미지센터의 청소년 국제교류이야기

(Image provided by the Metropolitan museum of Art)

                  I decided to revisit the museum on September 24^th because of the vast collection of valuable artworks. In order to cover the most popular artwork galleries, I have reported on Egyptian art, Arms and Armor, European Paintings, European Sculpture, and Medieval Art last month, and this month I will be covering Ancient Near Eastern Art, African/Oceania/American Art, Asian Art, Greek and Roman Art, and Modern Art.

From Babylon to Cyprus

                Near Eastern art, for many visitors, seemed to border Eastern and Western art. For a minority of visitors viewing Near Eastern art produced in the Late Period, they mistakenly believed that they were looking at Greek art (from which Near Eastern art was influenced). Some of the later sculptures, such as the ones depicting a sphinx and a man wearing a laurel crown (a crown that Roman emperors wore to display their power), have heavy influences from Greece and Rome. Near Eastern art produced in the early period resembled art produced in India, with many statues depicting the faces of deities in very high detail.

“If I was a Babylonian or a Persian, I would have been awed by the sheer size of some of these sculptures,” said a visitor, “just like a human being is awed by seeing a supernatural being.” Another visitor seemed to find similarities between Middle Eastern and Egyptian art. “Stone sculptures, murals that depict different creatures, and the enormous statues...looks like Egpyt influenced Middle Eastern art, or maybe it’s the other way around!”

From the Far East

                For many tourists that seek diversity from Western art, Asian art is a must-visit. From massive sculptures of inland China to the porcelain pottery of Korea, there are many different types of artworks. The majority of China’s sculptures and murals depict Buddhist deities, Taoists, or monstrous demons in Chinese lore. Chinese artworks dominated the Asian gallery, where over 3 gallery spaces (along with a giant hall) are dedicated to them. One of the interviewees joked, “The number of Chinese art is as massive as the number of Chinese tourists!” There were also a large number of Japanese artworks, where most of the artworks consisted of embroidery and clothing rather than statues and metal ornaments. However, there was seldom number of visitors in the Japanese wing, unlike those housing Chinese artworks. “I think I am seeing the same number of designs over and over again,” remarked one visitor exiting the Japanese wing. “A homogenous mishmash of this and that,” said another.

                One disappointing aspect for the Asian wing was the lack of artworks from Korea. Although the collection wasn’t small, there weren’t a significant number of them. “I think I would be more interested if there were more works present,” remarked 2 visitors. According to 20 people who visited the Korean section of Asian art, 15 of them said that the wing could use more Korean artworks. “Korea is rising,” remarked Ann Cheng (a tourist who agreed to share her identity), “and to spread its cultural knowledge, people should know more about its culture.”

AAA: American, African, Aboriginal

                Perhaps one of the most unique of the exhibitions, in terms of how these cultures express their artistic side, is the art gallery of African, American, and Oceanic art by Aboriginals. Many of these cultures have displayed their artistic talents with totems, ships, clothing, and personal items over paintings and sculpture. None of the works used metal, and very few used material other than wood or other biological materials. For this reason, this particular gallery seemed to display the distant tribal past of human civilization. The different geographical regions also seemed to play a role in the themes of the artworks created. From the tapestries of the Peruvian Andes to the patterns carved by the Maori, all of the artworks seemed to be different and unique from each other.

                When I interviewed 30 tourists who visited all the galleries, I asked them to choose their favorite galleries. When I asked the 4 people, who have chosen the AAA galleries as their favorites, why they chose the galleries, the 4 people replied that the galleries have shown the most unique way of displaying their artistic sense. For one visitor, it was “their method of displaying art seems more spiritual than that of other cultures, and I was impressed by that.”
 

Olympic Art

                Greek and Roman culture, the foundations of European civilization, created unforgettable artworks. Although Greek and Roman art seemed to concentrate on sculpture like the Egyptian and Middle Eastern art, the proportions and details of the face and body are incredible, even more so than Egyptian or Middle Eastern art. The artworks from the Renaissance period, shown in the previous article, resemble and emulate some of the techniques and subjects from the art of the Classical period. The main materials used seemed to be metal and marble, but the Romans also utilized paint, glass, and other diverse materials.

