TNKR's most popular Website page

That's right, the most popular page on TNKR's Website is.... the budget page!

Yes, boring budget information is what people click on the most, even faster than refugee testimonials. If every person who checked the budget page became a monthly donor of at least $5 a month, then TNKR would already be financially sustainable!

Here's our 2019 audited budget information, as translated by staffer Young-Ah Kim. You can also see the history of our budget from 2015-2019. Knowing how interested people are in budget issues, we started posting this information even before we became an official organization.
https://lovetnkr.org/tnkr-budget/

One thing is clear: TNKR is winning! Every day we hear about success stories from students and volunteers. This morning's inspiring messages are from two TNKR students who passed the first round in a competitive scholarship competition. They said they never would have had a chance without TNKR being with them. They will visit next week to discuss the next round.

We naturally focus on the refugees, but TNKR has had a profound impact on many volunteers. That's why, despite our focus on transparency, protecting refugee privacy, and focusing on education rather than socializing, we still have many volunteers come to us and those who are in South Korea will come long distances to tutor. The latest: An applicant from Jeju!

This morning's inspiring message from a volunteer comes from long-term volunteer tutor and monthly donor Kim Goldsmith. She tutored a refugee last night at the TNKR office. She wrote the following about it:

"I have been tutoring (E) in Track 1 since October 2019. She is so fun to teach, due to her love of children's stories. Each week she comes prepared to retell a fairy tale, folk tale, or Disney story she has found on the Internet, as a unique way of learning English. I can't help but smile when (E) pours hear heart and soul into recounting the tales, even on a day when my two hour commute to Seoul from work has almost gotten the best of me. (E)'s perseverance, positive attitude, and enthusiasm to study English, even after a long day or when she isn't feeling well is inspirational. Working with (E) has reconnected me to childhood stories I have long forgotten and showed me how timeless tails can connect two people from very different worlds."

Yes! TNKR is winning! Students are learning in ways they enjoy and that empowers them, volunteers are having great experiences tutoring and mentoring, we are now starting a project getting refugees prepared for employment and education opportunities, and we even have a popular budget page that has the potential to match our great project.

Regards,

Casey Lartigue Jr.
International Director
Teach North Korean Refugees
http://l.ead.me/casey (follow me on Social Media)

Kim's student picked a few more children's books to study. The books were donated to TNKR a few months ago.

They were studying, but took a break long enough for me to get a photo.

"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 ...

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...

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

2020-11-26 My basketball story

This photo was uploaded today by my aunt Annette. This was back in the day, when 1) I had a head full of hair and 2) played basketball a lot. That first year of playing organized basketball, I focused on playing defense. It seemed that everyone wanted to shoot the ball, so I passed the ball and played defense. I probably led the league in steals, rebounds and blocked shots. I enjoyed taking on the best player from the other team, I felt like I would get better, quickly. The second year, I was a different player. I will never forget the first game that second year--we lost 29 to 26, I scored 18 points. I probably led the universe in scoring that second year, although we didn't win much. One thing I learned from that experience is that one great player 9 (at least in his own mind) can't beat a team. An eye injury ended my pro career before it began, to this day I still have floaters in my eyes because of the injury. I started wearing glasses, but the problem never went away. On t...

Get rid of that watermelon!

Part 1: When I was a youngster I used to collect Confederate money, posters and photographs with caricatures of blacks, and "No blacks allowed signs." I loved the money because it was a reminder of how far the sorry Confederacy had fallen. I had one poster of a dark-skinned black boy munching on a watermelon. I would look at that small poster and wonder, "What in the world is wrong with anyone wanting to eat watermelon?" Yes, white people, I'm talking to you. Your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors who thought making fun of blacks for eating watermelon were crazy ! Even people who say that nothing has changed in race relations must acknowledge that the many stereotypes of blacks are no longer prevalent. But then, there are also some ready to remind us of days-gone-by by debunking stuff that doesn't need to be debunked today. According to the Washington Post: The sound you just heard was yet another racial stereotype going kersplat ! Some ...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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