May 8, 2004, 08:18

My name is Karen Chen and I am 10 years old. I am a fourth grader in Floris Elementary School. I would really like to tell you about a group of teenagers that call themselves Pedals of Peace. But first of all, I would like to tell you about a group called Petals of Peace. Petals of Peace was set up when many people were moved by the Fadu story. A 3-year-old Australian girl, Fadu, lost her father when he was tortured to death for practicing a peaceful meditation called Falun Gong, which follows the principles of Truth, Compassion, and Tolerance. At that time, Fadu was only a few months old. This left Fadu and her mother heartbroken. Many other stories like this happened in China, too, though. Petals of Peace gives ideas and helps to save these children in China who are persecuted. Many kids around the world make paper lotus flowers (Petals of Peace) as well as banners, postcards, and other materials to make sure everyone understands what is happening to the children in China.

Chinese children in China are being persecuted in all kinds of ways. Young practitioners' parents are taken away to labor camps and jail, and no one is there to care for the kids at home. This has left many children hungry with no one to feed them and they also feel lonely. Other children in their school will not like anyone who has their parents in jail, right? If the principal of his or her school finds out, they will expel the student from that school. So many of them have no education now. Many kids in China have also been directly persecuted. Chinese police break into the children's homes and ask questions like: Where are your parents? Do you practice Falun Gong? Are your parents Falun Gong practitioners? If the young practitioner refused to answer, the police would sometimes hit them and kick them or not let them get up. What's the whole point of this? There is none. These Dafa practitioners must be freed and the persecution of Falun Gong must end.

My mom and dad have been practicing Falun Gong since 1996, when I was two. Falun Dafa made me a good person. I'm a good student at school. When somebody hits me or pushes me, I do not do it back. When somebody curses at me or says bad words to me, I don't mind because I'm a Falun Dafa practitioner. Falun Dafa has helped my whole family. My dad used to have Hepatitis B. He could not even get up from bed. After he started practicing Falun Dafa he got cured. My mom and dad don't get mad at each other anymore and we are a great family. Falun Gong teaches people to be truthful, benevolent, and tolerant. This is a very peaceful exercise.

When I was in China five years ago, they had TV programs saying bad words about Falun Dafa all the time. I have experienced the persecution of children, too. My grandmother is also a Falun Dafa practitioner like me and she was arrested in her home last year. The police took my granny and put her under arrest for two months, not letting anyone see her. They even took away her passport and told her she was not allowed to come see her relatives in the United States. When I heard the news I was really shocked and felt terrible. A perfectly kind woman being taken away! I truly miss my grandma and want to see her. I hope that the persecution will end and so then all the other mothers, fathers, relatives, and children can be safe and won't be persecuted in any way.

Right now, the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners is still going on. On May 27, in Chicago, a lawsuit against Jiang Zemin (the former Chinese president leading the persecution of Falun Gong) will be held. So six teens are going to ride bikes from Washington, DC to Chicago to tell everyone about the persecution. The teens call themselves Pedals of Peace. The route is 700 miles long and they're going to stop at schools along the way and tell them about Pedals of Peace. The journey is called Save the Kids Ride. This whole route is going to take a week long from May 13th to May 20th. A rally will be held on the 13th to see the bike riders set off. We hope that you can help support Pedals of Peace in any way and that would be a great contribution.

Amy Shi and I were the two actresses in this short prize-winning film Wish -- www.WalkYourPathWell.net/wish/. I hope you can spend a few minutes watching it.

Again, please help and support Pedals of Peace and Petals of Peace. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Karen Chen
Hendon, Virginia