On Friday, a group of protesters came to Okotoks with an eye-opening story from China.

The protesting group, are claiming The Chinese Government and its hospitals are targeting a group of people for live organ donation, and turning it into a multi-billion dollar business.

The main targets are the Falun Dafa, a spiritual discipline of the Buddhist tradition. Their beliefs mainly consist of moral teachings, meditation, and hold strong to the values of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.

The Chinese Government considers this group a threat to their idealogical control, and a challenge to their power.

Since 1999, the government has been imprisoning the Falun Dafa and exposing them to torture, brain-washing, and the involuntary donation of their organs.

Since 2000, close to 100,000 organ transplants have been performed in China, with only 1500 of those being voluntary donations. Recipients of these organs are lied to and not told where these organs are truly coming from.

Volunteer with the Falun Dafa Association of Calgary, Michael Wing, says this problem is only getting more extreme.

"They are building hospitals, 5-star resorts, to kill these people and make billions of dollars. This is not getting better, it is only getting worse", he says.

One of the women who is helping to raise awareness, Jin Ling Huang, was herself imprisoned and now her daughter is as well, just because of their beliefs.

This group from the Falun Dafa Association will be travelling from province to province to raise awareness and hopes that by protesting across Canada, they can convince our government to condemn forced organ harvesting in China. A handful of other countries have already done just that. They also hope people will think twice before travelling to China to receive a quicker transplant.

The best way to help with this cause is to write a letter of concern to your local MP.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com