This morning my family and I went to a friend’s home to help her get things back in order. She was one of the unfortunate people whose home was recently destroyed by a tornado (龙卷风). One side of her home fell off and the roof was gone over a large part of the house. Torrential rain fell the rest of the night and all of the next day following the tornado, creating even more damage to her belongings. The home was a total loss. Still, there was much that was valuable, and our job today was to help her sort through the debris and find anything with actual value that she may want to take with her.

My husband helped to move furniture and other things to the storeroom while our two younger children helped clean up the yard. My oldest daughter and her boyfriend helped as well, and my another daughter with me swept up all of the areas of debris, sorting it for things that were important. We worked systematically, clearing the main living space first, then moving on to the kitchen, the laundry area, then the master bedroom.

By the time we were done today, though there was no denying the home had met with disaster, we had gone far to restore order from the loss that had been there before.

My thought in entering the day was that our friend, who had been having trouble sleeping, was being affected by that loss negatively. I hoped that if we could restore order, she would finally start to feel some sense of peace and her mind would quiet and allow her the much-needed rest she so deserved.

She posted on Facebook just a little while ago that for the first time she was sleeping at night these days. For me, what a wonderful and deeply meaningful way to begin the New Year!

Globally, forests are being cleared for development at a horrifying rate. Seeing the destruction of his native land, Omar Tello wanted to take on a mission of a lifetime. 40 years ago, Omar Tello bought a patch of land near Puyo city in Ecuador. He gave up his job as an accountant to work full time on this land, creating a forest rehabilitation (修复) project.

“People thought I was mad, but I’ve watched this whole paradise disappear, to the point where seeing a wild animal alive and free is a luxury... So I said to myself, I have to do something to save the species,” Omar explains.

Across Ecuador, deforestation has been increasing. In 2008, scientists warned that Ecuador had the highest deforestation rate in South America.

Omar Tello’s project, Jardin Botanico Las Orquidias, focuses on planning, implementing and evaluating strategies, guidelines and actions to consolidate a culture of respect for the natural environment, contributing to the protection of the environment through scientific research for the Amazonian flora and fauna (动植物).

Over these 40 years, Omar has gleaned (四处搜集) rare seeds and cuttings from the Amazon basin and repopulated these species within his project. The wildlife has slowly been attracted into the area. Snakes, birds, insects, bees and even the endangered “glass frog”, which was thought to be on the brink of extinction, have been spotted in his forest.

The rescue center of the Amazonian flora and fauna is now a benchmark for research on ecosystem restoration. Omar Tello has also become recognized as an expert in the field of long-term forest restoration. His work now is to work with educational institutions, community centers and local farmers to give other landowners the power to do the same as him.

The wife of Omar states that “(although people) come from far away to see and learn about the project, people around Puyo are not that interested. They don’t respect what Omar has done. No one from local government or authorities has shown any interest.

It feels like every time my mother and I start to have a conversation, it turns into an argument between a crazy mother and a single-minded son. We talk about something as simple as dinner plans and suddenly my mother will push the conversation into “the Third World War”. She’ll talk about my lack of bright future because I don’t plan to be a doctor. And much to her disappointment, I don’t want to do any job related to science, either. In fact, when I was pushed to say that I planned to major in English, she nearly had a heart attack.

“Why can’t you be like my friend’s son?” she shouts all the time. Her friend’s son received a four-year scholarship (奖学金) and is now earning 70, 000 dollars a year as an engineer. I don’t know what to say except that I simply can’t be like Mr. Perfect as I’ve called the unnamed friend’s son. I am the type of the person who loves to help out in the community, write until the sun goes down, and most of all, wants to achieve something because of loving it, not because of money.

I understand why my mother is worried about my future major. I’ve seen my mother struggle to raise me on her small salary and work long hours. Tired as she is, she still cooks supper for me and then does other housework staying up late into the night.

I fully understand that what my mother has done is out of her deep love for me. However, I want her to know that I’d rather follow my dreams and create my own future.