                “Marble and metal is the main attraction of Greek and Roman art, and I like it,” quipped a tourist. “European culture has never been able to measure up to the success of Greek and Roman culture,” remarked an elder visitor. 16 out of 20 people said that they liked Greek and Roman art, but 15 out of the 16 people said that Greek and Roman art did not have much variety in terms of subject matter. “Roman and Greek art was cool and everything, but it’s like having 200 different alterations of Mona Lisa,” said the same tourist who remarked about the marble and metal used in Greek and Roman art.

MoMA?

                When I visited the modern art section of the Met, I at first thought that the Met collection wouldn’t be as impressive as its other collections. The main reason for formulating this unproven hypothesis, shared by other tourists that have visited MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), is that New York already has an excellent museum dedicated to modern art. According to a survey of 25 people who have visited MoMA before visiting the Met’s modern art section, 15 of the 25 people told me that they didn’t expect to see a good collection. “New York already has a museum dedicated to modern art,” said one of the interviewees. “Why have this gallery at all?”

                Fortunately, this idea was proven a misconception. The Met does have an excellent collection, including Van Gogh’s, Picasso’s, and Pollock’s works, albeit smaller than that of MoMA. Some works, although contemporary, have been transferred to European or American paintings. For some of the tourists, this was to some degree frustrating. “I want to look at modern art in the modern section, not the Europe section where older paintings dominate the walls,” remarked a tourist. However, many of them found the gallery to be rewarding. “I was able to see many unique and flashy works,” said a visitor who was with his family, “and I think that having the same thing over and over again is boring. I like the pizzazz, the bang-bang, and the wow factor.”

Comedi-art

                      Because the exhibition is fairly recent, many tourist groups or visitors do not have much foreknowledge of the artworks, if they had any previous information about it at all. However, it doesn't mean that they don't have opinions about this peculiar gallery. "I found this to be the only gallery with laughs," said a tourist from a school trip. Many of the comments referred to the strange, if not ridiculous, appearance of the artworks. "Laughs throughout the ages," remarked the same tourist.

Checkout

                Mere words cannot cover all the wonders of human creativity found in the Met, and neither can my 2 articles. Many of the ancient treasures predate the museum that houses them, and even predate the city that houses the Met. The deep and rich history, as well as the creative strokes and genius that went into the works of art, will surely impress those who decide to visit the museum that lies on 5^th Avenue. As the human mind creates even more masterpieces, the collection of the Met will ever become fuller.

Lately with the spread of Hallryu, there are expanding new interests in Korean cultures around the world. Besides K-POP, Korean celebrities, and Korean dramas, there is a new kind of culture that is interesting people in the United States. A Korean restaurant in New York is interesting the taste of many foreigners-this restaurant is called Bann. BANN Restaurant, since opening in 2005, has become the premier Korean restaurant in New York City. It is the flagship of a group of bicoastal restaurants developed by Mrs. Young Sook Choi, highly regarded as the pioneer in revolutionizing modern Korean cuisine. Following the success of more contemporary restaurants in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and SoHo, Mrs. Choi began to focus more on broadening traditional flavors and artisan crafted foods, creating BANN's signature style of cuisine.

Executive Chef Eli Martinez brings 'Innovative Korean Cuisine' to BANN, showcasing traditional elements in a modern adaptation with an emphasis on using the finest natural ingredients to develop rich, distinct flavors highlighting the unique tastes of Korean cuisine in a simple & refined presentation. Exclusive to BANN is the distinctive style of dining not found in any other Korean restaurants. BANN's rare approach creates a dynamic sensory experience through the use of all 5 senses. The open kitchen provides guests with an exciting look into how their food is being prepared with views of blazing fires from the wok and aromas of familiar and exotic foods. Known for authentic Korean barbeque, all tables are fitted with smokeless grills where guests can watch a variety of fresh meats and seafood sizzle and cook to their liking.

