On many days I admit that I feel depressed, days when it seems that the efforts, the struggles, and the sacrifices of so many people fighting for social and environmental justice, fighting prejudice and racism, are fighting a losing battle.

But without hope, all is lost. It is a crucial survival character that has supported our species from the time of our Stone Age ancestors. Certainly, my own improbable journey would have been impossible if I had lacked hope.

Like all people who live long enough, I have been through many dark periods and seen so much suffering. I was in New York on that terrible day in 2001. I still can remember the disbelief, the fear, the confusion as the city went quiet except the whistles of the police cars and ambulances on the streets emptied of people.

It was ten years after that day that I was introduced to the Survivor Tree, a Callery pear tree discovered a month after the collapse of the towers. All that was left was half a trunk that had been burned black, with roots that were broken and only one living branch.

She was almost sent to the dump, but the young woman who found her, Rebecca Clough, begged that the tree be given a chance. And so she went to be cared for in a nursery in the Bronx. Bringing that seriously damaged tree back to health was not an easy task, and it was touch-and-go for a while. But whenever you give her a chance, nature returns. Eventually the tree made it. In the spring, her branches are bright with blossoms. I’ve seen people looking at her and wiping away tears. She is a symbol of the resilience (适应力) of nature — and a reminder of all that was lost on that terrible day 20 years ago.

The Survivor Tree, brought back from the dead, had not only put out new leaves herself but also nurtured (养育) the lives of others. Now do you understand how I dare hope?

My first shopping in a general store was in Miss Bee’s when I spent the summer with my grandmother in New York.

“Go get them yourself” Miss Bee said, ignoring the shopping list held up before her nose. “I’m not your servant, so just get yourself a basket from that pile over there and start filing.”

It took me three wall-to-wall searches before I found the first item on my list―a pork can be placed between boxes of cereal and bread. Next up was toilet paper, found under the daily newspaper, and Band-Ads, found next to the face cream. The store was a puzzle, but it held some surprises too. I found a new Superman comic behind the peanut butter.

I visited Miss Bee a couple of times a week that summer. Some times she short-charged me. Other times she overcharged or sold me an old newspaper instead of a current one. Going to the store was more like going into battle. I left my Grandma’s house armed with my list—memorized to the letter—and marched into Miss Bee’s like General Patton (巴顿将军) marching into North Africa.

All summer long she found ways to trip me up. No sooner had I learned how to pronounce bicarbonate of soda (小苏打) and memorized its location on the shelf than Miss Bee rearranged the shelves and made me hunt for it all over again. By summer’s end, however, the shopping trip that had once taken me an hour was done in 15 minutes.

The morning I was to return to Brooklyn, I stopped into tell her that she was mean (刻薄的). To my amazement she laughed and said. “Well, I don’t care! Each of us is put on this earth for a reason. I believe my job is to teach every child I meet ten life lessons to help them. Think what you will, but when you get older you’ll be glad our paths crossed!”

I thought the idea was absurd until one day my daughter came to me with homework troubles.

“It’s too hard,” she said. “Could you finish my math problems for me?”

“If I do it for you, how will you ever learn to do it yourself?” I said.

Suddenly, I was back at that general store where I had learned the hard way totally up (结算) my bill along with the cashier. As my daughter went back to her homework, I wondered: Had Miss Bee really taught me something all those years ago? I took out some scrap paper and started writing.

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) —During his leisure time, Mahinda Dasanayaka packs his motorbike with books and rides his mobile library—across mostly muddy roads running through tea-growing mountain areas—to underprivileged children in backward rural parts of Sri Lanka.

Having witnessed the hardships faced by children whose villages have no library facilities, Dasanayaka, a child protection officer for the government, was looking for ways to help them. Then three years ago, he launched his program, called “Book and Me”.

He purchased a second-hand Honda motorbike for 30,000 Sri Lankan rupees($162), On his off days—mostly during weekends—he rides his motorbike, which is fixed with a steel box to hold books, to rural villages and distributes the reading material to children free of charge.

He began the program in 2017 with 150 books—some of his own and   others donated by friends colleagues and well-wishers. His collection includes about 3,000 books on a variety of subjects. So far, he said, his program has benefited more than 1,500 children, as well as about 150 adults.

“I wanted to do something for children who are burdened with an exam-centered education. . . And to change the way kids look at society, to change their perspectives and broaden their imagination,” he said.

Apart from giving away books, Dasanayaka also speaks to the children for a few minutes, usually under a roadside tree, highlighting the value of reading, books and authors. He then conducts a discussion on books the children have read, with the aim of eventually forming reading clubs.

While Dasanayaka spends his own money on his program, he is not wealthy, with a take- home income of 20,000 rupees ($108) a month from his job. He said he spends about a quarter of that on gasoline for his mobile library.