Amelie Van Den Bos, Global Village of Beijing

Amelie Van Den Bos is program coordinator for Global Village of Beijing (GVB), and she is helping to organize Earth Day 2000 in China.

Fresh air at last! Today was the first time that all of Earth Day China's guests had an opportunity to leave downtown Beijing for the snow-covered Chinese countryside. Kikuko Mizuno and Toshiya Hirose of Earth Day Japan, Choi Ye-yong and Jeong Mi-hyang of Earth Day Korea, two Global Village Beijing staff members, and I went on a hike on GVB's 187-hectare piece of land, the site of the GVB Environmental Education Center. The area currently serves as the setting for environmental training programs targeted toward families, teachers, journalists, and NGOs. Still in its developmental stages, the Center will eventually feature green building and eco-farming models.

After eating lunch at a Duijiushi villager's home, Earth Day Japan, Earth Day Korea, Denis Hayes, Sheri Liao, and I held the Earth Day 2000 Asia meeting. We sat on a kang (a raised brick platform heated from underneath which is found inside houses in the North China countryside) and discussed collaboration on Earth Day 2000 plans for all three countries.

Unfortunately, because of the countries' political differences, groups' funding issues, and histories of conflict, the cooperation attempt faced some tough challenges. In the end, China, Korea, and Japan agreed to work together on the Green Life Commitment, Environmental Survey, Air Check, and Bicycle Parade. To someone as young, naïve, and foreign as I am, it was surprising to be part of a somewhat tense meeting of Asian NGOs who share a common goal.

It never ceases to surprise me how difficult it is for environmental NGOs in general to work together. While most NGOs in China speak supportively of each other, they rarely work together because they are part of a very small community and therefore in competition with each other for the same funds. In addition, every NGO has its own precious individuality, leader personality, and "face" it must keep up. On the international scene, these particular problems are exacerbated by the language barrier.

Despite the above-mentioned difficulties, NGOs in China are moving in the right direction. Today's Earth Day 2000 Asia meeting and yesterday's Launching Ceremony created some hope for future NGO cooperation in China and Asia. Denis's presence lent weight and experience to the international collaborative efforts. Everyone will be sorry to see him leave tomorrow.

Although Denis was only in Beijing for three days, NGOs and journalists had the opportunity to be impressed by his patient and thoughtful manner. His genuine interest in others, positive words, diplomacy, and above all environmental knowledge left their mark on NGOs from all over the country. He wasn't the 80-year-old radical that many Chinese expected, but instead a calm, rational man.

In the words of a Beijing University student who participated in the Launching Ceremony on Tuesday, "We hope that China will have many Denis Hayeses in the future -- so many that we won't be able to tell who the real one is!" My guess is that the growth of NGO environmental leadership and the growth of NGO capacity for cooperation will go hand in hand.