Category Archives: China

Birke Bashin For China’s Kids!

China, Northern Life

It's 90 degrees outside today … and humid. While it may seem hard to think about Winter during this kind of weather, earlier this week I signed up for three long distance cross-country races. The longest is the American Birkebeiner at 52 kilometers or 32 miles. Although I was not planning upon doing another round of ski races this Winter, the devastation wrought by the Sichuan Earthquake in China has changed everything. Once again, under the auspices of the China Tomorrow Education Foundation (CTEF) I intend to help rebuild schools in Sichuan.

CTEF asked me to create a copy of my keynote talk delivered at this year's annual dinner earlier this year in Seattle. Thus … via YouTube (click to watch in high quality) … the journey continues:

Or if you prefer, watch a short video of my wife Molly taken while she was dancing with the children from one CTEF funded school which we visited last Fall.

(click on either image to view full sized)
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Four High Schools Seniors … Robots … Leaving Microsoft

China, College Search, Legos

On the surface these three topics might seem unrelated, but they are! This evening I will take out to dinner four young men who just graduated high school. These guys are the core members of my S.N.I.P Lego robotics team. After having coached S.N.I.P. for six years … since their elementary school days, I wondered how I could recognize these boys, and the fact thay they were moving on in the world … to various engineering schools around the USA. Each young man has already shown me that they are socially conscious, but I wanted to encourage them to continue following this path.


Eureka! A quick visit to Amazon yielded four copies of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World. Ever since last year when my own effort started to build schools in the mountains of southern China, I’ve been inspired by John Wood. He was Microsoft’s second highest ranking executive in China, and he gave everything up to build schools in rural Nepal.


Last night I contacted John Wood via email, and asked him if he might send me a dedication I might put in each book.  Here are John’s direct words … they’re good:


“To whom much is given, much is expected. The true test of your education will be in bringing that same opportunity to others, throughout your lifetime. Good luck, and make the world proud!”


Feel free to chime in with your own advice via the comments section for Caleb, Erik, Matt and Tim. In closing, here are two podcast interviews with John Wood, author of Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.

  • PBS Podcast Interview with John Wood (his organization)
  • National Geographic Podcast Interview with John Wood



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    • Sichuan, China Earthquake Relief: Rebuilding Schools – Helping Children

    China

    As many of you know, I have am involved with building schools in rural China. Last month, I was even a keynote speaker at the China Tomorrow Education Foundation (CTEF) annual benefit dinner. If you’ve seen news reports on the devastation in the Sichuan region … including collapsed schools, you will understand that the need for help is huge.  Thankfully, as far as we know, none of our schools collapsed. My foundation (registered 501c charity in the USA) is trying to help out.  Here is a quote from our president’s message:

    "CTEF has been helping school children and renovating school buildings in rural China since 2001. Even before the earthquake, CTEF had been working with enthusiastic local volunteers on school renovation projects in Sichuan’s Beichuan and Yilong counties. We are committed to using 100% of the Earthquake Relief Fund to rebuild schools and communities and help school children who have suffered from this tragedy. "

    Learn more, and consider donating. My plans include a trip to China later this Fall. I will report back on our efforts via this blog.

    You may also wish to visit National Public Radio’s Chengdu Diary. NPR actually has a team of reporters in Chengdu. They were preparing for a special week of China coverage that had been planned for next week.

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    A Keynote Speech to Deliver

    China

    I'm off to Seattle early tomorrow for the annual China Tomorrow Education Foundation annual benefit dinner. I will be one of their keynote speakers. I owe a dept of gratitude and thanks to my buddy, Dj, who has taught me the meaning of dedication and compassion. While I help the children from afar except for an occasional trip to southern China, Dj left a high paying job with Microsoft to help educate the children.

    If you have a few extra dollars, help me rebuild the LingYun dorm.  Send a pledge via email to Rich Hoeg, at rhoeg@comcast.net. Thank you!

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    Loppets for LingYun – A Frigid Success!

    China

    Today I turn over blog posting chores to my wife, Molly. As a fellow skier and fund-raiser, she will give you a Loppets for LingYun update … Rich
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    Protection from the Weather!

    Waiting for the Mora Vasaloppet to start, with the temperature at -13 F and “dangerous winds” producing a windchill of -40 F we wondered about the wisdom of skiing 35 kilometers under these conditions!  But the trick was in being prepared for the weather, wearing the right combination of layers, and covering every inch of exposed skin.  We were fortunate to have the knowledge and the means to outfit ourselves properly.  The result – successful completion of the race, staying warm through out the event, and suffering no lasting ill-effects, such as the frostbite suffered by other skiers.

    Our real motivation, however, was thinking about the children in the dorm in LingYun.  Braving a few hours of adverse weather seemed small in comparison to the cold weather they face all winter long in an inadequate dorm building.  It brought to home the need for them to have their own protection from the weather on a daily basis.  With improved housing, the young students will be better prepared to benefit from their education as well.

    Our Loppets for LingYun were extremely successful!  We owe a big thank you to all our donors, who brought our fundraising total up to $3,602 with this effort, toward our goal of $7,500 to build the new dorm. Please consider a pledge towards finishing the dorm. Send your pledge via email to Rich at rhoeg@comcast.net

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