This week, our group was split up and half of us volunteered at Wooridle, while the other half, including me, went to Sarang. Compared to the busy schedule of Jiguchon, our week at Sarang was easygoing with only a couple (literally) lessons. Though I only spent a short amount of time with my student, a teacher at Sarang named Eunhwa, our conversations left a deep impact on me.. During our first session, she explained that she was studying social work, something that became clear as we started to delve into complicated social issues during our very first meeting. Her eagerness to connect and to improve her English left me looking forward to our next meeting.
During our second session, Eunhwa printed a few sheets of paper and explained that she wanted to work on her pronunciation and timing of a speech that she had prepared. The speech talked about her story, from leaving her family in North Korea, to escaping to China only to be sold as a bride, to having a daughter that she eventually left behind to come to South Korea. As I gently corrected her pronunciation of words like “abandoned” and “prostitution,” I realized that tears had started to well up in my eyes and stream down my face. Eunhwa, also crying, apologized. I was surprised that she felt the need to apologize – if anything, I thought I should be the one offering words of comfort after hearing everything she had gone through.
Due to an expected scheduling issue, that was the last time I met with Eunhwa. All in all, we were only able to spend a few hours with the teachers at Sarang, and now we’ll be going to Wooridle for our last week of volunteering in Korea. Although I’m excited to meet the students at Wooridle, I wish that our whole group could have stayed at one school for two weeks. This way, we could have formed deeper connections with our students, and any scheduling complications that arose wouldn’t have had as big of an impact. Plus, I miss seeing our whole group every day. Before we all met, I was nervous about getting along with everyone. From our very first meeting, my worries quickly dissolved as I realized how kind and welcoming everyone is. I’m so glad that I get to experience this summer with such a nice, funny, and dedicated cohort.
Since this is my last blog, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on our summer as a whole. I’ve wanted to apply to Duke Engage Korea since before I even came to Duke. I learned about this program during an information session at Duke, and kept it in mind throughout my college application process and first years in college. Now, as we reach the end, I can wholeheartedly say that this program was everything I wanted and more. I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to travel to Korea with such a great group of students and professors, and make meaningful connections with so many people here. I will remember the memories I made this summer forever, and I’ll keep everything I learned about social issues in Korea – immigration, multiculturalism, unification, war – in mind as I continue my studies. I hope that we can all take what we learned and experienced this summer with us far into the future. Thank you for everything, Duke Engage Korea!
Read Eunhwa’s story here: https://libertyinnorthkorea.org/blog/joys-story-part-1-growing-north-korea
– Sydney Maynor
