미지센터의 청소년 국제교류이야기

On July 24th, Seoul Youth Center for Cultural Exchange, Mizy Center in short, welcomed the second guest speaker
for the MDG workshop provided for the Mizy Reporters, Kim Kyung Soo. Mr. Kim’s main field of activity is PKO:
Peacekeeping Operations. Starting with the interning at the UN, he has developed his career through working in the
Asia Pacific Council, the Korea Military Academy, the United Nations Military Observer group in India and Pakistan, and the United Nations Mission in Sudan. From his experiences, he realized that the MDGs goals were all parts of a big
cycle linked by two words, sustainable development. He explains the each goals based on his experiences and what
the future peacekeepers can do.

 

Picture from crcna.org-MDG hands

Goal1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Goal2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

According to the 2011 MDG Report, the Sudanese children’s school enrollment rate has been increasing recently.
However, when he was in Sudan, the children could barely attend school due to several reasons. Weather affected the most. 8 months of the year, it was too wet for the small children to walk the several kilometers to school, whilst 2 were too dry and hot. Even in normal weathers, parents feel it is too dangerous to send their kids on such a long walk, where
boys are frequently kidnapped by the army, and the girls, raped. Merely building schools in the nations and
recommending parents to enroll their children have not solved the problem of education, where such indigenous issues
are not taken into account. 
 

Goal3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

The number of women with paid jobs is considerably lower than the number of men with paid jobs in Sudan. Most
women in Sudan do not realize that they are receiving unjust and unequal treatment. For them to know this, they need to be educated, but of unfortunately, everything has a price tag, even education.

Goal4: Reduce Child Mortality

In year 2007, during 3 months of time, 821 Sudanese children died of measle. That corresponds to two small elementary
schools in Seoul. Likewise, malaria is one of the diseases that wipes out children now and then. However, having
caught them twice, Mr. Kim says that they were somewhat like normal colds, gone in 3 days with medication. The 
diseases are not what raises child mortality rate, but it’s their extremely weak bodies and immunity, along with the
unyielding poverty that seems to beholding the Sudaneses’ ankles on all parts of their lives.

Goal5: Improve Maternal Health

The ratio of baby getting born under proper professional medical care was only 48% in year 2008. If the mothers’ health is deteriorating, the child mortality will rise. If the mother has AIDS, the number of new AIDS infectants will rise. If the mother receives low quality education, or no education, the child is less likely to have proper education, and so on. This
generation’s females’ problems are literally “inherited” by the next generation if they are not solved.  

 

Goal6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other Diseases

Because of the high illiteracy, instead documents with definition and descriptions of AIDS, he and the team plastered a
large poster with the word “AIDS” on it, color print. The next day, the poster was found stuck in a home’s wall as
decoration. Due to lack of education and knowledge, the could not understand his explanations on why AIDS is
dangerous, what happens to kids born with AIDS, and where they can get the pills.

 

Goal7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Mr. Kim realized the seriousness of the water issues not only when he saw people using drinking water for washing, but also the vice versa. To help these Sudanese, an industry kindly sent high-technology generators that could pump out
water from the underground that ran on electricity. Unsurprisingly, the generators ended up in the children’s hands
because they did not have enough energy to operate such machines and did not know how such technology worked.
Similarly, he found out that the land is actually fertile enough to operate an agricultural system, but because they lacked
agricultural technology and knowledge, they fall into idleness.

Goal8: Global Partnership for Development.
 

From all these experiences, he realized that what he and other people working in international bodies and partnerships
that support the developing nations need to do is ‘research.’ To gather correct information and database so that they
actually “know” the realities of each nation, rather than planning on surmises and speculations. The UN might seem as if they are doing nothing, but it is they who do the research with which the NGOs and other international organizations
raise funds.

Sudan is an impoverished nation, but at the same time, the most supported by the UN. But why are they showing second to no progression when countries like India and China, which were once in the same line receiving same or less help
than them, are prospering? Mr. Kim says that he has never heard a ‘thank you’ in Sudan. Their history filled with betrayal and embezzlement, the Sudanese neglects to depend on other nations for development, making the effects of the UN and other international organizations’ help temporal. However, Mr. Kim explains that this is not their fault, but our ignorance of their unique culture and history. “Like humans have different characteristics, so does the nations. We need to understand these characteristics: the history, culture, the environment, the weather, and so on. You think that you know, but when
you look at the real scenes, you’ll realize that reality is very different.” To promote sustainable development, the main goal of MDGs, we need to firstly research and understand them.

 

※ Tip for those who are interested in joining Mr. Kim:

Mr. Kim says that many students ask him what major they should choose and how high their TOEFL, TOEIC, and other
English scores have to be to work in the UN or NGOs. He says that his answers are always the same: follow your bliss and dream. In the book Succeed as the citizen of the world, not of Korea(한국인이 아닌 세계인으로 성공하라), he recalls when he and his team members of the OCHA, Office of Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs, gathered after a long day of work. All eight members were from different countries and all had different majors, ranging from social welfare to computer programmers. He quotes “Don’t accommodate yourself to the international organizations but apply your own merits to their needs.” Doing what you can do best and with joy is the quickest way to helping others be happy.

 

Si-hyeong Yu

Young-dae Shim

Seok-bum Cho

All pictures taken from Si-hyeong Yu's personal blog  


 When they were asked the purpose of the trip, Yu, the leader of the team who went on a trip around the world with only 26 euros in 2006, answered, “It was saddening to realize how Korean food was unknown to the world when I travelled around the world in 2006. Not only Korean food, but the country ‘Korea’ was unfamiliar to the foreigners. As someone who has majored in cooking, it was this feeling of sorrow along with our pride in Korean food that started the Kimchi Bus project." Together, they aim to change the impression of Korean food to the world. “People keep talking about the globalization of Korean food, but not many people are actually taking action, We hope that our tour will prove even a small effort can make a difference.”

The three youth became good friends as fellow students of Kyung Hee University. Knowing each other thoroughly and having common passion, they had almost no trouble preparing for the trip. These men were not only passionate, but also rather thoughtful. Instead of travelling in a professionally set package or merely participating in international competitions and exhibitions, they will be travelling in a camping car. Yu explains, “We want to deliver our message personally, interacting both physically and psychologically with the regional people. We want even those in the isolated parts of every country and those who live off the mainstream of the modern lives to learn about Korean food, and a camping car seemed perfect for the job.”

 Moreover, the name Kimchi might seem rather childish at first, but Yu explains there is a special reason why they placed it at the core of their tour. “We cannot talk about Korean food without mentioning Kimchi, and it is also the most well known food outside Korea. It has unimaginable possibilities in cuisine, we will be combining Kimchi, as a representative Korean food, and other regional foods, like a fusion--resulting in Kimchi Taco, Kimchi Kebab, and Kimchi Paellasot—so that the natives can take in Korean food more easily.” Through the tour, Yu hopes to express the flexibility of Korean food: its ability to fulfill sweetness, spiciness, saltiness, and even bitterness, at the same time providing nutritious dishes.

바게트와 김치카포나타

김치퀴슈

However, their days have not always been easy. Since they were the only interested students when they first had the idea, some of their acquaintances were doubtful of their attempt. Moreover, still young and inexperienced, getting sponsors and supporters were challenging. Yu expresses the team’s last minute tension, “We are still very imperfect. This project is not an easy one so we feel pressure and always feel nervous and worried.” Fortunately, the big problems are all behind now, and they are at the stage of completing their contracts for financial support. Afterwards, they will start training for actual cooking. The Kimchi Bus is expected to set off during the mid September after Chusuk(Korean Thanks Giving). After an opening event in Korea, the bus will go oversea to Russia, cross Eurasia, Middle East, Europe, and finally, North America by July next year.

So, how did these men become such passionate cooks (Yu says that he is not a professional cook yet, but he will be one in just two months)? Shim says that he started to cook in high school. “I sometimes cooked at home just for fun. The food did not taste good, but cooking itself was just fun. Later, I took a professional path in cooking because I believed it was something I could really enjoy without getting restricted by money.” Yu, on the other hand, says that he naturally grew fond of cooking because his parents were busy, and he had to make his own meals.

김치 퀘사디아

김치 슈크르트

Lastly, to the question of whether there are any bigger or personal goals in doing the Kimchi Bus project, Yu demonstrated great zest, “I suppose it’s also about challenging myself. How much can I achieve. After completing the 2006 trip with no money, I tasted the savour of accomplishing my goals and grew more confident about challenging myself.” Shim, in contrast, expressed hopes of promotion in his career.

In ending the interview, leader Yu closed by saying, “Many people ask what we are planning to do after the tour, but we have not gone that far yet. Right now, our mind and body are busy enough with Kimchi Bus, and we really cannot think about other things until it is over. After the trip, many changes will have occurred, and I suppose we will be acting according to those changes.”

