Building cross-border bonds through environmental action

In 1999, Ronald Sakolsky, an American middle school exchange teacher in the city of Luoyang, saw a TV report about Yin Yuzhen's fight against desertification in the Mu Us Desert in Inner Mongolia, China. Moved by her story, Sakolsky raised 5,000 US dollars to help Yin and her husband. Today, that support has grown into more than 50,000 trees across the desert. Filled with gratitude and pride over what had been achieved, Yin spent years searching for her American friend. In May, Yin and Sakolsky finally reunited over the phone, reminiscing about their friendship from two decades earlier.