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The "Square"

Personal note to Dj ... 20 years later ... keep up the good work!

Boston for Beds!

It's April 4th ... and Spring should be in the air. Instead, newly fallen snow blankets Minnesota ... and Molly is slipping over the pavement on a final training run for the Boston Marathon which is two weeks hence. However, as Molly (my wife) moves towards Patriot's Day and her 26.2 mile jaunt, running the final yards will be just a tiny bit easier for her than for most competitors.

You may ask why? The answer is simple ... what began with a trip to China, Loppets for Lingyun, continued with Rich's Birkebeiner K's for Kids, will finish via Molly's Boston for Beds. The end result will be a new school dorm up in the mountains of Southern China near the Vietnamese border.

Take three minutes and watch our video ... then donate. Contributions to the China Tomorrow Education Foundation are tax deductible in the USA (full report).

Donate via PayPal ... even a $25 donation helps!

Boston for Beds Video (3 minutes in duration)

Note: Click on the screen icon to view full sized (bottom right corner)

One Armed Skier Builds Dorm in China!

My first of three "Kilometers for Kids" cross-country ski races start this Sunday with the City of the Lakes Loppet. Due to a recent ski injury that saw me break my thumb and tear a ligament, I will compete minus one ski pole (i.e. I can't hold anything with my left hand). Although this will slow me down significantly, and cause me problems going uphill ... I can't let the kids down. Contributions to the China Tomorrow Education Foundation are tax deductible in the USA (full report).

Donate via PayPal ... even a $10 donation helps!

Here are two photos of me ... cast and all. In addition, you may wish to watch this YouTube Video Report of last year's Loppet. After all ... have you ever seen skijouring (dogs pulling cross-country skiers ... another much shorter event)
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A Nerd's Dorm Rises in China

Two days ago I was feeling sorry for myself. A New Year's Eve day cross-country ski injury had left me with a broken bone in my thumb and a torn ligament. I had planned to ski three long distance ski races this Winter (25 to 52 kilometers) to finish raising the money for a dorm my wife Molly and I are trying to build in the mountains of southern China near Vietnam (LingYun).

Instead I was taught a lesson in humility when by chance yesterday photographs of the dorm's construction process arrived . I thought ... who cares how fast I ski ... one armed cross-country skiing will still get me to the finish line. Thus, broken bones, torn ligaments and all ... please sponsor me in my Kilometers for Kids Project. Help me and the dorm reach the finish line! The races will take place in February ... and hopefully we can achieve our fund raising goal by March 1st!

Take two minutes and watch the video I created ... then donate. Contributions to the China Tomorrow Education Foundation are tax deductible in the USA (full report).

• Report Date: February 25, 2009
• Money Raised: $6,067
• Goal - $7,500

Donate via PayPal ... even a $10 donation helps!

LingYun Video (2 minutes in duration)

Merry Christmas from the Northstar Nerd

Today I post my blog holiday card, and use the artwork of a friend, He Qi. Two years ago I said this about He Qi: (more about The Artist)

While I was growing up in Minnesota during the 1960's, and worrying about the fortunes of my favorite Minnesota Twins baseball players, He Qi was being "re-educated" by the Chinese. He Qi was considered an "undesirable" due to his Christian faith, and was sent into the Chinese country side to learn proper thought. The local authorities learned of his artistic ability, and he was given the task of painting portraits of Chairman Mao. By night, he painted the Madonna.

I own two different large silk prints including the Nativity shown below, which hangs in a place of honor in my home. My other print is Finding Moses (more on the Silk Print Style |detail). I like how He Qi combines Chinese folk art and bible stories.

Thus, Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays. Please pause to reflect about what is truly important this Christmas season. My little attempt to try and make the world better is in southern China.

Birke Bashin For China's Kids!

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.

• Read the full project report and donate via PayPal

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:

• Birke Bashin for China's Kids - YouTube Link
  ... View all my CTEF volunteer posts

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.

• Molly Dances at LingYun School - YouTube Link
  ... More YouTube CTEF Links

(click on either image to view full sized)

 

Four High Schools Seniors ... Robots ... Leaving Microsoft

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

Sichuan, China Earthquake Relief: Rebuilding Schools - Helping Children

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.

 

A Keynote Speech to Deliver

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!

• Loppets and Legos for LingYun (4 minute video)
• Loppet for LingYun ... A Frigid Success (we're off to a good start!)
• Both multimedia modules may take a moment to load ...

Loppets for LingYun - A Frigid Success!

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

I've added a few photos from Sunday, along with a slideshow ...

• Mora Vasaloppet Slideshow 
  (may take a moment to load)