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s twelve years old. It was in 1952 and Mandel a was the bl ack lawyer to whom I went for advice. He offered guidance to por black people on thei r l egal problem s. H e was generous wi th hi s ti m e, for whi ch I was grateful . I needed hi s hel p because I had very l i ttl e educati on. I began school at si x. The school where I studi ed for onl y two years was three ki l om eters away. I had to l eave because m y fam i l y coul d not conti nue to pay the school fees and the bus fare. I coul d not read or wri te wel l . After tryi ng hard, I got a job i n a gol d m i ne. H owever, thi s was a ti m e when one had to got to have a passbook to l i ve i n Johannesburg. Sadl y I di d not have ways si mi lar to Laos, although i t has twice the popul ati on. At another i nn, we talked with a teacher who tol d us that hal f of the peopl e in her country coul dn’t read or write. H er vil lage coul dn’t even afford to bui l d a school , so she had to teach outsi de under a l arge tent. When we sai d goodbye, we al l fel t very l ucky to have studi ed i n col l ege. Back on the road, we passed between m any hil ls and forests. Then we cam e to the pl ai ns and entered Phnom Penh, the capital of Cam bodi a. In m any ways i t l ooked l i ke Vientiane and H o Chi Mi nh Ci ty。ways si mi lar to Laos, although i t has twice the popul ati on. At another i nn, we tal ked wi th a teacher who tol d us that hal f of the peopl e i n her country coul dn’t read or write. H er vil age coul dn’t even aford to buil d a school, so she had to teach outside under a l arge tent. When we sai d goodbye, we al fel t very l ucky to have studi ed i n col ege. Back on the road, we passed between m any hi l s and forests. Then we cam e to the pl ains and entered Phnom Penh, the capi tal of Cam bodi a. In many ways i t l ooked li ke Vi enti ane and Ho Chi Mi nh Ci ty。 it al so had wi de streets wi th trees i n rows and ol d French houses. Unl i ke Vientiane, shi ps coul d travel the Mekong Ri ver here. In the center of the ci ty we vi si ted the pal ace and a beauti ful whi te el ephant. It can onl y be seen outsi de the pal ace on speci al days. We ate an earl y supper and went to see a great tem pl e wi th fl ors m ade of sl i ver. The next m orni ng our group sl ept late. We were very tired from the l ong bi ke ri de the day before. Cycli ng i n the hil l s had been di ffcuil ow our couins had the chance to m ake jokes about Wangwei and m e. Perhaps, they sai d, they were the strong ones!We had lunch at a ni ce outdoor cafe, then rode out of the ci ty. Two days l ater we crossed the border into Vietnam. We began to see many more peopl e,but I wasn’t surprised .I read in an atl as before our tri p that Vi etnam has alm ost seven tim es the population of Cam bodia. We m et a farm er who gave us di recti ons and tol d us that he grows a new ri ce crop four tim es every year so he can feed m ore peopl e al so tol d us that the northern part of hi s country has m any m ountai ns and i t i s m uch cooler than here i n the south, where i t i s flat. Al though the flat del ta m ade i t easi er for us to cycl e. we got warm very quickl y. So we drank l ots of water and ate l ots of bananas. Son the del ta separated i nto nine sm al l er ri vers. Two days l ater, after we had passed thousands of ri ce fi el ds, we cam e to the sea. We were ti red but al so i n hi gh spi ri ts:our dream to cycl e al ong the Mekong Ri ver had fi nal y e true. Uni t 4 A NIGHT THE EARTH DID’T SLEEP Strange thi ngs were happeni ng i n the countri side of northest H eBei. For there days the water i n the vil l age wel l s rose and fel, rose and fel l. Farm ers noti ced that the wel wal l s had deep cracks in them. A smel y gas cam e out of the cracks. In the farm eryards, the chi ckens and even the pi gs were too nervous to eat. mi ce ran out of the fi el ds l ooki ng for pl aces to hi de. fi sh jum ped out of thei r bowls and ponds. At about 3: 00am on Jul y 28, 1976, som e peopl e saw bright l i ghts i n the sky. The sound of the pl anes coul d be heard outsi de the ci ty, who thought li ttl e of these events, were asl eep as usual that ni ght. At3: 42 am everything began to shake. It seem ed as i f the worl d was at an end!El even kil om etres directl y bel ow the ci ty the greast earthquake of 20th century had begun. It was fel t i n Bei ji ng, whi ch i s m ore thantwo hundred ki l om etres away. O nethi rd of the nati on fel t i t . A huge crack that was ei ght ki l om etres l ong and thi rty m etres wi de cut across houses, roads and canal s. Steam burst from hol es in the ground. Hard hi l s of rock becam e ri vers of dirt. In fifteen terri bl e seconds a l arge l ay in rui ns. The sufferi ng of the peopl e was extrem e. Towthi rds of them di ed or were injured duri ng the earthquake. Thounds of fami li es were ki l ed and m any chi dren were l eft wi thout parents. The num ber of peopl e who were kil l ed or i njured reached m ore than 400, 000. But how coul d the survi vors bel ieve i t was natural ?Everywhere they l ooked nearl y everythi ng was destroyed. Al l of the city’s hospitals,75%of its factories and buil dings and 90%of its homes were gone. Bricks covered the ground l ike red autumn l eaves. N o wi nd, however, coul d bel ow they away. Two dams and m ost of the bri dges al so fel or were not safe for travel i ng. The rai l way tracks were now usel ess pi eces of steel. Tens of thousands of cows woul d never give m il k agai n. Hal f a mi l i on pi gs and mi l i ons of chi ckens were dead. Sand now fi l ed the wel ls i nstead of water. Peopl e were shocked. Then l ater that afternoon, another bi g quake whi ch was alm ost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. Som e of the rescue workers and doctors were traped under the rui ns. More buil di ngs fel down. Water, food, and el etri ci ty were hard to get. People began to wongder how l ong the di sater