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.