U.S. teacher who donated $5,000 to Chinese woman witnesses desert transformed into oasis

In 1999, retired U.S. teacher Ronald Sakolsky raised 5,000 U.S. dollars to support the tree-planting efforts of Chinese desertification advocate Yin Yuzhen. The money has created a forest of over 5,000 trees in the desert in Inner Mongolia.

Twenty-six years later, Sakolsky revisited Inner Mongolia, where he witnessed sands turn to soil and seeds grow into trees.

He said the journey to China far exceeded his expectations. “It's a story of conviction,” he said.