2013-10-08 A woman is a flower

* What happens when people RSVP for a Facebook event--and they actually show up?!? You need to get more seats!

* This event was speech prep for one of the speakers. I had been invited to go to New Delhi, India, to give a speech. I had mentioned that I was doing some work with North Korean refugees, the hosts then asked if a North Korean refugee could join me. After selecting a speaker, I then organized this event to give her a chance to get prepared for India.

www.lovetnkr.org/donate

* The speakers last night...Wow! They both escaped from North Korea. So it was a poignant reminder of how precious freedom is. It is humbling, realizing that they had to risk their lives to escape to freedom that so many of us take for granted. For most of us, we just buy a ticket (airplane, train, bus) and process government paperwork to move to a new country. But North Korean refugees must evade kidnappers, border guards, police, traffickers and others who prey on them, taking advantage of governments that label them as "illegal immigrants." It also reminded me of why I spend so much time organizing and volunteering for North Korean refugees--to do a small part to help people who started with so little, with the odds against them, to escape to freedom.

* As a reminder to everyone who attended--please be careful about posting photos of one of our speakers. She has some family reasons for not being identified as someone who escaped from North Korea. So please do respect that. And I hate it! Because there are some great photos of her from last night.

* Thanks to the organization TCK (Third Culture Kids) for hosting the event last night. They usually have about 15 people at their events--so last night blew them away. They rarely charge money for events, but they made an exception for last night.

* I mentioned the Mulmangcho School. Part of the proceeds for last night will be donated to the school to help the North Korean refugees there.

I give 100,000 won (about $90) to the school every month and encourage others to at least make a minimum donation. Even just a one-time 10,000 won ($9) donation can help cover the transportation cost of a volunteer.

* One of our speakers last night mentioned that she thought it was not appropriate to label refugees as "defectors." I agree with that more than she knows!!! For six months, I made this point at almost every North Korea related event. She has inspired me to renew that campaign. So expect to be corrected if you use the term "defector" within earshot of me.

* * *

For anyone interested, I am holding two sessions matching volunteer English teachers with North Korean refugees who want to improve their English. Not every match works out (either teachers or students get busy, students get discouraged, teachers get over the curiosity, etc.), but we are doing our best to provide opportunities for both sides.

Teaching ladies from TV show https://www.facebook.com/events/175000052688496/

Teaching North Korean teachers https://www.facebook.com/events/1404224479808104/

* It is common for people to click "going" or "maybe" on Facebook as if they are clicking "like." But last night, at five minutes before the meeting was to start, the room was almost full. And this was with limited publicizing of the event. TCK was scrambling trying to find more chairs, or the best way to get ready for the usual rush of people who would be late.

www.lovetnkr.org/donate

Helping North Koreans 'strike the blow' (Korea Times)

H ave you ever engaged in action not because you were sure it would change the world, but to satisfy your own heart? That, I emailed to an American friend, is why I have joined the effort to help North Koreans who are trying to escape from their homeland. I can’t change the direction of policy in North Korea or China but I can row the boat I am sitting in rather than lamenting that I can’t steer the yachts somewhere else. So I have tried to do what I can: Attending protests in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul (and I plan to do so when I visit America in April); donating money to the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights ( www.nkhumanrights.or.kr ); educating myself, writing articles and emailing friends; and, as a member of the board of trustees, I recently submitted a resolution to the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association (FDMHA) in Washington, D.C., to try to call attention to the plight of North Koreans. Our organization’s missi...

2020-04-26 "May I choose more teachers?" TNKR Matching session #102

2020-04-26, TNKR Matching session #102 The Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR) humbly began in March 2013 with 5 tutors and 5 NK refugees being matched together. We held that first session at a TOZ business center in Gangnam. Seven years later, TNKR has now matched 455 North Korean refugees with 1,027 tutors, coaches, and mentors. Today we held our 102nd Language Matching session at our slightly expanded office near the Sangsu Subway Station. Instead of just being something that Casey and Eunkoo did short-term, TNKR is now an official organization in both South Korea and the USA, we have been featured in media and by other organizations (just yesterday, we were featured by KOTESOL), and we have fans and donors from around the world.

Chang Ha-Joon's foolish consistency (Korea Times, January 1, 2013)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. Is the sky blue? Is the ocean water? If you suspect those are trick questions, you are right. The sky isn’t always blue ― it is reddish at sunset, dark at midnight, gray on an overcast day. The ocean isn’t water ― there’s also fish, plant life, submarines, dissolved minerals, surfboards, sunken ships, even people swimming in it sometimes. As Hoover Institution scholar Thomas Sowell wrote in his 1996 book ``The Vision of the Anointed,” people who use “all-or-nothing” reasoning can deny a statement because it is not 100 percent true in every circumstance. Such word games might be fun for college students or debaters, but there are some distinguished people who are respected for making such childish arguments about serious issues. In his book ``23 Things They Don’t Tell you About Capitalism,” Cambridge University economist Chang Ha-Joon argues that 1) “[T]here is really no such thing as a free market” and 2) “The free market doesn’t exis...

"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 ...

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

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