 For more information about the Kimchi Bus, visit Kimchi Bus online page ‘www.kimchibus.com’ or Si-hyeong Yu’s blog ’www://optimist.crazytour.net/’. Also, for more information about Si-hyeong Yu’s 2006 No-money trip, read his book “26 Euro“.

On April 5th, an interview was done with the Korean bestseller Shin Kyung-sook, who published her book <Please Look After Mom> in the United States. Her book caused the ‘mother syndrome’ three years ago and has also succeeded in captivating the American and European readership. One hundred thousand were published for the first editions of the book, followed by three thousand second editions. It was selected as Amazon’s Bestselling Books of the Month for April, 2011 and was also selected as one of the 15 books at Barnes and Noble’s “Discover Great New Writers: 2011 Summer“ program.

Shin once compared the publishment to snow by saying “The book is the first-snow for both myself and the Korean literature in foreign publishment. I hope that more beautiful works will accumulate over it.” Following the publishment, the American critics praised on her ability to catch the truest feelings of all humanity regardless of the language or culture.

We often assume that different cultures and traditions make emotions differ from one culture to another. This might be true, but the novelist Shin Kyung-sook has proven that the truest feelings are borderless. She provided a chance for all Korean daughters, sons, and husbands to reconsider the existence of “mom” for once, and has also succeeded in making the Americans hold onto the Kleenex box during their reading. As an author, as well as a person, Shin Kyung-sook is a true global leader who has opened up both the Korean literature to the foreign audience and the world to their deepest, most forgotten and regretful emotion.

Shin is currently staying in New York, and this interview was done over e-mail. She has finished her book tour in the States and is preparing another one around 8 European countries that will also publish her books soon.

Last year, Jamie Oliver, a young cook from Britain became the winner of TED2010, after giving an eighteen-minute talk on the the need to “teach every child about food.” The TED2010’s theme was “What the World Needs Now,”and many people, along with Jamie Oliver hadgiven speeches on what they think is the most urgent matter for the world and suggested ideas to solve the problem.
 

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

TED, short for Technology Entertainment and Design, is a non-profit organization that has the goal of disseminating “ideas worth spreading.” It holds a set of conferences every year, putting forth a theme that covers a range of different ideas concerning culture, science, and humanity. TED, where many people with the same goal of bettering the humanity’s lives, also encourages formation of relationships. This encouragement is based on TED’s belief that larger number can make come true something that one person can only hope for.

The spread does not stop here; TEDx events are furthering the spread even more. The ‘x’ of TEDx means “independently organized TED events.” TED-like events are held by communities, organizations, or individuals in the hope of advancing TED’s mission of disseminating “ides worth spreading.”

 Interview with Evangelist Han-Seok Ryu of TEDxSeoul

There are numerous TEDx

How did TEDxSeoul start?

I (Ryu) personally started as a translator of the TED videos. I watched one or two of them, and I thought that they were really worth spreading to people around me. The wish to spread TED led me to actually organize TEDx with others who had the same passion as me, finally culminating in the formation of TEDxSeoul. The team formed initially in June of 2009 and held the first event in the same year November. We held two more events last year, and during that time 60 more TEDx’s formed around the nation. This level of enthusiasm had never been witnessed by the TED community until now, even at the global arena.

You two went to the original TED conference in California last year. What was it like and how did it “inspire” you?

Many famous people attended such as Bill Gates and Jason Mraz. But this really is not the important part. The real charm was the love for humanity that existed in the heart of everything and everyone. Obviously, the knowledge and ideas you can get from just watching the video, so it was attending the conference itself that could provide something that really mattered. The conference was special in the sense that you can communicate with these people and really “share” the idea. TED is a very expensive conference, and people sacrifice so much to “meet” and develop relationships with others who have the same zeal for humanity. One memorable comment by one of the attendees was, “I feel relieved to find out through TED that leaders from around the world have such caring minds and hearts.

There are so many TEDx events happening around the world. We really cannot expect what we will end up with them, but one thing for sure is that it will be amazing.

There are also students and teenagers who have great interest in bettering the humanity. How do you think they could participate in TED activities?

There are many ways students can participate. Since TED spreads ideas, we have a natural interest in education. We think much about how TEDx could affect education, and one of the projects that work on this part is the “TED ED”(http://education.ted.com/). Moreover, there are many TEDxYouth events being held around the globe, such as the TEDxYouth@Tokyo and TEDxYouth@Seoul. Usually, such youth events are carried out by students with assist from teachers.

We heard that there have been two or so events held in Korea until now. Learning by book and lectures is not enough now. Getting to realize who you are and what you are passionate about through experiencing diverse activities is the real learning. In this sense, organizing and participating in TEDxYouth events yourself will be worth it for sure.