             Many people believe that foreigners, especially Southerners, do not enjoy Korean food. They think that it is too spicy and not suitable for their taste. However, BANN proves this wrong with their special cuisines that keep the original Korean taste but also suit the foreigners taste at the same time. Today, I have asked BANN about their special tips on success to suiting the Korean flavor to the foreigners.

1. Could you tell us the history of BANN?

             Mrs. Choi is a second generation restaurateur, being mentored by her mother in law who began the famous Woo Lae Oak chain. After working together for the openings of the original Woo Lae Oak in New York and Los Angeles Mrs Choi decided to modernize Korean cuisine and try to introduce it to the Western palate. She opened her first branch of Woo Lae Oak on the prestigious "Restaurant Row" in Beverly Hills and soon the restaurant gained a large celebrity clientele as well as critical acclaim. Having seen how Korean cuisine was well accepted, Mrs. Choi focused on opening a new branch of Woo Lae Oak to replace the original space in New York that had burned down in Midtown, this time in an up and coming neighborhood, SoHo. In 1999 the restaurant opened and has become the premiere Korean restaurant in the city as well as a hot spot for the chic Soho crowd. 5 years later Mrs. Choi and executive Chef Eli Martinez created a new dining concept to go back to authentic recipes and ingredients and focus on traditional cuisine, which would become the signature style for Bann. Bann is now the most recognized Korean restaurant, having been featured in several media outlets such as television shows, movie, magazines, etc. Bann has hosted the National Korean Tourism Board as well as the Korean Culture Association, has been frequented by the Secretary General of the United Nations and other dignitaries. With the success of Bann New York, Mrs Choi opened another location in Korea town Los Angeles at MaDang Plaza.

 

2. How many foreigners normally visit the restaurant?
Bann is very popular with tourists because of the prime location in Times Square. About 50% of the customers are foreigners (from all parts of the world) travelling to New York and of Bann's regular clientele roughly 65% are foreigners.

3. What changes/efforts does Bann make in order to adjust to the taste of foreigners?
When people think of Korean food, they automatically think spicy, which traditionally Korean food can tend to be. However at Bann we try to highlight all the unique flavors of each dish using the finest natural ingredients to create a multi-layered but simple and refined plate. We try to create a balance between flavors like spicy, sweet & savory that will not overpower the other. In a word, it is milder than traditional Korean food

4. Can you introduce us foods that foreigners enjoy the most from your restaurant?
Bann is known for our tabletop barbeque, which is successful because all cultures can appreciate grilled meats. Foreigners tend not to order items that are that are too exotic so will choose the more familiar items such as the fresh sashimi (sang sun muchim), Ke Sal Mari (crab), Dae Ji Jim and Dak Nal Ke Ti Kim as appetizers. For traditional dishes foreigners choose entrees (not so much chiges or soups) like the Kalbi Jim or the Un Dae Gu Jorim. Also here are some of my favorites:

Duk Bok Ki

Baked Scallop

Raw beef

Beef with lettuce

5. What kind of future do you see in Bann? (Or what is the future goal of Bann?)
We are trying to truly globalize Korean cuisine. It is still not as well known as Japanese, Chinese or even Thai cuisine so we try to make it more approachable. We are developing new concepts like Bann Next Door which is our fast casual restaurant that serves popular Korean street food. We want to expand the "Bann" concept by creating different dining styles while focusing on using the finest products available.

Entry

I initially decided to visit the museum on September 12^th because of its vast collection of valuable artworks. For a museum that boasts one of the largest collections of art in the world, the cost of admission is modest. Although the recommended fee is USD 25, it is up to the visitor to pay, or ‘donate’, whatever amount he or she wishes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, or simply ‘the Met’, has over a million permanent artworks which are diverse in both time and culture. From the popular Arms and Armor collection to the American Painting and Sculpture, it is usually impossible for visitors to visit all of the galleries in one day without skimming over the artworks. I will be covering Egyptian art, Arms and Armor, European Paintings, European Sculpture, and Medieval Art in this article. 

What the Pharos Made

"Masonry and Size"

For many of the visitors of the Met, the first exhibition they enter is the Egyptian Art Gallery. The Egyptian gallery, containing half of the museum’s artworks, is by far the largest of all the galleries. When I asked 20 visitors of all ages what struck them most from visiting the Egyptian Art Gallery, many of them replied “masonry and size.” Most of the Egyptian Art collection, apart from several textile works, is mainly composed of pottery, stone tools, and stone structures.

The same 20 visitors, when asked what part of the art gallery they would recommend to their friends and relatives, told me that the stone sculptures and tools were the most spectacular. “For me, it was amazing that such fine details in sculpture could be created in a time that lacked the fine tools we have today,” explained one of the 20 visitors. “It’s the sheer bulk and size of the statues that got me,” explained another visitor. Painted art by Egyptians is no less impressive; for one visitor, he “was able to get a lucid picture of ordinary Egyptian life.

Medieval Makes

Like Egyptian artworks, the medieval sculptures display excellent craftsmanship without modern tools or technology. However, unlike Egyptian works that use bulk to awe onlookers, medieval artworks impress audiences with small details present in medieval paintings and crafts.  “After the fall of the Roman Empire, it is impressive to see that barbarism didn’t destroy art completely,” said a college student from Columbia. “It also shows how developed the human spirit is, despite daily hardships.”

Many galleries display religious artifacts, but almost none of the galleries feature as many religious themes and icons as the Medieval Gallery. The sheer amount of Christian themes in medieval artworks display the enormous significance and importance Christianity had for people living during the Middle Ages. This was why some visitors felt as if they were entering a monetary or a religious institution. “It’s Jesus and God everywhere,” exclaimed a tourist visiting from the Netherlands. An elderly visitor noted the amount of care that went into these artworks despite the lack of tools. “They must have put their souls into these works: it does represent their self towards God, after all.”


Guns & Roses

Despite the name of the gallery, many of the weapons were for ceremonial purposes and rarely have seen the battlefield. The ones that have seen battles are arms and armor from nations other than Europe or North America. “I like the diversity of this collection,” said a tourist, “because unlike the other galleries, this gallery allows me to see different cultures at the same time and compare them.”


Elegance from Europe

Europe, after the Dark and Middle Ages, truly blossomed in art and sculpture. By the time of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, Europe has produced thousands of renowned works by renowned artists. Out of 20 people I’ve interviewed, 15 of them stated that the European art/sculpture section was in their top 3 galleries of the Met, and 5 of the visitors stated it was their favorite section. One visitor described the section as “Europe at is best.”

After visiting the Middle Ages section, many visitors are impressed by the leap forward in techniques found in the European galleries. The subjects have also changed. The Dutch visitor, who I was able to meet inside this gallery, told me that “in this gallery, I see that Europe has abandoned its static theme of blind faith and have started to see other themes artists could spend their time on.” “I am greatly impressed by this level of work,” said another visitor, “and I hope this leap happens again in my lifetime.

Next Visit

From the popular Arms and Armor collection to the American Painting and Sculpture, it is usually impossible for visitors to visit all of the galleries in one day without skimming over the artworks. For this reason, I will feature Ancient Near Eastern Art, African/Oceania/American Art, Asian Art, Greek and Roman Art, Modern Art, and Caricatures (a new exhibition) next month. The Met features many treasures, and I wish the reader to fully appreciate them by going into each gallery in detail.

 

There are various factors and hypothesis that claim what changes our climate. The most certain and influential factor is the pollution by human activities. Thus, emitted greenhouse gases (GHGs), especially carbon dioxide (CO2) make the planet to become warmer. Global warming increases the sea level and melted icebergs not only change the salinity of seawater but also make currents unpredictable. Extreme climates make our lives more unstable, more frequently. Among MDGs (Millennium Development Goals), the seventh goal focuses on hygiene and living condition of the poor society, but it is now losing its direction towards systematic reformation in the means of industrial system. With only four years left before the deadline, 2015, talks between nations about sustainable development is receiving lots of attention while not making much progress.

In front of the United Nations

 

Maldives and Tuvalu gave up their sovereignty, and rising sea level presses the people to be submerged in the middle of an endless ocean. While time is ticking off, no government has been able to come up with a practical, measurable solution. MUNCCC (Model United Nations Climate Change Conference) seeks bright youths to solve it for the adults who are confined to economic benefits and worried about its losses.

 

Before the debate, each delegate wrote their Position Paper, a short essay stating their nations’ goals to achieve throughout the meeting. Here is a part of mine:

“Germany would like to achieve two things in this climate change conference: 1. Setting framework policy that reinforces both economic growth and conservation of nature capital. 2. Coming up with measures to provide incentives to use natural resources efficiently and making pollution more expensive. Both idea stress that environment should no longer be free. Germany finds the most basic reason why nations have been free to abuse nature capital without hesitance in that it is nobody’s responsibility to restore what one has taken. However, while number one requires international and long term compromises, the latter calls for the measures for the time being, before the green economic structure completely stabilizes in societies.” (Tip: In all sessions, in writing or during the debate, everyone including yourselves must be recognized as a third person pronouns.)

 

Every participant represents a nation in a committee as a delegate. Each committee has its own agendas, and mine was ‘OECD and Green Growth’. Only OECD member nations were open to the debate, so there should be a different focus compared to a session in the General Assembly. It is important to grasp which countries with certain economic and social capacity is participating in the debate. Whereas OECD members can more easily afford money costing projects, not all members in GA are capable. Also, there are always main countries in the center leading the debate, ones highly involved in the agenda. It is important and inevitable to form power structures around those delegates. Also, always take notes, because almost all the speeches made during the conference are impromptu; delegates take notes while they listen to the others, and at the same time how to refer to it. But above all, do not get too emotional, or you might personally hurt the other delegate.

 

In the debate session, delegates from US, ROK, Spain have expressed their recent concerns over their fiscal difficulty compared to Switzerland, Germany or UK. But a decision paper written by Switzerland and UK merely suggested already comparably eco-friendly nations to take part in green technology share without the mention of IPR (Intellectual Property Rights). In vice versa, there were no incentives for the technology/ fiscal aid donor nations. The entire decision paper was appeasing to environmentally developed nations for their benevolence. Since decision papers are not mandatory or legally binding, the paper was merely a justification to deny their window dressing. In the mean while, highly developing nations (ROK, Mexico and Brazil) were helplessly waiting for developed nations’ aid. This was not going to work. The paper did not encourage any of the developing nations to voluntarily strive harder to achieve the knowledge of green management, nor for developed nations, pass on to other nations to make this world greener.

 

With Spain, ROK, US and Ireland, we introduced BAMP(Bilateral Appropriate Mitigation Program / 양국간적절완화프로그램). This is a practical form of NAMA (Nationally Appropriate Mitigaton Action), which the president of ROK has brought attention to in 2009 COP (Conference of Parities) in Copenhagen. Developing nations would have to pay small payment to developed nations in exchange for the green technological support, thereby establishing a world sized immense partnership. If the developing nations have failed to achieve the CO2 emission percentage, they had to pay interest to the developed nations; the rate was left to be determined according to their fiscal situation. World Bank will be participating as a mediator. This idea gained the support from the majority and refined the paper in a more practical manner.

Members and student officers of Committee 8, 'OECD and Green Growth'

           MUNCCC 2011 was held by YTN in Korea University with cooperation of British Embassy. Prize winners were later invited to a reception in the British Embassy in Seoul, and had a luncheon. Smaller number of people among them will be lucky enough to participate in COP 17, South Africa as observers. For those of you students wishing to be a diplomat one day, this experience is indispensible and priceless. Become a face of one country for a few days! This experience has motivated many youth including me to find their passion, career, dream and potential. Do you want to feel the goose bumps? Dive in one of the Model United Nations and voice your opinion.

Lithunian college women dress in Korean traditional dresses and spread the Hallyu

            In Kaunas, Lithuania, you can see Lithuanian college women dresses in Korean traditional dresses and singing Korean songs or talking about Korean movies. Through the teachings of Professor Seo Jinseok at Magnus College of Korea and Korean culture since 2008, a group of women interested in the Korean culture were formed. Seo JinSeok is a professor at the Magnus College and teaches Korean regional sciences to students. With the help of his knowledge of Korea as a Korean himself, they meet regularly and watch Korean movies, listen to Korean pop, eat Korean food and etc. These women are helping the Korean culture, hallyu, grow with their deep interest. Korea was always thought to be a “single race”. However, these foreigners are helping Korea grow out of this single race and spread the cultures and spirits of Korea to their country. Now Korea’s range of race is widening to a multicultural race across the globe.

Getting Ready

Discussing the Debt Ceiling Crisis: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of the Democrats (left), and House Speaker John Boehner of the Republicans (right) (image from CBS.com)

          On July 31, 2011, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party passed several compromises regarding the debt ceiling of the United States. In return for the extension of the debt ceiling (the limit on the amount of debt the United States is allowed), the government had to initiate spending cuts of $900 billion over 10 years. Soon after the debt ceiling compromise was enacted, global markets plunged. The Dow Jones Index dipped below its 12,000 line, while Asian indexes like KOSPI of Korea plunged below the 2,000, and later, the 1,800 line.

Why take another Dip?

        The Standard & Poor’s Building in New York

           For the global economy, intricately linked to the US economy and its problems, the fall was caused by the US government. According to CNN, Dagong Global Credit Rating Company (based in China) lowered the US’ credit rating (the rating indicates the creditworthiness of the government of the nation) to an A+. Standard & Poor, the credit rating agency based in the US, devalued the US credit rating from AAA to an AA+ (*this view has been discredited by the US government: BBC News).

So what caused the US economy itself to sink? Guan Jianzhong, head of the Chinese Dagong Global Credit Rating Company, stated that "the squabbling between the two political parties on raising the U.S. debt ceiling reflected an irreversible trend on the United States' declining ability to repay its debts." As the US government failed to reach a concrete decision, many businessmen and investors began to lose confidence in the US government to honor its debts. As public funding is slashed, unemployment is predicted to rise, as well as decrease in demand for certain services.

Consequences

The New York Stock Exchange

Although US citizens generally agree that the compromise hurt the reputation and the economy of the US, many disagree on the appropriate action that should have been taken by the US government. The majority of the people in New York City (excluding the Wall Street & financial areas) believed that the US government should have raised the debt ceiling, while not slashing the budget at an extreme rate, sharing the Democrat’s argument on the debt ceiling crisis (*note: the state of New York is a mostly Democratic state according to the midterm elections of 2010). “Cutting budgets would only hurt the economy, where people want jobs and money is the main incentive of job creation,” argued one of the interviewees.  “As much as I want the government to spend responsibly,” said another interviewee, “I don’t want the government to slash funds recklessly.”

Although I expected to find Republican businessmen and investors the slashing of budgets, I found instead an opinion similar to the second interviewee. “The United States,” explained one investor, “has spent too much and we must stop spending recklessly; however, we shouldn’t cut our budget recklessly.” Another interviewee near the New York Stock Exchange building said that “many of the government programs that are being slashed include funds for small businesses to large corporations, so losing this budget battle also means bad news for US business.”

The Ripple from the Dip

  “I wouldn’t want the postal service to get even worse.” (Photo of New York Post Office)
 

The implications for the plunging of stocks across the globe, while clearly evident among investors and governments across the world are less clear for the general populace for now. Although cuts on spending have been passed, it hasn’t taken immediate effect. In fact, the faction that had most greatly felt the consequences of the compromise in the public sector was the private sector. “Ironically, the disaster of the public sector was most felt in the private sector,” said a businessman. “This is less about the American people, but more about the American government: the people may experience spending cuts, but it’s ultimately the government that was responsible for those cuts and the debt crisis it is in.”

Although the public hasn’t felt the budget cut yet, it doesn’t mean that they are less worried. In fact, because the spending cuts will affect or close government programs, the public sector is more worried than the private sector. “I’m worried about my next pay check, or even my job,” said a post office worker who wished not to be named. “I can’t believe the USPS (United States Postal Service) is going to be even slower,” joked an interviewee.

Apart from slower mail delivery, other important governmental programs could mean the difference between life and death. “In some neighborhoods, there aren’t even enough fire trucks or police officers because of lack of money,” said interviewee Mary Haltease (she has agreed to give her name). “That could be a real possibility for some cities of the United States 10 years from now.” For many people like Mary, the government caused a wave that swept its people.

