, DC, he used their friendship as an example of what’s possible between the world’s top two economic superpowers.

“(It) touches the hearts of many Chinese people and stands as a shining example of the friendly exchanges between our two peoples,” Xi said during a White House toast.

Photo of the Mu US desert from Wikimedia Commons courtesy of sylvannus.