18 February 2007

Dear Mr. Chan,

This is the second time we send drawings with donated money for the charity work of Dragon's Heart Foundation. They were all created by members of our association (children as well as adults). All these children have one thing in common: They share an unusually high intelligence and problems with their environment, which sometimes can't accept their way of being, thinking and acting different. Some of them are also hyperactive (ADHD/ADD).

Our group consists of parents who give their free time to organize activities and meetings for these children, so they can make friends and learn that there are other people who are like them. We are also politically active, to change conditions on a larger scale, for example we speak to the government to build special schools and to train teachers. We work with local newspapers so that they write more about the special demands of these children, to prevent prejudices against them and to create more tolerance. Last week, some of our children were interviewed by the press. On the photo which appeared in the paper, one boy, Felix, wears a Jackie Chan t-shirt, ordered by his father in your shop in Hong Kong. Doesn't it look great?

Three years ago, we looked for a Chinese teacher, since so many wished to learn a non-European language. Now over thirty students learn in three different courses with their Chinese teacher Sohlan (many more want to do it , but we don't have enough places!). Last lesson they even celebrated Chinese New Year with tea, cookies, and a lot of red paper with Chinese characters. In a circus camp during the summer holidays they train hard to become real artistes. Then they will show their abilities in a wonderful gala performance to their proud parents.

As we already mentioned, these children often have large problems in school or with other children of the same age (e.g. their classmates). Some show their talents frank and achieve very good grades which creates envy among their classmates. Others want to become "like everyone else," denying an important trait of their character and some even become truants, not being able or not wanting to be able to attend lessons any more. We know about children no school would take anymore and who ended up at the psychiatrist.

Each month we meet to play board games and to do handicrafts. The children enjoyed to draw the pictures and see them later on your homepage, so they wished to send in a new letter with new drawings. For those who didn't want to draw but to donate money, we made a German Schultute (a School Cone) to fill it with money. In Germany, children get this prettily decorated School Cone filled with toys, cookies, chocolates and things they need for school when they enter first grade. The eight year-old girl Elena first drew two pictures and then took the Schultute to go from table to table, telling everyone about the Dragon's Heart Foundation, the poor children in China and their need to go to school. When she came back, she proudly presented us the filled Tute. We were so happy about her! One girl didn't want to give her picture away - she said that she never had drawn such a beautiful tree before. So we made a copy of it and pinned the money to it.

There are lots of Jackie Chan fans in our association - older and younger ones. Sometimes even children, parents and grandparents in the same family! Why don't you visit the beautiful town of Stuttgart, where the world's first car was constructed and driven? Have a look at it in the newly build Mercedes Museum! Aren't you a car lover?

Lots of greetings,

Anouk and Ingrid Ehreiser
on behalf of Initiative zur Forderung hochbegabter Kinder e. V.
Stuttgart, Germany

(Photo right: Anouk at age 7 holding a German schultute)

Drawings from the children and adults from the nitiative zur Forderung hochbegabter Kinder e. V. join other donation drawings in this photo, which was sent to Jackie in California on March 19, 2007: