Many of you reading this probably know well by now about my heart for the people of North Korea. Over the course of the past few months I've had the chance to participate in a number of volunteer opportunities and events that have helped me to learn more about their issues and have allowed me to become more involved in serving the community of North Korean defectors living here in the South. And as I have grown both in knowledge and in genuine love for Korea and its people, my purpose and vision for my time here have evolved, so that lately I have also been spending a great deal of time and effort to lay down the groundwork that will allow me to devote myself more fully to these kinds of efforts when I return next year.
This past week I had the privilege of serving as a lead teacher in the 2010 Global English Camp, an annual initiative of People for Successful Corean Reunification (PSCORE). It was an experience that ranked high among the most meaningful and fulfilling that I have had in my time here in Korea. PSCORE is a NGO that was established as a result of the vision of a small but passionate group of young North Korean defectors, South Korean university students, and foreigners. The organization, now with offices in both D.C. and Seoul, advocates for the human rights of the North Korean people and strives to promote mutual understanding and dialogue about issues of peace and democracy between North and South Korea. They also work to support refugees from the North by equipping them with the skills and tools they need in order to build new lives in South Korea.
The Global English Camp is one program that serves these aims. For one thing, English is the language of success in South Korea, but in North Korea it is a language generally known only by the super-elite. Along with their year-round tutoring program, this English camp is one way for PSCORE to help lessen this gap. The camp was also an opportunity for the North Korean students to learn about the meaning of democracy and come to a better understanding of democratic processes and how they as citizens can participate in them. To this end, the camp held a mock presidential election, as well as offered a number of seminars related to democracy. These included a leadership seminar by a leading Korean university on the meaning of leadership and the definition a true leader, and a lecture about democracy and democratic election by two representatives from the U.S. Department of State. The students also all participated in a quiz-show style game that featured trivia about democracy around the world.
Another main purpose of the camp was to promote dialogue about human rights and reunification between all of the North Korean students, South Korean students, and foreigners in attendance. Two representatives from the
Hanns-Seidel Foundation came and gave a talk outlining the successes and challenges of German reunification and how these might be useful in discussions about Korean reunification. There was also a seminar by PSCORE staff on the process of policy making and its role in protecting human rights. After each seminar we were able to break into small groups and discuss these ideas as they relate to the relationship between North Korea, South Korea, and the rest of the world. Though some students had much more advanced English than others, the South Korean students were able to help with translation and vocabulary, so that the language barrier wasn't an issue even in discussing such advanced and challenging topics. I was quite impressed with how well everyone worked together, and how earnestly they desired to understand one another's viewpoints.
One final aim of the camp was to increase global awareness, so there was also one evening where each group did an interactive cultural presentation on a country of their choice. Our group chose to present on Egypt and played a game of charades to teach about Egyptian "firsts." Our final first, meant to be unveiled at the end of the game, was belly dancing. We intended to close out the show with a fun video of some pretty impressive belly dancing, but the internet decided to quit working at just that moment. So, instead, I ended up putting all that time spent searching belly dancing videos to good use and teaching everyone a move called the "snake arms." I'd never even tried it myself before, so it was pretty ridiculous looking I'm sure-- but fun. And the other groups' presentations were all equally, if not more, entertaining. In fact, one of the highlights/ most surreal moments of the entire weekend for me was seeing a bunch of North Koreans line-dancing to "Boot Scootin' Boogie" as a part of their presentation on the American Midwest.
In addition to all of these activities (and other just-for-fun team building ones!), a great deal of our time was spent working in our groups for the mock presidential election-- essentially the central event of the camp. There were four groups who formed our English camp's 4 main political parties. Each of these elected one of their North Korean members to be their presidential candidate. Others had jobs such as head speech writer and PR rep. As a group they created posters, performed exciting and creative campaign events, and participated in a presidential debate. There was also one media group, whose job was to conduct interviews, write press releases, and share news about the presidential race. And lastly, there was the "Electoral Committee." I served as the lead teacher for this group. We were essentially in charge of running the business end of the mock election: creating rules and standards of conduct, designing and mediating the debates, evaluating the campaigning sessions, organizing the logistics of the election, counting votes, and conducting the inaugural ceremony. It was a ton of work, but my members pulled together well and made it all happen.
Our members were quite diverse, and included an assistant teacher from California, four South Korean university students, an international student from China, and four students from North Korea. One of these North Korean students lived in Georgia for two years and demonstrated a passionate love for beer and politics; another, though initially quiet and unsure, over the course of the camp revealed himself to be extraordinarily hardworking and brave; our third student was open from the get-go, loving to laugh, flirt, and engage in meaningful conversations; and the fourth, an aspiring teacher, had a reflective and honest spirit that was remarkably infectious. We all got to know one another surprisingly well in such a short period of time, and every single person was able to bring something unique and valuable to the group. What these students have overcome and the ways that they are adapting and striving to use their painful experiences for the sake of their fellow countrymen was beyond inspiring.
I learned a lot from the perspectives of my peers, and really appreciated the fact that everyone brought different ideas and life experiences to the table. Often in talks about North Korea it is easy for those of us who are focusing on the plight of the refugees to vilify certain outside groups or governments-- especially the Chinese. This is because the only means of escape from North Korea is to cross the border into China, but the government there views escapees as criminals and sends them back into the hands of North Korean officials to be imprisoned and often tortured (or worse) if discovered. The Chinese government also refuses citizenship to children born of North Korean mothers, leaving a number of these children stateless, orphaned, and without education. So, in light of this, I thought it was especially beneficial to our group not only to have the input of four refugees who had recently escaped via the underground route through China, but also to have such a thoughtful Chinese student among us who could share with us both her love for her country and her care for the people of North Korea, and who was willing to offer her perspective as a part of our dialogue.
It honestly was such a blessing and a privilege for me to be able to be a part of this camp; there is so much more that I could say about it. I was challenged and put outside of my comfort zone, and at the same time I really felt I was completely in my element there. The feedback from the students was very positive, and, as I said to all the camp participants during our candlelight vigil on the final night, being around such a genuine, caring, and intelligent group-- and having the opportunity to witness their passion and compassion-- gave me a lot of hope for the future of the Korean peninsula.
I know there has been a lot of gum flapping in the US media about North Korea and war lately, and I understand the fears that play into that, but to be perfectly honest, I really just long for the day when we as a world community become as concerned with the human rights violations in the North as we are with any potential nuclear attack. Thankfully, this camp and the people who participated in it are each in their own way bringing us a few small steps closer to seeing that become a reality.
