FSI staff and volunteers

We still have four full-time staff members, downsized from 6 shortly before and shortly after the pandemic. However, we have been joined by three volunteers working in the office. The schedules are staggered so different volunteers come in on different days. Most of them were complaining about the photo, but I got everyone to briefly pose for a photo. Next time, I will herd hungry cats instead.

Sharon first joined Freedom Speakers International in March 2015 as a student and speaker. She contacted me on her birthday. So that means I was a wonderful birthday gift for her.

I believe she joined us as a part-time staffer in 2018. She is now working full-time as an accountant with FSI. She has joined every program in FSI history--studying history, public speaking, career development, and she is now our North Korean Refugee Keynote Speaker Network.

I had a special reason to buy her flowers, and it isn't only because she bought me lunch last week when I insisted that she not do so. It also isn't because she calls me "Sir." But those things also help.

Here's her fundraiser for FSI.

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Last week, Hope joined us as a volunteer staffer in the office. She is always ready to help out. Her first couple of days I was throwing all kinds of editing assignments at her, and she was throwing them right back to me without complaint. Her first day at the office, within five minutes, she was joining a (rare) staff meeting that I had called.

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Brooke originally joined FSI as an English language tutor back when we were TNKR. This time around, she returned to South Korea joining us as an intern. She will continue volunteering with us even after her term officially expires.

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We have one more office volunteer, a translator, who so far has somehow evaded taking a photo with me. She is one of my former students at the Seoul University of Foreign Studies, I will be sure to catch her the next time she is in the office.

Plus, Songmi Han wasn't in that day.

Human Resources Manager Daniel Cashmar has a day job.

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Thanks to donors and fundraisers, FSI:

* Has paid staff.

* An office to have volunteers and staff.

* Enough money for a deposit and to pay the rent every month.

Some donors want their money to only go into programming, which is a nice thought, but that would be like a construction company saying they only wanted to pay for shovels, but not the workers to move the shovels.

www.fsi21.org/?donate

"Yoegi Anjuseyo!"

* I have a short reflection in today's Korea Times about an encounter with an unfriendly looking Korean man on the subway. It was a reminder not to be too quick in judging people in Korea. 09-13-2011 16:47 'Yeogi Anjeuseyo!' By Casey Lartigue Jr. The recent incident in which an American English teacher bullied an elderly Korean man and other passengers on the bus reminded me of a more pleasing incident from years ago. I was on the subway, taking the train outside of Seoul for a work assignment. I have the habit of standing on the subway to strategically position myself near the doors in case my stop magically appears. On that particular day, there was a Korean man STARING at me. Not just looking at me, but intensely staring at me. He had an incredible frown on his face. Not just for one stop, but for several stops the guy just kept staring at me. If I had known more Korean then I would have been able to curse him ...

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."

Michael Breen discussion at 10 Magazine

Yesterday I attended a discussion with writer Michael Breen, hosted by Barry Welsh. Very often, when I attend a speech or discussion about a topic I know a lot about, I often think about ways the speaker/facilitator/discussant could have done better. But I didn't feel that way about Breen, it was one of those times that I really felt like I had a lot to learn and should listen more than talk. He's been in Korea for three decades, working as a reporter, commentator, communications specialist. He reminds me of Andrei Lankov in that his analysis seems to be based on observation of how things work rather than trying to get the world to fit his biases. I don't know him, so his friends may say he is a raging ideologue, but that's not the impression I had yesterday and based on his writings. Michael Breen (L) and Casey Lartigue I first read his book The Koreans about a decade ago. It was a delightful read, that was both warm to Koreans but also critical at times. Yes...

Humanitarian with a guillotine (Korea Times, February 1, 2013) by Casey Lartigue, Jr.

Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, `` I’m from the government, and I’m here to help .” For many well-intentioned activists, politicians, and intellectuals, that should be updated as: ``We are here to help you. You’re under arrest.” For example, ``sex workers” around the world oppose anti-prostitution laws. Prostitutes may not know the theoretical arguments but they do know in reality that prohibiting prostitution means they lack protection in dealing with abusive pimps and madams, violent patrons and crooked cops. Locally, a Korean woman busted for prostitution recently appealed to the courts pleading , ``I cannot survive without this job. I don’t want to be treated as a criminal for making a living the only way I can.” How should someone who genuinely wants to help her respond? If you say ``arrest her” then you are qualified to be a “harmful humanitarian.” In your desire to help, you have elimin...

2014-02-14 Yeon-Mi Park`s debut

Yeonmi Park, February 14, 2014, making her debut! Yesterday I was one of the speakers at a special session on North Korean refugees at the Canadian Maple International School. Wow, it was a wonderful time! * Yeon-Mi Park delivered her first major speech in English. She was wonderful! She told her story (35 minute speech without notes), discussed different aspects of North Korea, and then handled questions from students for more than an hour. She did seem to be nervous at the beginning-she took a deep breath just as she started, looked at me, then told her story from her heart. * Returning from the speech, I told Yeonmi that she had star potential. She told me that she didn't believe it, but I told her that the way she handled Q&A and told her story, I would be lucky to have her still returning my phone calls within a year. * The students had many questions. They have been learning about North Korea. They are now reading "Escape from Camp 14" featuring Shin Dong-h...

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