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Happy Birthday, Eunhee Park!!!

Eunhee Park, a TNKR Special Ambassador and a member of TNKR’s Refugee Leadership Team, is celebrating her birthday today! Unfortunately, she “celebrated” with a difficult exam at the end of her freshman year in college.
I am always inspired by her passion for life and joy of freedom. She is still the only refugee in TNKR history to go from Track 1 only (for English study) to Track 2 (public speaking). Here’s the column I wrote a few months ago about her incredible transformation.
When I first met Eunhee in April 2015, she didn’t use her real name and she didn’t show her face in photos. She joined TNKR so she could study English. In the group photo in the bottom right corner, she even refused to join the group photo.

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Track 1 was designed for refugees like Eunhee. Even though many volunteers, researchers and others who come to us want to probe refugees, we try to create space for refugees in our program to find their own way. What we have found is that giving them space to study, without the pressure of being refugee representatives, that they gain confidence in themselves. Even if South Korean society is indifferent or even hostile, we have created an island where they can just be themselves, not refugee representatives. Eunhee would come to us sometimes to talk about her life, her future. Mainly, we listened.


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Then an amazing thing happened–she felt that she was ready to talk about North Korea. We had some reservations about it, we don’t want any students to feel pressured to speak out. She said the positive reinforcement she received from everyone in TNKR had helped her gain confidence in herself. She decided that she wanted to give public speaking a try. Her first speech was on February 2 to the American Women’s Club in Seoul.

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Over the next few months, she began to open up. I remember after we (at last) opened our own office that she came by with donations, and later she even arranged for one of her friends to make a donation, leading to TNKR having its own refrigerator. πŸ™‚


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Eunkoo and I were planning the next speech contest when Eunhee said she was ready to try. She had given a speech in a controlled environment with the American Women’s Club, but there would be more pressure and it would be more public at a speech contest. She was applying after the deadline, but then another refugee speaker canceled at the last minute, so Eunhee joined. I wrote about this in my column linked above.

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She continued studying hard, returning to another Matching session to meet tutors. This time, she didn’t hide her face. Before she started at her university, she would drop by the office sometimes to study. Yes, for the people who wonder what we would do with the money, one thing would be to have more study rooms and classrooms for students to use.


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She has given more speeches–audiences enjoy it every time! She is thoughtful and funny.

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We have now done media together several times, including the TvN special in September 2016. She also had her first live radio interview in December 2016–and it was in English.

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Of course, nothing will top doing “On My Way to Meet You (μ΄λ§Œκ°‘).” I could have never imagined that when I first met her that two years later we would be on a popular TV show together.

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She is making the most of her freedom! She loves life and the people around her love her!


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I feel so lucky that we were able to meet and happy that she is also a great friend. TNKR doesn’t have friendship as a goal, we focus on having a learning atmosphere, but of course many of us build lifetime bonds.

UPDATE:

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Her name is Eunhee Park, and today is her birthday!!!
She also believes in TNKR. She is one of four refugees to raise money for TNKR.
In her fundraiser she wrote:
TNkR을 λ§Œλ‚˜κΈ°μ „κΉŒμ§€ μ €μ˜ 이름은 λ°•μ€λΉˆμ΄μ—ˆκ³  항상 μ‚¬μ§„μ†μ˜ μ €μ˜ 얼꡴은 무언가에 κ°€λ €μ Έ μžˆμ—ˆμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€. λΆν•œμ‚¬λžŒμœΌλ‘œ μ‚΄μ•„κ°€λŠ”κ²ƒμ΄ 가끔은 μ›λ§μŠ€λŸ¬μ› κ³  ν•œκ΅­μ •μ°©μ„ ν•˜λŠ”λ° 걸림돌이 λ˜κΈ°λ„ ν–ˆμœΌλ‹ˆκΉŒμš”. λˆ„κ΅°κ°€κ°€ λ‚˜μ—κ²Œ κ°€μž₯ 였래였래 κΈ°μ–΅ν•˜κ³  싢은 μˆœκ°„μ΄ μžˆλƒκ³  λ¬»λŠ”λ‹€λ©΄ 이 단체λ₯Ό λ§Œλ‚˜μ„œ μ„Έμƒμ˜ 아름닀움을 λ³΄μ•˜λ‹€κ³  λ§ν• κ²ƒμž…λ‹ˆλ‹€.
Before I found TNKR, my name was Eun-bin Park, and my face was always hidden in photos. I sometimes hated the fact that I was a North Korean, and it was often an obstacle to adapting to the South Korean society. If someone asks me what is the moment that I will cherish the most as long as I live, I would say it is the time I found TNKR and saw the beauty of this world.
TNKR은 νƒˆλΆλ―Όλ“€μ—κ²Œ μ˜μ–΄λ₯Ό κ°€λ₯΄μ³μ€„뿐 μ•„λ‹ˆλΌ μš°λ¦¬κ°€ μ§„μ •ν•œ 정체성을 κ°€μ§€κ³  λ‹Ήλ‹Ήν•˜κ²Œ ν•œκ΅­μ‚¬νšŒμ—μ„œ μžμ‹ κ°μ„ κ°€μ§€κ³  μ‚΄μ•„κ°ˆ 수 μžˆλ„λ‘ μƒˆλ‘œμš΄ μ‚Άμ˜ 기회λ₯Ό μ—΄μ–΄μ£ΌλŠ”κ³³μž…λ‹ˆλ‹€. TNKR을 톡해 μ €μ˜ λΆ€λͺ¨λ‹˜μ΄ μ§€μ›Œμ£Όμ‹  μ§„μ§œ 이름을 말할 수 있게 λ˜μ—ˆκ³  λΆν•œμ‚¬λžŒμœΌλ‘œμ„œ λŒ€ν•œλ―Όκ΅­μ—μ„œ λ‹Ήλ‹Ήν•˜κ²Œ μ‚΄μ•„κ°ˆ 수 μžˆμ—ˆμŠ΅λ‹ˆλ‹€.
TNKR does not simply teach English to North Koreans; it opens up new lives for them, lives where they can live as who they really are in South Korea. Thanks to TNKR, I was able to say the name given to me by my parents, and to live without a shred of embarrassment at my North Korean origin.
저와 같이 λ§Žμ€ λΆν•œμ‚¬λžŒλ“€μ˜ μ„Έμƒμ˜ μ•„λ¦„λ‹€μš΄ 빛을 λ³Ό 수 μžˆλ„λ‘ λ‹Ήμ‹ μ˜ 도움이 ν•„μš”ν•©λ‹ˆλ‹€.
We need your support, so that more North Koreans can see the beautiful light of this world.



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