The Netherlands: Reaching People in the Southern Province of Limburg (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net)The Province of Limburg is in the south of The Netherlands. It shares borders with the Province of Limburg in Belgium and the Province of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Practitioners from this region usually coordinate together to organize activities to expose the atrocities and crimes by the Chinese Communist Party against Falun Gong practitioners in China and most recently the pre-Olympic mass arrests of practitioners. Practitioners from other regions usually participate as well. This time, two cities, Heerlen and Hoensbroek in The Netherlands, arranged for Falun Gong practitioners' participation in two important events.

Heerlen: On Saturday, April 19, 2008, the Municipality of the City of Heerlen organized the Annual Market, which is attended not only by Dutch people but by Germans as well. The Falun Gong booth was ideally located between the national famous art gallery The Glass Palais and Saint Pancratius Church. On the three sides of the booth exposed to the public, practitioners displayed Falun Gong banners so that people could see them from afar.

There were a number of magazines, pictures, and other materials on display at the booth. Several practitioners dressed in the yellow exercise outfit and demonstrated the exercises, giving each passerby a flyer. Others showed people how to make paper lotus flowers, an activity that attracted many people and that provided an opportunity to clarify the truth face to face. One practitioner made a few hundred of the beautiful lotus flowers and stood quietly in a corner of the stand with a bunch of them in her hands. When people saw her with the flowers, they would approach her and ask how much a flower cost. She would tell them that it was free and that she herself had gladly made it for them. The person would then receive a flower with a Falun Gong card hanging from it and a flyer. Before the end of the day, all the flowers she had made were gone. Other practitioners inflated balloons to which children and their parents were attracted. They each walked away with a balloon and a flyer.

Hoensbroek: Town officials organized on the 1st of May the "Braderie," a kind of fair, market, and festival all combined into one event. It is one of the most heavily attended events in Limburg. Hundreds of thousands of people of all ages and walks of life enjoyed the lively stands and music bands all day long.

As in Heerlen, the Falun Gong booth was again ideally located in a corner next to a nice little park and the small Saint Jans Church. Practitioners showed the exercises on the park, organized a small photo exhibition, taught people how to fold lotus flowers, and distributed balloons thus creating opportunities to validate and clarify the truth about Falun Gong.

The Falun Dafa booth was crowded	Signing the petition calling for an end to the persecution	Teaching children to fold paper lotus flowers

At the table where people were folding lotus flowers, a little girl about nine years old, after listening to the story about the persecution, said that she could not understand why such a thing was happening. "Why doesn't our government do something about it? They killed those people for engaging in tranquil meditation and these are all good people!" she said.

Another highlight of the day was the signing of the "2008 Millions of Signatures Petition" organized by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China (CIPFG). In this petition the CIPFG appeals for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong and the restoration of the human rights and dignity of practitioners in China before the opening of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Despite the difficulties that the enormous flow of people posed to individuals wanting to stop at the booth, hundreds of people still managed to approach the petition table and sign the petition. It is worthwhile noting that youngsters, once aware of the disastrous situation regarding human rights in China, were readily inclined to sign, while older people needed a more thorough explanation of the truth. After that they would understandingly sign the petition. Practitioners did their best to clarify the facts to people face to face with the sincere wish of giving them the opportunity to position themselves well. Several dozen pages of signatures for the petition were quickly filled during the hours that this event lasted.

Source: http://en.clearharmony.net/articles/200805/44212.html