2019/09/21-22 Orientation Weekend

The Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR) will be holding its 95th or 96th Language Matching session this weekend. I've lost track of how many, there was a time that I could name all of the dates and every volunteer at every session, now I am lucky enough to round up to the correct number of the session.

To get prepared, we hold 1:1 meetings and orientation sessions with North Korean refugees and orientation sessions with volunteers.

The weekend started Saturday morning with TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee holding an orientation with four North Korean refugees.

Thanks to Laura Yoo and Tony Hwang for donating books to TNKR, refugees were able to pick through a number of books. We don't really have enough space to accept too many book donations but can accept a limited number of books, especially shortly before orientation and Matching sessions when refugees are visiting.

Then over the weekend, I led two different orientation sessions with volunteer tutors, with assistance from Daniel Cashmar (Volunteer Advisor) both days, TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee on Saturday, Sarah Swanner (Outreach Coordinator) on Sunday. We had a total of 40 volunteer applicants attend this past weekend (including three walk-ins who didn't go through the application process).

Overall, we had 50 people apply, which is close to our record. The yield of applicants joining sessions has gone up since we started having Orientation Weekend. It gives our staff more to do, but does result in more of the applicants actually making it to an orientation.

I didn't expect to be there on Sunday, so running two orientations on separate days after already having a busy week can be a bit much. It doesn't matter how busy I am, however, Eunkoo Lee will still insist that I hand out membership cards to people, hand out Starbucks cards, check on this and that, etc.

Fundraisers by North Korean refugees studying in TNKR.
https://lovetnkr.org/meet-the-refugees/

Common Sense on North Korea (Korea Times, April 2, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. As interesting as Kookmin University professor Andrei Lankov’s writings are, there is nothing quite like attending one of his lectures. He can barely restrain himself behind the podium, often pointing and waving his arms. I also enjoy his unscripted speeches, but his answers in Q&A sessions are like the difference between watching Michael Jordan shoot baskets in warm-ups and an actual game. I have finally discovered the secret behind Lankov’s consistently solid analysis about North Korea: Use common sense. At an Asan Institute conference last summer, he argued that North Korea watchers should try to understand North Korea from its perspective. Don’t most people know that you must understand the mindset of others you are dealing with? Yet, common sense in theory gets ignored politically. From the North Korean perspective, nuclear weapons are the best thing they’ve got going. They will NOT give them up easily, even if President Obama ...

Freedom Factory Shareholder Meeting (2015-01-31)

Re: Building something out of nothing Freedom Factory is a very small company, of which I am a shareholder. Yesterday we had our annual shareholder meeting. Freedom Factory is allowing us to "incubate" TNKR until we can stand on our two own feet--or at least crawl on our four hands and feet. (Consumer Rights Watch is in the same position). I owe special thanks to FF CEO 김정호. He is a "true believer" in the cause of freedom, so he is allowing both projects to grow out of FF. That's even though Freedom Factory is a small start up with the CEO, staff and supporters wondering how we are going to achieve our dreams with such a tight budget. So when I say I am so thankful to the volunteers and donors of TNKR, it isn't just lip service. Volunteers--along with Freedom Factory, the Atlas Network, donors--are helping us to create something out of nothing, helping North Korean refugees find their own way and tell their own stories. Like the FF CEO, I also don...

Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

2018-09-28 Not everyone at KFC cooks chickens

Most of the people who contact us at TNKR naturally want to tutor North Korean refugees. Many potential volunteers are shocked shocked shock ed to learn that they can volunteer with TNKR in other ways. I tell many of them: "Not everyone at KFC cooks chickens. There are also delivery people, accountants, marketers, personnel, and a host of other positions." Earlier this year, we began developing the TNKR Volunteer Leadership Academy. I'm still waiting for someone to take over that little project. Until then, I will continue with developing it. And be developing it, I mean telling people, "Don't write me a long business plan about what you would like to do. Just start doing it, keep me updated and in the conversations, then let's talk and update." We have had a recent influx of volunteers who want to help TNKR in other ways. Jackie Cole is now running our Instagram. She constantly surprises me with the flyers and videos she posts. I made it clear from the ...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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