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.

 

     ‘Behind these professional, well organized UN charts are stories of humanity.’

     Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight international development goals that all United Nations member states and some international organizations have agreed to achieve by 2015. The goals encompass from eradicating poverty to forming global partnership for development. Promised due date is only four years away. 
On July 31st 2011, Ju Hun Kim (김주헌) former UNEP consultant and an author of 'Cross the World'(하루에 국경을 두번 넘는 사람들) reminded us the importance of MDGs. He lectured on “MDG Goal 7 and TEEB” at MIZY Center. He divided his lecture into two and emphasized the importance of ecosystem, MDGs, and TEEB. Overall, he tried to encourage our participation by keep asking questions. It was easy to understand, even though the content was quite challenging.

Part 1. MDGs and Environment
     

                             
      Ju Hun Kim especially discussed the 7th goal of MDGs. The 7th one is on environment. He began the lecture with his worries on the earth – despite people’s increasing interest on environment, people still lack understanding on global environmental issues. He stressed environmental issues are essential; they affect people, countries, and the earth.
      He explained different sectors of environment – forests, ozone layer, natural resources, and water – with statistics. The statistics revealed “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” reality.
      “2011 is International Year of Forests …” Forests alone absorb one sixth of world’s CO2 emission. In other words one sixth of CO2 emission is lingering in the atmosphere, left unabsorbed by no longer existing forest. Developed countries in Europe and Asia know this and try to form forests in their nations. And Asia and Europe are getting greener. However countries in Latin America and Africa which used to have rich forests are losing trees. It is because they need to export natural resources to sustain their lives. In short developing countries are more suffering from decreasing and lack of forests.
      Similar situation occurs with water. “The UN proposed that world is likely to surpass drinking water target by 2015 though more than one tenth of people would still be without access to clean water,” said Ju Hun Kim. Ironically the poor need to pay more to get drinkable water since clean water is rare. It is shown in statistics that poorer people are less opportunity there is to be accessible to clean, sanitized water: people in the city had more access to clean water while 32% of people in rural areas still used contaminated water.
      But there is also success story; it is about ozone layer. Montreal Protocol helped restore the ozone layer. It legally prohibited consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODSs) to 2%. This was possible because the protocol was legally binding.

Part 2. Ecology and Biodiversity
     

                             After a short break, the resumed lecture began with the introduction of the second phase: Ecology and Biodiversity. Two ecological terms were introduced: “ecological footprint” and “ecological capacity.” Ecological footprint shows how much environment is destroyed due to economic development. Ecological capacity is self explanatory – how big an ecosystem can stay balanced in a nation. When the footprint overwhelms the capacity, the nation is in a seriously environment deprived situation.
      Governments are used to abusing the environment for their convenience. Why are they not so hesitant to do so? Is it because environment is just everywhere and does not requires monetary exchanges. “Just because it is economically invisible, it does not mean that it is not economically valuable.” He suggested that environment must be valued to our currency. It should be visibly monetarily numerable so that they will be cautious of letting their money spill out.
      Nation’s economic strength has been measured by simple economic compass like GDP. However, for ‘sustainable’ development, natural capital must be taken into account when deciding national competence.
 “We may dismiss ecosystem service as only 10-20% of GDP, but they are actually 50-90% of the GDP of the POOR.” – Pavan Sukhdev, Head of the UNEP Green Economy Initiative TEEB.
      Poor class of the society is more dependent on environment for their economic activity since many work in primary industry. When climate change gets out of our hands, the first ones to be affected will be nations in archipelagos and poor, rural class. I was moved by this explanation. People seeing gray skies everyday in enormous headquarters will never learn the reality by heart, even though they may know all the statistics. Statistics may even be foamy and the reality could be quite different from the graph.
      RIO+20 2012 is coming up. There should be a 3 month experience of Maldives for high governmental executives and law makers without any help of the civil culture. Then, the world should be in much better shape.

                          

/ MIZY Youth Reporters Yeong-ran Ahn & Chorok Lee