What happened
Ronald Sakolsky, a 69-year-old retired teacher from Pennsylvania, visited China's Inner Mongolia region and was amazed to see the transformation of a vast, dry desert into a lush, green forest of 50,000 full-grown trees. The forest was made possible in part by a $5,000 donation Sakolsky made 26 years ago to a local farmer and sand-control worker named Yin Yuzhen.
Sakolsky's donation was used to plant more trees in the Mu Us Desert, also known as the Maowusu Desert. Yin had started planting trees in the desert over a decade earlier as a way to feel less isolated in her new home. The two met in person in 2000, and Yin promised to take good care of the saplings.
Earlier this year, Yin launched an online campaign to track down Sakolsky, and the two had an emotional reunion in the forest. The trees now stand over 30 feet high, and the government has named a grove after Sakolsky. The reunion has been held up by Chinese authorities as an example of how China and the US can work together on global issues such as climate change.
The tree-planting efforts are part of China's decades-long campaign known as the Great Green Wall, which was launched in 1978 to reduce sandstorms and help stave off desertification associated with global climate change. While the campaign has had mixed success, it has instilled the idea that trees are a great benefit to society.
