一棵树的友谊，二十七年的守望

 赛考斯先生做客匹兹堡中文学校，分享"美国朋友与中国的沙漠"

10月25日下午，匹兹堡中文学校在 Taylor Allderdice 高中举办专题活动"美国朋友与中国的沙漠：一段绿色的友谊"，邀请退休世界历史教师赛考斯先生（本名罗纳德·萨科尔斯基，Ronald Sakolsky）与全校家长和学生分享他的故事。值得一提的是，Allderdice 高中正是赛考斯先生的母校，他也是匹兹堡大学校友，这次分享可谓"回到母校"。

活动由两位学生代表献唱《What a Wonderful World》开场，随后赛考斯先生登台，讲述了他与中国、与一片森林跨越27年的友谊。

1999年，赛考斯先生在河南洛阳教授英语期间，从电视上看到内蒙古殷玉珍女士在毛乌素沙地植树治沙的事迹，深受触动，四处奔走筹集了5000美元捐给她。次年，他专程来到毛乌素，与殷玉珍一起种树。这笔钱变成了五万多棵树苗，如今已长成一片森林，被殷玉珍命名为"赛考斯林"。2000年一别，两人从此失去联系。今年5月，殷玉珍在网上发出寻人视频，短短一天多就找到了他；8月，赛考斯先生重返中国，与殷玉珍在昔日的黄沙、如今的林海中重逢，并一起种下新的友谊树。9月，这个故事在白宫欢迎国宴的致辞中被提及；10月15日，殷玉珍在联合国粮农组织罗马总部入选"联合国粮农组织农业粮食体系与农村发展百位巾帼英雄"，赛考斯先生受邀上台，与她共同捧起奖杯。

问答环节，家长和学生踊跃提问，与赛考斯先生就教育、国际交流、环保等话题深入交流。赛考斯先生呼吁大家摒弃杂音，发挥民间力量，一砖一瓦地垒起中美沟通的桥梁。

活动现场，中文学校向赛考斯先生赠送了纪念T恤、蜀锦和一幅"福"字书法。赛考斯先生曾是国际象棋爱好者，还特别获赠国际象棋专著《Positions of Thought》（Jason W and Erick Z 著）。小小的黑白棋盘，能让素不相识的人坐到一起，正如这段友谊，传递着纯粹的善意与桥梁精神。活动最后是植树分享环节：树苗由卡内基国际学生学会（Carnegie International Students Institute）捐赠，赛考斯先生亲手把一棵棵小树苗分发到孩子们手中，鼓励大家把绿色和友谊一起种下去。

本次活动由匹兹堡中文学校董事会和老师们共同筹备完成。学校希望通过这样的分享，让更多人了解中美民间友谊的真实故事，在心里种下理解与善意的种子。

One Tree, One Friendship, Twenty-Seven Years
Ronald Sakolsky Visits Pittsburgh Chinese School to Share “An American Friend and China’s Desert”

On the afternoon of October 25, Pittsburgh Chinese School hosted a special event at Taylor Allderdice High School titled “An American Friend and China’s Desert: A Green Friendship.” The school invited retired world history teacher Ronald Sakolsky, known in China as “Sai Kao Si” (赛考斯), to share his story with students and parents. Notably, Allderdice is Mr. Sakolsky’s own alma mater, and he is also a University of Pittsburgh alumnus, making the afternoon something of a homecoming.

The event opened with two student representatives singing “What a Wonderful World.” Mr. Sakolsky then took the stage to tell the story of his 27-year friendship with China, and with a forest.

In 1999, while teaching English in Luoyang, Henan Province, Mr. Sakolsky saw a television program about Ms. Yin Yuzhen, who was planting trees to hold back the sands of the Mu Us Desert in Inner Mongolia. Deeply moved, he reached out to organizations across the United States and raised $5,000 for her work. The following year, he traveled to the Mu Us to plant trees alongside her. That donation became more than 50,000 saplings, which have since grown into a forest that Yin Yuzhen named the “Sakolsky Forest.” After they parted in 2000, the two lost touch. This May, Yin posted a video online searching for her old friend, and he was found in little more than a day. In August, Mr. Sakolsky returned to China and reunited with Yin among the trees that now stand where sand once stretched, and together they planted a new tree of friendship. In September, their story was mentioned in a toast at the White House state dinner. On October 15, at FAO headquarters in Rome, Yin Yuzhen was honored as one of the FAO 100 Women Heroes in Agrifood Systems and Rural Development, and Mr. Sakolsky was invited on stage to hold the award with her.

During the Q&A session, parents and students eagerly joined the conversation, discussing education, international exchange, environmental protection, and more. Mr. Sakolsky urged everyone to tune out the noise, embrace the power of ordinary people, and build the bridge between the American and Chinese peoples one brick at a time.

The school presented Mr. Sakolsky with gifts including a commemorative T-shirt, a piece of Shu brocade, and a calligraphy scroll of the character "福" (fortune and blessing). A former chess enthusiast, he also received a copy of the chess book Positions of Thought (by Jason W and Erick Z). A simple black-and-white board can bring strangers together at the same table, and in that way it reflects the spirit of this friendship: pure goodwill and a bridge between people. The event concluded with a tree-sharing activity. With saplings donated by the Carnegie International Students Institute, Mr. Sakolsky personally handed a young tree to each child, encouraging them to plant both greenery and friendship.

This event was organized jointly by the Pittsburgh Chinese School Board of Directors and teachers. Through stories like this, the school hopes to help more people learn about genuine friendship between the American and Chinese peoples, and to plant seeds of understanding and goodwill in every heart.