What do you think is the TEDxSeoul’s ultimate goal in Korea?

TEDxSeoul’s mission is “Inspire. Share. Change.” This means to bring to surface the many hidden inspirations, and spread them to people around us, so that we can make even the smallest changes to this world. Change starts from the inside. When we decide “I need to do something,” this is when the change
starts. Like Mahatma Gandhi once said “be the change you want to see in the world.” We are just hoping that our small changes will aggregate into a bigger one.
  

If you wish to meet the “ideas worth spreading”, or want to spread yours, below are the links to TED homepage ,TEDxSeoul homepage, and TEDxYouth homepage:

TED: www.ted.com

TEDxSeoul: www.tedxseoul.com

TEDxYouth@Seoul: http://www.tedxyouthseoul.com/

             On January 15^th, the communications officer for the UN Governance Center, Mr. Kim Jeong Tae gave a lecture during the MIZY Youth Reporters’ orientation. Mr. Kim has written many books, including Story wins Speculations and The Design for the 90%, which have helped, and is still helping, the youth to see the world in a different view. During the lecture, Mr. Kim stressed the importance of “paper power” in our information-based society and the ways in which the MIZY reporters can benefit from it.

             For next year or so, the newly recruited MIZY reporters will be writing articles on global interactions; to help them set some kind of guideline, the MIZY center invited Mr. Kim Jeong Tae on the MIZY Reporters Orientation Day. Having benefited from writing, Mr. Kim explains why’s for and how’s to writing using the following key words: paper power, publication, and search.

Paper Power:

“I can conquer the universe with 24 soldiers; they are the alphabet letters.”

             What powers does the paper have? What powers does the writing have? Well, according to Benjamin Franklin, he could conquer the universe with writing. This might be a little extreme, but Mr. Kim’s assertion is not much different. He says writing is one efficient tool in persuading the world, making the world see what you see. However, not all writing buys the hearts of the others. According to Mr. Kim, meaningful “stories” do the job right; but to write these good stories, you need much preparation, and here “reading” comes in.

             Mr. Kim says that reading is like filling a large jar, “You gradually fill up the space with the knowledge obtained through reading, and when the last drop of knowledge falls into the jar, the contents overflow. The overflowing pool of knowledge splashes on other people, and thus, the process of ‘sharing’ your knowledge begins.”

             Hence, it is not the reading process where the core power of paper lies; instead, it is the “sharing” part. Until now, it was you who were informed and persuaded by the writing of others, and the next process is for you to inform and persuade the others with your knowledge. Mr. Kim brands this next process “publication”. Publicizing does not refer to the process of formally producing a piece of writing, but it refers to the simple process of “making public what is private”. Thus, you may be young, inexperienced, and your stories might not be about the hot issues of today. Also, you nonetheless have all the right to “publicize” your stories. Through many steps of publicizing, you familiarize yourself with writing, and gradually develop skills for meaningful and persuasive writing.

             Mr. Kim gives his own experience in publicizing as an example. He has had many “publicizing” experiences. He first began his writing in his church pamphlet. Like most others, he initially found writing publicly a difficult task. But as the weeks passed by he started to express freely his ideas in the hope to practice revealing is ideas into words. With this experience as the foundation, he tried many writing tasks from then on, such as publicizing a book about life in the Korean army, working as a student journalist, and working in a publications company. Those practices have led him write a book in just few weeks, like in the case of Story Wins Speculations.

             The final keyword Mr. Kim stresses in writing is “searching”, on the internet.

             “Almost everything can be searched these days on the internet. What is searched is what is reliable and interesting. So, you should use this side of searching as a means to revealing and sharing your stories to a large audience in short amount of time. Nothing else can be an easier start to the journey of persuading the world”

             And this is where the MIZY reporters come in. The reporters have been given the chance to reveal themselves. As reporters, we have the duty to write meaningful and informing articles. We could simultaneously make this a chance to practice publicizing ourselves.

             Reporters who have heard the lecture were greatly inspired by the heartfelt advices of Mr. Kim Jeong Tae. Jae Hee, Choi(17), one of the English-reporters commented “The lecture was helpful for me in settling myself in the place of a reporter. I was a little anxious before, but now I plan to write articles that readers find easy to approach and understand, all the while developing myself with the repeated practices in writing.” Also, Korean-reporter Yong Min, Seo(17) said “I learned very much from the lecture, and look forward to writing articles that can represent the many advices the officer gave to us”.

/MIZY Youth Reporters, Ji-won Choi