Jenny Bowen, an American living in Beijing, has been selected as the only American to carry the 2008prefix = st1 /BeijingOlympic torch on Chinese soil. She and seven other non-Chinese winners were chosen from a pool of 262 applicants   from 47 countries in a contest organized by Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group and the official English-language newspaper, China Daily. When Bowen runs with the Olympic torch, she will not only be representing the United States, but also be representing thousands of Chinese orphans  .    Bowen, a mother of two adopted Chinese daughters, is the executive director of Half the Sky Foundation, an organization which was founded in 1998 and aims to enrich the lives and improve the prospects for orphaned children inChina. In nearly 10 years, Bowen and Half the Sky have touched the lives of over 13,000 children. Half the Sky is now present in 36 welfare   institutions in 28 Chinese cities. About 4,000 children are active in the program, which provides trained staff, educational tools, medical support and nurturing love for orphans.    Bowen hopes that running with the Olympic torch would help draw attention to the children inChina. She will be among 19,400 runners who carry the flame along an 85,000-mile, 130-day route across five continents.Beijingorganizers say it will be the longest torch relay in Olympic history.    Like Bowen, the seven other non-Chinese winners, including a German engineer and a Venezuelan graphic designer, live inChina. Other countries represented will be thePhilippines,Colombia,India,JapanandRussia       According to Olympic organizers, candidates   were selected based on an online vote, committee selection, their " love of Chinese culture and history " and devotion to " communicating information of a real China to their native countries". Each runner will carry the torch for 200 meters on Chinese soil. Bowen hopes that being a torch runner would help   _  .
collect educational tools, medical support, etc, for orphans make Half the Sky Foundation well known communicate information ofAmerica draw attention to orphans inChina