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Sarah T. Randt with her pet dog Whiskey.
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The title wife of the American Ambassador to China may seem like an easy rank to pigeonhole. However, after a few moments with Sarah T. Randt, who has been wearing this mantle since 2001, the stereotyped presumption of power and diplomacy quickly disappear. Gracious and candid, utterly at ease and quick to smile, Randt permeates charm and spontaneous passion as she talks about her 25-year stay in China.
On a recent sunny morning while Whiskey, the 8-year-old fluffy amber Wheaten Terrier, rested obediently by her side, Randt revealed her constant commitment to the Dandelion Project, a group of professional women in China who network and raise funds in order to sponsor Chinese charities.
Randt co-founded the project in 2004 and has been its vice-president since then.
The ambassador's wife is both satisfied and grateful for her station in life because it has allowed her to give back to the community and make a difference.
Randt joked that she was well trained for her duties now by being a Pan-American Airways flight attendant for nine years.
On one flight she met a passenger called Clark T. Randt, who later became her husband, father of her three children and the current American Ambassador to China. Soon after her marriage, Randt moved to China with her husband who was a lawyer representing American companies in China.
Her first stay in Beijing was between 1982 and 1984 when her husband served as First Secretary and Commercial Attache at the US Embassy. At that time, due to the fast expansion of personnel in the embassy, Clark T. Randt made his office in the now garage of their residence, while Sarah stayed in the Beijing Hotel for one year.
Looking back on this experience, Sarah joked that this was the beginning of a typical American dream moving up from a garage to a big house.
The following 18 years saw the Randts in Hong Kong when her husband practiced law as a partner with the international law firm of Shearman & Sterling. During that period, Sarah raised their three children and enjoyed an active and fun life as a taitai, a local appellation for well-kept housewives. She volunteered at the Chinese International School and the Hong Kong International School. She also sang in a choir, which was able to raise money from performers and then give the proceeds to various charities.
In 2001 when her husband became US Ambassador to China, Sarah moved back to Beijing and embarked on a life that's labeled as high profile.
As she continues her tennis twice a week, walking Whiskey on weekends and cycling within the old city's hutong area, she is introduced to many important people from the United States and China.
Among those who have visited are Shannon Lucid, the woman astronaut who set the record for continuous spaceflight; takeover artist T. Boone Pickens, and business guru David Rockefeller, just to name a few.
She also serves as chairperson of the Beijing International Society (BIS), a 25-year-old organization that meets twice a month for presentations on different aspects of Chinese culture.
"Hong Kong is great, but a bit confined. In Hong Kong, people talk about other countries they have just visited," says Randt, enthusiasm sparking in her eyes. "Beijing offers so much new all the time, that conversations are about here and now."
Compared to her first stay in Beijing, there are now many English city magazines available to keep her fully informed about what's going on within the city.
Besides all those new things, there are also traditional charms that she always enjoys, such as the Pearl Market at Hongqiao facing the eastern gate of the Temple of Heaven. Randt claims she has been there hundreds of times and has become a pearl expert.
Life was almost perfect when in 2004 Randt started to feel regretful as her husband's ambassador tenure was supposed to end in one year.
Despite her active involvement with BIS and numerous honorary titles she holds for various events and occasions, she says: "I have been given more credit than what I deserved. Most of the time, I was there posing for photos. In fact, I didn't think I have contributed much to the local community."
Thus the news of the extension of the ambassador's service in China was both relieving and exciting.
In 2004, through Ye Xiaowei, Randt encountered Zheng Hong, a determined woman who wanted to set up a quality middle school for children of migrant workers in Beijing's southwest suburban Daxing District.
Determined to assist Zheng's efforts to help the teenage boys and girls in Daxing get an education, Ye and Randt gathered first 20 and then 50 like-minded working women and mothers who wanted to find ways to give back to their community through personal involvement. The Dandelion Project was born. It is an organization for female volunteers.
Randt explained the project encourages a women-only membership so that they can help each other while helping others. This kind of atmosphere is perfect for the charity efforts in which the Dandelion Project is involved.
Since its establishment, the Dandelion Project has been capitalizing on international and local resources and expertise to ensure measurable improvements for women and children in China.
The project's first achievement was helping Zheng transform a dilapidated factory into what is now known as the Dandelion School.
A viable school recognized by the Beijing authorities and dignitaries from abroad, the Dandelion School was opened in August 2005 and became the first middle school specifically for sons and daughters from low-income migrant families. It currently has 520 students.
Besides the Dandelion School, the project also raises funds for the Battered Women Support Group, a non-profit organization that aims to help women recover their personal dignity and strength to stop the violence in their lives.
As the name suggests, the Dandelion Project is here for the long term.
"We have named the school and the project after the dandelion because we hope the roots of our vision will be strong, and the seeds of our ideas will spread," says Randt.
Because her husband's post ends in 2009, Randt foresees a possible departure from China. She hopes the Dandelion Project will become self-sustainable by then, with its philanthropic works spreading like dandelion seeds to inspire others to join in making a difference in the lives of Chinese people.
"My husband and I have spent nearly all 27 years of our married life in Hong Kong and Beijing. I do not wish to depart China without leaving a legacy of some sort," says the longest serving US First Lady to China.
"Since I do not have a fortune to give, it must be an inspiration. The idea is that the new middle-class women of China want to be generous and give back to their community, and they only need a trustworthy, personal organization in which to work together on common charitable causes."
(China Daily November 1, 2007)
