(Minghui.org) People in our neighborhood know that my family practices Falun Gong. Many of them were misled by the Communist Party's propaganda, demonized Falun Gong and became hostile towards us. However, their attitude changed after they saw us repair sidewalks on our own and remove a big pile of mud in front of our resident building a couple of years ago. They now greet us with smiles whenever they see us.
Our neighborhood was built in 1990. The sidewalk in front of our building was built with bricks, which became uneven because they weren't well maintained. It became worse after they were dug up to install new heating pipes before the winter of 2012. After the installation, the workers did not replace the bricks. People could only walk on a narrow stretch near the building.
The road became worse the following spring. The area dug up to install the heating pipes sunk. It also got very muddy when it rained. One day, my father told us that the bricks needed to be replaced in order to repair the road. We took it upon ourselves to do the work everyday for a week to get it back into order.
Our neighbors watched from far away and showed indifference the first day we were out there. On the second day, some people said they had no time to help us. But on the third day, some people helped us to complete the work. However, there were still some with negative views of us.
A big pile of mud was left after workers dug holes to install the new heating pipes. Grass grew on the mud pile and trash accumulated there. It just looked like a big pile of trash. It became worse in the spring when the winds picked up. Nobody took care of it after more than half a year. We decided to remove the trash, although it would be a lot of heavy labor.
My father borrowed a trolly and cleaned the area in front of the building. We then moved the mud to a garbage station. One day a person told us, “Your whole family is working.” Some people watched us from far away. Some said we should hire people to do the heavy lifting. The next day, an elderly man joined us. The big pile of mud, which was about 90 feet long, was finally removed after we worked several afternoons. We felt good to do something for our neighborhood.
I delivered Falun Gong calendars to our neighbors at the end of the year. Nobody rejected them. I often heard, “Thank you for remembering me.” It has become easy to tell our neighbors the facts of Falun Gong. Some people nominated my father to be in charge of the building. They began to trust practitioners.
Our efforts made our neighbors change their attitude towards Falun Gong. We were delighted to see that.
Category: Improving Oneself
